Anax junius | Mike Powell

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Common Green Darner in Texas

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Bastrop Texas, Canon 7D, Colorado River, comm, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Tamron 18-400mm 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.

© 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 Anax junius, Canon 7D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonflies in flight, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA 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!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner in August

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 7D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, male Common Green Darner, Tamron 18-400mm on August 30, 2022| 12 Comments »

I was thrilled on Saturday when one of my fellow dragonfly enthusiasts spotted this colorful male Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge and pointed it out to me. Common Green Darners are relatively common, but most of the time when I see them they are patrolling overhead, so it was quite a treat to find one perched.

Common Green Darners are one of the few dragonfly species that migrate. According to Kevin Munroe, creator of the wonderful Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, “Common Greens seen in our area in early spring are in fact migrants from points south. They emerge in the Southeast and fly north, arriving here late March thru May. After their long flight, they mate, lay eggs and die. Their young emerge in July and August. Congregating in large swarms, this second generation begins flying south in September. They lay eggs that fall, after arriving in their southern destinations, and die. When their young hatch in March, they fly back to Northern Virginia and it starts again—a two generation migration.” Wow!

This dragonfly was hanging on the same evergreen tree where I recently photographed a Russet-tipped Clubtail—see my blog posting entitled “Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly.” I guess that I will be checking that tree from now on to see if lightning will strike again. When I am hunting for dragonflies, I tend to return first to places where I have seen them previously and then widen my search. Sometime it pays off, though, as is the case for all wildlife photography, there are certainly no guarantees of success.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner in flight

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 7D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonflies in flight, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 18-400mm, Woodbridge VA on August 20, 2022| 6 Comments »

I was hoping on Tuesday that this male Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge would land, but his stamina was impressive and I had to content myself with a couple of shots as he zoomed by overhead.

I missed focus on most of my shot attempts, but the first shot below turned out pretty well—I encourage you to click on the image to see some of the beautiful colors and details of this dragonfly.

Tracking the dragonfly visually and keeping it in the viewfinder is a real challenge. I was intrigued to see that my camera more or less held onto focus in the second shot, despite the fact that the dragonfly had flown closer to the foliage.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Climbing out of a pit

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge on May 8, 2022| 6 Comments »

I spotted this Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) during a recent trip to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It was patrolling overhead within a fairly confined area and I was able to track it visually until it finally landed. The photo makes it look like the dragonfly was climbing its way out of a deep pit. In reality, however, it was hanging from some roots sticking out from a big pile of dirt.

I was a little surprised that I was able to capture as much detail as I did, given that I was shooting with my Tamron 150-600mm lens fully extended to 600mm. Supposedly the lens is soft at 600mm, but good stabilization techniques (including using a monopod) and a little tweaking with software produce images that are acceptably sharp to my eyes.

I love the multi-colored bodies of Common Green Darners, one of the largest dragonflies in our area with a body length of about 3 inches (76 mm). I think that this is a male. Mature males normally have bright blue abdomens, but they may turn purple when temperatures are low, which seemed to be the case when I took this photo. Females, by contrast, have abdomens that tend to be a mixture of tan and gray-green. For both genders, the thorax (the “chest” area) is bright green.

If you click on the image, you can get a better look at the dragonfly’s “bullseye” marking, the black and blue dot that is found on the “nose” of both male and female Common Green Darners. I am always thrilled when I manage to get a shot that captures the bullseye so well.

We are in the midst of a spell of cool, rainy weather so I have not seen any dragonflies in over a week. The weather is forecasted to warm up a bit, so I am hoping that I will have better success in the upcoming week.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hunger, not lust

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, Lorton VA, Occoquan Regional Park, Plathemis lydia, Tamron 180mm on April 28, 2022| 3 Comments »

I was tracking a Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) in my viewfinder yesterday at Occoquan Regional Park, when suddenly another dragonfly flew into the frame. The two dragonflies appeared to hook up in mid-air and I assumed that they were mating. When they landed in some nearby vegetation, however, I discovered that it was hunger and not lust that had brought them together. The Common Green Darner was having lunch with a Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia), and it was the main course.

