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Archive for the ‘dragonfly’ Category

Looking for a good angle…

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 23, 2025| 7 Comments »

It is hot! It seems that much of Europe and the United States is currently experiencing sweltering heat. Here in Northern Virginia where I live, high temperatures are going to hover around 100 degrees (38 degrees C) each day this week. I might consider going out with my camera when there are heat advisories, but today there are extreme heat advisories and people are advised not to go out in the heat unless absolutely necessary.

This morning I went over my photos from an outing earlier this month and recalled my thought process when I was taking photos of Common Sanddragon dragonflies (Progomphus obscurus). I was trying to frame the shot in a way that showed the dragonfly’s face and body with an interesting background, which was a bit frustrating, because the Sanddragons tended to perch at the edge of the water facing the water.

I changed positions repeatedly and eventually I got the shot that I was imagining in my head. I love how the green of the dragonfly’s eyes matches some of the mossy vegetation and how the yellow and brown body matches the stones. The dragonfly also seems to be looking up at me and smiling, though I suspect that may be my imagination.

Stay cool and hydrated this week if you have to go outside this week!

Common Sanddragon

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Sanddragon dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on June 21, 2025| 3 Comments »

I spotted these male Common Sanddragon dragonflies(Progomphus obscurus) on 11 June alongside a creek at Wickford Park, a small suburban park in Alexandria, Virginia. As their name suggests, Common Sanddragons prefer sandy beaches over the kinds of vegetation where many other dragonflies most often perch.

The Common Sanddragons were pretty skittish and would fly away as I approached, but would frequently return to “their” beaches a short time later. Most of the time, they would face the water, which made it problematic to get a side shot. However, one perched on a leaf a bit farther from the edge of the water and I was able to capture the first image below, my favorite image of the day.

You may notice that the Common Sanddragons in the photos have their abdomens (their “tails”) raised. I think that may be their normal way of perching or it may be a variation of the obelisk pose used by other species to regulate their body temperature by reducing the amount of their bodies exposed to the direct sunlight.

Common Sanddragon

Common Sanddragon

Common Sanddragon

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First Slaty Skimmer of 2025

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 14, 2025| 5 Comments »

On Wednesday I visited Wickford Park, a small suburban park a few miles from where I live that has a creek that flows through it. In the past I have spotted a variety of dragonflies and damselflies at this location and once again I was rewarded with some new sightings.

I was pleasantly surprised to spot a male Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta), the first one that I have seen this year. During the summer, Slaty Skimmers are quite common at a number of the locations that I visit. The dark slate blue of the mature males of this species and their brown eyes make this species pretty easy to identify.

I thought about cropping this image closer to give a better look at the dragonfly, but decided that I really liked the twisting vegetation on which the dragonfly was perched and ultimately decided to keep the crop loose. What do you think?

Slaty Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Love is in the air

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 13, 2025| 4 Comments »

A dragonfly couple in wheel formation flew by me during a recent visit Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and landed on some nearby vegetation. This acrobatic position is the one used by most dragonflies for mating—sometimes they will mate while in the air and other times they will “do the deed” while perched.

I am not totally certain but I believe that these dragonflies are Unicorn Clubtails (Arigomphus villosipes), a species that I see from time to time in my area.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Unicorn Clubtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Black Saddlebags dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2025| 4 Comments »

I tracked this Black Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea lacerata) in the air for quite some time on 2 June at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge until it finally landed and I was able to capture this shot of it perching in the vegetation.

Black Saddlebags are among the few North American dragonfly species that undertake migrations. Specifically, the offspring of the Black Saddlebag dragonflies migrate south in the fall, while some return north in the spring to breed. It’s impossible for me to know if the dragonfly in this photo started its journey somewhere to the south, but that is certainly a possibility. 

One thing I do know for sure is that Black Saddlebags spend a lot of their time in the air, patrolling back and forth over an area. Most of the time when I spot them, they are flying, so it was nice to have a chance to capture a shot of one on the ground.

