Sunday, July 2, 2017

Spangled Skimmer

I snuck away from a family gathering for about an hour this afternoon to drive to Hickory Glen Park in Oakland County to see if I could find anything interesting - I was thinking primarily of dragonflies.  I haven't seen many dragonflies at all this year, but was rewarded with a new one today.


Above and five below:  Female Spangled Skimmer (Libellula cyanea).




I think this is a really pretty little dragonfly.  I was excited to see it. When I saw the white stigmas and dark-tipped wings I knew it was one I had not seen before.


It was a flyer and a percher, but mostly a percher and overall quite cooperative.



Above:  Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta), not new for me, but the first one seen this year.

I also saw Common Whitetails, male, female and immature, and a female Halloween Pennant.  I tried for photos of the pennant but it was windy and the spindly little grass it preferred to perch on was waving all over the place.  Every one was out-of-focus.


In bright sunny and sandy areas, clumps of butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) were scattered around the woodland trails. 


No comments: