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Archive for the ‘Dragonflies’ Category

Can you spot the dragonfly?

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 4, 2023| 5 Comments »

Can you spot the dragonfly in the first photo? Let me give you a clue—the large dragonfly is in the center of the image. Can you see it now?

Some dragonflies are easy to see, because of their bright colors or the way that they perch in the open on prominent stalks of vegetation. Others are a bit harder to see, because they perch on the ground or in dense vegetation (or they fly continuously and rarely seem to land).

The Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) is a bit of an anomaly—it perches in the open, but is still very hard to spot. Why? Its gray and black coloration is an almost perfect match for the rough bark of the trees on which it usually perches vertically. In the past I have watched a Gray Petaltail fly to a tree and perch and had trouble seeing it, even though I knew exactly where it was.

Last Wednesday I spotted my first Gray Petaltail of the season as I was exploring a small pond in Prince William County, Virginia. I had seen this dragonfly species at this location several times to the past, so I was carefully scanning the trunks of trees on which they sunlight was shining directly—Gray Petaltails seem to prefer direct sunlight, especially earlier in the day.

I often have to rely on movement to see dragonflies that are so well camouflage, but amazingly I spotted the dragonfly in the first photo while it was still perched. I cropped the image and made a few tweaks to make it a little more visible for you, but it was so tough to spot that I had to creep closer and look from a different angle to make sure that my eyes were not playing tricks on me.

For the second and third shots, I moved around the tree in an effort to better isolate the dragonfly from the tree. I think that approach worked especially well in the final photo in which the dragonfly had raised its wings a bit. Suddenly the Gray Petaltail was much more visible. I chose my angle carefully to try to get a bit of the sky in the photo—I was shooting at an upward angle—and I really like the way that the background came out in the final image.

Gray Petaltail

Gray Petaltail

Gray Petaltail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Flying over the pond

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 1, 2023| 2 Comments »

Several Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) were patrolling over the pond at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge last Thursday and I spent a lot of time trying to capture images of one of them as they zoomed by me. I made attempts with both my 180mm macro lens and my 18-400mm zoom lens, sometimes using focusing manually and sometimes using auto focus. Needless to say, there is also a lot of luck involved in getting a somewhat sharp photo of a dragonfly in flight

I spent a lot of time trying to track the dragonflies. They didn’t exactly fly in a pattern, but they seemed to have a territory that they were patrolling, so they came by me at irregular intervals. In the first two shots below, I was able to get a bit of the habitat in the photo, but most of the time I was focusing solely on the dragonfly and there is nothing in the background but the somewhat muddy water of the pond.

I was happy that I was able to get some shots from a number of different angles. In some of the shots, the dragonfly was flying by me, but in other cases I manage to capture images in which the dragonfly was flying towards me or away from me. The angle was often dependent on the speed with which I was able to acquire my target in the viewfinder of my camera and successfully track it as I tried to focus on it—hand-t0-eye coordination is critical.

I used to think that it was impossible to get shots like these. It has gotten a little easier over time as I have gained experience, but it still is pretty hard. No matter how skilled I get, patience and persistence are still the most critical factors in this type of photography.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Baskettails in flight

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 24, 2023| 5 Comments »

I can’t help myself. Whenever I see dragonflies flying over the water, I feel compelled to try to photograph them in flight. This past weekend I spotted several Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) flying patrols over a small pond in Orkney Springs, Virginia. The dragonflies flew by numerous times, giving me a lot of opportunities to take shots.

As is usually the case, most of my shots were out of focus or included only a portion of the dragonfly at the edge of the frame. However, as most of you know, I am quite persistent and eventually I managed to get some decent shots of the dragonflies.

Several of my sharpest shots show the dragonfly against a gray background, but lack a sense of the environment. The last three shots include patches of algae and give you a really cool perspective that reminds me of the view that you get from an airplane window when you look out and see another airplane along with the ground below.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Eastern Pondhawks

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 19, 2023| 2 Comments »

I was delighted on Wednesday to spot my first Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) dragonflies of the season while I was exploring the trails at Occoquan Regional Park. As we progress into summer, this species will become quite abundant, but it is always a joy to spot these little beauties.

Females, like the ones in these photos, are bright green in color and have a banded abdomen. I did not see any males that day, but they start out with coloration similar to that of the females and then gradually transition to having a blue abdomen and a blue and green thorax. Both genders have green faces, which, along with their coloration, make them easy to identify.

I love the way that the green spring foliage matches the colors of an Eastern Pondhawk and provides a beautiful backdrop for them, as you can see in these photos.

I will be away in the mountains this weekend on a church retreat, so will probably not be posting for the next few days. I will have my camera with me, though, so you may see a few photos from my adventures there in upcoming blog postings.

Eastern Pondhawk

Eastern Pondhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Calico Pennant dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 17, 2023| 5 Comments »

I was delighted last Thursday to see quite a few Calico Pennant (Celithemis elisa) dragonflies during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The markings and wing patterns on this species are really striking, making this one of the most attractive species that I see during the dragonfly season.

Some of the Calico Pennants appeared to have newly emerged—when dragonflies initially break through the exoskeleton of their water-dwelling larvae selves, their wings are really shiny and fragile and their coloration is often pale. The dragonfly in the first photo appears to be in that stage of development, which is sometimes referred to as “teneral.” It you look closely at the place where the dragonfly is grasping the vegetation, you can see what is quite probably its discarded exoskeleton from which it had recently emerged.

The Calico Pennants in the second and third photo are females, as was the one in the first photo. The patterns on the wings of these more mature females are more distinct and their yellow coloration is somewhat brighter. How do I know that they are females? If you look closely at the ends of their abdomens (the “tails”) you can see the terminal appendages that indicate their gender.

Female Calico Pennants have yellow markings on their abdomens, but that is not a reliable indicator of their gender, because immature males have that same coloration. The dragonfly in the fourth photo, for example, is an immature male Calico Pennant. If you compare the tip of the abdomen of this dragonfly with the one in the third photo, you may be able to see that there are differences.

What does a mature male Calico Pennant look like? I managed to spot only a single mature male that day, but fortunately was able to capture a shot of it. As you can see in the final photo, adult male Calico Pennants have red marking on their abdomens and the veining on their wings is pinkish in color.

We are gradually transitioning to the summer dragonfly species and some of the early spring ones are starting to disappear. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for the “new” species, so don’t be surprised to see more dragonfly photos in the upcoming months.

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Varying backgrounds

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2023| 2 Comments »

As I was reviewing my photos of the past couple of weeks, I was a little surprised at the number of shots that I have taken of Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) dragonflies in wildly varying environments. Blue Corporals are an early-season species and won’t be around for too much longer, so I am happy to have had the opportunity to observe so many of them. Most of the time, Blue Corporals like to perch flat and, judging from the photos, it doesn’t seem to matter if there are rocks, vegetation, or even lily pads.

From the perspective of a naturalist, I like the way that the different photos give you a feel for the environments in which I found these dragonflies. As a photographer, I was also struck by the way that the colors and textures of the background interact with the subjects. Most of the backgrounds in these shots are somewhat cluttered, but I did my best to use framing and focusing techniques to keep the background from being too distracting.

If I had to make a choice, I would say that the first photo is my favorite of the Blue Corporal images. I love the juxtaposition of the dragonfly with the varied textures, shapes, and colors of the rocks. I also really like the way the background grows progressively more blurry towards the top of the image. Do you have a favorite?

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Baskettail dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 1, 2023| 8 Comments »

I tracked this Common Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura) in the air for quite some time as it patrolled back and forth along one of the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, hoping that it would land. Fortunately I acted quickly when finally it did perch and was able to capture these shots.

The Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website provides the following description of the Common Baskettail, “Small, dark, constantly hovering. Fast, acrobatic flight. Often high above clearings and sunny paths/old roads. Also along pond, stream and river edges.” As you can tell from this description, it is pretty challenging to get a shot of a Common Baskettail dragonfly.

Occasionally I will try to capture an image of a Common Baskettail while it is flying, but that works better when the dragonfly is flying above a pond than when it is flying with a background of vegetation. If you are interested in seeing some shots of Common Baskettails in flight, check out my blog posting from May 2022 entitled “Flying Common Baskettail dragonflies.”

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Depositing eggs in the water

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It is pretty early in the season for Common Whitetail dragonflies (Plathemis lydia), but one pair was already getting busy last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I did not see the actual mating taking place, but I captured this first shot as the female deposited eggs in the water as the male hovered overhead. The second image is a distant shot of the hovering male Common Whitetail.

Different dragonfly species deposit their fertilized eggs in different ways. Some will place the eggs directly into vegetation, while others distribute their eggs more generally into the water. Female Common Whitetails are in the latter group—they oviposit in flight, with guarding male hovering above, by tapping their abdomen into the water near floating vegetation or clumps of mud and often flicking water and eggs forward. According to

If you look closely at the first photo, you can see some concentric ripples where the dragonfly has dipped the tip of her abdomen in the water, releasing some eggs and creating some disturbance on the surface of the water. The male’s job is to fight off any potential rivals that might try to interfere with the process and mate with the female.

