White-faced Meadowhawk

Meadowhawks are members of the genus Sypetrum. They are a part of the skimmer family of dragonflies, which includes most of the colorful dragonflies. Meadowhawks are medium sized dragonflies that are quite common from midsummer into early fall.
Most mature male meadowhawks are red in color while the female and young males are usually gold. Several of the meadowhawk species are so similar that they can only be identified under a microscope. Fortunately the white-faced meadow hawk is the only meadowhawk with a white face. When they first emerge the white face is more of an off white color and can make it difficult to identify them but by the time that they mature, like the ones above, the white is very striking making identification fairly easy.