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Anax junius
I would call this a green dragonfly. But would appreciate any help in identifying it further.
Resting quietly on the floor of a meadow for quite a while this morning after our first very cold night here in the mid-atlantic region. When I tried to get a macro shot up close it finally flew away.
Thanks for the info, Gordon Dietzman. The connection between this dragonfly's migration to the hawk/falcon migration you described makes sense. At a recent migratory hawk watch (counting broad wing hawks flying south overhead) we were amazed by the number of dragonflies in the sky, too! Had to be pushing HIGH thousands in one afternoon (dragonflies that is, not hawks :).
One of my favorite dragonflies. Some of these big dragonflies are migratory while others overwinter in northern areas as larvae in ponds and lakes. There is some evidence that kestrels, small falcons, may time their migration to coincide with the common green darner's migration so they can feed on these big insects.
Spotted on Sep 16, 2011
Submitted on Sep 16, 2011
![[Anax imperator]](https://lh5.ggpht.com/JozCi0CoAqAJ1r2C94Fhwjz5xhXWTTY9LXdawEmHw0wJLCrs8jDRh3X1CXPlhlyfZNOpXo8AvKl3hL2bKfMOCg=s62-c)