Dragonflies feed on other live insects and they aren’t picky eaters—they will eat any insect they can catch, including other dragonflies. Midges and mosquitoes make up the bulk of their diet, but dragonflies also prey on flies, bees, beetles, moths, butterflies, and other flying insects. The larger the dragonfly, the larger the prey insect it can consume.

As you can see from the photo, Common Green Darners are quite large, with an overall length of approximately three inches (76 mm), while Common Whitetails are considerably smaller, with an overall length of approximately 1.7 inches (43 mm).

Common Green Darners are really powerful fliers too and are one of only a handful of dragonfly species that migrate. The adult Common Green Darners that I see this early in the season are likely to be migrants from locations further south. Kevin Munroe described their migration really well on the wonderful Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website:

“They emerge in the Southeast and fly north, arriving here late March thru May. After their long flight, they mate, lay eggs and die. Their young emerge in July and August. Congregating in large swarms, this second generation begins flying south in September. They lay eggs that fall, after arriving in their southern destinations, and die. When their young hatch in March, they fly back to N. VA and it starts again – a two generation migration.”

The Common Whitetail in the photo probably emerged only recently and may have been particularly vulnerable. Some may find this photo to be a little disturbing or a bit too graphic, but I think it shows the “circle of life” in nature. Yesterday the Common Green Darner was the predator, but tomorrow it could become the prey of a bird or some other creature higher up on the food chain—all creatures have to eat.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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In-flight photography

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Carolina Saddlebags, Carolina Saddlebags dragonfly, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, Epiaeschna heros, Prince William County VA, Swamp Darner, Swamp Darner dragonfly, Tamron 180mm, Tramea carolina on May 30, 2021| 21 Comments »

I can’t help myself—whenever I see a dragonfly moving through the air, I feel compelled to try to capture an image of the dragonfly in flight. It is an almost impossible challenge and success is often dependent as much on luck as it is on skill. Last Thursday as I was exploring in Prince William County, I was feeling particularly patient and repeatedly spotted dragonflies flying.

Early in the day at a small pond, I spotted a Carolina Saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea carolina) and a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) that were patrolling over the water. In situations like this when the dragonflies are flying at a constant height, it is marginally easier to get shots, because there is one fewer variable than when the dragonfly is moving up and down.The Carolina Saddlebags was flying a little closer to the shore, but I had to contend with all of the vegetation that wanted to grab my camera’s focus, so I focused manually (first photo). The Common Green Darner was flying over the open water that presented a less obstructed background, but it filled such a small part of the frame that again I was forced to focus manually—my camera’s auto-focus had trouble focusing quickly on the moving dragonfly (second photo).

My greatest challenge, however, came later in the day. If I were to assign a degree of difficulty to my photos, the final photo would be near the top of the list. When I moved to a new location and got out of my car, I immediately spotted a group of large dragonflies frenetically flying through the air, feasting on insects as they flew. The dragonflies were moving in unpredictable ways, constantly changing their flight altitude and speed. Unlike some dragonflies that hover a bit when patrolling, these dragonflies were in constant high-speed motion.

I did my best to track the dragonflies visually, but it was tough to even get one in my viewfinder. I was ecstatic when I finally managed to capture a more or less in-focus image of one of the Swamp Darners (Epiaeschna heros) as it zoomed past me relatively low to the ground, as you can see in the final photo.

When it comes to wildlife photography, some shots are easy and straightforward—I see something and take the shot and that is it. At other times, I have to work really hard and take a lot of shots before I can get a potentially good one. Last Thursday definitely fell in the latter category more than in the former one. Was all that effort worth it? I think so, but I must confess that at times I felt like Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

If you want to get a more detailed look at the details of the three flying dragonflies, be sure to click on the images.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner (female)

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, female Common Green Darner, Prince William County VA, Tamron 180mm on May 7, 2021| 13 Comments »

I spent a lot of time tracking this Common Green Darner (Anax junius) as it patrolled over a field of vegetation yesterday in Prince William County and was thrilled when it finally perched for a moment. Like most darners, this one was hanging vertically and as I got closer, I was immediately struck by the muted color of its abdomen.

