I was taking advantage of the shade of this tree on a recent hot morning when I spotted this very small dragonfly.
No bigger than a quarter {0.955 inch (24.26 mm)}, he was content to hang out in the shade, too.
Ashley River Park, Summerville, SC
August 1, 2023
This post has been hanging out in my drafts, waiting for something I’ve long forgotten.
July 2018
ACE Basin
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
June 16, 2023
It had been a slow morning for photographing wildlife so I stopped for this young Alligator. I didn’t see the dragonfly until I was looking at the images on my computer.
After the first image I moved along for a different angle of the Alligator, still not seeing the dragonfly. He was following a tight flight path, with just two seconds between the next and final images.
The Alligator is probably 2 to 3 years old, based on his size and camouflage coloration.
Magnolia Plantation & Garden, Charleston, SC
June 16, 2023
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
