Among the early season dragonflies, the Painted Skimmer is certainly a standout. It is big, for one thing, probably the biggest dragon in flight in mid-June in Southern Maine (excepting the few Green Darners I have seen so far…and this year at least as we are late with all the Onadata). The males, in particular, flash with orange fire as they fly over the marsh, and up close both males and females are a feast of pattern with their wing-spots and colored veins. I saw a few in flight on Sunday when I went dragon-prowling down by the mouth of the Mousam River in the marsh pools, but none perched close enough for a good photograph. I went back yesterday afternoon, specifically to see if I could do better, and was blessed to find one male and one female perched in easy reach of my lens. The male is on top here, and is the much oranger of the two.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. Shutter preferred at 1/640th. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet. Assembled in Pixlr Express.