I could tell from its terminal appendages that it was a female and I suddenly realized that most of the Common Green Darners I have photographed in the past have been males that often have bright blue abdomens. It had never really struck me that female Common Green Darners have tan-colored abdomens. It is not that surprising, though, because, as is the case in much of the animal kingdom, female dragonflies generally tend to have more subdued colors than their more ostentatious male counterparts.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner in April

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Lorton VA, Occoquan Regional Park, Tamron 180mm on April 28, 2021| 13 Comments »

I have been seeing Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) in the air for several weeks now, but only this past Monday did I finally catch one taking a break from patrolling while I was tracking it at Occoquan Regional Park. It is quite common to see Common Green Darners patrolling high overhead in a wide variety of habitats, darting to and fro, feeding on the fly.

These large colorful dragonflies—about three inches (75 mm) in length—are among the first to be spotted in the early spring and among the last to disappear late in the autumn. How is such a long flight season possible? The simple answer is that Common Green Darners are a migratory dragonfly species. Kevin Munroe described the migratory cycle on his wonderful Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website in these words:

“Common Greens seen in our area in early spring are in fact migrants from points south. They emerge in the Southeast and fly north, arriving here late March thru May. After their long flight, they mate, lay eggs and die. Their young emerge in July and August. Congregating in large swarms, this second generation begins flying south in September. They lay eggs that fall, after arriving in their southern destinations, and die. When their young hatch in March, they fly back to Northern Virginia and it starts again— a two generation migration.”

I love the bright and cheery colors of the Common Green Darner, colors that reminded one of my Facebook viewers of a tropical parrot. I also really like the bullseye pattern on the dragonfly’s “nose,” just below its large compound eyes. Be sure to click on the image if you want to see these details better.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Spectacular Green Darner

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm on October 10, 2020| 32 Comments »

The beautiful colors on this dragonfly that I spotted yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park are so amazing that it it hard for me to call it “common,” even though I know that it is a Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius). I initially spotted this dragonfly when it was patrolling over a field and was thrilled when I saw it land nearby.

Although my telephoto lens zooms out to 600mm, I needed to extend it to only 450mm, because Common Green Darners are so large, about 3 inches (75 mm) in length. As a result, the images were sharper and I was able to capture a lot of detail. I encourage you to double-click on the images to see those details, like the bullseye pattern on the top of the “nose” and the spectacular rainbow colors of this dragonfly.

Common Green Darners are a migratory species that flies in swarms so big that they can be picked up on weather radar. This dragonfly seemed to be alone, so it could be a migratory straggler or simply a part of the local population.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mating Common Green Darners

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, mating Common Green Darners, mating dragonflies, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on April 13, 2020| 22 Comments »

When they are mating, many dragonflies adopt a very conspicuous heart-shaped “wheel” position, like this pair of Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) that I spotted last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The process begins when the male, in this case the dragonfly with the blue abdomen, grabs a female by the back of her neck with claspers at the end of his abdomen that fit into species-specific grooves in the female. The two dragonflies are then hooked together, often for extended periods of time.

I couldn’t help but notice the sharp thorns on the branch that these dragonflies had selected for their encounter. Yikes—that is living life on the edge. After I took some photos, feeling a little like a voyeur, I decided to give the couple some privacy. When I circled back a short time time later, the dragonflies were gone, presumably having done their part to perpetuate the species.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First dragonflies of the season

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Ashy Clubtail, Ashy Clubtail dragonfly, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Phanogomphus lividus, Prince William County VA, Tamron 180mm on April 6, 2020| 18 Comments »

Last Friday I photographed my first dragonflies of the spring, a male Common Green Darner (Anax junius) and a female Ashy Clubtail (Phanogomphus lividus). The Common Green Darner is probably a migratory dragonfly that is just passing through as it heads north—we do have local-born members of this species, but it is too early for them to have emerged.

The Ashy Clubtail, which was actually the first dragonfly that I photographed, almost certainly emerged locally. When a dragonfly emerges, its wings are really shiny and the wings of this Ashy Clubtail were definitely sparkling in the sunlight. According to the local flight calendar, the Ashy Clubtail is one of the earliest dragonflies in our area to emerge, but I have never seen one this early before.

