12-spotted Skimmer Yesterday, I rued the apparent end of the dragonfly and damselfly season. It's easy to see why the very normal population declines we experience at this time of year would be so hard for me to take: I've spent many waking hours since last May photographing and attempting to learn about our local odonates, and, if I do say so myself, I haven't done a bad job in the endeavor. However, it turns out that I sent these insects packing a bit prematurely. Their numbers may be down in my immediate neighborhood, but on a biodiversity survey trip today to the Miner Preserve, which is in the next town over from me, I found plenty of dragonflies in the air. The big ones were not coming down low enough for me to net, and though they would occasionally land in the meadow grasses, they would depart with a flourish before I got within camera range. Actually, they were so still and well-camouflaged that I never spotted them—until they heard me coming and went quickly airborne. But one odonate, a 12-spotted Skimmer, made up for the frustration. It rested, let me get close, and didn't seem to mind my picture-taking. I didn't mind the fact that it was a less-than-perfect model.