I spotted this gorgeous Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula pulchella) on Monday (8 September) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I don’t see this species very often and think this might be the first one that I had photographed this season. The white spots in between the darker patches on the wings indicate that this is a male—females of this species have only the darker spots.
Most of the time when I am photographing dragonflies I have to shoot quickly before the dragonfly flies away. In this case, I had the luxury of being able to move around a bit to find a shooting angle that captured the details of the beautiful wings and the blooming wildflowers in the background. Why? When male Twelve-spotted Skimmers are flying, their patterned wings make them look almost like butterflies and I was able to track this dragonfly to the spot where he landed—most other dragonflies have transparent wings and therefore appear smaller when they are in flight.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 