Members of our community I don’t know much about. However, I do know there are thousands around now.
I’ve seen Dragonfly in woods before, but hot marshes and swamps is completely different. Get too close to reeds and you must wave your arms to chase them.
Another seasonal visitor is the Kite. Mostly Mississippi Kite, raptors that feed on flying insects. A small hawk that catches these and eats on the fly.
These photographs were taken as I took a short trail along a river / woods line.
As I walked when I spotted an easy shot I grab it.
I don’t have any macro lens so I keep my distance and use my 18-400 Tamron (does many things OK, none really well, but huge range and light weight).
The only thing missing from yearly insect images are the swamp spiders. But it’s a little early and I have not seen any…and believe me you can’t miss those things, they can blot out the sun.
Let me see if I can help with introductions to the bugs you don’t know, Ted. The first ones look to be a female Blue Dasher dragonfly–the stripes on the chest help with identification. The dragonfly with the gold in its wings might be a Needham’s Skimmer or possibly a Golden-winged Skimmer. In your location, you may have some additional species that I don’t have in Northern Virginia, but many are the same.
I would be glad to send some up to you 🙂 Thanks for the ID.