Birdingonthe.Net Recent Postings from SE Odonata > Home > Mail > Alerts Updated on Wednesday, June 19 at 07:46 PM EST The most recently received Mail is at the top.	Egyptian Plover,©BirdQuest

19 Jun Re: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5- PICTURES [Kyle Kittelberger ] 17 Jun Re: Black calico pennant - GA mtns + other oddities [] 15 Jun Lively day, unexpected odes - Cobra Clubtail, Pale Bluets etc. [Chris Hill ] 14 Jun Re: Black calico pennant - GA mtns [Marion Dobbs ] 14 Jun Re: Black calico pennant - GA mtns [Dennis Paulson ] 14 Jun Black calico pennant - GA mtns [] 14 Jun Re: Slightly off topic [Marion Dobbs ] 13 Jun Slightly off topic [Paul Bedell ] 13 Jun All the pretty skimmers [Chris Hill ] 13 Jun Recent sightings in St. Tammany [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 12 Jun Moore and Lee Co., NC Odes- 6/12 [Kyle Kittelberger ] 12 Jun Sympetrum semicinctum - a large population [] 11 Jun Photo of Rapids Clubtail in NC ["Legrand, Harry" ] 10 Jun Dragonhunter, Spinyleg, Blackwater clubtails, Sanddragons [] 9 Jun Odeing Question [Kyle Kittelberger ] 8 Jun Falls Dam, NC- Eastern Red Damsels [Kyle Kittelberger ] 6 Jun Mid-SC odeing [Chris Hill ] 5 Jun Re: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 [Kyle Kittelberger ] 5 Jun RE: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 ["Legrand, Harry" ] 4 Jun Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 [Kyle Kittelberger ] 4 Jun Band-winged meadowhawks, teneral 12-spotted skimmer [] 4 Jun Re: Beautiful Needham's [Tim Martin ] 4 Jun Beautiful Needham's [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 4 Jun Rambur's? [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 2 Jun Bar-winged skimmer, Blackwater clubtails, Sanddragon [] 2 Jun Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? [buck snelson ] 1 Jun Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? [Dennis Paulson ] 1 Jun Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? [Thomas W Donnelly ] 1 Jun Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? [Dennis Paulson ] 1 Jun Golden-winged or Needham's? [Robert Perkins ] 1 Jun File - yahoo mail help.odt [] 31 May Gray petaltail fest - GA [] 31 May Shadowdragons and "Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East" [Chris Hill ] 29 May Re: Argia eating tandem Enallagma [Dennis Paulson ] 29 May Argia eating tandem Enallagma [buck snelson ] 29 May Blackwater clubtails - GA [] 25 May Re: Aurora damsels, Vesper bluet - GA [Hal White ] 24 May Aurora damsels, Vesper bluet - GA [] 17 May ID help ["drivesa3 AT aol.com"] 16 May Damsel id [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 16 May Sightings in LA [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 16 May Rambur's heteromorph [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 16 May Regal Darner [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 16 May Regal Crown [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 15 May Re: Spangled skimmers, Black saddlebags [Tim Martin ] 15 May Spangled skimmers, Black saddlebags [] 14 May Re: Don't show this to the Lep-ers! [stelenes ] 14 May Re: eye loupe [stelenes ] 14 May Re: eye loupe [Chris Hill ] 14 May eye loupe [buck snelson ] 11 May Re: Baskettail Identification [Chris Hill ] 11 May Baskettail Identification [Harold Howell ] 10 May Turquoise bluets, Painted skimmer [] 10 May RE: Citrine Forktail? ["Krotzer, Steve" ] 9 May Citrine Forktail? [Bob Perkins ] 3 May Re: Re: Dragonflying 101 [Dennis Paulson ] 3 May Don't show this to the Lep-ers! [MARK or LYNN GRAHAM ] 03 May Re: Dragonflying 101 ["mexicodoug1" ] 3 May Dragonflying 101 [buck snelson ] 02 May Re: Painted skimmer - GA [walter chadwick ] 1 May Painted skimmer - GA [] 1 May Re: Gomphaeschna ID help [buck snelson ] 1 May File - yahoo mail help.odt [] 30 Apr Re: Gomphaeschna ID help [Chris Hill ] 30 Apr Gomphaeschna ID help [buck snelson ] 28 Apr Re: At last my odes have come along [Tim Martin ] 28 Apr Re: magical moment with darners & saddlebags ["Mathis" ] 28 Apr magical moment with darners & saddlebags [] 27 Apr A species I look forward to seeing every year [Marion Dobbs ] 27 Apr Goochland and Fluvanna Counties, Virginia Odes [Allen Bryan ] 25 Apr Re: At last my odes have come along [Tim Martin ] 25 Apr Ode big day invitation - Horry Co., SC [Chris Hill ] 24 Apr At last my odes have come along [Marion Dobbs ] 23 Apr Website update [Marion Dobbs ] 21 Apr Richmond dragonflies ["paul" ] 21 Apr Central Virginia Odes [Allen Bryan ] Subject: Re: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5- PICTURES From: Kyle Kittelberger <kkturtledude AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:30:40 -0700 (PDT) Hey everyone,   I finally finished going through my pictures for our day in Bladen County. Below is the initial list of species (with a couple changes); next to some species I have posted links to pics. I got a lot of great pics, but probably one of the more special ones is an image of a pair of Belle's Sanddragons in a wheel. There is one correction to our original list of species; what we thought were a couple male Southern Sprites were actually heteromorph female Sphagnum Sprites, which look pretty similar; only analyzing the pics did I find this out.   I hope to work through the pics I took in Moore County soon. Here is a pic of one of the Eastern Red Damsels I had in Wake County several weeks ago. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9086579504/   Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC   -------------------------------- Jones Lake State Park: Blue-fronted Dancer Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Atlantic Bluet                 5 Familiar/Big Bluet          1 Orange Bluet                 1 Citrine Forktail Fragile Forktail              5 Rambur's Forktail                  http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9062505092/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9064632550/in/photostream/ Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 3         http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9069712017/in/photostream/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9072202158/in/photostream/ BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 5    http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9071823736/in/photostream/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9070024797/in/photostream/ Prince Baskettail           1 Red-veined Pennant     1 Calico Pennant                     http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9064169614/in/photostream/ Eastern Pondhawk Little Blue Dragonlet Slaty Skimmer               1 Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher   Salter's Lake access: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Skimming Bluet            1            http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9070869881/in/photostream/ Orange Bluet Citrine Forktail Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL    3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 8        http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9072927718/in/photostream/ Little Blue Dragonlet Golden-winged Skimmer- briefly seen Slaty Skimmer Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher Eastern Amberwing Common Whitetail           1 Calico Pennant   Baytree State Park: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Sphagnum Sprite           6     http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9079338021/in/photostream/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9081620638/in/photostream/ Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL     6 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 4 Ornate Pennant               1    http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawk-eagle/9073947456/in/photostream/ Blue Dasher Great Blue Skimmer Common Whitetail            1 Carolina Saddlebags        2       ________________________________ From: Kyle Kittelberger To: SE-Odonata Cc: "ed.corey AT ncparks.gov" Sent: Wednesday, June 5, 2013 12:52 AM Subject: [se-odonata] Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5   Hey everyone, On Tuesday Brian Bockhahn, Ed Corey, Ed's intern Nathan, and I had a fantastic day searching for odes in Bladen County, NC, finding 26 species. We first started out at Jones Lake State Park, where Brian had an ode workshop; a good diversity of species here, but the highlight was definitely getting terrific looks at BELLE'S SANDDRAGON and SANDHILL CLUBTAIL. After Jones Lake we headed over to Salter's Lake (technically part of Jones Lake SP). Here we had several new species, with the highlight being a lone male Skimming Bluet. We also got more great views of Belle's Sanddragon and Sandhill Clubtail. After finishing the workshop at Salter's Lake, we travelled to Baytree State Park; Brian and I found a very cooperative Ornate Pennant and then helped Ed and Nathan count the Sanddragons and Clubtails on the beach. We all then explored a small canal and found two more highlights: Southern Spite and Sphagum Sprite. All in all, a terrific day with many new park records, 6 lifers (bolded), and many great pictures. Below is the list of odes we had at each individual park. On another note, I tried entering these records to the NC ode database but I kept getting an error message saying no county was selected, even though Bladen Co. clearly was. Can anyone help me with this? Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC Jones Lake State Park: Blue-fronted Dancer Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Atlantic Bluet                 5 Orange Bluet                 1 Citrine Forktail Fragile Forktail              5 Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 5 Prince Baskettail           1 Red-veined Pennant     1- seen by Brian and Ed Calico Pennant Eastern Pondhawk Little Blue Dragonlet Slaty Skimmer               1 Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher   Salter's Lake access: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Skimming Bluet            1 Orange Bluet Citrine Forktail Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL    3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 8 Little Blue Dragonlet Golden-winged Skimmer- briefly seen Slaty Skimmer Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher Eastern Amberwing Common Whitetail           1 Calico Pennant   Baytree State Park: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Southern Sprite               2 Sphagnum Sprite            4 Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL     6 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 4 Ornate Pennant               1 Blue Dasher Great Blue Skimmer Common Whitetail            1 Carolina Saddlebags        2   Subject: Re: Black calico pennant - GA mtns + other oddities From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:09:03 -0400 (EDT) Thanks Dennis! Oddities always fascinate me and I'd love to know what's going on with the black Calicos up there. There is a large population of pennants at that park - mostly Calicos but also Bandeds. I saw several Lancet clubtails at the same dam and all looked normal except one that was ... extra long. My husband and I estimated over 2" long. I see a lot of variation in Lancet size - some very small and others as long as Ashy's. I don't think we could have spotted a small one from the top of the dam but this guy was noticeably large even to the naked eye (photo below). And today I was shooting common pond dragonflies nearby and one caught my eye as being peculiar. It was a dark blue female Blue dasher and didn't look like an old individual though it may have been. I'm glad you've included these in your ref. I don't run into many blue females and this was the darkest I've seen (photo below). Even the way it was perched was atypical for females I see. OTOH I see a lot of dark blue female Slaty skimmers later in the season. It sure keeps things interesting! Vicki DeLoach Woodstock GA extra-long Lancet clubtail: dark blue female Blue dasher: In a message dated 6/14/2013 8:16:41 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, dennispaulson AT comcast.net writes: Vicki, this would make me speculate about a possible hybrid between Calico and Banded Pennant. The ways the black ones differ from the regulation red ones are all in the direction of Banded. Or it's just a genetic variant of Calico that is established there. Sure would be nice to have a specimen to examine more closely to possibly distinguish between these alternatives. Dennis On Jun 14, 2013, at 4:56 PM, _VLDELOACH AT aol.com_ (mailto:VLDELOACH AT aol.com) wrote: Last June I posted a black Calico pennant (Celithemis elisa) that we found on the dam at Vogel State Park. It also had aberrant wing markings. We were back on the dam today and I laughed & told my husband that maybe we could find another one. Sure enough - I photographed another black Calico - in pretty much the same spot as last year. The red dorsal spots down the abdomen were smaller than nearby Calico's and S2-3 showed very little red. I couldn't help but notice that its cerci even looked stubbier. Anyway, wanted to share: 6-14-13 black Calico: 6-14-13 red Calico next to it - a typical male at this location: 6-2-12 Black calico, same spot: Vicki DeLoach Vogel State Park Georgia ----- Dennis Paulson 1724 NE 98 St. Seattle, WA 98115 206-528-1382 _dennispaulson AT comcast.net_ (mailto:dennispaulson AT comcast.net) = Subject: Lively day, unexpected odes - Cobra Clubtail, Pale Bluets etc. From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:33:49 -0400 Hi ode oglers, A week ago or so, Lois Stacey asked me on facebook about doing a county big day for odes, and what date would be good. Since my totals since I started trying county big days go something like 45 species, 37 species (and aborted early), 31 species (and aborted early), I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask. If I keep improving at this rate, a "big" day for me should be about 9 species by 2020. But more to the point, I think Friday would have been the day. It's been very hot and humid for a week down here in SC, but a front came through and dropped the humidity, dropped the high temperature from 93 earlier in the week to 80 Friday, and brought sun, sun, sun. Just great weather, and I think all that heat got lots of skimmers flying. At least, some familiar ponds had skimmers everywhere. The only problem diversity-wise might have been damselflies, most of which are usually easier to find in spring than summer around here. Well, I won't know, since I didn't run around trying to run up a big list, but I did hit a couple spots while out running errands and found great numbers and good diversity and a couple unexpected species. I think compared to mid-May, the species around me you'd miss would be Baskettails - Common and Mantled Clubtails - Lancet, Ashy, Cocoa and Banner Blue Corporal So that's minus seven and maybe damselfly diversity would be down. But on the other hand, there are lots of species of skimmers flying now that aren't flying in mid-may, and some damselflies, like Pale Bluet and Duckweed Firetail and some Argias seem to launch late, too. Anyway, on to a composite list, from a few spots (two boat landings on the Little Pee Dee; a pond at the Atlantic Center, a duckweed-filled ditch). Blue-tipped Dancer Rambur's Forktail PALE BLUET - thought for a bit they might be Slender, which would be a new county record, but they were E. pallidum. Ovipositing at Pitt's Landing on the Little Pee Dee. Always a good find. Turquoise Bluet Duckweed Firetail - all