As you can see, I captured the images of both of these dragonflies when they were perched flat on the ground. There were dry leaves all around, which made a stealthy approach almost impossible and focusing on the dragonfly was a bit of a challenge.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Rainbow dragonfly

Posted in Art, Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Lorton VA, Old Colchester Park and Preserve, Tamron 180mm on September 27, 2019| 16 Comments »

Last week I spotted this male Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) while exploring with fellow photographer and dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford . This beauty was part of a swarm of dragonflies we observed that was probably preparing for migration.

As I processed these images I was struck by the wonderful range of colors on this dragonfly’s body. As its name suggests, a Common Green Darner has lots of green, but this one also has beautiful shades of blue and violet. I have included two images that may look very similar, but in fact were taken with two different cameras from the same spot.

In the first shot, I zoomed in close with my SX50 super zoom camera to try to capture as much detail as I could. I took the second shot with a fixed-focus lens. The heavy vegetation did not permit me to get any closer, so I tried to compose the image to include more of the environment.

Personally I like the second shot a bit more than the first—I prefer the additional “breathing space” around the subject and I think the second shot is a little sharper. Do you prefer one of them over the other?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Ready for migration

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, migration, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on September 18, 2019| 10 Comments »

On Monday I spotted this freshly emerged female Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It won’t be long before it will be time for her to migrate southward. Yes, some dragonflies actually migrate.

When I first started getting into dragonflies, it never struck me that dragonflies could travel long distances. I figured that they lived and died in a relatively confined geographic area. Although that may be true for some dragonfly species, that is not the case for the Common Green Darner. One of my favorite websites, Dragonflies of Northern Virginia, describes the amazing saga of this species in these words:

“They emerge in the Southeast and fly north, arriving here late March thru May. After their long flight, they mate, lay eggs and die. Their young emerge in July and August. Congregating in large swarms, this 2nd generation begins flying south in September. They lay eggs that fall, after arriving in their southern destinations, and die. When their young hatch in March, they fly back to Northern Virginia and it starts again – a two generation migration.”

Many of us have gotten used to using Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to help us navigate or use Google Maps. How do these dragonflies know where to go? How do they find a destination that they have never visited before? It boggles my mind and fills me with awe and wonder when I contemplate questions like these.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Crouching photographer, hidden dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon SX50, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Orkney Springs VA, Shrine Mont, Shrine Mont Retreat Center on May 7, 2019| 12 Comments »

During my church retreat in Orkney Springs, Virginia this past weekend, I played hide-and-seek with a Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius). It repeatedly flew teasingly close to me, trying to entice me to chase it. I took the bait and pursued the big dragonfly for quite some time as it flew in and out of the reeds.

It tried to hide by hanging from some vegetation by the tips of its tiny toes—the second photo shows my initial view of the hidden dragonfly. By moving to the side and crouching low, I was able to peer through the vegetation and eventually spot the dragonfly. Realizing that it was found, the dragonfly tilted its head toward me and smiled, as you can see in the first image shown below.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner on a tree

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Laurel MD, Patuxent Research Refuge, Tamron 180mm on April 24, 2019| 9 Comments »

Sometimes I can identify a dragonfly by the way that it perches. Some dragonflies like to perch high on the tip of vegetation and some perch low to the ground or even on the ground itself. Some will hang vertically or perch horizontally or at an angle somewhere in between.

On the rare occasions in the past when I have seen a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) perch (usually I see them in the air), it has usually been in vegetation relatively low to the ground. I was therefore surprised to see one spreadeagled on the side of a tree on Monday at Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland. Of course, the bright green color and the bull’s-eye pattern on the face made it easy to identify this dragonfly, despite her unconventional perching pattern.

I have learned from experience that the wildlife subjects that I love to photograph often do not look or act the way in the ways described in books. They are may also be found in different habitats or at different times than the range maps indicate. That is what makes this type of photography so challenging and so rewarding and it means I have to be constantly alert and vigilant when out in the field.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Colorful Green Darner

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Canon SX50, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, green darner, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on August 5, 2018| 6 Comments »

Normally when I see a Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) it is patrolling in the air and it is mostly a greenish blur. This past Friday, however, I was fortunate enough to spot one on the ground, nestled low in the vegetation at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. At this closer distance I was able to marvel at all of the wonderful colors of this beautiful dragonfly.

