Northern Spreadwing

On our recent trip to Beaver Pond in Winthrop we saw lots of Spotted Spreadwings, but also a few Northern Spreadwings. Here's one of them:

Notice the pruinose thorax, which is quite different from the "staircase" pattern on the side of the thorax in the Spotted Spreadwing.

 Blue Dasher — Beautiful Eyes

There were lots of Blue Dashers at the Quincy Lakes on August 13, 2023. Their eyes are beautiful, and the appearance of the eyes depends sensitively on the angle at which they are viewed. This applies especially to the large dorsal fovea areas on the top of the eyes, as seen in the photo below.

In the next photo, the dragonfly pivots a bit, and gives us a slightly different view. The large dark spot moves from one side of the eyes to the other.

Helping with the appearance of the eyes is the chalk white face, which provides a wonderful contrast.

 Tule Bluet

Here's a male Tule Bluet at Burke Lake near Quincy, Washington. We were there last Sunday, August 13, 2023.

Notice that the blue rings are a bit smaller than the black bands, as opposed to Northern and Boreal Bluets where the blue covers most of the abdomen, with black rings separating the blue bands.

 Black Saddlebags

We saw lots of Black Saddlebags flying about at Quincy Lakes and Crab Creek. We never saw one land, however, so the best I could do was a flight picture.

It appears this individual is snacking on a smaller flying insect that it caught on the wing.

 Quincy Lakes, August 13, 2023

Over the weekend we visited the Quincy Lakes area near George, Washington. Here's a nice Emma's Dancer posing for me.

Note the lavender color on the head and thorax. The abdomen is lavender with a blue tip. As is usual with dancers, the wings are being held up above the abdomen.

 Blue-eyed Darner

The Blue-eyed Darners are out flying at Little Cranberry Lake—in fact, they're the only darners flying there right now. They're also perching in the bushes, posing for pictures. Here's a male, showing off his unique forked appendages. That, plus his intense blue eyes and side stripes, make identification very easy.

It was windy, but we saw one flying into the wind as it did three splash-dunks following by a nicely visible spin-dry.

 Four-spotted Skimmer

Here's a side view of a Four-spotted Skimmer perched near the shore of Little Cranberry Lake. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the colors of this dragonfly were on full display.

Usually when you see a Four-spotted Skimmer its from above and behind. This is because you're standing on the shore, and the skimmer is below you on some low vegetation looking out over the water. This time, however, I had a nice side view of the skimmer on a bulrush stem, giving a detailed look at the complex pattern on the side of its thorax.