Black Saddlebags

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue-faced Meadowhawk (immature male)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I was really surprised to spot this immature Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum) on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In the past I have seen this species only in late summer and early autumn and by the bodies of those dragonflies have always been red in color and the face has had a distinctive blue tinge.

This dragonfly appears to have only recently emerged and that is its the body is tan rather than red—the color will change as he matures. The stripes on the abdomen and the eye color, though, helped me to identify it as a Blue-faced Meadowhawk rather than the somewhat similar Autumn Meadowhawk that has brown eyes.

I was curious to understand why I happened to spot this species a lot earlier than usual and have heard some other dragonfly enthusiasts speculate that the immature Blue-faced Meadowhawks “hide” in the woods and make an appearance only later in the season. One of the experts in Virginia Odonata Facebook group to which I belong noted that “They appear to have two different emergence periods, one in spring and one in late summer/fall.”

Whatever the reason for the early appearance, I was delighted to see and photograph this Blue-faced Meadowhawk, one of my favorite dragonfly species. A few long-time subscribers may recall that I was awarded second place almost ten years ago in a local photography contest for a macro close-up of a Blue-faced Meadowhawk. If you are interested in learning more about that experience and seeing the “award winning” image, check out my blog posting from December 2015 entitled “Second place in local photo contest.”

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female Widow Skimmer

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 5, 2025| 1 Comment »

On Monday I spotted this female Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa), my first one of 2025, during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Widow Skimmers have very distinctive dark patches on their wings that reminded the scientist who named them of the dark mourning crepe worn by Victorian-era widows during their initial stages of mourning and even their Latin name “luctuosa” means “sorrowful.”

The weather in my area has warmed considerably this week and already it feels like summer. Gradually the summer dragonflies, like this Widow Skimmer, are starting to appear. The hot days of summer are a bit uncomfortable for me, but seem to be preferred by many dragonfly species.

 

Widow Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

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Calico Pennants (male)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on June 1, 2025| 5 Comments »

This past Friday I was delighted to spot some mature male Calico Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis elisa) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Earlier this season I had seem some immature male Calico Pennants who still had yellow bodies. As they mature, male Calico Pennants turn red in a pattern that looks like a column of little hearts, as you can see in the second photo below.

Like other “pennant” dragonfly species, Calico Pennants like to perch precariously on the very tips of vegetation. Even the slightest breeze will cause them to flutter, like pennants in the wind.

You can’t help but notice the beautiful patterning in the wings that makes this species stand out from almost all other dragonfly species. Wow!

I took the first two photos when the dragonflies were perched nearby in the vegetation. Periodically the dragonflies would fly out over the water of a small pond at the wildlife refuge and would perch at the water’s edge. The shoreline was really mucky, so I could not get close to these dragonflies. I was happy, though, to be able to capture the final photo below, an “artsy” minimalist view of a Calico Pennant perched at an almost right angle on a slim blade of vegetation.

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 31, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was delighted yesterday during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to spot this beautiful female Needham’s Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula needhami), my first of the year. Later in the year, Needham’s Skimmers will become the most frequent dragonfly that I will encounter at this location but the dragonfly in the photo below was the only one that I saw yesterday.

Needham’s Skimmers are quite distinctive in appearance. Mature males are reddish-orange in color and stand out from the males of other species. Females and immature males have a body coloration that is shared with some other species, but the golden yellow veins at the leading edges of their wings distinguishes them from the others.

Needham's Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Late-season Blue Corporal dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 27, 2025| 4 Comments »

Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) are an early-season dragonfly—they appear in April and are usually gone by the beginning of June. I was therefore happy to spot some Blue Corporals in mid-May during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Blue Corporals perches frequently on low flat surfaces, often on the ground, so they are sometimes hard to see when the ground is cluttered, as it often is at this time of the year.

The dragonfly’s “corporal” stripes on his thorax are really visible in the first photos, so I could immediately identify his species. A short time later I was surprised when I saw a Blue Corporal land on a rusty bit of metal sticking out of the water at the edge of a small pond—I haven’t seen Blue Corporals flying over the water very often. I think this might have been a fence post or some kind of marker, because it appeared to be attached to some concrete.

