Some of our most common and easy to photograph dragonflies are in the skimmer (Libellulidae) family. They are easy to photograph because they often choose a favorite perch, and keep returning to that perch even when they are scared away by nosy photographers!
First is one of our more common mid-summer skimmers. Male 12-spotted Skimmers often perch very close to the shore of small ponds, and take short flights to chase off other males…
Slaty Skimmers are also perchers, and also aggressively defend a favored perch from others.
Widow Skimmers (especially the females) often perch a bit farther from the water.
Our smallest native dragonfly is also in the skimmer family. Eastern Amberwings are smaller than most damselflies, but still quite "ferocious" in defending their favorite perch! (Like most dragonflies, they are also ferocious predators of smaller insects).
Speaking of ferocious, here's one perching species that is not a skimmer. Dragon Hunters are in the Clubtail (Gomphidae) family - you can tell by the club on his tail! This one just caught his second-favorite snack - a butterfly!
From the name, you can guess that Dragon Hunters' favorite snack is other dragonflies. This Slaty Skimmer might be perched a little too close for his own good!
Hope you enjoyed a few glimpses of some common odonata here in Northeast Tennessee. Thanks for sharing your comments & critique!
But having said that the Photographer had a lot to do with the images too.
Originally posted by eaglem 
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