{"id":40913,"date":"2016-08-13T05:43:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-13T11:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40913"},"modified":"2022-07-19T15:40:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:40:48","slug":"male-eight-spotted-skimmers-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/13\/male-eight-spotted-skimmers-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Eight-spotted Skimmers at Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Eight-spottedEight-spotted Skimmer on a cattail stalk – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/640, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Long before birds became my primary subjects I photographed lots of bees, butterflies and other bugs including dragonflies and when ever I am out in the field I still notice them and when I can I aim my lens and focus on them.<\/p>\n

A few days ago I discovered several male Eight-spotted Skimmers close to the edge of Glover Pond at Farmington Bay and was delighted to photograph these beautifully patterned Odonata.<\/p>\n

\"Eight-spottedEight-spotted Skimmer male – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/500, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While I photographed these male Eight-spotted Skimmers I did see a female but unfortunately she had grasses in front of her and my view of her was obstructed.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Eight-spotted Skimmer – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Fossils of dragonflies have been found with wingspans of two feet, I can only imagine what it would have been like to see them in flight, on the wing and chasing after prey.<\/p>\n

These male Eight-spotted Skimmers hung around at the edge of Glover Pond perching on cattails and hawking insects from the air. I love dragonflies because they are beautiful, fascinating and most of all, they eat the bugs that bite me. Dragonflies can eat hundreds of mosquitoes per day and each one they eat is one less pest that might try to suck the blood out of me!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

A few days ago I discovered several male Eight-spotted Skimmers close to the edge of Glover Pond at Farmington Bay and was delighted to photograph these beautifully patterned Odonata. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1022,5363,697,26],"tags":[4004,5366,2204,5364,5365,4062,4094,2558,1984,4697,5117,2315,4095],"class_list":["post-40913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-davis-county-utah","category-eight-spotted-skimmers","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-dragonflies","tag-dragonfly","tag-eight-spotted-skimmer","tag-libellula-forensis","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-odonata","tag-pond","tag-skimmer","tag-skimmers","tag-summer-3","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eight-spotted-skimmer-mia-mcpherson-8876.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aDT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104416,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/20\/female-eight-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":40913,"position":0},"title":"Female Eight-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week my last subject of the morning was a female Eight-spotted Skimmer dragonfly that landed in front of me next to a creek in the mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting female Eight-spotted Skimmer dragonfly, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Eight-spotted-Skimmer-Wasatch-Mountains-mia-mcpherson-6272.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Eight-spotted-Skimmer-Wasatch-Mountains-mia-mcpherson-6272.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47598,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/06\/eight-spotted-skimmer-variegated-meadowhawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":40913,"position":3},"title":"Eight-spotted Skimmer & Variegated Meadowhawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoyed photographing the Eight-spotted Skimmer and Variegated Meadowhawk while also taking photos of Red-tailed Hawk juvenile.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eight-spotted Skimmer on a rusty wire, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eight-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-on-wire-mia-mcpherson-8705.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eight-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-on-wire-mia-mcpherson-8705.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53178,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/20\/male-flame-skimmer-dragonfly-libellula-saturata\/","url_meta":{"origin":40913,"position":5},"title":"Male Flame Skimmer Dragonfly – Libellula saturata","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I caught a flash of orange that drew my eye and watched as this male Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata) dragonfly landed on a branch not far from where I had parked my Jeep.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Flame Skimmer dragonfly in northern Utah, Box Elder 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