I was absolutely delighted to be able to captures the texture of the rusty metal and the orange-blue complementary colors make this image particularly eye-catching.

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Spangled Skimmer dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 26, 2025| 2 Comments »

There are quite a few blue dragonflies where I live, so I can’t always rely on color to tell them apart. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to identify a male Spangled Skimmer (Libellula cyanea), because it has a lighter-colored spot beside a black spot on the outer leading edge of each wing—as far as I know, no other dragonfly in our area has multi-colored stigmata, the technical name for those spots.

The stigmata are not there for decoration, but reportedly serve an important role in the flight of dragonflies. I do not really understand the physics of flight, but have read that the stigmata are heavier than the adjoining cells and help to stabilize the vibrations of the wings.

I spotted this male Spangled Skimmer as he was perched in the vegetation at the edge of a small pond at Shrine Mont, an Episcopal Church retreat center, in Orkney Springs, Virginia. Most often I try to get side views of dragonflies in order to get most of the body in focus, but in this case I deliberately tried to focus on the dragonfly’s large, compound eyes, knowing that much of the body would fall out of focus. This allows the viewer’s attention to be drawn immediately to those eyes.

I encourage you to click on the image to get a closer look at the dragonfly’s amazing eyes.

Spangled Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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More flying Common Baskettails

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 24, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was away in the mountains last weekend at a church retreat at Shrine Mont, and Episcopal retreat center in Orkney Springs, Virginia. We had a wonderful time of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation in a really beautiful setting.

There was a small pond at the site where I spotted a number of dragonflies, including some Common Baskettails (Epitheca cynosura) that were patrolling back and forth over the surface of the water. I felt compelled to try to capture images of these dragonflies and had a modest amount of success, as you can see in the photos below. I ended up focusing manually most of the time, because the backgrounds were often cluttered and the focus system had trouble acquiring the dragonflies.

I really like the way that this little series shows the varied backgrounds at the pond. I was also quite happy to focus well enough on the dragonflies that the backgrounds were blurred and non-distracting. In case you are curious, these Common Baskettails were relatively cooperative, hovering a bit over the water and allowing me time to focus on them.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First Blue Dasher of 2025

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 21, 2025| 5 Comments »

I usually try to get close-up shots of dragonflies, but sometimes that is not possible. In those cases, I try to be creative and frame and/or isolate the subject with elements of the environment, as I did with this Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) that I spotted last Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the first one that I have spotted this year.

I really like this composition, despite the fact that the dragonfly is very small in the photo, thanks largely to the undulating green waves of the leaves and the out-of-focus branches in the background. What do you think? Should I have cropped the photo a bit more?

Blue Dasher

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Calico Pennant dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 15, 2025| 4 Comments »

Later in the season I can rely on coloration to distinguish between male and female Calico Pennant  dragonflies (Celithemis elisa)—the bodies of males are red and those of females are yellow. When they first emerge, however, immature males are yellow, so you have to look really closely at a given individual to determine its gender.

The terminal appendages of the dragonfly in the second photo indicate to me that it is a male, despite the fact that its body is yellow. The one in the first photo is also an immature male Calico Pennant dragonfly that is just beginning to change from yellow to red. I love the way that he is perched on the very tip of the flimsy vegetation stalk, holding tightly to it with all of his little legs.

I spotted these two dragonflies on 12 May at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, my first sightings of this colorful dragonfly species of the year. There is something really special about the patterned wings of both genders of Calico Pennants and when viewed from the right angle, as in the second photo, the pattern on their bodies look like a series of hearts.

Calico Pennant

Calico Pennant

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Another Stream Cruiser

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

How do you capture a shot of a dragonfly perched at an angle on a fallen branch? That was my dilemma last week at Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge when I caught a view of a flying dragonfly out of the corner of my eye and saw it land.