of a sudden they're everywhere at "the spot" for them - found about 20 in 4 minutes, though as usual they're surprisingly inconspicuous for a bright red damselfly. Swamp Darner Cyrano Darner Common Green Darner Black-shouldered Spinylegs COBRA CLUBTAIL - near Pitt's landing - seems late for this species Gomphurus sp. (3) normally this late I would assume Blackwater Clubtail, but I think at least one of the unidentified was another Cobra. The rivers stayed cold a long time this cool wet spring, which probably pushed Cobra emergence back. I'm pretty sure at least one of the unknowns was Blackwater - saw it carrying a Slaty Skimmer up into a tree to eat it - but I never got a really good look. Gray-green Clubtail - lots - several times I had two or three in one binocular view Common Sanddragon Royal River Cruiser Georgia River Cruiser Prince Baskettail Four-spotted Skimmer Halloween Pennant Calico Pennant Common Pondhawk Great Blue Skimmer Painted Skimmer Golden-winged Skimmer - unexpected where I found them, though common elsewhere in the county. Slaty Skimmer Needham's Skimmer Blue Dasher Eastern Amberwing Black Saddlebags Oh, the rivers are really high right now. I'll attach a photo shot at Punchbowl Landing. Those who were there for the DSA meeting last year may recognize the setting (usually there would be sand sloping down to a concrete boat launch next to the dock; downriver is to the left). What dry land remained was pretty lively with clubtails. CH ------------------------------------ High water at Punchbowl Gray-green Clubtail ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm Subject: Re: Black calico pennant - GA mtns From: Marion Dobbs <ecurlew AT mac.com> Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 22:48:17 -0400 That's interesting, Vicki. I've not seen, to my knowledge, one of those, but I'll be on the lookout. Dennis, I'll try to snag one if I find a population of them, or even one of them. Marion Marion Dobbs Rome (Floyd Co.) GA spreadwing AT mac.com http://www.mamomi.net http://mariondobbs.smugmug.com "I was much struck how entirely vague and arbitrary is the distinction between species and varieties."_Charles Darwin On Jun 14, 2013, at 7:56 PM, VLDELOACH AT aol.com wrote: > Last June I posted a black Calico pennant (Celithemis elisa) that we found on the dam at Vogel State Park. It also had aberrant wing markings. We were back on the dam today and I laughed & told my husband that maybe we could find another one. Sure enough - I photographed another black Calico - in pretty much the same spot as last year. The red dorsal spots down the abdomen were smaller than nearby Calico's and S2-3 showed very little red. I couldn't help but notice that its cerci even looked stubbier. Anyway, wanted to share: > > 6-14-13 black Calico: > > 6-14-13 red Calico next to it - a typical male at this location: > > 6-2-12 Black calico, same spot: > > > Vicki DeLoach > Vogel State Park > Georgia > > Subject: Re: Black calico pennant - GA mtns From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:16:39 -0700 Vicki, this would make me speculate about a possible hybrid between Calico and Banded Pennant. The ways the black ones differ from the regulation red ones are all in the direction of Banded. Or it's just a genetic variant of Calico that is established there. Sure would be nice to have a specimen to examine more closely to possibly distinguish between these alternatives. Dennis On Jun 14, 2013, at 4:56 PM, VLDELOACH AT aol.com wrote: > Last June I posted a black Calico pennant (Celithemis elisa) that we found on the dam at Vogel State Park. It also had aberrant wing markings. We were back on the dam today and I laughed & told my husband that maybe we could find another one. Sure enough - I photographed another black Calico - in pretty much the same spot as last year. The red dorsal spots down the abdomen were smaller than nearby Calico's and S2-3 showed very little red. I couldn't help but notice that its cerci even looked stubbier. Anyway, wanted to share: > > 6-14-13 black Calico: > > 6-14-13 red Calico next to it - a typical male at this location: > > 6-2-12 Black calico, same spot: > > > Vicki DeLoach > Vogel State Park > Georgia > > ----- Dennis Paulson 1724 NE 98 St. Seattle, WA 98115 206-528-1382 dennispaulson AT comcast.net Subject: Black calico pennant - GA mtns From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:56:17 -0400 (EDT) Last June I posted a black Calico pennant (Celithemis elisa) that we found on the dam at Vogel State Park. It also had aberrant wing markings. We were back on the dam today and I laughed & told my husband that maybe we could find another one. Sure enough - I photographed another black Calico - in pretty much the same spot as last year. The red dorsal spots down the abdomen were smaller than nearby Calico's and S2-3 showed very little red. I couldn't help but notice that its cerci even looked stubbier. Anyway, wanted to share: 6-14-13 black Calico: 6-14-13 red Calico next to it - a typical male at this location: 6-2-12 Black calico, same spot: Vicki DeLoach Vogel State Park Georgia Subject: Re: Slightly off topic From: Marion Dobbs <ecurlew AT mac.com> Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:07:47 -0400 Owlflies are never off topic! I love them, and they sure get all of MY attention on the rare occasions I'm lucky enough to see one. Marion Dobbs Rome (Floyd Co.) GA spreadwing AT mac.com pond_damsel AT comcast.net http://www.mamomi.net http://mariondobbs.smugmug.com "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."_Bertrand Russell On Jun 13, 2013, at 3:10 PM, Paul Bedell wrote: > > Today while I was at Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield County, VA, I noticed what at first appeared to be a dragonfly flying around in the woods. It landed and took a strange posture on a sapling and I recognized it as an Owlfly! Photo attached. They are similar in some ways to dragonflies as they are aerial predators and fairly large insects, but they are not aquatic, and the antennae are ridiculously long. They seem to be much less common than dragonflies, and there are only a few species in all of North America. I am sure all of us are interested to some degree in many other organisms, and I think Owlflies might deserve more of our attention (as I think they get very little). > > Paul Bedell > Richmond > > > Subject: Slightly off topic From: Paul Bedell <pbedell AT verizon.net> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:10:55 -0500 (CDT) Subject: All the pretty skimmers From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:52:43 -0400 It has gotten really hot and humid here in coastal South Carolina, and skimmer season is here with a vengeance. My short walk home from the office goes along a drainage ditch and the ditch and the shrubs around it are now full of Needham's Skimmers and Common Whitetails, with a sprinkling of Roseate Skimmers, a Widow Skimmer or two and the usual Eastern Pondhawks and Blue Dashers. Quite the colorful bunch. Taking advantage in the shade of the woods are Great Blue Skimmers (a bunch of females) and a Black-shouldered Spinyleg, also a female, at least two miles from breeding habitat. Also I glimpsed one unidentified Darner? that has me thinking just maybe it's a late Taper- tailed, so I'll have to walk that direction a few more times. As soon as it cools down a bit. I think of Roseate Skimmers as more of a late summer species around here, but maybe it's later than I thought. Chris Hill ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm ------------------------------------ Subject: Recent sightings in St. Tammany From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:16:58 -0700 (PDT) Just came in from my backyard where in a span of 5 min. I saw a Pondhawk, Grt. Blue Skimmer, and a Blue Dasher, plus a Ruby-throated Hummer feeding on lantana. Yesterday, while blackberry picking I saw more Needham's than I've ever seen, sometimes five at a time. I didn't count but at least 70 over an hour's time. This was in Goodbee, in a flat, second growth area [nothing above 12 ft.] with some large wet weather puddles. Kept hoping for a Golden Wing but no luck.  