I walked about for a couple of hours on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and visited some of my favorite dragonfly sites, but managed to spot only three dragonflies. Of those three, the only one that I managed to photograph was this pretty little Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum).
Autumn Meadowhawks are quite small, about 1.3 inches (33 mm) in length, so they are not easy to spot, despite their bright red color. They tend to stay close to the ground, making short flights most of the time, so you have to be looking down to see them. At this time of the year, I focus a good amount attention on birds, so I end up alternating between looking up for birds and down for insects.
I really like the color and texture of the rocks on which the dragonfly chose to perch. Their cool muted tones contrast nicely with the red and brown colors of the dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Is it my imagination or does the Autumn Meadow Hawk have a very furry collar ?
I can see why you’d asking this question, John, because it indeed looks like the dragonfly has a furry collar and it would certainly have come in handy on some of our recent cold nights. 🙂
Cool dragonfly!
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Thanks, Mitzy. It’s fun to try to photograph dragonflies on all kinds of different perches.
Love this one
Thanks.
So striking! Love that red color.