During this hike I saw 7-8 different types of dragonflies and damselflies. I believe that some of them are males and females of the same species. All of the photos were taken with a Canon Digital Rebel with a 100-300mm USM IS lens.
This was the first dragonfly I saw during the hike. (I believe it's a male.)
This was the second dragonfly I saw during the hike. (I believe it's also male.)
The wings on this one were amazingly beautiful when reflecting the sunlight.
This little fellow (the same one as above) was looking at me. He let me get very close, but he kept moving his head around to keep a close eye on me.
This one is a different species from the yellow one above (different wing and abdomen markings). I believe this one is a female -- you can see red eggs on her side.
Taking a break from dragonflies, this fly was sitting on a sumac flower. I really like the contrast and colors.
This fellow is a damselfly. They're related to dragonflies. They are also smaller and are really hard to get the camera to focus on. I ended up needing to manually focus for some of them, especially as they'd fly off just as I'd get a shot setup.
I love the blue color of this damselfly.
Another damselfly, this time more pink than blue.
Here is the last of the damselflies...
This is a closeup of a dragonfly. You can see the amazing patterns of the wings.
Another dragonfly with more wonderful wing patterns.
On this dragonfly you can see the eggs as well as the mouth. You can also see through the slightly translucent abdomen.
This dragonfly was elusive and wouldn't let me get close enough to take a good picture. It looks like a different type than the others and was quite a bit larger.
Given how ancient dragonflies are, it seems only appropriate to show some ancient moss.
I hope you're not eating lunch while looking at these. This was hanging from a tree. Luckily it was tiny!
Back to pretty things, I like the lighting and colors around this leaf.
You could see the craters on the moon!
This rock looks like it has the emblem of a secret society on it.
Finally, one last pretty dragonfly.
More photos as well as originals are here.
From a hike at the Middlesex Fells on July 3, 2006.