If you wait long enough an Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly will open and close its wings.
Their outsized heads tend to make nice shadows in the right light.
Wings closed is their most common position when I have seen them.
They do chose some interesting leaves to land on, including this poison ivy.
Francis Beidler Forest, SC
March 31, 2023
Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Harleyville, SC
April 4, 2023
Eastern Pondhawk Dragonflies are ground perchers and are often well camouflaged by fallen leaves and other detritus.
This one nicely posed up on two different fallen tree branches.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 30, 2023
I spotted this sun drenched Camellia bloom way down the trail I was walking.
As I was photographing it I realized I was being watched:
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 30, 2023
We’ve had some nights below freezing recently, and the day I took these didn’t get much above the mid 50s (10 C)Â so I was surprised to see any dragonfly.
I spent some time with my “Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East” book and searching online. I did not even come up with Blue Corporal as a possibility.
The ID was provided by Odonata of the Eastern United States Facebook group, with one very confident ID as a Juvenile male Blue Corporal Dragonfly, with several assents.
Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Harleyville, SC
March 19, 2023
I had actually seen a pair of damselflies a week or so ago but couldn’t get any usable images.
I saw two of these at the edge of a small pond that was mostly in the shade except for a few blades of a reed where one stopped to eat his prey.
I don’t know the ID, they were quite small, maybe an inch or inch and a half ( 2.5 – 4 cm).
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
February 23, 2023
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
January 31, 2023
A selection of Tulip Magnolia blossoms after Tuesday’s rain.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
January 31, 2023
A pair of American White Pelicans were taking the scenic route down the side of the big pond.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
November 26, 2022
The petals were just passing their prime and the intricate center of this flower cast some interesting shadows.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
November 28, 2022