My first reaction was to stop and then to slowly bring my camera up to my eye to capture a shot before the dragonfly flew away. I was still a good distance away from the dragonfly but thanks to my telephoto lens I could see that it was a Stream Cruiser dragonfly (Didymops transversa). The final photo shows my initial view of the dragonfly. It is a little hard to tell, but the fallen branch was not very far off of the ground.

Stream Cruisers are long and skinny and a little tough to fit into a photo taken in landscape mode. I moved closer to the dragonfly, knelt down, and circled around a bit to capture the middle image. By getting closer to my subject and altering my shooting angle, I was able to blur out the background better. I still was not quite satisfied with the photo, though, because it conveyed the mistaken impression that the cruiser was perching horizontally.

I circled around some more and decided to take some shots in portrait mode. I held my camera at an angle, trying to match the angle at which the dragonfly was perched, in order to have its entire body in focus. This first shot below, one of the last ones I took, was my favorite. The background is blurred and almost all of the details on the cruiser are pretty sharp.

I realize that the image makes it look like the cruiser was hanging perfectly vertically, which was not exactly true, but the image looks pretty natural to me. Wildlife photographers make a whole series of creative choices that help them to create images that reflect their personal vision of  “reality” in front of their cameras, a kind of subjective reality.

One of my favorite quotations about photography comes from noted photographer Dorothea Lange, who said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” My photos provide some insight into the way that I view the world. Welcome to my world!

Stream Cruiser

Stream Cruiser

Stream Cruiser

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Corporal dragonfly (male)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on May 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I am finally starting to see some male Blue Corporal dragonflies (Ladona deplanata) that are blue in color. In mid-April I started seeing Blue Corporals, but the males that I spotted at that time were all immature, like the one in the second photo below, and shared the coloration of females of the species.

The dragonfly in the first photo is a mature male. I spotted it during a recent hike along a creek in Prince William County. When you compare its feature to those of the immature male, you can see that the adult coloration is definitely bluer and the “shoulder” stripes on its thorax are a bit faded.

I really like the head-on angle that I used to photograph the Blue Corporal in the first photo. Technically only a small portion of the dragonfly is in sharp focus when you shoot from this angle, the eye-to-eye direct contact works well and draws in the viewer. As you can probably tell, I took this from a low angle, which helped to draw attention to the dragonfly’s interesting pose and to separate the subject from the somewhat cluttered background.

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Common Whitetail dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2025| 2 Comments »

Common Whitetails (Plathemis lydia) can be found almost everywhere and are among the first dragonflies to appear in the spring and the last to survive in the fall. I nonetheless enjoy trying to capture creative images of them, like these two that I spotted this past week.

How do wildlife photographers choose their subjects? Some of them are attracted almost exclusively to rare and/or exotic species and are always looking for something new to photograph. Their mentality is close to those of many birders, who keep “life lists” of all the birds they have seen and are always lookin got add another one to the “list.”

Other photographers, like me, are content to photograph a more limited selection of subjects over and over again, hoping to capture something new and different, finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. The first photo is one such example—I love the prominent specular highlights in the image and the unusual pose of this female Common Whitetail with one of her legs extended.

At other times, I am simply trying to compose an image creatively, as in the second photo below. There is nothing super special about this shot of a male Common Whitetail, but I tried to add some visual interest by including some of the vegetation at the base of its perch and a portion of the lily pads in the distance. It is not a prize-winner by any standards, but I like the overall “feel” of the pleasant little image.

Female Common Whitetail

Male Common Whitetail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Common Baskettail dragonfly in flight

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on May 1, 2025| 3 Comments »

What is the most difficult subject that you try to photograph? Quite often my biggest concern is the composition of a photograph, i.e. can I capture a shot that will be visually pleasing. Sometimes that means waiting for a particular expression or wing position or moment of action, but if I am patient enough, I have a pretty good chance of getting some decent shots.

Each year, though, I try try to challenge myself to capture some “impossible shots” of dragonflies in flight. Of course, such shots are not actually impossible, but they are really difficult to pull off. Some really high-end modern mirrorless cameras have focusing systems that are so good that they can lock focus on a moving dragonfly, but I mostly use cameras with technology that is over a decade old. Usually I will try to track a dragonfly through the viewfinder of my camera and focus on it manually. It’s a little easier when the dragonfly is flying a somewhat predictable path over the water and ideally hovering a bit.

This past Monday I had my first experience this season with in-flight photography when I spotted several Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) patrolling over the water of a small pond at Occoquan Regional Park. I managed to get a decent number of shots in frame, but most of them were out of focus—clearly I am a little rusty and need more practice to regain the necessary hand-to-eye coordination. The first shot below is cropped quite a bit, but is one of my best shots from my little session.

Common Baskettail dragonflies, which are only about 1.6 inches (41 mm) in length, spend a lot of their time in the air, but on that day I was fortunate when one of them decided to take a break and perched for a few moments low in the nearby vegetation. The second and third shots below provide a good side view of this beautiful little dragonfly, including its distinctive terminal appendages (the tip of its “tail”).

It’s a fun challenge for my patience and skills as a photographer to attempt to capture shots of dragonflies in flight and luck certainly plays a big part in achieving any success whatsoever. I can just about guarantee that I will be featuring a few more in-flight dragonfly photos in the upcoming months as the insects and I become more active outdoors.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Perching Swamp Darner dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on April 29, 2025| 3 Comments »

Yesterday I decided to visit Occoquan Regional Park in nearby Lorton, Virginia to search for some dragonflies. Some of you know that the place that I visit most frequently is Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, so you may be a little confused, because they both have “Occoquan” in their names. The Wildlife Refuge is run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, whereas the Regional Park is run by Fairfax County.

The locations are only a few miles apart, but their habitats are different enough that I tend to see some different dragonfly species at each spot. I was hoping to see some Spiketail dragonflies, but came up empty-handed. As I was nearing the end of my adventure, however, a large dragonfly flew overhead. I did not get a very good look at it, but its size, shape, and flight profile suggested to me that it was from the Darner family.

A short while later, I spotted another large dragonfly (possibly the same one) flying around some vegetation and was thrilled when it landed. At the precise moment that it landed, my vision was partially blocked by some branches, but I had a good idea of where I hoped the dragonfly was perched. I moved a few steps slowly and silent to get an unobstructed view of the dragonfly.

I held my breath when I saw that it was a Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), the largest dragonfly in my area at about 3.5 inches (89 mm) in length. Wow! Judging from its terminal appendages (the tip of the “tail”), I am pretty sure that this is a female. I took the second photo below initially, afraid to move closer for fear of spooking the dragonfly.

I then stepped a little closer and moved up and down as I tried to get a better shot. My options were limited, because the dragonfly was perched about 10 feet up (about 3 meters) and was surrounded by intertwined vines and branches. I think that the first shot below is a marginal improvement on my first shot and encourage you to click on it to get a better look at the Swamp Darners beautiful markings, including its spectacular eyes.

I suspect that this park will be in my regular rotation of places to visit as additional dragonfly species continue to emerge.

Swamp Darner

Swamp Darner

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Baskettail in late April

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 26, 2025| 3 Comments »

I am not sure that I can say that dragonfly activity is at a peak yet, but I did see a whole lot more dragonflies this past Wednesday in Prince William County than in previous trips there earlier in April.  I was particularly delighted to spot some Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) that were perched—quite often I have seen them in the past only when they were flying.

The Common Baskettail in the first photo seems to be a mature male. I love the way that I was able to capture an image that shows the way that it hangs when perching and the distinctive terminal appendages that always remind me of the handles of some pliers that are wrapped in plastic.

The dragonfly in the second photo looks to be a recently emerged Common Baskettail. Its eyes are still pale and its wings are very clear and are probably not fully hardened yet.

I got a late start this year in finding spring dragonflies, but feel that I have more or less caught up as we near the end of April, though there are still some spring species that I have not yet seen.

