On Tuesday morning I was thrilled to spot this female Umber Shadowdragon dragonfly (Neurocordulia obsoleta) while exploring in Fairfax County, Virginia with my friend and fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford. We were searching for perched dragonflies in a sunlight field with vegetation that was often waist-high and occasionally as tall as I am. One of my aspirational goals is to be able to photograph a dragonfly covered with drops of morning dew.
I was attracted to a stalk of vegetation when I spotted a cicada perched at eye-level. As I was looking into the cicada’s bright red eyes, I noticed that there was an exuvia, the discarded exoskeleton from which a cicada had recently emerged, a bit lower on the plant. I looked downward and was shocked to see a dragonfly hanging from the underside of the broad leafy stalk of the vegetation, using it like an umbrella to shade itself from the sun.
I did not know what kind of dragonfly it was, but suspecting that it might be something unusual, I stopped dead in my tracks and called out to my friend Walter. I bent a little bit from the knees and captured a few shots, but was afraid to move any more than that for fear of spooking the dragonfly—the wings are clipped in the photo because I was using my macro lens, which does not zoom, which meant I would have had to back up to capture a shot of the entire dragonfly. Unfortunately, as Walter was approaching, the dragonfly took off, spooked perhaps by my efforts to point out its location, and Walter was not able to get a shot of it.
When I got home, I was able to identify the dragonfly as an Umber Shadowdragon, a species that I had never seen before and about which I knew very little. Kevin Munroe, who created the wonderful website Dragonflies of Northern Virginia, described this species in almost poetic language: “The name alone creates images of a shadowy creature, mysterious and unique. It also sent me to a dictionary to look up “umber”. It turns out to be a clay pigment containing iron oxides that have an attractive red to golden brown coloring, originally found in the hills of Umbria, Italy. Even better, “umber” comes from the Latin word umbra, which means shadow. So the name means, Shadow Shadowdragon. This species certainly lives up to its enigmatic name – it does in fact only show itself among shadows, waiting to leave its high, leafy haunts until after 8:00 PM (2000 hours) on summer evenings. It can even be as late as 8:30 before they start their river patrols. Listen for that brief period when the day-singing cicada and nighttime katydids are both calling; the changing of the guard between light and dark. That’s when shadowdragons make their appearance and will often fly into early night, cruising fast and low, just above the river’s surface.”
I feel like I was really, really lucky to spot this dragonfly in broad daylight. The nocturnal habits of this species are such that most sources indicate that it is not even known if this species is rare or if it is common. If you are interested in learning more fascinating information about this species, be sure to check out this page of the website referenced above. I also highly recommend that you double click on the image to get a better look at the amazing details of this beautiful dragonfly, including the rows of little golden dots on the leading edges of its wings.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love dragonflies. I even have one tattooed on my arm.
Now that is cool. I have several masks on order with dragonflies, but I am not sure I am ready at the moment to have one inked on my body, but who knows in the future. Is your dragonfly a realistic image of an actual dragonfly species or is a stylized version of one?
I don’t know how to send you just the picture but I will put a picture of it on my blog.
https://christinebialczak.com/2020/05/28/dragonfly-tattoo/
Stunning! Congratulations.
Thanks, Michael. As you well know, preparations are nice for getting good images, but often you need a bit of luck too. 🙂
The most prepared people are the luckiest.
I’d tend to agree with that. You may have to be kind of lucky to see certain things, but most often you have to be skilled and prepared to get the shot (and know where and when to look).
That’s it!
Very nice image Mike! Enjoyed seeing the Umber Shadowdragon!!
Thanks, Reed. This is the kind of subject that would have been almost to capture with a longer lens–it required being pretty much up close and personal with the dragonfly.
Spangled Shadowdragon! So glad you caught sight of one and an image to boot!!
Thanks, Molly.
Wow! Great find Mike and lovely image.
Thanks. I was absolutely thrilled after the fact once I realized what I had stumbled upon, especially because I was able to get a good shot of it before it flew away.
Great find and photograph, Mike.
Well done, Mike, this is fantastic. It’s such an unusual color; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in a dragonfly before. And, as you said, it’s really a perfect name, too!
Thanks, Gary. I guess that I am so used to seeing a wide range of colors in dragonflies that I was more struck by the wing patterns of this one than by its color. I’ll have to think about to decide if there are any other species that share the coloration of this female Umber Shadowdragon. I guess my next challenge is to find a male and see what he looks like.
When you get lucky, Mike, we get lucky, too.
Thanks, Dan. As I have said time and time again, it is hard for me to look objectively at my own photos. There are often emotions and memories tied to my photos that color my judgments. I try to create photos that are good enough to stand on their own, but whose value is enhanced further by what I have to say about them. I hope that makes sense.
You’ve been to my place, Mike. You know I love the stories that as t go along with the images.
I was glad that you found something out of the ordinary and I appreciate the story. Your photos are always great, but I like the addition of knowing where you were walking, and under what circumstances you came to be able to capture the images. I think most of your photos could stand on their own, but I don’t think they should.
Terrific catch.
I love the story of the name of this beautiful dragonfly, the approach to get this shot and the delicate patterns on the wings… clipped or not!
Thanks, Chris. In a funny way, it was a blessing that I clipped the wings, because it allowed me to fill the frame with the more interesting part of the dragonfly. I remember how liberated I felt the first time when my photo mentor told me it was ok to photograph only part of a subject and didn’t have to back up to include it all.
[…] Mike discovered this one. Mike called to me and I worked my way to his location as quickly as I could, braving stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and thorny vegetation. I got there in time to see the dragonfly from the side. Regrettably, it flew away before I could shoot some photos. See Mike’s photo of this uncommon species in a post he entitled “Umber Shadowdragon.” […]