A Banner Year For Dragonflies So Far

Beaverpond Baskettail (Epitheca canis) - adult male

If you have followed my blog for even a short period, you know that I really like dragonflies and that every spring and summer I spend quite a bit of time photographing them. So far this spring during the one month that it has been warm enough for dragonflies to be out, I have seen vastly larger number of them than in past years. I believe the cooler spring has lengthened the flight periods for many of the species and has helped spawn larger numbers of any given species. Aside from the really cool find of the Ringed Boghaunter a few weeks ago, I also have come across the Painted Skimmer (photo below), which is not a rare species, but is not generally found this far north. With all these new finds, my list of dragonflies I have photographed over the years has already grown 10% since the start of this year. I hope this keeps up throughout the summer!