{"id":53178,"date":"2018-07-20T04:55:57","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T10:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=53178"},"modified":"2026-03-15T08:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:18:17","slug":"male-flame-skimmer-dragonfly-libellula-saturata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/20\/male-flame-skimmer-dragonfly-libellula-saturata\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Flame Skimmer Dragonfly – Libellula saturata"},"content":{"rendered":"

I drove up north into Box Elder County yesterday to look for birds to photograph and I found some but I also found other things with wings including a gorgeous male Flame Skimmer dragonfly.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Flame Skimmer Dragonfly in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had been looking for a female Lazuli Bunting in a stand of small trees next to a gravel road, I’d had my lens on the bird but she disappeared into the center of the tree. I caught a flash of orange that drew my eye and watched as this male Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata<\/em>) dragonfly landed on a branch not far from where I had parked my Jeep.<\/p>\n

I took a series of photos of the dragonfly and noticed the bright red fruit in the background, I am not sure what the red fruit was because from my focus was on the dragonfly but I thought the red might be distracting so I turned my Jeep on and crept forward until I had another clear view of the dragonfly.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack view of Flame Skimmer dragonfly male – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I stopped my Jeep I had a nice view of the back of the Flame Skimmer’s orange abdomen and its wings. Flame Skimmers are native to western North America, they are also called Firecracker Skimmers.<\/p>\n

I’m glad I didn’t ignore the opportunity to photograph this male Flame Skimmer, he really is a beautiful specimen.<\/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

The red fruits are the fruits of Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica<\/em>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,1797,6644,26],"tags":[4098,5366,2204,6646,6767,6645,4062,2558,6649,6650,6768,7474,4697,5117,2315],"class_list":["post-53178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-dragonflies","category-flame-skimmers","category-utah","tag-desert","tag-dragonflies","tag-dragonfly","tag-flame-skimmer","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-libellula-saturata","tag-male","tag-odonata","tag-orange","tag-red","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-seep","tag-skimmer","tag-skimmers","tag-summer-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/flame-skimmer-male-mia-mcpherson-5975.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dPI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":71991,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/17\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-other-things-with-wings\/","url_meta":{"origin":53178,"position":0},"title":"Twelve-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly – Other Things With Wings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Five days ago I photographed a lifer dragonfly when I found a male Twelve-spotted Skimmer that was hanging around a spring-fed seep next to a gravel road in Box Elder County.","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":"Resting male Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly, Box Elder County, 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, 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Wings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago at Glover Pond there were several Eight-spotted Skimmer dragonflies that I aimed my lens at and of those I liked this head on shot the most.","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":"Eight-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly Head On, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eight-spotted-skimmer-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-4307.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-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-4307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40913,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/13\/male-eight-spotted-skimmers-at-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":53178,"position":5},"title":"Male Eight-spotted Skimmers at Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Eight-spotted Skimmer on a cattail stalk, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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