Be sure to click on the images to see the details of this dragonfly at higher resolution. Did you notice the blue color near the tip of its “nose?”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Near impossible task

Posted in dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 18, 2018| 11 Comments »

Are you patient and persistent? If so, you have the right temperament to try to photograph dragonflies in flight. Every dragonfly season I spent endless hours in mostly fruitless attempts to capture in-flight images of dragonflies. One of my friends on Facebook described this as “a near impossible task” and, of course, she is right.

My first somewhat successful effort this year was a shot of a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) patrolling above one of the paths at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge last Friday. As you might suspect, getting the moving dragonfly in focus is one of the biggest challenges, because the subject is too small for the camera’s autofocus to engage. Sometimes I will focus manually as I track the dragonfly and sometimes I will use a zone focusing technique in which I preset the focusing distance and wait (and hope) for the dragonfly to fly into the zone.

A near impossible task? It certainly is, but I enjoy the challenge the way that its pursuit confounds observers—one such observer watched me closely for several minutes on Friday and couldn’t figure out what I was trying to photograph.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First dragonfly of the spring

Posted in dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on April 14, 2018| 10 Comments »

Dragonflies are one of my favorite subjects to photograph and each spring I eagerly await their reappearance. Yesterday I captured my first image of one this season, a beautiful Common Green Darner (Anax junius) that I spotted at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Common Green Darners are a migratory species and the ones that we see in early spring, like the one in the photograph, probably flew here from somewhere further south. Once they arrive, they have a series of tasks to accomplish—they mate, lay eggs, and die. The next generation of Green Darners will emerge in a few months and fly south in the autumn. That generation will die in the south and the following generation will fly north in the spring.

What an amazing life cycle!

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Rainbow dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon SX50, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, green darner, Green Darner dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge VA on September 21, 2017| 5 Comments »

On Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge I was thrilled to spend some time hanging out with this Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius). The range of colors on its body is so remarkable that I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I zoomed in on it. An expert in a dragonfly forum on Facebook noted to me that the dragonfly is a teneral one, which means that it has only newly emerged. That would account for its relatively pale, almost pastel coloration and the perfect condition of its wings. If you click on the image, you can see even better some of the remarkable details of this dragonfly, like the colorful pattern on its “nose.”

The beautiful dragonfly was hanging vertically only a few inches above the ground, in a pretty safe location. I kept my distance as I took some photos and departed quietly, conscious of the fact that a dragonfly is fragile and vulnerable at this early stage of development. It remained in place as I slowly slipped away.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Depositing eggs

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, ovipositing, Tamron 180mm macro on April 12, 2016| 3 Comments »

Now that the weather is warming up, I am searching in earnest for dragonflies, one of my favorite subjects to photograph. I am still having difficulties locating native-born species, but fortunately there are some migratory species in the area. Yesterday I spotted this Common Green Darner (Anax junius) dragonfly couple in tandem, with the male holding on as the female deposited her eggs in the floating vegetation.

In some dragonfly species the male will hover above the female as she oviposits, but in others, like the Common Green Darner, the male remains attached. I suspect that this method is one way of ensuring that the eggs that the male has fertilized are deposited before the female hooks up with another male.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Seeing green

Posted in Amphibians, Birds, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Butorides virescens, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, green frog, green heron, green metallic bee, Huntley Meadows Park, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, St. Patrick's Day on March 17, 2016| 8 Comments »

As I was preparing to leave work yesterday, one of my co-workers reminded me to wear something green today to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Some people go a little crazy on this day, drinking green beer and consuming food that has been dyed to an unnaturally bright shade of green.

To celebrate the day, I thought I’d reprise a few photos of some of my favorite green creatures, including the Common Green Darner (Anax junius), the Green Heron (Butorides virescens), a green metallic bee, and little green frogs. If you are viewing the images in the blog itself (and not the Reader), click on any one of the photos to see a larger image in slide-show mode.

