I finally made the crossover from birding into dragonflying in 2008. My house amidst the Chequamegon National Forest southeast of Grand View, Bayfield County, Wisconsin, is a gold mine for dragonflies, which made for quick study. Having a DSLR camera (Canon 40D with Canon 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 IS lens) also allowed me to capture many images in the field and later study up on identification features. I am greatly indebted to Bob Dubois, Julie Pleski, Andy Paulios, Vic Berardi, Mike Reese, David Bratley, and Dave Hanson for getting me started on this addictive journey. It's amazing how similar dragonflying is to birding.

I was fortunate to photograph -- albeit in some cases much better than others -- all but two of the 62 species that I saw in 2008 (Wisconsin hosts ~110 species). With just two noted exceptions, none of the dragonflies in this gallery were netted or posed for photos. The gallery is first divided into the six families of dragonflies, and then each family has subgalleries pertaining to each species. At the beginning of each family and species gallery, I have provided a summary of some key identification features (keeping in mind that I'm a rookie, of course). Resources used were "Dragonflies of the North Woods" by Kurt Mead, "Color Guide to Dragonflies of Wisconsin" by Karl and Dorothy Legler, and the Wisconsin Odonata Survey website http://inventory.wiatri.net/Odonata/ . PLEASE LET ME KNOW OF ANY ERRORS.