Common Baskettail

Common Baskettail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Stream Cruiser dragonflies

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2025| 1 Comment »

Dragonfly season has definitely begun. I spotted several Stream Cruiser dragonflies (Didymops transversa) on Wednesday this week while I was exploring several creeks in Prince William Park here in Virginia. Stream Cruisers are pretty easy to identify, with a single stripe on their thoraxes, pale-colored tips of their abdomens, and long, thin legs. They tend to perch at an angle or to hang vertically.

Stream Cruisers are one of the earliest dragonfly species to appear each spring and it was exciting to spot them. They tend to be habitat specialists and are generally found near forest streams with good flow and rocks.

Stream Cruiser

Stream Cruiser

Stream Cruiser

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Ashy Clubtails in April

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The weather has warmed up considerably and I have started to see many of the spring dragonflies and even some of those that will remain with us through the summer. Last Friday I spotted numerous Ashy Clubtail dragonflies (Phanogomphus lividus), many of which appeared to have emerged recently, judging from their very shiny wings and pale coloration, as you can see in the first photo. Getting shots of them was tough, because they perch on the ground in the vegetation, are only about 2 inches in length (50 mm), and are often very skittish.

Kevin Munroe described well the challenges of finding early spring dragonflies in his wonderful Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, “Searching for dragonflies in spring is a wholly different endeavor than finding them in July and August. Most summer dragonflies spend their time at sunny ponds or open fields, and engage in showy displays and aerial battles – they are, in a word, visible. The majority belong to the showy and successful skimmer family, along with a few darners and emeralds. The spring dragonfly community is more diverse, and has a very different M.O. They are for the most part, habitat specialists, with low population numbers, secretive habits, and denizens of woodland streams, not sunny ponds. Spiketails, Petaltails, Clubtails, Darners and Emeralds are all out and about in spring. To find these species in April and May, one must spend many hours searching forest edges, woodland clearings, and the banks of springs, streams and creeks.”

In fact, I photographed these Ashy Clubtails in the vegetation near a creek in Prince William County and I can testify to the fact that I walked about for hours searching for them. I am pretty happy with the photos that I was able to take. I especially like the second photo that has some really cool shadows that seem to magnify the number of legs and wings of the dragonfly.

The final two photos were taken only a few seconds apart and show the wings in very different positions. The penultimate photo shows the wings in a typical outstretched pose, while the final photo shows the wings clasped together over the dragonfly’s body, similar to the way that damselflies hold their wings when perched. In my experience recently emerged dragonflies sometimes flex their wings this way as fluid is pumped into the wings and the wings are hardening.

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

Ashy Clubtail

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Uhler’s Sundragon at last

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , on April 21, 2025| 4 Comments »

I was delighted to finally spot my first Uhler’s Sundragon (Helocordulia uhleri) of the year on 18 April near a small pond in Prince William County, Virginia. I went searching for these dragonflies, which are usually the first ones I see in the spring, on several occasions in late March and early April, but came up empty-handed. Uhler’s Sundragons are usually around for only about a month, soI was fearful that I might miss them this season.

I have a pretty good idea of the type of habitat that this early season dragonfly prefers and tend to begin my searches by returning to spots where I have photographed them in the past and then begin to widen my search. Quite often this means that I spend a lot of time walking and watching, trying to remain alert to any movement in the air or on the ground.

As you can see in the first photo, Uhler’s Sundragons often hang from a perch, rather than perch horizontally, which makes it a little easier to get a detailed shot. When the dragonfly perches low to the ground, as in the second photo when it hung from the stem of a fallen leaf, I end up doing some improvised acrobatics to capture an image.

Uhler's Sundragon

Uhler's Sundragon

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue Corporal—first dragonfly of 2025

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 18, 2025| 5 Comments »

I am a little late in finding my first dragonflies of 2025, but on Wednesday (15 April) I finally spotted some Blue Corporals (Ladona deplanata) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As an added bonus, the first image also shows a metallic-green Six-spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) that was crawling past the dragonfly.