For those of you also celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, be safe and have fun.

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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner

Posted in Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on October 1, 2015| 6 Comments »

I have been seeing Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) hunting high over the fields the last couple of weeks as they prepare for migration, but have not been able to get any shots of them. In theory, they are easier to photograph when they land, but these dragonflies like to hang vertically low to the ground, often in areas with heavy vegetation. I have been repeated frustrated by spotting them only after they have taken to the air as I got close to them.

This past Friday, though, I saw one land nearby when I was already in a field of waist-high vegetation. Judging from the blue abdomen, it’s a male Common Green Darner. I was struck by the relatively dark color of much of the abdomen of this particular individual. When doing a little research at my favorite website for local dragonflies, dragonfliesnva.com, I learned that Common Green Darners deal with the problem of cool weather “by having dark-colored platelets in their blood that rise to the surface when it’s cold, darkening their abdomen color, therefore attracting more sun. On bright, hot days, those dark platelets sink, and the abdomen turns bright bluagain, now reflecting light.”

The dragonfly was surrounded by dried vegetation and there was no way that I could get an uncluttered background for my shots. Fortunately, however, the the colors of the vegetation are so muted that the gorgeous blue and green of the dragonfly really stand out. In the first shot, I zoomed all the way to try to capture the maximum amount of detail, while in the second shot I pulled back a little on the zoom to capture the dragonfly’s entire wingspan.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First dragonflies of the season

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on April 12, 2015| 6 Comments »

I have been seeing dragonflies at my local marshland park for a couple of weeks now and yesterday I finally got my first dragonfly shots of the spring. It’s still a little early for the emergence of the local dragonflies, so I was not at all surprised that the dragonflies that I captured were Common Green Darners (Anax junius), a migratory species.

Green Darners spend most of their time flying, rather than perching, so it is pretty tough to take photos of them. In this case, I captured the pair in tandem, as the female was ovipositing in the vegetation of a shallow vernal pool.

As luck would have it, after a day of walking around with my telephoto zoom lens on my camera, I had switched to a macro lens not long before I encountered these dragonflies. My macro lens is 180mm in focal length, but that really didn’t get me close enough to the dragonflies. I tried unsuccessfully to be stealthy in moving closer, but the Green Darners flew away as I drew nearer.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Migrating Green Darner

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, migrating dragonfly, Tamron 180mm macro lens on October 15, 2014| 12 Comments »

It’s migration time for Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) and last week one of my fellow photographers, Walter Sanford, reported a small swarm of Green Darners at my local marshland park.

I was walking in an entirely different area of the park from Walter and was surprised to see Green Darners, which are easily recognized thanks to their coloration and distinctive bullseye on their heads, flying up from the ground as I approached them. Rather than fly off into the distance, which is most often the case when I happen to disturb a dragonfly, these dragonflies moved only a short distance and came to rest again on the ground.

I don’t yet have the ability to interpret the movements of dragonflies, but it seemed to me that these Green Darners were conserving energy, as though they were resting in the midst of a long journey. I tried to be as quiet and stealthy as I could and moved closer and closer to one Green Darner perched near some green moss that was almost a perfect match for the color of the forward portion of her body. Judging from her overall coloration, I think this is probably a female.

My subject was amazingly cooperative and I was able to get shots of this beautiful dragonfly from a number of different angles. Although I normally try to have backgrounds that are must less cluttered than those in these images, I don’t find them to be too distracting here and they do help to show how well this colorful dragonfly blended in with her environment.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Young green darner

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 19, 2014| 12 Comments »

As I was walking through a meadow at my local marsh this past Monday, dragonflies would take off from the high grass and low vegetation as I approached. Most of them appeared to be Common Whitetail dragonflies (Plathemis lydia), a species that seems to like to perch on the ground.

One of the dragonflies, however, really caught my eye, because it was larger than the rest and was a pastel green in color. At first, I thought it might be a female Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis), one of the few green dragonflies that I have encountered. The green dragonfly flew weakly away and came to rest on some low vegetation a short distance away. As I drew closer, I noted that the dragonfly was hanging from the vegetation and was not perching on it, so I knew it was not an Eastern Pondhawk, which perches horizontally.

