{"id":176891,"date":"2026-07-28T05:08:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T10:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=176891"},"modified":"2026-07-28T05:08:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T10:08:40","slug":"great-blue-skimmer-dragonflies-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/07\/28\/great-blue-skimmer-dragonflies-in-oklahoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Blue Skimmer Dragonflies In Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f11, 1\/640, ISO 640, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This July, I added Great Blue Skimmer as a lifer dragonfly. These photos of both sexes of skimmers were taken at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

When I first had the male Great Blue Skimmer in my viewfinder, I knew it was larger than a Blue Dasher. I also knew that it didn’t have dark eyes like a Slaty Skimmer, and the end of his tail wasn’t right for an Eastern Pondhawk.<\/p>\n

As I photographed this dragonfly I didn’t know what species it was but I knew that it was new to me.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f10, 1\/250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I found another dragonfly nearby and realized that it could be a female of the same species. Knowing that actually made it easier for me to identify once I got home and did some research on iNaturalist for dragonflies in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

As I scrolled through the Sequoyah County dragonfly observations, I found a female\/immature Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly that looked just like the photo above.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Great Blue Skimmer perched on a vine in Oklahoma \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f11, 1\/640, ISO 640, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I carefully looked at male Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly photos on iNaturalist and realized that is the species I saw and photographed.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I shorten the name for Great Blue Heron and use Great Blue when I am talking to other people. Now though? I guess that abbreviation might also fit Great Blue Skimmers<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’ll just need to be aware of whether I’m talking to a birder or someone into dragonflies when I use the abbreviation “Great Blue.” \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This July, I added Great Blue Skimmer as a lifer dragonfly. These photos of both sexes of skimmers were taken at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":176781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17564,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,14190,13984,5366,2204,4070,17583,17584,1799,17585,4062,2558,4104,4697,5117,2315,11722],"class_list":["post-176891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-great-blue-skimmer-dragonflies","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-dragonflies","tag-dragonfly","tag-female","tag-great-blue-skimmer","tag-great-blue-skimmer-dragonfly","tag-insects","tag-libellula-vibrans","tag-male","tag-odonata","tag-perched","tag-skimmer","tag-skimmers","tag-summer-3","tag-vine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t