The eggs will develop into larvae that will spend most of their lives underwater. The adult phase of their lives, when they transform into dragonflies, may last only a few weeks or so, which is why perpetuation of the species through mating is such a critical biological imperative.

Common Whitetail

Common Whitetail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Common Green Darner (female)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 20, 2023| 9 Comments »

On Tuesday I spotted this female Common Green Darner (Anax junius) dragonfly at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first darner that I have been able to photograph this season. Like most darners, Common Green Darners are relatively large dragonflies—about 3 inches (76 mm) in length—that spend a lot of time patrolling in the air. In fact, Common Green Darners are one of a handful of dragonflies that migrate, so that the earliest ones that we see in spring are likely to have migrated from more southern locations before local Common Green Darners have emerged.

When I first spotted this dragonfly, she was patrolling over a field of tall vegetation. I watched her fly back and forth for quite a while. When she decided to take a break, I was lucky to see where she landed.

As you can see in the photo, Common Green Darners normally hang vertically. In this case the dragonfly perched relatively close to the ground, so it was a bit of a challenge to frame the shot, particularly because I was shooting with my long telephoto zoom lens. I am quite pleased, though, with the resulting image that shows off a lot of the details of this species, including the distinctive black and blue “bullseye” in from of the dragonfly’s large compound eyes.

Common Green Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Stream Cruiser in April

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 17, 2023| 1 Comment »

Different dragonfly species perch in different ways. Some perch high and some perch low; some perch horizontally, others perch at an angle, and others hang vertically.  I am always intrigued to look at the way a dragonfly is perched and, in particular, to see how the dragonfly is using its legs.

Last week I was delighted to spot a male Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa) while I was exploring the edge of a creek in Prince William County, Virginia. The Steam Cruiser was perched low in the vegetation at an angle. Stream Cruisers have such long legs that they look somewhat uncomfortable when they are perching.

If you click on the image below, you can get a closer look at the dragonfly’s legs. The dragonfly does not seem to be using its front legs at all to perch and appears to be relying almost exclusively on its middle set of legs. The back set of legs look to be amazing long and are probably more useful for capturing prey than for perching.

Stream Cruiser

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spring dragonflies in flight

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Video, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It is almost impossible, but I can’t help but try to capture images of dragonflies in flight. It is arguably the most difficult challenge of my ability to use my camera and also of my patience. None of the dragonflies in these photos flew close to the shores of the streams that I was exploring in Prince William County, Virginia, and I was using only a modest telephoto lens that I was focusing manually—the autofocus on my Tamron 180mm macro lens is relatively slow and could not focus on the dragonflies as they zoomed on by.

Last Wednesday I photographed the dragonfly in the first photo as it was patrolling over a creek. I believe that it is a Uhler’s Sundragon dragonfly (Helocordulia uhleri), which is about 1.8 inches (46 mm) in length. The dragonfly was not exactly following a pattern, but I was able to track it as it flew all around a small section of the creek.

The dragonfly in the second image may also be a Uhler’s Sundragon, though I am less confident of this identification. I really like the fact that the eyes of the dragonfly are in shart focus. It is probably just my imagination, but this dragonfly seemed to glance up at me and smile as it flew on by. In this photo, as in the first one, you really have a sense of the environment in which I found the dragonfly.

I captured the final image on Friday as I was exploring a different creek in Prince William County. The dragonfly in this photo was much larger than the ones in the other photos and was flying much faster and seemed to be conducting patrols over a much longer stretch of the creek. All the image was not completely sharp, I captured enough details to be able to identify it as male Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa) dragonfly, a species that is about 2.2 inches (56 mm) in length.

Last year I did a short video on YouTube called Impossible Shots? Dragonflies in Flight in which I talked about one of my forays into the field and highlighted my approach to photographing dragonflies. Check it out if you want to see some more shots of dragonflies in flight or if you simply want to hear my voice and see my face. I included a link to the video in the title of the video (which should appear in color and underlined) and am also going to try to paste it into the end of posting, so you don’t have to go to YouTube to watch it. I am still just dabbling in video, but want to try to do more of it this year.

Uhler's Sundragon

Uhler's Sundragon

Stream Cruiser

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Corporal dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 14, 2023| 4 Comments »

On Monday I was thrilled to photograph my first dragonfly of the year at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the location that I visit most frequently with my camera. The first prize goes to an immature male Blue Corporal dragonfly (Ladona deplanata)—males turn blue as they mature, but initially they have the same coloration as the females. Blue Corporals of both genders have two light-colored stripes on the front of their thoraxes, the traditional rank military insignia for corporals.

Later in the day I spotted a female Blue Corporal perched on some dry leaves, as shown in the second photo. Can you spot the differences between the dragonflies in the first and second photos? The male abdomen tends to be a bit thinner than the abdomen of the female. However, the biggest difference is in the terminal appendages, i.e. the specific parts at the very tip of their abdomens (their “tails”).

The following day I returned to the refuge and spotted another Blue Corporal perched in some vegetation—I think it is another immature male. Most of the time Blue Corporals like to perch on the ground, but this one looked like it had only recently emerged and may have been waiting for its wings to harden.

When dragonflies undergo their metamorphosis from water-dwelling nymphs to aerial acrobats, their wings are initially very clear and fragile and the creatures are very vulnerable, so I was careful not to disturb the dragonfly when I took a few photos. If you are interested to learn more, check out a 2016 blog posting  Metamorphosis of a dragonfly in which I documented the entire transformation process of a Common Sandragon dragonfly in a series of 15 photos. At the end of that series you will be able to see why I characterized the wings of a newly-emerged dragonfly as “fragile.”

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Twin-spotted Spiketails

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged , , , , , on April 12, 2023| 6 Comments »

I was extremely happy yesterday to encounter several Twin-spotted Spiketail dragonflies (Cordulegaster maculata) during a visit to Occoquan Regional Park, a county-run recreational park in Lorton, Virginia. In the past I have occasionally seen Twin-spotted Spiketails at this location and I went there specifically to look for this species—I was hopeful, but realistic in my expectations of finding this relatively uncommon dragonfly.

Spiketails are a small family of large black or brown dragonflies with similar bright yellow stripes on their thoraxes and species-specific makings on their abdomens. Females have a spike-like pseudo-ovipositor at the end of their abdomens that is responsible for the “spiketail” name.

When I first encountered a spiketail yesterday, it was flying in the air and I was not sure what kind of dragonfly it was. Fortunately I was able to see where it landed and when I got closer, I was ecstatic, because I could actually see the dragonfly’s “spike,” as you can see in the first photo.

There are several other spiketail species in our area, but the Twin-spotted Spiketail is the only one that is flying this early in the season. The flight season for most of the early season dragonflies lasts for only a month or so, so I try to spend as much time outdoors as I can during April and May to maximize my chances of seeing these uncommon species. As you can probably judge, from the first photo, Twin-spotted Spiketails are large, almost 3 inches (76 mm) in length. Although you can’t really seen the markings in the first photo, there are a paired yellow spots or rounded triangles along the length of the abdomen.

I decided to hang around the area where I spotted the first spiketail to see if others would fly by and my patience was rewarded. I was able to capture shot of several other Twin-spotted Spiketails as you can see in the second and third photos. Both of these spiketails are males, I believe, and therefore do not have the visible “spike.” In those photos, though, you get a pretty good view of the pattern of the paired spots, which is why the species is called “twin-spotted.”

This dragonfly season is starting out with a bang and I feel blessed to have photographed several uncommon species already. Temperatures today are forecast to rise to about 84 degrees (29 degrees C) and I plant to continue my search for beautiful and elusive aerial acrobats, like these Twin-spotted Spiketails.

Twin-spotted Spiketail

Twin-spotted Spiketail

Twin-spotted Spiketail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Dragonfly legs

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 8, 2023| 3 Comments »

Have you ever looked closely at a dragonfly’s legs? A dragonfly has six legs that are attached in pairs to its thorax. The main parts of the leg are the upper leg or femur, the lower leg or tibia, and the foot or tarsus, which is made up of three segments and ends with a pair of claws. The legs are covered with spiky hairs and fulfill a variety of functions, including perching, catching and holding onto prey, and cleaning its mouth and eyes.

The first photo is a close-up view of a Uhler’s Sundragon (Helocordulia uhleri) that I spotted on 4 April near a creek in Prince William County, Virginia. You get a really good view of one of the middle legs of the dragonfly, including the way that it bends at two joints and the way the tiny claws are used to hold onto the perch. I can’t be sure, but I believe that the dragonfly may be using one of its front legs to wipe its large compound eye. If you click on the photo, you can see some of the thousands of ommatidia, the faceted optical units that allow a dragonfly to see in almost 360 degrees around itself.

In the second photo, you can see that the sets of legs are of different lengths. The back legs, which are the longest, are the ones that are most often used to catch and subdue prey. The front leg nearest us, does not seem to be used and the moment for perching and the “elbow” appears to be touching the eye. At first I thought that this was merely an awkward perch, but the more I look at the photo, the more I think that the dragonfly is cleaning its eye.

