Wednesday morning finds me in the McLinden Trails. As usual, the site is full of dragonflies plus a few other interesting insects and birds. This must be a banner year for Spangled Skimmers – shortly after entering the park I’m confronted with four or five individuals all within a few yards of each other. One goal for the day is to get a few more spangled skimmer shots, including a few shots of the colorful blue males.

 I was happy to achieve both of these goals in the first few minutes in the park. As the rose and the day warmed, the Spangled Skimmers got to be a bit more skittish, b ut early on they were pretty accommodating subjects.

I realize that I’ve seen these things before – only I misidentified the females as Widow Skimmers and the males as Blue Dashers. Looking back over the past year or so, I have a few web pages here to correct.

Aside from the Spangled Skimmers, Calico Pennants were also out in decent numbers. One very obliging subject let me snap away for several minutes while he posed on a grass stalk – eventually posing to display wing, body, and head markings simultaneously.