These are very common in Missouri and I often see them at our goldfish pond in the summer months. They tend to be territorial and I see them frequently chase others away as they seek mates. They are graceful hunters and I love to watch them catch their food. They grab insects right out of the sky, sometimes eating on the wing (giving a whole new meaning to fast food) and sometimes landing and consuming it while they rest on a leaf or branch.Top Left: is a Blue-Faced Meadowhawk, Top Right: White-Faced Meadowhawk, Middle Left: Blue Dasher, Middle Right: Widow Skimmer, Third Row Left: Eastern Pondhawk, Third Row Right: 12-Spotted Skimmer Bottom Right: 12-Spotted Skimmer.
those are awesome shots. and so many different species, too.
ReplyDeletei spent almost a full day trying to catch a large dragon-fly in flight as they buzzed around my grandparents lake. no luck. too fast. your photos reminded me that i never actually just took some regular photos for ID purposes. as soon as it gets warmer, i'm going to go back.
that white-faced meadownhawk is awesome.
by "regular" photos i mean "at rest." none of the failed "in flight" photos were clear enough for an ID.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the compliments, I love to photograph dragonflies, they are a challenge. I finally gave up trying to get flight shots. If I am very careful and move slow I am can fairly close to them. The White-Faced Meadowhawk was a special case. That dragonfly let me approach it, in fact I probably could have touched it. It would fly a few inches away then land and I would take a few pictures mere inches from it, then it would fly, and we repeated the process. It was so much fun. That was the first time I had seen that species. They are beautiful, looked like gossamer wings and shiny gold. The sun literally glittered off of it.
ReplyDelete