This young male dragonfly is a Cardinal Meadowhawk. He is very orange colored but will turn completely Cardinal red when mature. The first 3 photographs were taken at Bigsnest Wildlife Pond on March 29, 2002.
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| In the first two photos, you can see the black marks close in to the base of the wings which distinguish this species from the Red-veined Meadowhawk |
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| The young male pictured above was unable to break up the pair below, but he sat still so I could capture his image. |
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| Amazingly these young males found a female and here a tandem pair prepare to oviposit. |
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| This photo was taken after about 2 more weeks of maturation and this
male now shows only a trace of orange coloring (4-19-02)
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| Here is another young male (April 2000).
IF you have a good sense of humor you'll appreciate this comment by Dennis Paulson: "....a young male going through the oriole stage on its way to becoming a full cardinal." |