I have been a bit befuddled by the dragonflies that I have seen here in Bastrop, Texas and have misidentified about half of them. I was therefore delighted on Wednesday when I managed to get a few shots of a familiar species—a Common Green Darner.
The Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) had been patrolling overhead and I managed to track it when it came down to earth and perched low in the vegetation. I only had a little latitude in trying to frame my shot, because I know from experience that Common Green Darners can be very skittish. I varied my angle a little between shots by moving slightly, but most of the shots ended up looking pretty similar.
Common Green Darners are a migratory species and are one of the most common and abundant dragonfly species in North America. I love the beautiful colors of this species and am happy when I can get a shot, like the first one, in which you can see the bullseye marking on the “nose” of the dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Once again, impressive 👍
Thanks, Ted. I was pretty determined to get a shot and tracked several Green Darners in flight before this one landed. Persistence paid off again. 🙂
Great job capturing that vivid blue. I like the bit of shadow on the grass in your second image, and how it accentuates how tattered this fellow was.
What a beauty.
Thanks, Michael. The vivid colors of the Common Green Darners never fail to amaze me.
Welcome. They are truly amazing.
Beautiful series of dragonfly images Mike! Great detail!
Thanks, Reed I managed to get a decent angle that let me take my time and steady myself as well as I could, which helped me to capture that level of detail.