What signals the arrival of autumn for you? Perhaps it is the changes in the foliage, the cooling of the temperatures, or the shortening of the daylight hours. In recent years Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) have become the harbingers of autumn, visible signs that the end of the dragonfly season is inexorably drawing near.
I spotted my first Autumn Meadowhawks this year on 2 October at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. This species usually appears in late September and most years is the last dragonfly species to disappear—I have seen Autumn Meadowhawks as late as December some years and there have been some reports of them in early January.
A number of other dragonflies are still active, but by early November most of them will be gone. I will still be looking to photograph those hardy survivors in the upcoming months, but, as recent postings suggest, I will eventually be shifting a lot of my focus from insects to birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
All of those and the lady bugs show up.
Wonderful “Autumn” photographs, Mike.
I’m jealous. Of the dragon as well as the season.
I did not know about the autumn meadow hawk