The final photo, which was actually the first of these photos that I took, shows the entire body of the Uhler’s Sundragon. The Uhler’s Sundragon is visually similar to the Selys’s Sundragon, the first dragonfly that I spotted this year, with the notable difference that the Uhler’s Sundragon has little orange patches at the base of its wings, as you can see in the photo, that are not present with the Selys’s Sundragon. If you look at the front legs, it appears to me that the dragonfly was using both of them initially for perching—its “elbow” does not appear to bent as it was in the middle photo.

This post was a little more “geeky” than usual, delving deeper into dragonfly anatomy than I usually do. I think it is fascinating to try to observe and understand the behavior that I see in my subjects and hope that you may also find these details to be somewhat interesting.

Uhler's Sundragon

Uhler's Sundragon

Uhler's Sundragon

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Selys’s Sundragon—first 2023 dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on April 5, 2023| 8 Comments »

Yesterday was an unusually warm spring day, with temperatures soaring to 82 degrees (28 C). I suspected that I might find some early season dragonflies and I was right. Last week I saw my first dragonfly of 2023, but it does not really count for me, because I was not able to get a photograph of it.

My first “official” dragonfly of 2023 turned out to be an uncommon one, a Selys’s Sundragon (Helocordulia selysii). According to the Maryland Biodiversity Project, “Selys’s Sundragon is an uncommon, early-season corduliid which breeds in small streams in wooded areas through much of the southeast.” Corduliidae, also known as the emeralds, emerald dragonflies, or green-eyed skimmers, is the family of dragonflies to which the Selys’s Sundragons belong.

As far as I can recall, I have seen this species only twice in the past, both times in 2021. Check my 16 April 2021 blog posting entitled Selys’s Sundragon Dragonfly for details about my first encounter, including some photos that compare the Selys’s Sundragon with the very similar-looking Uhler’s Sundragon.

As many of you know, dragonflies are my favorite subjects to photograph during the warmer months. There is something almost magical about this beautiful aerial acrobats that inspires me. I love the challenge of spotting and photographing these tiny creatures—the Selys’s Sundragon in these photos, for example, is only about 1.7 inches (43 mm) in length.

During the summer, many common dragonfly species can be seen in a variety of habitats, but the early season dragonflies tend to be habitat specialists and have very brief flight season, often less than a month. For that reason, I usually try to go out with my camera as often as I can during the month of April.

Selys's Sundragon

Selys's Sundragon

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn Meadowhawk in late November

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 26, 2022| 2 Comments »

Despite our recent frigid weather, some Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) are still with us, like this handsome male that I spotted on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Autumn Meadowhawks are invariably the last dragonflies of the season in my area. They are more tolerant of the cold than most other dragonflies and seem to be able capable of withstanding frosts and freezes if not prolonged or severe.

It is a real challenge to find and photograph Autumn Meadowhawks, because they are small—about 1.3 inches (33 mm)—and they tend to perch among the fallen leaves, where they blend in well with their surroundings. One additional challenge for me was the fact that I was shooting them at the 600mm end of my Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens. At that focal length, the minimum focusing distance for the lens is about 8.8 feet (270 cm), which means that I have to be a pretty good ways away from my tiny subject.

I hope to see these little red dragonflies into early December, assuming that the weather does not stay cool for too long a period and we do not have an extended period of cloudy weather—on cool days I tend to find Autumn Meadowhawks in areas where there is direct sunlight.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 20, 2022| 3 Comments »

I suspect that the species is gone for the season by now, but here are a couple of shots of a female Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum) that I spotted at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on 21 October 2022, before my trip to Texas. Many of the females are tan in color, like the one in these shots, which makes them hard to spot among the fallen leaves.  Some female Blue-faced Meadowhawks, however, are male-like in color, i.e. they are red, and are sometimes referred to as andromorphs.

Since my return from Texas, we have had cold temperatures that have often dipped below the freezing level. This week I will be out looking for some late season dragonflies. In the past I have sometimes seen Autumn Meadowhawks in November and occasionally even in December. It is quite possible, though, that I have seen my final dragonflies of the season and will switch to photographing birds most of the time.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Wandering Glider in Texas

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 15, 2022| 9 Comments »

As I begin my final preparations for hitting the road for my long drive home, it somehow seemed appropriate to post this image of a Wandering Glider dragonfly (Pantala flavescens) that I spotted on Sunday in Bastrop, Texas. Wandering Gliders, also know as Globe Skimmers or Globe Wanderers, are considered to be the most widespread dragonfly on the planet, with a good population on every continent except Antarctica, although they are rare in Europe, according to Wikipedia.

