Shadow darner

It's getting very late in the odonate calendar and the local pond is almost completely empty of dragonflies and damselflies. But in the upland fields, I can often flush a large darner or two out of the grass or off the branches of the shrubs, where, at this time of year, the big Aeshnids like to rest and recharge their flight batteries. Most of these odonates have been Common Green darners, and often enough, if the afternoon turns warm, they'll form feeding swarms of a dozen or more individuals. They're certainly welcome to all the mosquitoes they can hawk! A few days ago, however, I had the feeling that many of the Common Greens had headed south on migration. That suspicion was confirmed this morning, when the fields were relatively quiet and only one ode took to the air ahead of me. It landed in plain sight and stayed put as I photographed it at fairly close range. It was a Shadow Darner, a common dragonfly that loves to work the twilight and the darker sections of the woods. Aeshna umbrosa is a relative homebody and one of the last dragonflies to give up the ghost. According to the guide books, it just may grace my mornings into November.