Painted Skimmer, Kennebunk Bridle Path, Kennebunk ME

Painted Skimmer is another early dragonfly in Southern Maine. I glimpsed my first a week ago, but this is the first one that has posed for me, and I found it in, what seemed to me, a very unlikely place…deep in the forest along the Kennebunk Bridle Path. There were some pools, full of moss and ferns and violets, and totally overshadowed by pines and maples, along the path through the forest…but I think of the skimmers as open country, open marsh dragons. Live and learn. This one certainly could not have been better positioned for photography. I saw it in flight, but when it landed in a patch of sun off the trail, it sat there for at least a half hour. I photographed it, then walked to the end of the trail where it meets the road to Mother’s Beach, and it was still sitting on its branch when I got back to it. So, of course, I photographed it some more!

Nikon P900 at 650mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ f5.6 @ ISO 100. Processed and cropped for scale in Lightroom.