Blue Corporals, one of the first dragonflies to emerge in the spring, are relatively easy to identify because they have two stripes of their shoulders—two stripes is the traditional marking for the rank of corporal in the armed forces. When they first emerge, males and females have similar colorations, but the males turn blue as they mature. Judging from the shape of their terminal appendages, I believe that the dragonflies in the first two images are females and the one in the final photo is an immature male.

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

Blue Corporal

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Still around…

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on November 21, 2024| 3 Comments »

I was delighted on Monday to spot multiple Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. During the past couple of weeks I saw a few female Autumn Meadowhawks, but until this week I had not photographed a single male—I think that all of the dragonflies that I spotted that day were males. Females are mostly brown with touches of red, while the bodies of males are mostly red, as you can see in the photo below.

Autumn Meadowhawks are only about 1.2 inches (30 mm) in length, so they are difficult to spot, despite their bright coloration. At this time of the year when fallen leaves litter the ground, they tend to blend in pretty well with their surroundings.

I was using my Tamron 150-600mm lens with a monopod, my preferred combination for photographing birds, so it was a challenge to focus on such tiny subjects as dragonflies. I was persistent, however, and was successful in capturing some pretty detailed shots of them.

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonflies in November

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on November 11, 2024| 6 Comments »

After a month away on a car road trip, I finally returned home last week. On Friday I ventured out to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge to see if I could find any dragonflies. It is pretty late in the season for most dragonfly species, but I was optimistic that I might be able to find some Autumn Meadowhawks (Sympetrum vicinum) that are almost always the final dragonflies to disappear in late autumn.

Happily I was able to spot a half-dozen or so Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies, although I was able to capture images of only a few of them. The female in the first photo was quite cooperative and landed on a colorful fallen leaf. The dragonfly in the second photo is also a female and I am pretty sure that it too is an Autumn Meadowhawk—there is a slight chance that it could be a Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum), though it would be unusual to see that species so late in the season.

The final image is a long distance shot of another female Autumn Meadowhawk that is almost perfectly camouflaged. You will need to look very carefully at the upper edge of the leaf in order to spot the little dragonfly. I watched it land at that spot, but actually could not see the dragonfly when I took this shot. I will probably be out again with my camera later this week diligently searching for more dragonflies, the final survivors of the 2024 dragonfly season.

Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served or are continuing to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States. As someone who served for 20 years in the U.S. Army, this day is a special one for me. It seems a bit trite to say “Thank you for your service,” but those words reflect my heartfelt thanks to those men and women who voluntarily defend our freedoms.

In other parts of the world this day is celebrated as Armistice Day (or Remembrance Day) and I remember well being in Paris, France on this day several times and observing the impressive ceremonies on the Champs-Élysées to commemorate the armistice that ended World War I. Some thought at the time that it would be the “war to end all wars,” but, alas, those hopes proved to be unfounded.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

Autumn Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Blue-faced Meadowhawks in October

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , on October 6, 2024| 5 Comments »

I was delighted on Thursday to encounter my first Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum ambiguum) of the season at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. A few minutes later I got a peek at a pair of mating Blue-faced Meadowhawks—spring is not the only season for love.

Blue-faced Meadowhawks are one of the prettiest dragonfly species that I have ever encountered. I love the contrast between their turquoise faces and their bright red bodies. Generally I spot them in the early autumn, just as most of the other dragonfly species are starting to disappear.

Blue-faced Meadowhawks will be around for a bit longer and then their “cousins,” the Autumn Meadowhawks will end up as the last remaining dragonflies of the season. In some years I have seen Autumn Meadowhawks as late as mid-December and a fellow photographer spotted one in early January one year. Autumn Meadowhawks also have red bodies, but have brown eyes.

