Initially, the perch in question was "home" for a male blue dasher. He, however, was constantly challenged by other individuals of his species for ownership of the stick. Notice the tips of the abdomens curving up, signs of male dragonfly aggression:
I know these are males because of their coloring; female blue dashers aren't blue. A perch like this one allows the male to position himself in defense of his water territory. Here he waits ... and fights off intruders ...
And waits a while longer ... and fights off more intruders ... and waits until a female ready to mate finally arrives. She will lay her eggs directly in the water—or in plants in the water [depends on the species]—so the male must have a choice spot picked out for her.
Eventually, an aerial battle distracted the blue dasher long enough for a new squatter to arrive, a lovely scarlet skimmer. When I first showed these photos to Elizabeth, she asked, "Is there really a dragonfly that color?" thinking, I guess, that I had tweaked the color with a graphics program.
Slightly larger than the blue dasher, the scarlet skimmer fiercely defended that stick for the 30 or so minutes I sat there. Notice his abdomen fully tilted up as he signals his unwillingness to give up the territory. His posture looks like the dragonfly equivalent of Mr. Miyagi's "crane" karate pose, open but deadly:
Elizabeth pointed out the similarity between this dragonfly battle and the epic clash of Obi Wan Kenobi [who weilds a blue light sabre] and Darth Vader [with his red light sabre] in Star Wars.
Bear with me here!
"I've been waiting for you, Obi Wan. We meet again at last."
"The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master."
"Only a master of evil, Darth."
"Your powers are weak, old man."
"You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"
