I was at the Baxter Conservation Area today when this smallish blue dragonfly landed in front of me. I thought for a moment it was a Slaty Skimmer, but quickly saw it was all wrong (size, colour). Only when I got home did I realize it might be a Blue Dasher, but since they have not been recorded in the Ottawa District, I checked with Chris Lewis, one of our local odonate experts, and she confirmed it, and said it was the first record for this area.

The dasher obligingly posed for a number of shots, even flying off briefly to grab some food (a Mayfly I think, though he ate it so quickly I couldn't really tell. But you can see the long antennae of his prey protruding from his mouth.