I attached two photos that captured the costal vein patterns clearly. Also saw my first Black Saddlebags of the year last week in this same area. Many Pondhawks, Blue dashers and one beautiful Halloween Pennant. Mark Graham St. Tammany Parish, LA DSC05021.JPG These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google. Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/ Subject: Moore and Lee Co., NC Odes- 6/12 From: Kyle Kittelberger <kkturtledude AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:49:24 -0700 (PDT) Hey everyone, I spent much of today searching for odes in Moore County, NC. I had a fantastic day with 5 lifers and 25 species seen, and took many pictures. I started at Weymouth Woods State Park where I spent 4 hrs odeing. I first walked to the boardwalks along James Creek and spent about an hour or so following the sandy creek in the woods. I flushed a teneral clubtail from the creek side but unfortunately it can probably not be identified by picture. In addition, I found my lifer Sparkling Jewelwings and Yellow-sided Skimmer; interestingly the skimmer did not have black wing tips, so I am going to guess this was a newly emerged individual. After creek wading I walked until I found the small beaver pond wetland area at the boardwalk between the Gum Swamp and Holly Road trails and explored here for another hour or so - there were plenty of good odes to be found. This wetland must have been Sphagnum Sprite central, as it seemed they were mating almost everywhere. I found my lifer Seepage Dancer, a male, and Attenuated Bluet, a female here, as well as more Sparkling Jewelwings. Afterwards I drove to the large beaver pond near Valhalla Rd and explored as much of the wetland as I could before the water became too deep; there were many Attenuated Bluets mating here. After Weymouth Woods I drove to the Little River access off of Route 1, hoping to search for some species that haven't been recorded for a while in the county. The river level was several feet over the banks and my efforts to wade along the overflowing river in the forest were in vain with all the briars I was going through, so I retreated. While the water prevented me from searching for rare species, I was able to add several species to my day list. On my way back home I stopped at a small lake in Lee County that I had passed on the way down in the morning. I thought it might be a good place to check for Lilypad Forktails with all the lilies I saw from the highway and sure enough, I found a large number of Lilypad Forktails, another lifer! Both males and females, as well as tenerals, were present. According to the NC Odonata website, this would be a first record of this species for Lee County. Since I only scanned/looked at a small portion of the lake, and with there being maybe 10,000 lilies total on the lake, I wouldn't be surprised if there are hundreds of forktails there. The lake was very easy to access; it appears to be unnamed on online maps, but it was at the intersection of Cedar Lane Rd and US 1. I parked on a US 1 side road and easily reached the lake shore, in case others want to see these forktails. Besides odonates, I had a couple other highlights. Before I saw any ode species this morning I found my lifer Southeastern Crowned Snake underneath a burnt pine log I lifted at Weymouth Woods. And on my way back from the small beaver pond a couple ladies that were taking pictures of butterflies pointed me to a bush that had several feeding Edward's Hairstreaks, a lifer. Ignoring the number of scratches I gained today, I had another fantastic day with some great species and finds, especially the Lilypad Forktails, which were unexpected. Below is a list of the species I saw today, with some notes and where I saw them. Lifers are in bold. When I upload my pics I'll send out another email with links to them (speaking of pics, is there a way to add pics to sightings I previously listed on the NC Odonata website?) Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WW= Weymouth Woods; LR= Little River; LFL= Lilypad Forktail Lake  Odonates: Sparkling Jewelwing     15    WW, LR          seen along James Creek and at beaver ponds; 1 at LR Ebony Jewelwing                     WW, LR Attenuated Bluet            60    WW                one at small beaver pond; rest at large beaver pond; many were mating Turquoise Bluet               4       WW Lilypad Forktail              40    LFL                first record for Lee County Fragile Forktail                         WW, LR Sphagnum Sprite            30     WW                very abundant at small beaver pond; many were mating Seepage Dancer            1       WW                at small beaver pondBlue-tipped Dancer                  WW, LR Blue-fronted Dancer                 LR Variable Dancer                       WW, LFawn Darner                    1      WW Swamp Darner                 3      LR Clubtail sp.                      1       WW                teneral, flushed while wading along James Creek Common Sanddragon     5       WW, LR Eastern Pondhawk                   WW, LR Painted Skimmer             2       WW, LR Great Blue Skimmer                 WW, LR, LFL Slaty Skimmer                          WW, LR, LFL Spangled Skimmer          1       LR Bar-winged Skimmer       3       WW, LR Yellow-sided Skimmer  1       WW               female seen along James Creek; no black wing tips, maybe newly emerged? Eastern Amberwing         1       LFL Little Blue Dragonlet                 WW Blue Dasher                              WW, LR, LFL   Butterflies: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail               1    WW Edward's Hairstreak                     3    WW Eastern Tailed Blue                        1    LFL   Herps: Southern Leopard Frog                        WW Ground Skink                                 1    WW Green Anole                                         WW Black Racer                                   1     LR Northern Water Snake                   1    WW    dark individual Southeastern Crowned Snake    1    WW    underneath a burnt log Subject: Sympetrum semicinctum - a large population From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:21:47 -0400 (EDT) If anyone is interested in this species, here goes: Band-winged meadowhawks have appeared here the last three June's. My typical sighting has been a lone male perched high in the same cattails, and a few tenerals in the slough near those cattails. They're back on schedule this June but in much greater numbers: today I spotted 7 males. Instead of just perching around water, they are more spread out - I have found them all over the wetlands. And they are now perching on flimsy grasses like Halloween pennants or on smaller sticks. A few have been in sloughs but most are out in the mostly-dry wetlands. I'm learning more about them now that I have more to observe. Even with endless acres to perch, males were bumping other males from their perches in the middle of the wetlands! They are rather skittish and will zip high overhead and relocate when I walk by. And while most have some amount of black markings on their abdomens (beneath and a small amount dorsally) at least one looked pure cherry red. Hindwing amber markings vary but tend to be dark. The lone female I have seen was with fresh males in the cattails. I do not yet know where the adult females are perching. Also today: one each Blackwater clubtail, Common sanddragon, and female Painted