Great Blue Skimmer – Libellula vibrans
There’s a Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Libellula vibrans, at the bottom of this Virginia garden. It’s a handsome beast:
I creep a little closer:
It’s very active and will fly if I move too fast. They are distinctive because no other dragonfly here has blue eyes and a white face. The blue on the body looks like the waxy covering on a plum. It’s called pruinescence, which means ‘hoar-frost’. They have a frosty covering in this summer heat.
Here it is in glorious profile:
There’s another dragonfly here which I only glimpse briefly. Researching it I find it’s a juvenile Great Blue Skimmer. This is what they look like before they develop their adult colouring:
Who would have guessed?
More from Virginia
Red Fox There's an amazing Red Fox which spends its time in the gardens here in Virginia. I'm surprised to see one… read more
Skink in the garden A lunchtime trip to the garden in Virginia and there's a Skink on the path. It's bathing in the hot… read more
Northern Mockingbird Whenever I've heard a bird singing, here in Virginia, and I haven't been able to recognise its song, it's always… read more
Catbird v Cowbird There's an ancient battle being played out in the woods and fields of Virginia. It's Catbird v Cowbird and I… read more
Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows and Bank Swallows I'm surprised to see what I think are Sand Martins here in Virginia. Surely they're not the same species? Then… read more
Red Bellied Woodpecker I've been ever so slightly keen on seeing woodpeckers while I've been in Virginia. They are common here because there… read more
There’s a Dogbane Tiger Moth fluttering around me I'm out in the heat and the noise of a Virginia forest in the summer and I'm suffering. I've bought… read more
Great Blue Heron in a great grey sky We're relaxing on the rocks at the side of the Potomac River when a Great Blue Heron flies straight past… read more
A Swallowtail butterfly striped like a zebra There's a swallowtail butterfly species I've never seen before fluttering around me. It's too close to focus on. I move… read more