A few dragonflies were perching on these giant leaves, which I believe are Powdery Alligator-flag.
The dragonfly, a Blue Dasher? I didn’t get a good enough image of his abdomen to see if there were stripes. The Great Blue Skimmer is described as “very large” … the Blue Dasher as “small.” Hmmm.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
April 12, 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
Two years ago fellow blogger and dragonfly enthusiast Mike Powell (https://michaelqpowell.com/) identified a similar sighting of mine as “probably a juvenile female Great Blue Skimmer.”
I’m not much further along identifying dragonflies than I was then, especially females and juveniles.
I do like to photograph them even if I don’t know what they are, and liked the three different background options this one gave me.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
March 30, 2023
I had never seen a dragonfly emerge and was pretty surprised to see this at my eye height. The emergence process was nearly over when I passed by. The dragonfly was likely waiting for his wings to harden and he didn’t move at all for the two or three minutes I watched.
Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Harleyville, 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) 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
Here is one more species of dragonfly I photographed on September 14, rather a banner day for dragonflies.
This one was perched on vegetation hanging over the edge of a pond.
Narrow blades of grass seemed to be the preferred resting spot.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
September 14, 2022
This Needham’s Skimmer was perched close to the ground and out of the breeze, a nice fit for using the Tamron 180mm macro lens.
The angle and background worked well to pick up the orange tones.
He didn’t move far between these shots, trying out some different perches almost like a model.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
September 14, 2022
There were a lot of these Baskettails zooming over a dike between two ponds, presumably feeding.
This reed stalk was the highest vegetation around with the top coveted perch well above my head.
Backlit by the sun, you can see numerous tears in the wings.
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
September 14, 2022
These Pennants were perching at or slightly above my eye level, making nice subjects on swamp reeds.
Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, SC
September 14, 2022
Chinese Tallow, also known as Popcorn Tree, is an invasive species that crowds out native vegetation and is notoriously hard to get rid of. These trees have been treated but you can see from the sprouting vegetation are not dead.
These dragonflies found the “popcorn” seeds to be good perches.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
September 19, 2022
