A male Great Blue Skimmer

My brother and his wife visited us earlier this summer, and we went to the Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta, Georgia. On previous visits my wife and I had seen a variety of wildlife, including fish, snakes, aquatic insects, and lots of birds. This time, however, there was very little water along the boardwalk across the swampy area. So we did not see much of the larger types of wildlife that we had hoped to see.

However, if one looks closely, there is always something interesting to see. There were several dragonflies perched on vegetation along the boardwalk. The one pictured here is a Great Blue
Skimmer (Libellula vibrans). It shows the blue-green eyes and white face that is typical of the species. It was quite unafraid and remained calm while I took these photographs. This one is a male; females look quite different. They lack the blue surface coating seen on the male; they have a yellow and brown pattern on the abdomen. Very old females may become dark-colored, but should always show some of the yellow and brown on their abdomen.

Head on view of a Great Blue Skimmer