Many dragonflies species have disappeared by now as we move deeper into autumn, but some especially beautiful ones have taken their place, like these male Blue-faced Meadowhawks (Sympetrum ambiguum) that I photographed yesterday at my local marshland park.
According to the Dragonflies of Northern Virginia website, this species peaks in September to October and is the rarest and hardest to find meadowhawk in our area. I was walking through a meadow at the park with one of my fellow photographers when she spotted the Blue-faced Meadowhawk in the second photo perched on a log. At that moment, I happened to have a 70-300mm telephoto lens on my camera and I was happy to be able to get a shot that shows the spectacular colors of this dragonfly. Little did I know that I would have an even better opportunity a few minutes later.
As we continued into an area with thigh-high growth, my friend stopped for a moment and said she had spotted a spreadwing damselfly. I looked in the direction that she was pointing and didn’t see the damselfly, but I did spot another Blue-faced Meadowhawk perched atop one of the plants.
In a whispered voice, I asked my friend to freeze and I quickly changed lenses to my 180mm macro lens. Amazingly, the dragonfly stayed in place and I was able to get a number of shots, including the first one below. Given that these dragonflies are less than two inches in size (50mm), I am thrilled with the results. There is something almost magical about the combination of red, blue, and turquoise on this dragonfly.
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© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Those colours really are striking.
Love the red of the body and teal in the head. Really nice shot.
A shame that the dragonfly season is coming to an end, I have only seen 3 or 4 this year. I possibly don’t live in a dragonfly hotspot.
Thanks. I live in a pretty good location for all kinds of wildlife and birds. We get some species that migrate through the area and some that hang around all winter, though the winters are cold enough that all the insects disappear.
It’s always exciting to see something so rare. I’m going to be near a pond today so I’ll have to keep this one in mind. Nice shots!
Beautiful. I’m really enjoying your dragonfly photos. What a shame they’ll be coming to an end with winter.
During the winter months I tend to switch to birds, so hopefully I’ll continue to populate my blog with colorful creatures.