Twelve Spots, Three Views

Three different views of a male Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella). I was working on getting the sun behind the animal. The last of the three is the standard view, actually taken a couple of days ago at the same location. These big dragonflies have a helpful habit of picking favorite perches on which they spend most of their day. The rests are punctuated with flighted forays to chase rivals, hawk insects from the air for food, or pursue females. The perching habit is very welcome for photographers. Some species seldom sit still. I despair of getting a good photograph of the huge Green Darner!