skimmer. Vicki DeLoach Biello Park Woodstock GA Subject: Photo of Rapids Clubtail in NC From: "Legrand, Harry" <harry.legrand AT ncdenr.gov> Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 01:07:56 +0000 I check the Odonates of North Carolina website (which I am co-author) every few days, and I noticed that Vin Stanton and others have reported a Rapids Clubtail (Gomphus quadricolor) in NC, in Buncombe County. This represents only about the 4th county record. Here is the link to the page, with the photo, and photo data: http://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/odes/a/accounts.php?id=201 Harry LeGrand Harry LeGrand, Vertebrate Zoologist North Carolina Natural Heritage Program NCDENR Office of Conservation, Planning, & Community Affairs 1601 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1601 Office: (919) 707-8603 NOTE: This is a new phone number, starting Nov. 7, 2011 harry.legrand AT ncdenr.gov www.ncnhp.org E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. Subject: Dragonhunter, Spinyleg, Blackwater clubtails, Sanddragons From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:17:49 -0400 (EDT) Big clubtails have been the name of the game here lately. Today I saw a Dragonhunter and an intensely yellow Black-shouldered Spinyleg at a location where I've never seen either. Yesterday I took a birder out ode-ing and found a couple more Blackwater clubtails (females) and Common sanddragons - both lifers for her. Vicki DeLoach Woodstock GA Subject: Odeing Question From: Kyle Kittelberger <kkturtledude AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 9 Jun 2013 21:02:04 -0700 (PDT) Hey everyone,   I am thinking about heading down to the Kinston area for something on Wednesday and was hoping to search for some odes down there. Would anyone happen to know of some good sites in Lenoir Co., or neighboring counties, that are good places to search for odes, especially coastal species that I don't see in Wake Co.   Thanks, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC Subject: Falls Dam, NC- Eastern Red Damsels From: Kyle Kittelberger <kkturtledude AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 8 Jun 2013 14:22:59 -0700 (PDT) Hey everyone,   With the water below Falls Dam too high to look for any good lingering clubtails, I decided to check on the red damsel seep and see what I could find. Sure enough, I began to find some red damsels! I counted 7 total individuals and was able to take some spectacular photos of one very cooperative one. There were several other species in the area, and I checked to see if there might be any Seepage Dancers but with no luck. In my opinion, the seep was much larger than the last time I was there; good to see the damsels are still here. Below is the list of species I had at the seep:   Ebony Jewelwing             2 Eastern Red Damsel        7 Fragile Forktail                 1 Common Whitetail           2     Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC Subject: Mid-SC odeing From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Thu, 6 Jun 2013 11:52:42 -0400 Well, it was a cloudy day with rain threatening yesterday, and my plans for one last trip to the mountains of SC-NC-GA fell way short. I drove way too much and found too little, but while en route, I decided that clouds and rain were fine for finding exuviae under bridges, so I stopped in Columbia at the Senate Street park, picked some exuviae off the bridge, found a few Powdered and Blue-tipped Dancers, then a Pondhawk or two, then a couple Prince Baskettails flying, so I decided to explore the powerline cut and found some good clubtails. Here's a list, below are some photos. Blue-tipped Dancer 3 Powdered Dancer 5 Blue-fronted Dancer 2 females, I think Fragile Forktail 1 Citrine Forktail 1 Stream Bluet 5 Common Pondhawk 71 Prince Baskettail 2 Eastern Ringtail 2 (one male, one female) Cobra Clubtail 1 female Unid. clubtail 1 After that, I headed towards the mountains, stopped at a stream along the way , Duncan Creek near Clinton, SC Blue-tipped Dancer 10 Ebony Jewelwing 6 Common Sanddragon 5 Dragonhunter 1 And then to Eastatoe Creek in Pickens County, where all I saw were Ebony Jewelwings. By the time I reached Eastatoe it was sunny, but 5:20 pm. I did quite a bit of dredging/seining for larvae, with almost nothing to show for it. Where did all the Stylurus laurae nymphs go? Then with a steady rain settling in I abandoned my plans to get to Franklin, NC by shadowdragon o'clock and turned tail for the long drive back home. 7 :45 AM -11:45 pm. Whew! CH ------------------------------------ Female Cobra Clubtail Female Eastern Ringtail (lifer!) Subject: Re: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 From: Kyle Kittelberger <kkturtledude AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2013 08:04:36 -0700 (PDT) Hi Harry,   Ed and Nathan saw the Regal Darners in the early morning before they met up with Brian and me, so I did not include it on my list.   Cheers, Kyle ________________________________ From: "Legrand, Harry" To: Kyle Kittelberger ; SE-Odonata Cc: "Corey, Ed" ; "Howard, Tom" Sent: Wednesday, June 5, 2013 8:08 AM Subject: RE: [se-odonata] Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 Kyle:   Did you forget Regal Darner from the list? Ed called me yesterday morning and was excited about seeing two of them. It is also a Significantly Rare species in the state, as are the Belle’s Sanddragon and the Sandhill Clubtail.   Harry LeGrand   Harry LeGrand, Vertebrate Zoologist North Carolina Natural Heritage Program NCDENR Office of Conservation, Planning, & Community Affairs 1601 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC  27699-1601 Office: (919) 707-8603        NOTE:  This is a new phone number, starting Nov. 7, 2011 harry.legrand AT ncdenr.gov http://www.ncnhp.org/   E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.       From:Kyle Kittelberger [mailto:kkturtledude AT yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 12:53 AM To: SE-Odonata Cc: Corey, Ed Subject: [se-odonata] Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5     Hey everyone,   On Tuesday Brian Bockhahn, Ed Corey, Ed's intern Nathan, and I had a fantastic day searching for odes in Bladen County, NC, finding 26 species. We first started out at Jones Lake State Park, where Brian had an ode workshop; a good diversity of species here, but the highlight was definitely getting terrific looks at BELLE'S SANDDRAGON and SANDHILL CLUBTAIL. After Jones Lake we headed over to Salter's Lake (technically part of Jones Lake SP). Here we had several new species, with the highlight being a lone male Skimming Bluet. We also got more great views of Belle's Sanddragon and Sandhill Clubtail. After finishing the workshop at Salter's Lake, we travelled to Baytree State Park; Brian and I found a very cooperative Ornate Pennant and then helped Ed and Nathan count the Sanddragons and Clubtails on the beach. We all then explored a small canal and found two more highlights: Southern Spite and Sphagum Sprite.   All in all, a terrific day with many new park records, 6 lifers (bolded), and many great pictures. Below is the list of odes we had at each individual park. On another note, I tried entering these records to the NC ode database but I kept getting an error message saying no county was selected, even though Bladen Co. clearly was. Can anyone help me with this?   Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC     Jones Lake State Park: Blue-fronted Dancer Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Atlantic Bluet                 5 Orange Bluet                 1 Citrine Forktail Fragile Forktail              5 Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 5 Prince Baskettail           1 Red-veined Pennant     1- seen by Brian and Ed Calico Pennant Eastern Pondhawk Little Blue Dragonlet Slaty Skimmer               1 Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher   Salter's Lake access: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Skimming Bluet            1 Orange Bluet Citrine Forktail Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL    3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 8 Little Blue Dragonlet Golden-winged Skimmer- briefly seen Slaty Skimmer Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher Eastern Amberwing Common Whitetail           1 Calico Pennant   Baytree State Park: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Southern Sprite               2 Sphagnum Sprite            4 Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL     6 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 4 Ornate Pennant               1 Blue Dasher Great Blue Skimmer Common Whitetail            1 Carolina Saddlebags        2   Subject: RE: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 From: "Legrand, Harry" <harry.legrand AT ncdenr.gov> Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2013 12:08:25 +0000 Kyle: Did you forget Regal Darner from the list? Ed called me yesterday morning and was excited about seeing two of them. It is also a Significantly Rare species in the state, as are the Belle's Sanddragon and the Sandhill Clubtail. Harry LeGrand Harry LeGrand, Vertebrate Zoologist North Carolina Natural Heritage Program NCDENR Office of Conservation, Planning, & Community Affairs 1601 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1601 Office: (919) 707-8603 NOTE: This is a new phone number, starting Nov. 7, 2011 harry.legrand AT ncdenr.gov www.ncnhp.org E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. From: Kyle Kittelberger [mailto:kkturtledude AT yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 12:53 AM To: SE-Odonata Cc: Corey, Ed Subject: [se-odonata] Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 Hey everyone, On Tuesday Brian Bockhahn, Ed Corey, Ed's intern Nathan, and I had a fantastic day searching for odes in Bladen County, NC, finding 26 species. We first started out at Jones Lake State Park, where Brian had an ode workshop; a good diversity of species here, but the highlight was definitely getting terrific looks at BELLE'S SANDDRAGON and SANDHILL CLUBTAIL. After Jones Lake we headed over to Salter's Lake (technically part of Jones Lake SP). Here we had several new species, with the highlight being a lone male Skimming Bluet. We also got more great views of Belle's Sanddragon and Sandhill Clubtail. After finishing the workshop at Salter's Lake, we travelled to Baytree State Park; Brian and I found a very cooperative Ornate Pennant and then helped Ed and Nathan count the Sanddragons and Clubtails on the beach. We all then explored a small canal and found two more highlights: Southern Spite and Sphagum Sprite. All in all, a terrific day with many new park records, 6 lifers (bolded), and many great pictures. Below is the list of odes we had at each individual park. On another note, I tried entering these records to the NC ode database but I kept getting an error message saying no county was selected, even though Bladen Co. clearly was. Can anyone help me with this? Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC Jones Lake State Park: Blue-fronted Dancer Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Atlantic Bluet 5 Orange Bluet 1 Citrine Forktail Fragile Forktail 5 Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 5 Prince Baskettail 1 Red-veined Pennant 1- seen by Brian and Ed Calico Pennant Eastern Pondhawk Little Blue Dragonlet Slaty Skimmer 1 Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher Salter's Lake access: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Skimming Bluet 1 Orange Bluet Citrine Forktail Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 8 Little Blue Dragonlet Golden-winged Skimmer- briefly seen Slaty Skimmer Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher Eastern Amberwing Common Whitetail 1 Calico Pennant Baytree State Park: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Southern Sprite 2 Sphagnum Sprite 4 Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 6 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 4 Ornate Pennant 1 Blue Dasher Great Blue Skimmer Common Whitetail 1 Carolina Saddlebags 2 Subject: Bladen Co., NC Odes- 6/5 From: Kyle Kittelberger <kkturtledude AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 21:52:57 -0700 (PDT) Hey everyone,   On Tuesday Brian Bockhahn, Ed Corey, Ed's intern Nathan, and I had a fantastic day searching for odes in Bladen County, NC, finding 26 species. We first started out at Jones Lake State Park, where Brian had an ode workshop; a good diversity of species here, but the highlight was definitely getting terrific looks at BELLE'S SANDDRAGON and SANDHILL CLUBTAIL. After Jones Lake we headed over to Salter's Lake (technically part of Jones Lake SP). Here we had several new species, with the highlight being a lone male Skimming Bluet. We also got more great views of Belle's Sanddragon and Sandhill Clubtail. After finishing the workshop at Salter's Lake, we travelled to Baytree State Park; Brian and I found a very cooperative Ornate Pennant and then helped Ed and Nathan count the Sanddragons and Clubtails on the beach. We all then explored a small canal and found two more highlights: Southern Spite and Sphagum Sprite.   All in all, a terrific day with many new park records, 6 lifers (bolded), and many great pictures. Below is the list of odes we had at each individual park. On another note, I tried entering these records to the NC ode database but I kept getting an error message saying no county was selected, even though Bladen Co. clearly was. Can anyone help me with this?   Cheers, Kyle Kittelberger Raleigh, NC     Jones Lake State Park: Blue-fronted Dancer Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Atlantic Bluet                 5 Orange Bluet                 1 Citrine Forktail Fragile Forktail              5 Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL 3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 5 Prince Baskettail           1 Red-veined Pennant     1- seen by Brian and Ed Calico Pennant Eastern Pondhawk Little Blue Dragonlet Slaty Skimmer               1 Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher   Salter's Lake access: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Skimming Bluet            1 Orange Bluet Citrine Forktail Rambur's Forktail Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL    3 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 8 Little Blue Dragonlet Golden-winged Skimmer- briefly seen Slaty Skimmer Great Blue Skimmer Blue Dasher Eastern Amberwing Common Whitetail           1 Calico Pennant   Baytree State Park: Variable Dancer Blue-tipped Dancer Southern Sprite               2 Sphagnum Sprite            4 Swamp Darner SANDHILL CLUBTAIL     6 BELLE'S SANDDRAGON 4 Ornate Pennant               1 Blue Dasher Great Blue Skimmer Common Whitetail            1 Carolina Saddlebags        2 Subject: Band-winged meadowhawks, teneral 12-spotted skimmer From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 19:16:40 -0400 (EDT) Had a good day today with the following: - Band-winged meadowhawks (S. semicinctum) - adult male, female, teneral male ... the first female I've ever found. Very very tiny hiding in the same cattail slough as the last two years. - 12-spotted skimmer - teneral female. They're running late this year. - Blackwater clubtails (G. dilatatus) - continue - Common sanddragon (P. obscurus) - continues Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA poor quality but lucky to get: Subject: Re: Beautiful Needham's From: Tim Martin <tf_martn AT