Mike Powell

I just wanted to alert readers who may be used to me publishing a blog posting almost every day that I will be absent from this space for the rest of this week. A family emergency requires me to travel to Massachusetts and Maine and I will not have access to the internet for most of this time.

I decided though to leave you with a shot of a dragonfly facing away. While I was exploring Occoquan Regional Park earlier this month, I managed to get only a single angled view of this dragonfly before it flew away, but it was enough to confirm that it was my first Carolina Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea carolina) of the season. Despite the odd angle, I was able to capture the patches on the hind wings that are thought to resemble “saddlebags” and its distinctive red color, so identification was not a problem.

I really like the colors and patterns of this shot, which has more of an “artsy” feel rather than a “scientific” one. Normally eye contact is desirable with a subject, but I look at that “rule” as more of a suggestion than a requirement.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.