When I am out birding I run into insects of all sorts, especially when Spring is bursting at its seams. As the birds are often hard to photograph and the insects are exploding out of the vegetation around me I start to point the camera at the wonderful diversity of insects buzzing, hopping, and flying about.

When the dragonflies emerge, dragonflying becomes the new birding.

Watching dragonflies hover, roam, zoom, flit, tilt, reverse, and then mate while one holds on to the other in flight is mesmerizing.

Trying to catch a photo of one in flight is almost next to impossible. Trying to find one perched requires patience as they are great at blending in with their surroundings and often not seen until they fly up as you walk by. That is when I follow one that looks like it will land and with luck, land in a place that getting a photo not obstructed by twigs, leaves and other vegetation is possible.

Once the photos are downloaded the excitement of a learning journey takes hold. The internet and apps hold a bounty of information. Trying to identify a dragonfly is a treasure hunt strewn with a path of golden tidbits along the way.

Dragonflies and damselflies are part of the insect order “Odonata” or more commonly referred to as “Odes”. Dragonflies date back to over 250 million years, they pre-date the dinosaur age!

“You can tell a dragon from a damsel by its wing position when perched: Dragonflies hold their wings straight out to the side, while damselflies partly spread their wings or fold them together behind them.”

While most Odes overwinter in the larval or nymph stage, Green Darners migrate each year from Mexico. Dragonflies are ravenous insect eaters and are great to keep those bugs at bay in the summer. What eats the dragonfly? Birds. Cedar Waxwings and Eastern Kingbirds enjoy a dragonfly meal.

There are so many things to learn about Dragonflies/Damselflies. I am hooked and enjoying the journey! Happy birding, happy dragonflying

The quotes and facts came from this article: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/july-august-2012/chasing-dragonflies-and-damselflies

Another article on the migration of Green Darners is here, a place to whet your appetite and do some more digging: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/12/21/theres-a-huge-and-hidden-migration-in-of-dragonflies-in-north-america.html

The dragonfly in the pictures, I believe, is a Boreal Whiteface, I will let you decide, check out this identification site: http://www.insectsofalberta.com/borealwhiteface.htm