bellsouth.net> Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 11:14:27 -0700 (PDT) Fantastic shot! Very nice. Tim ________________________________ From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM To: ode group Sent: Tue, June 4, 2013 7:25:30 AM Subject: [se-odonata] Beautiful Needham's   It was late evening. I was blackberry picking. Yellow-breasted Chats, Common Yellowthroats,and Orchard Orioles were serenading me. Then I saw these beauties. Hope you are enjoying your odeing. MarkSeek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life. Alexander Maclaren   Subject: Beautiful Needham's From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 05:23:01 -0700 (PDT) It was late evening. I was blackberry picking. Yellow-breasted Chats, Common Yellowthroats,and Orchard Orioles were serenading me. Then I saw these beauties. Hope you are enjoying your odeing. Mark Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life. Alexander Maclaren     Subject: Rambur's? From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 05:16:04 -0700 (PDT) I took this 5/25 on Deer Island off MS Gulf coast. It looks like a Rambur's immature  female heteromorph except for the color. Are there variations in color of this Rambur's? Mark Graham St. Tammany Parish, LA   Subject: Bar-winged skimmer, Blackwater clubtails, Sanddragon From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2013 17:13:15 -0400 (EDT) We took advantage of a two-hour break in the gloomy weather today and it was terrific for both odes & butterflies. Here are highlights: BAR-WINGED SKIMMER female (L. axilena) - I had two males in the cattail sloughs last summer but this is the first female I've ever seen. She was perched along vegetation between Little River and a sewer cut where 10 Swamp darners were entertaining us. In fact, I deliberately turned to scan vegetation for a perched darner and immediately saw the skimmer. She was so big I thought she was a female L. vibrans at first though her wings were heavily marked. I had just seen a foty male Great blue skimmer on Friday. Then she flew and re-perched facing me showing off the dark markings on her face. BLACKWATER CLUBTAILS (G. dilatatus) - 2 - one on the ground that flew and momentarily perched on wildflowers before disappearing; a likely second one flew up from the spot where I held the male last week and into the swamp. COMMON SANDDRAGON (P. obscurus) - the first I've seen in 2 years. I also saw an even smaller black & yellow dragon that got away. SWAMP DARNERS (E. heros) - a dozen altogether. One finally perched for shots and another landed on my head. I have brassy blonde hair that I had just sprinkled with water due to the heat & humidity. My husband enjoyed all the big dragons today. I've had Blackwater's, petaltails and darners on me in the past week - too much fun. TENERAL MEADOWHAWK - the first meadowhawk of the season, likely S. ambiguum. As you may recall, I had three Sympetrum species last May/June so I hope this is the first of more to come. We also saw a foty Widow skimmer - beautifully golden in the sun. One interesting note: it may just be coincidence but three of these species seem to have an every-other-year cycle at the park: Blackwater's, Sanddragons & Great blue skimmers. Photos below! Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? From: buck snelson <fsnelson AT bellsouth.net> Date: Sun, 2 Jun 2013 12:13:18 -0400 When I was at Gold Head Branch on May 20, I saw four adult male Libellula jesseana (photo below) and about a dozen or so "auripennis". I was unsure with the "auripennis" if I was really looking at auripennis or the immatures/females of jesseana. I understand from my field guides that it would be difficult to distinguish them. Is there a reliable way to distinguish auripennis from immature/female jesseana through binoculars or in a photo? As an aside, L. needhami outnumbers L. auripennis about 10:1 in the places I frequent around Gainesville. I have 6-8 needhami in my front yard today. I have never seen L. auripennis in my yard. In my limited experience, the costal color pattern and the thoracic color pattern are highly correlated in these two species as described in the literature I have available. If you can see both the costa and the side of the thorax, the species ID is usually definitive. I have seen relatively few individuals that show the costal pattern of one species and the thoracic pattern of the other. Buck Snelson Gainesville, FL On Jun 1, 2013, at 11:37 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote: > Nick, in my experience the costal color is quite definitive in young individuals and females, and it is only in mature males that the difference becomes obscure. Even in mature males, you can usually see the slight darkening of the antenodal costal vein. > > > In Florida, needhami indeed is more common in coastal areas, and auripennis seems characteristic of shallow (probably fishless) grassy ponds in the sandy pine woodland of the Coastal Plain. > > Dennis > > > On Jun 1, 2013, at 8:19 PM, Thomas W Donnelly wrote: > >> It is auripennis, based on the thoracic markings. The costal color is not definitive. >> >> This is an interesting species, preferring freshwater springs close to the sea shore, whereas needhami tolerates a fair amount of salinity. What was the habitat? >> >> Nick Donnelly >> >> >> On Sat, Jun 1, 2013 at 4:30 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote: >> >> That's Golden-winged, Bob. Needham's has the costal (anteriormost) vein dark between the body and the nodus, and the pale sides of the thorax extend forward as a little finger of pale color at the lower end. >> >> >> Dennis >> >> >> On Jun 1, 2013, at 12:47 PM, Robert Perkins wrote: >> >>> I photographed the skimmer in the attached photo in Clay County, Florida. Unfortunately it insisted on perching where I couldn't get a good photo, but the image does give a reasonable view of the thorax. L. needhami or auripennis? I'm thinking the latter, but I'm far from certain. Suggestions please. >>> >>> Bob >>> >> >> >> >> > > ----- > Dennis Paulson > 1724 NE 98 St. > Seattle, WA 98115 > 206-528-1382 > dennispaulson AT comcast.net > > > > > Subject: Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 20:37:06 -0700 Nick, in my experience the costal color is quite definitive in young individuals and females, and it is only in mature males that the difference becomes obscure. Even in mature males, you can usually see the slight darkening of the antenodal costal vein. In Florida, needhami indeed is more common in coastal areas, and auripennis seems characteristic of shallow (probably fishless) grassy ponds in the sandy pine woodland of the Coastal Plain. Dennis On Jun 1, 2013, at 8:19 PM, Thomas W Donnelly wrote: > It is auripennis, based on the thoracic markings. The costal color is not definitive. > > This is an interesting species, preferring freshwater springs close to the sea shore, whereas needhami tolerates a fair amount of salinity. What was the habitat? > > Nick Donnelly > > > On Sat, Jun 1, 2013 at 4:30 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote: > > That's Golden-winged, Bob. Needham's has the costal (anteriormost) vein dark between the body and the nodus, and the pale sides of the thorax extend forward as a little finger of pale color at the lower end. > > > Dennis > > > On Jun 1, 2013, at 12:47 PM, Robert Perkins wrote: > >> I photographed the skimmer in the attached photo in Clay County, Florida. Unfortunately it insisted on perching where I couldn't get a good photo, but the image does give a reasonable view of the thorax. L. needhami or auripennis? I'm thinking the latter, but I'm far from certain. Suggestions please. >> >> Bob >> > > > > > ----- Dennis Paulson 1724 NE 98 St. Seattle, WA 98115 206-528-1382 dennispaulson AT comcast.net