{"id":115862,"date":"2023-09-14T03:43:50","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T09:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=115862"},"modified":"2023-09-14T05:28:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T11:28:14","slug":"male-variegated-meadowhawk-dragonfly-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/14\/male-variegated-meadowhawk-dragonfly-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Variegated Meadowhawk Dragonfly Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I last visited Farmington Bay WMA, I found flights of Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies on the wing and resting, near and on Goose Egg Island.<\/p>\n

Dragonfly groups are typically referred to as ‘swarms,’ but I prefer to call them ‘flights’ to avoid any negative connotations. That is my own personal preference.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Variegated Meadowhawk dragonfly at Farmington Bay WMA \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies that I found and photographed were males. They appeared to be competing for the best perches to catch airborne insects.<\/p>\n

\"VariegatedVariegated Meadowhawk dragonfly in front of rabbitbrush \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At times, these Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies would land in the rabbitbrush, but when they did, parts of the dragonflies were hidden from my view. When they landed on dead stems on the outside of the rabbitbrush, I had clear views.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Variegated Meadowhawk dragonfly resting \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

By now, most of you who regularly read what I say here on my site know I adore dragonflies because they eat the biting insects that seem to favor me and my blood. I am highly allergic to some of those insect bites and grateful that the flights of dragonflies mean fewer of them to attack me.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Variegated Meadowhawk dragonfly head on \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies<\/span><\/a> are known for their unique coloration, with their wings and body featuring a combination of red, brown, and yellow hues. They are also incredibly skilled hunters, with studies showing that adult dragonflies catch more than 95% of their targeted prey<\/span>. While there is no specific information on how many insects Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies can catch in an hour, it is known that dragonflies, in general, are voracious predators capable of eating hundreds of insects each day<\/span>.<\/p>\n

I admire dragonflies for their beauty, their jewel-like colors and seemingly effortless flight. There are times I wish that I was small enough to ride on the back of the dragonflies I photograph. What a magical and wild experience that would be!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I last visited Farmington Bay WMA, I found flights of Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies on the wing and resting, near and on Goose Egg Island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1022,697,26,5952,99],"tags":[4004,5366,2204,5023,4062,4094,4104,4289,4156,2315,5954,5953,14349,4095],"class_list":["post-115862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-variegated-meadowhawk","category-wildlife","tag-adult","tag-dragonflies","tag-dragonfly","tag-head-on","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-perched","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-resting","tag-summer-3","tag-sympetrum-corruptum","tag-variegated-meadowhawk","tag-variegated-meadowhawk-dragonfly","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/variegated-meadowhawk-dragonfly-male-farmington-mia-mcpherson-0239.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-u8K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47598,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/06\/eight-spotted-skimmer-variegated-meadowhawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":115862,"position":0},"title":"Eight-spotted Skimmer & Variegated Meadowhawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoyed photographing the Eight-spotted Skimmer and Variegated Meadowhawk while also taking photos of Red-tailed Hawk juvenile.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eight-spotted Skimmer on a rusty wire, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eight-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-on-wire-mia-mcpherson-8705.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/eight-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-on-wire-mia-mcpherson-8705.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting male Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/twelve-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly-male-mia-mcpherson-3231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/striped-meadowhawk-dragonfly-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-8422.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/striped-meadowhawk-dragonfly-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-8422.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/striped-meadowhawk-dragonfly-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-8422.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/striped-meadowhawk-dragonfly-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-8422.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107365,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/18\/band-winged-and-striped-meadowhawk-dragonfly-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":115862,"position":3},"title":"Band-winged and Striped Meadowhawk Dragonfly Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"At Farmington Bay WMA yesterday I saw and photographed two kinds of meadowhawk dragonflies including this Band-winged Meadowhawk resting on a boulder.","rel":"","context":"In "Band-winged Meadowhawks"","block_context":{"text":"Band-winged Meadowhawks","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/band-winged-meadowhawks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Band-winged Meadowhawk at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/band-winged-meadowhawk-boulder-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/band-winged-meadowhawk-boulder-mia-mcpherson-1307.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/15\/head-on-eight-spotted-skimmer-dragonfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":115862,"position":5},"title":"Head On Eight-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly – Other Things With Wings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago at Glover Pond there were several Eight-spotted Skimmer dragonflies that I aimed my lens at and of those I liked this head on shot the most.","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eight-spotted Skimmer Dragonfly Head On, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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