When I got a clear look at the dragonfly’s body, I could see that it was shaped like a darner, and I concluded the beautifully-colored dragonfly was probably a young Common Green Darner (Anax junius), judging from its shape and pale coloration. I hadn’t really considered the possibility that this might be a Green Darner, because dragonflies of this species are really strong fliers and I had never seen one behave like this.

I’m going out shooting later today, searching for more beautiful butterflies and dragonflies, enjoying the good news that they are still here with us.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Flying dragonfly

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Common Green Darner, dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, green darner, Huntley Meadows Park on April 13, 2014| 9 Comments »

Spring is here and I am once again chasing dragonflies, on a quest to capture images of these beautiful insects. Common Green Darners (Anax junius) rarely seem to perch, so I was forced to try to photograph them in flight.

This early in the spring, there aren’t yet a lot of dragonflies, so my patience was tested as I waited for one to fly by. I tried a lot of different approaches and the one that worked best on this day was to focus manually, which is a bit of a challenge at 300mm when the subject is moving pretty fast.

I hope I’ll get some better shots later this season—this is my best one so far.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Dragonflies are back

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Common Green Darner, dragonfly, green darner, Huntley Meadows Park on April 6, 2014| 8 Comments »

The weather has gotten warmer, but I was still a bit surprised when I saw my first dragonfly of the year yesterday at Huntley Meadows Park, my local marsh. I think that it is a female Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius), one of the species that migrates north after spending the winter in warmer places. This is the only dragonfly that I saw yesterday and I was able to squeeze off a couple of shots before it disappeared. I’m hoping that it won’t be long before I see more dragonflies and butterflies, some of my favorite photographic subjects.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Migrating Green Darner dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonfly in flight, Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park on September 21, 2013| 6 Comments »

Yesterday at my local marsh, I noticed some large dragonflies flying over the cattails and realized that it was migrating season for Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius). I don’t usually think of dragonflies as migratory creatures, but I recall from early spring that Green Darner dragonflies spend their winters in the south and migrate north in the spring (or at least their offspring fly north).

Green Darners are pretty big dragonflies, with bodies up to 3 inches (75mm), so I decided to try to photograph one in mid-flight. Another photographer and I spent almost an hour trying to track and photograph the dragonflies. Unlike other times, when I photographed dragonflies when they were hovering, I was attempting to capture these dragonflies as they were flying at a normal speed, which greatly complicated the task.

I knew that there was no way that I could isolate a flying dragonfly against the green plants of the marsh, so I concentrated on the dragonflies in areas in which I would have the sky as a backdrop. I used my 180mm macro lens and would try to follow a dragonfly in the viewfinder and track it, hoping it would fly close enough for me to attempt a shot. As I was tracking the dragonfly, I would focus manually. Needless to say, my success rate was really low, but I am happy that I managed to get the shot below of what I believe to be a female Green Darner. My fellow photographer, who was using a 70-200 telephoto zoom lens used a different approach and pre-focused on an area and took a shot when a dragonfly entered that capture zone.

It was a beautiful, sunny fall day and I enjoyed this challenge, which gave me a greater appreciation for the aerial skills of dragonflies—they are really tough to track. This practice, though, should help me later in the fall when I start to take more photographs of birds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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First dragonfly of the spring

Posted in Bugs, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Anax junius, Canon Rebel XT, Common Green Darner dragonfly, dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on April 12, 2013| 15 Comments »

Today I saw my first dragonflies of the spring, which I am pretty sure were Common Green Darners (Anax junius). They buzzed by me several times, but never stopped to perch.

I had reconciled myself to the likelihood that I would not get a single shot. Suddenly a dragonfly that I was chasing stopped and hovered over the water. I have never had any success before in capturing an in-flight image of a dragonfly, but somehow I was able to grab focus and got several pretty good shots. The beautiful, two-toned colors of this dragonfly are amazing.

I look forward to a new season of chasing dragonflies, but suspect that I will have to work hard to top this first dragonfly of the spring.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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