Since my favorite colors are orange, brown, and green, it’s no wonder I love Autumn. \u00a0The only downside is that my beloved dragonflies take a siesta (or a dirt nap) until the Spring. \u00a0Goodbye, Insectae<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There are a few hardy specimens that hang around longer than most others. \u00a0While the rest of the odonates have migrated or joined the Choir Celestial, the Yellow-legged Meadowhawk (S. vicinum<\/em>) hangs around until late October, sometimes as late as early November.<\/p>\n

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Many Meadowhawks require identification in the lab, since their taxonomy is subtle. \u00a0In this case, there is nothing subtle about a Yellow-legged. \u00a0They’re yellow, and they’re long, the odonate equivalent of a first baseman’s mitt. \u00a0This is a hunter. \u00a0They have to be, living this late this far north, where the pickings are slim, most insects succumbing to a few hard frosts by now.<\/p>\n

Just a few feet from this hardy specimen was a less expected but also hardy specimen…a Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice<\/em>). \u00a0They also live late in the season, somehow dodging the cold until November.<\/p>\n

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The cornflowers are wilted and dead just a week later, but this little butterfly was busy sucking down nectar like a frat boy guzzling PBRs. \u00a0I was inches from him, using a macro lens, and he was undeterred by the giant lens and the clacking of the shutter.<\/p>\n

I like Meadowhawks and Sulphurs. \u00a0They are by no means the largest of their respective orders; in fact, they’re on the smaller side. \u00a0Unlike the larger\u00a0Aeshnidae <\/em>or Ornithopterae, <\/em>these little dudes just get it done, and they’re good at it. \u00a0I guess I’d like to be like the Meadowhawks or Sulphurs rather than Darners or Birdwings. \u00a0I don’t want fancy. \u00a0I just want to be good at what I do.<\/p>\n

In world where flashy gets the attention, you’d do well to remember that the shiny things only flash for a moment and emit no light of their own. \u00a0The source of light they reflect is what’s real.<\/p>\n

Respectfully submitted,<\/p>\n

Canoelover<\/p>\n

P.S. \u00a0Coming soon on canoelover.com: “you have <\/em>how many canoe paddles?”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since my favorite colors are orange, brown, and green, it’s no wonder I love Autumn. \u00a0The only downside is that my beloved dragonflies take a siesta (or a dirt nap) until the Spring. \u00a0Goodbye, Insectae. There are a few hardy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,39,40,31,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1265"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1273,"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1265\/revisions\/1273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canoelover.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}