I was happy last Thursday when a Black Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata) that I had been tracking overhead at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge perched for a moment, allowing me to capture this first image. While it was flying, I attempted multiple times to get a shot of it, with minimal success. The second photo is my best one.
Some dragonflies spend a lot of their time perched, but Black Saddlebags are one of the species that spends most of its time in the air, so it is rewarding to be able to see one land and to get a shot of it. Black Saddlebags are also one of the few dragonfly species that are migrate although, according to the Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, scientists do not fully understand why they do so and have been studying their migratory patterns.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
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