First decent photograph, that is. It seems like all of the dragonflies I’ve encountered this spring have been frantic, with none of that rhythmic pause, fly off and return to the same spot routine I got used to last year.
I liked the first image as much for the seed heads as the insect. The second image is the same dragonfly, on another nice piece of foliage.
I’m thrilled to see that you have dragonflies. “Your” dragonfly looks to be a female Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis). Immature males have that same green coloration, but the appendages at the end of the “tail” differ for the males and the females. Mature males are mostly blue, but have the same green face as the females. Eastern Pondhawks do not tend to return to perches the way that some others do, like the Blue Dasher. Often they’ll perch really close to the ground amidst the vegetation, which makes them tough to photograph.
Me, too, and I have seen a few Mississippi Kites over the last week. They feed on dragonflies so a good sign the insects are around. Dragonflies are fascinating to watch and thanks for the hint on that behavior difference between the Pondhawk and the Dasher. The color variations adult/juvi and male/female add to the ID challenge.