My drive will be a bit over 1500 miles (2414 km), which sounds like a long distance to travel. However, Wandering Gliders “make an annual multigenerational journey of some 18,000 km (about 11,200 miles); to complete the migration, individual Globe Skimmers fly more than 6,000 km (3,730 miles)—one of the farthest known migrations of all insect species,” according to Wikipedia. Yikes!

Wandering Glider

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Black Setwing dragonfly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 15, 2022| 3 Comments »

I spotted this unfamiliar dragonfly on 13 November in a meadow adjacent to the Colorado River in Bastrop, Texas. Its shape reminded me of the Swift Setwing (Dythemis velox) that I have seen in Northern Virginia, where I live, but its coloration looks more like that of photos of the Black Setwing (Dythemis nigrescens) that I discovered while doing some research.

Was I right? I have had some difficulties correctly identifying some of the dragonflies that I have seen in Texas, but in this case I was right. Setwing dragonflies perch in a distinctive pose with their wings pulled forward, which looked to some scientist like the “ready-set-go” position of a sprinter and is reportedly the reason for the name of the species. When I spotted this dragonfly, I immediately recognized that pose.

In a few hours,  I am starting my long drive back to Virginia from Texas. I suspect that I will not be doing any blog postings for the next few days. I have had a wonderful stay in Texas, with a beautiful wedding, a fun time dogsitting for two delightful dogs while the couple was away on their honeymoon, and plenty of time for exploring nature and extending my dragonfly season.

Black Setwing

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I am continuing to find cool-looking dragonflies here in Bastrop, Texas, including these handsome ones that I think are Variegated Meadowhawks (Sympetrum corruptum). I spotted them yesterday as I was exploring a meadow adjacent to the Colorado River.

The first two photos show the same dragonfly on two different perches. As you can see, this species, like other meadowhawk species, likes to perch low on the ground, which makes it tough to get a clear shot.

The coloration of this species is very similar to that of the Autumn Meadowhawk that I am used to seeing in Northern Virginia. However, the dark banding on the abdomen and the red veining on the wings are quite distinctive, leading me to judge that this may instead be a Variegated Meadowhawk.

The final photo shows an immature dragonfly. I am a little less confident of my identification of this one, but I think that it might be an immature Variegated Meadowhawk. I am used to the dragonflies in my home area and feel a lot less confident with my identifications when I am traveling.

Variegated Meadowhawk

Variegated Meadowhawk

Variegated Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Roseate Skimmer dragonflies

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 12, 2022| 6 Comments »

I have always admired photos of Roseate Skimmers (Orthemis ferruginea), a spectacular dragonfly species in which mature males are bright pink in color. There have been a handful of sighting over the years of Roseate Skimmers at one of the parks I visit in Northern Virginia, but until last week I had never seen one.

A little over a week ago, when I spotted the dragonfly in the first photo, I knew almost immediately that it was a Roseate Skimmer, because of the shockingly pink color of its body. Later that day and on a subsequent walk along the Colorado River in Bastrop, Texas, I spotted other Roseate Skimmers, but did not realize that was what they were until much later.

Why did I have such trouble with their identification? When it comes to dragonflies, mature males tend to be brighter in color and have more distinctive markings than their female counterparts that have drab colors that are somewhat similar across species. Additionally, immature males often have the same coloration as the females.

So, when I posted the second photo below in an earlier posting and thought is might be a Variegated Meadowhawk, I was absolutely wrong. According to some experts in Facebook groups and at Odonata Central, the dragonfly is an immature male Roseate Skimmer.

The dragonfly in the final photo is a female Roseate Skimmer that I photographed a few days ago. Note how the coloration is similar to that of the dragonfly in the second photo. How do you tell them apart? If you look closely at the terminal appendages at the end of the abdomen (the “tail”) of the two dragonflies, you should be able to see that they are quite different in shape. Most often, those terminal appendage are key in distinguishing immature male dragonflies from females.

In a few days I will be heading home from Texas. It has been fascinating to see quite a few dragonflies, some of which have been new for me. Even here, though, I suspect that the season may be coming to a close soon. Earlier in the week temperatures were in the mid-80’s (29 degrees C), but I awoke this morning to a temperature of 41 degrees (5 degrees C) and we will drop even closer to the freezing level over the next couple of days.

Roseate Skimmer

Roseate Skimmer

Roseate Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner in Texas

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 11, 2022| 8 Comments »

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.

Common Green Darner

Common Green Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Narrow-striped Forceptail dragonfly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 10, 2022| 4 Comments »

Yesterday I spotted this really cool-looking dragonfly as I was exploring a meadow area beneath some power lines just off a trail along the Colorado River in Bastrop, Texas. My primary purpose for coming to Texas was to participate in a wedding last Saturday, but I am staying a few extra days to watch the couple’s two dogs while they are away on their honeymoon.

In a recent post, I featured photos of some dragonflies that I had spotted here in Bastrop last week. I identified one as a Russet-tipped Clubtail, a species I am used to seeing, but when I posted a photo in Odonata Central, an expert informed me that it was a female Narrow-striped Forceptail dragonfly (Aphylla protracta). 

I believe that the dragonfly in this image is from that same species, possibly a male. I am not at all familiar with forceptail dragonflies, so I can’t tell if the terminal appendages (the “tail”) are the right shape. Whatever its identity, I love the image that I managed to capture of this beautiful dragonfly as it was briefly perching.

Narrow-striped Forceptail

 

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonflies in Bastrop, Texas

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Travel, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on November 7, 2022| 3 Comments »

Last Wednesday, 2 November, I took a walk along the Columbia River in Bastrop, Texas, not far from where I am staying, and was delighted to spot a number of different dragonflies. As I have found in the past, it is difficult to identify dragonflies (and birds) when I am outside of my home area. Sometimes the species are the same, but there may be regional variations. At other times, though, I have found species that are not present at all where I live.

The dragonfly in the first image looks like a female Russet-tipped Clubtail (Stylurus plagiatus), but I must admit that I am not very confident about that call. In the second, the dragonfly looks a bit like a female Eastern Ringtail (Erpetogomphus designatus). When it comes to the third dragonfly, I am not sure that I can even make a guess, other than the fact that it looks like some kind of skimmer.

It was really nice to extend my dragonfly season by traveling briefly to a warmer southern location. By early November, there will only a few dragonflies left in Northern Virginia when I return home next week.

Russet-tipped Clubtail

Eastern Ringtail

Eastern Ringtail dragonfly

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonfly and shadow

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 1, 2022| 7 Comments »

I have arrived safely in Bastrop, Texas (just outside of Austin) for a family wedding after a long drive from Virginia that turned out to be 1560 miles (2510 km).

I don’t have any new photos to post, but thought I would feature an image of a female Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum vicinum) that I photographed a little over a week ago. I spotted this beautiful dragonfly at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was delighted to capture the shadow that the little dragonfly was casting on a colorful fallen leaf.

Thanks to all of you who responded to my recent request to subscribe to the YouTube channel of young UK-based wildlife photographer Toby Wood. He has now surpassed the required level of one thousand subscribers and his channel is now presumably eligible for monetization on YouTube.

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 23, 2022| 2 Comments »

Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) love to perch on the ground and at this time of the year the ground is covered with fallen leaves in many places. Most of those leaves are brown, which makes for pretty good shots, but I am always hoping that an Autumn Meadowhawk will choose to perch on a more colorful red or yellow leaf. Last Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I was fortunate when one of these colorful little dragonflies landed on a yellow leaf and I captured the first image.

Although the second and third images feature brown leaves, I love the textures and shapes of those leaves. I also like the way that the drabness of the leaves helps the bright red of the dragonfly’s body really stand out.

At this time of the year, most of my photographic subjects are likely to be birds, so I tend to walk around with my Tamron 150-600mm telephoto zoom lens on my camera. Although a long telephoto lens my not be my first choice for photographing such a small subject—an Autumn Meadowhawk is about 1.3 inches (33 mm) in length—I can get pretty good results if I am really careful in steadying the lens and paying attention to the focus point. All three of these images, for example, were shot with the lens fully extended to 600mm.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly in October

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2022| 8 Comments »

I was thrilled to spot this Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum), one of my favorite species, this past Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The dragonfly was cooperative and let me get pretty close with my Tamron 180mm macro lens and capture some of the amazing details of this colorful dragonfly, like its tiny feet and the little hairs on its legs.

I personally find the combination of the bright red body and the blue eyes to be stunningly irresistible and I look forward to spotting this species each autumn. If you click on either of the two images, you will be able to see some of the individual facets that make up the compound eyes. I have always wondered what it would be like to see the world through the eyes of a dragonfly.

I really like the description of a dragonfly’s sight that I found in a fascinating article by a writer called GrrlScientist that I encourage you to read. She wrote,

“Each compound eye is comprised of several thousand elements known as facets or ommatidia. These ommatidia contain light sensitive opsin proteins, thereby functioning as the visual sensing element in the compound eye. But unlike humans, day-flying dragonfly species have four or five different opsins, allowing them to see colors that are beyond human visual capabilities, such as ultraviolet (UV) light. Together, these thousands of ommatidia produce a mosaic of “pictures” but how this visual mosaic is integrated in the insect brain is still not known.”

