An Impressive Dragonfly!

I didn't want to leave my last visit with the Red-shouldered hawks without showing you another inhabitant of their territory. This was one huge dragonfly! And I marveled not only at his size but that I didn't recall having ever seen one of this kind before. Not only that, but as I was photographing him, my friend drove into the driveway. The rush of air and movement disturbed him from his perch, but instead of flying away, he flew right into the air turbulence and toward the vehicle. Only when the air disturbance stopped did he come back to a similar perch and rest for a moment.
This is not a faint-of-heart predator! I think he is a member of the Clubtail family and possibly a species called, Dragonhunter. But beyond that 'possible' ID, I can't venture. Even though I have always found dragonsflies magical and have three books on the subject, I still know very little about them. However, everytime I see a new one, I want to dive more deeply into reading about them.
Of the Clubtails, my Stokes, Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies says: "The clubtails are one of the most diverse and challenging groups of dragonflies in the world....for many closely related species, even a good look at all of these features will not suffice; only an in-hand examination of anatomical features will permit certain identification. Even experts must let many pass simply as "clubtail species."
Having read that, I know my limitations. But I can readily say he was gorgeous! When he was whirling around in the turbulence, I found myself primed to duck if he came my way. This made me laugh. I've never had that reaction to a dragonfly before. This guy was more like a helicopter!

Note added June 18: This dragonfly was in the 3 inch range, almost double the size of more common dragonflies. I was delighted to receive a postive ID confirmation from Martin Hagne of Weslaco, TX, who agrees this is a Clubtail Dragonhunter. Read his interesting note in the comments section.

And before I leave the subject, if you haven't already discovered Amila's blog, Gallicissa, pay it a visit. Not only is Amila an expert guide for birders, but he loves dragonflies and has created a wonderful pond in his Sri Lankan backyard where he studies dragonflies and other critters and posts beautiful macro images.