Late season dragonfly

We’re almost at the end of the dragonfly season now in Northern Virginia and soon I’ll be seeing only the Autumn Meadowhawks (Sympetrum vicinum), historically the last dragonflies of the year to disappear. This past Monday, though, I managed to find a few Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum ambiguum), unusually hardy survivors this late in the season.

I really enjoy trying to get close-up shots of these colorful little dragonflies and my favorite shot is this close-up of one of them, perched on a fallen leaf.

When you pull back a little, you can see how tough the season has been for this dragonfly—portions of its wings are shredded. Somehow, however, it managed to fly about as though its wings were undamaged.

Temperatures last night dropped down into the upper 30’s F (3-4 degrees C) and I doubt that I will see any more Blue-faced Meadowhawks. I…