A Trip to Contra Loma Reservoir
The local reservoir has been a great place to look for dragonflies. This trip brought me a couple of firsts. I had my first sighting of Green Darner not in flight. These very large dragonflies spend most of their day on the wing, so static shots have been impossible. I found a teneral (recently hatched) male resting on a stalk. He was waiting for his wings to completely unfurl, so he had no choice but to pose for me.
Green Darner – Newly hatched. Notice that the wings are not fully unrolled
Green Darner
Green Darner. Shown with the exuvia (exoskeleton) that he emerged from.
A Variegated Meadowhawk was willing to stand around for a bit, but didn’t return to his perch once he took off, so I could not practice my take off and landing photos.
Variegated Meadowhawk – Male
Finally, a mating pair of Familiar Bluets were not too shy.
Familiar Bluets