I had to search hard to find this dragonfly and it was the only one of its species that I saw that day. At this time of the year few dragonflies are still flying. However, I am not ready to call it quits for the dragonfly season, though the end is drawing near.

 

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies in October

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

It looks like all of the summer dragonflies are gone. During three treks with my camera this week, I have not spotted any of the species that were common during the summer.

Fortunately, there are a few autumn species that hang on long after the summer species are gone. This week I was pleased to see some Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum), which in the past have been present as late as December.

The dragonfly in the first photo is a male Autumn Meadowhawk that I photographed yesterday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. Each year when I see them I are struck by their small size—they are only about 1.3 inches (33mm) in length. Mature males are a bright reddish-orange in color and have beautiful brown eyes, a perfect color combination for the season.

Female Autumn Meadowhawks are less conspicuous and have a two-toned tan and red coloration. I spotted the female in the second photo on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Generally I see a lot more male Autumn Meadowhawks than females, so I was happy to be able to photograph this one, which also happened to be my first Autumn Meadowhawk of the season.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Colorful Whitetail Dragonfly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on October 7, 2022| 4 Comments »

When I went out with my camera on Wednesday, it was cool and cloudy, but fortunately the rain had stopped falling. I was not optimistic that I would see a lot of wildlife, but it felt good to get out of the house and to spend some time in nature.

Most dragonflies prefer warm weather and become inactive when it is cool, so I did not expect to see many during my walk. I was thrilled therefore when I spotted this male Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia). I watched as he was flying and saw him land low in the vegetation, just off of the ground.

The background in this shot is really busy, but somehow the dragonfly really stands out. It’s kind of a fun little photo of one of the few remaining dragonflies as we move through October.

Common Whitetail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darners in the air

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on September 30, 2022| 9 Comments »

On Wednesday I spotted a small group of a half-dozen of so Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) patrolling over a large field at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Common Green Darners are one of few species of dragonflies that migrate. Perhaps the ones that I saw are preparing to migrate from the local area or are just stopping off on their journey southward.

It is a fun challenge to point your camera toward the sky and to try and capture photos of these colorful dragonflies as they zoom overhead. The first image is the sharpest image that I was able to capture and it provides a good look at the dragonfly. In many ways, though, I am even happier with the second and third image that include some vegetation and help to provide some context to the shots.

The migration cycle of the Common Green Darner involves three generations. I highly recommend a research article entitled “Tracking dragons: stable isotopes reveal the annual cycle of a long-distance migratory insect” that was published in 2018 in the journal Biology Letters that explains the migration cycle and has some fascinating maps and diagrams. Despite the geeky-sounding title, it is actually quite easy to read and understand.

Here is an extract from the abstract for the article, in case you do not want to read the entire article:

“Using stable-hydrogen isotope analysis of 852 wing samples from eight countries spanning 140 years, combined with 21 years of citizen science data, we determined the full annual cycle of a large migratory dragonfly, the common green darner (Anax junius). We demonstrate that darners undertake complex long-distance annual migrations governed largely by temperature that involve at least three generations. In spring, the first generation makes a long-distance northbound movement (further than 650 km) from southern to northern range limits, lays eggs and dies. A second generation emerges and returns south (further than 680 km), where they lay eggs and die. Finally, a third resident generation emerges, reproducing locally and giving rise to the cohort that migrates north the following spring. Since migration timing and nymph development are highly dependent on temperature, continued climate change could lead to fundamental changes in the biology for this and similar migratory insects.”

Wow!

Common Green Darner

Common Green Darner

Common Green Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue-faced Meadowhawk on the ground

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on September 29, 2022| 2 Comments »

Yesterday I was delighted to spot another Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum), one of my favorite dragonflies, while wandering the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.  The previous one that I saw earlier this month was perched high in a tree, so it was difficult for me to get a good shot of it.

The newest Blue-faced Meadowhawk, a male, was perched on the ground amid the leaf litter, which is where I usually see this species. I love the way that the fallen leaves provide an instant indication that we are now in the autumn season. The drab brown color of those leaves really helps to make the bright red and blue of this spectacular dragonfly really pop.

It was almost impossible to blur out the background completely, but I got low and carefully chose an angle that makes the clutter a bit less distracting. It turned out that this was the only Blue-faced Meadowhawk, so I was happy that I managed to get some decent shots of this one before he flew away.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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