What marks the arrival of autumn for you? Is it the colorful fall foliage or perhaps the shortening of the daylight hours and the arrival of cooler weather? For me, the reappearance of Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) is one of the surest signs of the change in the seasons.
It seems like I have had to wait longer this year than in the past, but I am finally starting to see these small reddish-orange dragonflies as I walk the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. On Monday I spotted my first male Autumn Meadowhawks of the season, as shown in the first two photos below. The coloration of the males is startlingly bright, but you actually have to look hard to spot them, because they are only 1.3 inches (33 mm) long and often perch on low vegetation or on the ground itself.
The final image showcases the two-toned look of a female Autumn Meadowhawk. She seems to be glancing over at me and smiling, confident in her radiant beauty, her warm coloration a beautiful reflection of the autumn season.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It’s very impressive how you manage to capture these ‘little’ guys… in focus too 😳
interesting fact that the Autumn Meadowhawk return in fall.
Most dragonflies appear in the spring or in the summer, but the Autumn Meadowhawk generally does not appear until the middle of the summer at the earliest and stay around until we start to have hard freezes.
[…] Autumn Meadowhawks in October — Mike Powell […]
Truly a joy to see this very small species up close, Mike.
Macro photography at it’s best!! Stunning shots!!
Beautiful series of Autumn Meadowhawk Dragonflies Mike!