Dragonflies

I think Dragonflies are magical.
They only live for a short time on the earth, but they live as a nymph for a long time in the darkness under water. You can tell the time of the year by what dragonflies you are seeing as like all things in Nature they each have their own time. I am not that good with identifying them as yet, but I try. This one was in my garden late yesterday. Flower girl found it, we wondered it if would spend the night there? It was a sunny but very cold day. I believe this is a female Common Whitetail ( Libellula lydia: Plathemis lydia) part of the Skimmer family. They are perchers, having short flights interrupted by perches on weeds or the road or such. They like to be near most any water source, mud, polluted or not. Looking again it could be an imature male whitetail or another type altogether. If you have mastered identifying birds then work on Dragonflies.