Possibly a Roseate Skimmer, it was hot and not even the dragonflies were moving around much.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
August 21, 2023
Dragonfly on Dried Reed
Tag Archives: Question ID
Dragonfly and Shadow
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
Silent Sunday: Yellow
Audubon Center at Beidler Forest, Harleyville, SC
April 4, 2023
Dragonfly, Perched on a Vine
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
Juvenile Blue Corporal Dragonfly
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
First Damselfly Images Of The Year
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
Slaty Skimmer
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
Common Baskettail Above My Head
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
Four-spotted Pennants
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
Four-spotted Pennants on Chinese Tallow
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