Looks like one of my favorite critters ever: the dragonfly. Amazingly beautiful creatures. They look like living jewels. You can often see them around riparian habitats.
Unidentified? That’s clearly Bob!
Damselfly. (Well, damselfly or dragon fly–can’t tell for sure without a photo of it completely at rest. Dragon fly will rest with wings straight out, damselfly will eventually fold them back flat along body.)
I think damselflies’ eyes are more stalk-like. This is definitely a dragonfly, maybe some kind of skimmer or darner. I couldn’t make a better guess without a wider shot and a location.
IIRC dameselflies always fold their wings when at rest. Dragonflies spread them out in a cruciform configuration. Dragonflies also tend to look a bit more robust, at least where I come from.
Definitely dragonfly. Damselflies, as mentioned, have wings with thin bases. More than that, their front and back wings are approximately the same shape. Dragonflies, on the other hand, have rear wings with relatively broad bases. I didn’t immediately find a identification key to the Odonata (dragonflies and damsel flies) in a quick web search, but from what I recall, most of the identification is from wing venation. I think the first photograph might be nearly enough to use a key.
Need more pictures. Then you can use this:
http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/insects/drgnfly/idkey/1.htm
Hello, Photographer here. Uncertain myself the exact nature of Bob, but judging from your comments I’d agree with the Dragonfly diagnosis. He kept his wings spread at rest the entire time. He did fly into the extractor fan in our kitchen though, so he was a little stunned. Not sure his actions could be trusted. Thanks for checking out my work!
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