Blue-Eyed Darner

I was at a friend's house last Saturday looking at some shrubs, when another friend said, "Is that real?"  She was pointing to a large blue dragonfly hanging on one of the bushes.

Blue-Eyed Darner Dragonfly

It was indeed a real dragonfly, a Blue-Eyed Darner (Rhionaeschna multicolor), just sort of hanging out in the shrubbery.

Side View

The dragonfly didn't seem to mind having us take its picture.  I was amazed at how big it was--its body was about three inches long--and how elaborate and beautiful the markings on its body were.  The wings were so delicate they were barely visible.  

I felt very fortunate to have been able to see it so closely; I usually only see them in flight and it's difficult to see any detail as they fly.