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

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First dragonfly of October

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, tagged , , , , , , on October 4, 2024| 5 Comments »

I know that there should be more dragonflies still around, but this past Wednesday, this Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) was the only dragonfly that I spotted during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The day was cool and gloomy with intermittent drizzle, which almost certainly contributed to the relative scarcity of dragonflies. This month the number of dragonflies will continue to drop, but there still should be some Autumn Meadowhawks and Blue-faced Meadowhawks flying into November.

Blue Dashers are one of our most common dragonfly species and are usually among the first species to emerge in the spring and to disappear in the fall. The dragonfly in this photo was perched at the edge of a small pond. I was happy to capture this shot, considering that I had switched to my longer Tamron 150-600mm lens, which sometimes is a bit soft when extended to 600mm. I had changed lens in anticipation of seeing more birds, which largely was not the case that day.

Blue Dasher

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female Great Blue Skimmer

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Several months ago, Great Blue Skimmer dragonflies (Libellula vibrans) were quite common at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As we approach the end of September, though, they have now become an uncommon sight and those that I do spot are often survivors that show signs of advanced age.

Last week I spotted this female Great Blue Skimmer. This species is quite easy to identify, because both males and females have white faces. Younger females are yellow and brown in color, but those colors gradually get duller and darker with age. Interestingly enough, their eyes also change colors—younger females have eyes that are reddish brown over a dull green and as they get older their eyes often become blue, like those of the dragonfly in the photo below.

I could not help but notice that this dragonfly has some damage to her wings, a frequent sight as the dragonflies get older. Still, she was getting along pretty well, a testament to the resilience and determination of these senior citizens of the dragonfly world.

Great Blue Skimmer

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

 

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Migrating helicopters

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2024| 2 Comments »

It is getting to be that time of the year when certain dragonfly species, like the Common Green Darner (Anax junius), begin to migrate southward. Most people are aware of the migration of Monarch butterflies, but are surprised to learn that some dragonflies also migrate.

The Science News website described this amazing migration in an on-line article, “At least three generations make up the annual migration of Common Green Darner dragonflies. The first generation emerges in the southern United States, Mexico and the Caribbean starting around February and flies north. There, those insects lay eggs and die, giving rise to second generation that migrates south until late October. (Some in that second generation don’t fly south until the next year, after overwintering as nymphs.) A third generation, hatched in the south, overwinters there before laying eggs that will start the entire process over again.”

Last week I spotted a formation of helicopters flying in formation overhead as I was searching for dragonflies at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. For a moment the helicopters, which look to be UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, reminded me of migratory dragonflies. Before long their loud engines disturbed my reverie and I realized that they were probably flying to Fort Belvoir, a nearby military base.

The image I captured of the helicopters may look like it was turned into black-and-white after the fact, but that was actually the way that it came out of the camera. I really like the stark,  monochromatic feel of image that works well with the subject.

helicopters

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

After searching diligently for the last few weeks, today yesterday I finally spotted a Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In the past this species has appeared on the scene in early September and is quite uncommon in my area.

As you can see from the photos, Fine-lined Emeralds like to hang vertically when they are perched, unlike many of the familiar dragonflies that I see throughout the summer that perch horizontally. When I spotted this dragonfly initially, it was flying back and forth at about knee-height and I immediately suspected that it was my target species. I have been watching dragonflies for a number of years and can identify some species (or at least make a good basis) on the basis of their flight profile.

I first spotted this species in 2017 at this refuge and have searched for them every year since then. The last few years it has grown increasingly hard to find Fine-lined Emeralds, so I was really happy yesterday to see this one.

This was actually my second encounter of the day with the species. A bit earlier, I observed one flying, but lost it in the vegetation while tracking it. This one might possibly be the same dragonfly, though it was far enough away that it could be a second one. Later in the day in another part of the refuge I caught a glimpse of another one as it zoomed by me. I chased after it, but came up empty-handed.

I will probably return to the wildlife refuge early next week to see if I can find another Fine-lined Emerald or perhaps I will find a Blue-faced Meadowhawk or an Autumn Meadowhawk, two other autumn dragonfly species.

Fine-lined Emerald

Fine-lined Emerald

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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