I do not see Carolina Saddlebags dragonflies (Tramea carolina) very often and when I am lucky enough to spot one, it is almost always in flight. According to the Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, “Carolina Saddlebags appear to stick to shallow, thickly vegetated ponds and marshlands,” which is a pretty good description of the place where I spotted this one last Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The same website described the Carolina Saddlebag’s flight tendencies as “Strong flier, often high, rarely perches.”
I spent some time that day watching several male Calico Pennant dragonflies, which are red and has patterned wings, as they flew around over the pond—check out yesterday’s posting to see a photo of a perched male Calico Pennant. Suddenly a larger red dragonfly flew into view—Calico Pennants are approximately 1.3 inches (33 mm) in length, while Carolina Saddlebags are 2.0 inches (51 mm). I visually tracked the Carolina Saddlebags for a while and was able to follow it as it perched high on a stalk of vegetation in an adjacent field.
I was shooting into the light and at a sharp upward angle, which meant that I risked creating a silhouetted image of the back side of the dragonfly. I crouched a little to create a sky/trees background and waited for the dragonfly to give me a profile view. For a brief moment, my wishes came true and I captured the image below.
The image is far from perfect, but I like the way that it turned out. The focus on the dragonfly is a little soft, but I think it works well with the blurred background, creating an aesthetically pleasing little image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 