Subject: Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? From: Thomas W Donnelly <tdonelly AT binghamton.edu> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 23:19:10 -0400 It is auripennis, based on the thoracic markings. The costal color is not definitive. This is an interesting species, preferring freshwater springs close to the sea shore, whereas needhami tolerates a fair amount of salinity. What was the habitat? Nick Donnelly On Sat, Jun 1, 2013 at 4:30 PM, Dennis Paulson wrote: > ** > > > That's Golden-winged, Bob. Needham's has the costal (anteriormost) vein > dark between the body and the nodus, and the pale sides of the thorax > extend forward as a little finger of pale color at the lower end. > > Dennis > > > On Jun 1, 2013, at 12:47 PM, Robert Perkins wrote: > > I photographed the skimmer in the attached photo in Clay County, Florida. > Unfortunately it insisted on perching where I couldn't get a good photo, > but the image does give a reasonable view of the thorax. L. needhami or > auripennis? I'm thinking the latter, but I'm far from certain. Suggestions > please. > > Bob > > > > > > Subject: Re: Golden-winged or Needham's? From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 13:30:03 -0700 That's Golden-winged, Bob. Needham's has the costal (anteriormost) vein dark between the body and the nodus, and the pale sides of the thorax extend forward as a little finger of pale color at the lower end. Dennis On Jun 1, 2013, at 12:47 PM, Robert Perkins wrote: > I photographed the skimmer in the attached photo in Clay County, Florida. Unfortunately it insisted on perching where I couldn't get a good photo, but the image does give a reasonable view of the thorax. L. needhami or auripennis? I'm thinking the latter, but I'm far from certain. Suggestions please. > > Bob > Subject: Golden-winged or Needham's? From: Robert Perkins <perkybear AT comcast.net> Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 15:47:50 -0400 I photographed the skimmer in the attached photo in Clay County, Florida. Unfortunately it insisted on perching where I couldn't get a good photo, but the image does give a reasonable view of the thorax. L. needhami or auripennis? I'm thinking the latter, but I'm far from certain. Suggestions please. Bob Subject: File - yahoo mail help.odt From: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com Date: 1 Jun 2013 18:50:20 -0000 File : yahoo mail help.odt Description : Yahoo Mail Spam IMPORTANT!!! ------------------------------------ Subject: Gray petaltail fest - GA From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 19:13:22 -0400 (EDT) Lots of GRAY PETALTAILS at Gibbs Gardens today. I saw 5 - one landed on me (pink top) and another tried to land on me with his freshly-caught lunch. While photographing him munching away perched on a foot bridge, another one landed at the other side of the bridge. A large dragonfly swooped in and chased one of them off and I was surprised to see it was a GREAT BLUE SKIMMER. It posed for photos as well. It's the first skimmer I've seen there this season. Great blue's were scarce around here last year and always seem to be on an alternate-year schedule. So maybe they'll be numerous this season. EBONY JEWELWINGS were everywhere and lots of dragonflies were out today, so it was a fun visit. But I saw no butterflies ... they've had a difficult Spring here. Vicki DeLoach Gibbs Gardens Cherokee Co./GA first Gray petaltail spotted in tree below - same as last year: Subject: Shadowdragons and "Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East" From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Fri, 31 May 2013 09:00:10 -0400 Hi oders, Having recently been surprised by running into a species in North Carolina that I don't even think about, Neurocordulia yamaskanensis* (I had to look up the English name, Stygian Shadowdragon), I had to do some studying. *Well, I "ran into" two exuviae, one nymph, and one just-emerged adult, though I didn't realize at the time what it was emerging and left it there instead of waiting another 20 minutes for it to complete development (whacks self in head; photo below). But it gave me reason to turn to Dennis Paulson's field guide and it was so great - lots of comparative details on shadowdragon life histories - when they fly, how they fly - and outstanding photos of most species including Stygian. One thing that threw me when I picked up the exuviae was size- I passed them off as maybe a Prince Baskettail* because the exuviae were larger than I'm used to in other shadowdragons. And there it is in the first line of Paulson's account of Stygian "A large shadowdragon.**" If I ever stumble on an adult, I won't make the same mistake of overlooking something special that I did with the emerger last weekend. *Prince Baskettail exuviae don't look anything like Stygian Shadowdragons's, but I'm at the stage with these things that I was with bird songs in my teens - I used to have to relearn the warblers every spring until they finally stuck after four or five springs. I also forget the look and feel of the different shadowdragon exuviae until I've studied a few each summer. **I now know - Alabama is the small shadowdragon, Stygian is the big one, and the other three around me (Smoky, Umber, Cinnamon) are "regular." Helps when you're picking up exuviae, and exuviae are by far the easiest way to figure out what shadowdragons are around. Anyway, I "grew up" with Giff Beaton's guide to Georgia and the Southeast, supplemented with Ed Lam's damselfly guide, and since Giff's book covers my area so well, I only usually use other guides when I'm travelling. This was a nice chance to appreciate what others have been saying about Dennis's guide firsthand, when I needed it. I learned a lot quickly. CH ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm ------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Argia eating tandem Enallagma From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson AT comcast.net> Date: Wed, 29 May 2013 17:49:05 -0700 Buck, that's great. I have noticed that female Powdered Dancers are real damselfly hunters. I guess they're bigger than most of the others with which they occur. Dennis On May 29, 2013, at 5:40 PM, buck snelson wrote: > I saw this commotion on the ground this afternoon and it took me a while to figure it out. It is a blue-form female Argia moesta eating a male Enallagma cardenium (whose head is already MIA) and the male bluet still has a firm grip on the female. FL, Alachua Co., Santa Fe River at High Springs. 29 May 2013. > > Buck Snelson > Gainesville, FL > > ----- Dennis Paulson Seattle, WA Subject: Argia eating tandem Enallagma From: buck snelson <fsnelson AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 29 May 2013 20:40:45 -0400 I saw this commotion on the ground this afternoon and it took me a while to figure it out. It is a blue-form female Argia moesta eating a male Enallagma cardenium (whose head is already MIA) and the male bluet still has a firm grip on the female. FL, Alachua Co., Santa Fe River at High Springs. 29 May 2013. Buck Snelson Gainesville, FL Subject: Blackwater clubtails - GA From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Wed, 29 May 2013 08:16:34 -0400 (EDT) I found two Blackwater Clubtails (G. dilatatus) on Monday and relocated the male yesterday in the same spot. The male was as tame as the female was skittish. They were in very different habitats quite a distance apart. The male climbed right up on my finger - I noticed he had a crew cut. It was a magical few moments ... For the record, I first found two Blackwater's at the same park in late June 2011 but saw none last season. Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: Re: Aurora damsels, Vesper bluet - GA From: Hal White <halwhite AT udel.edu> Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 07:43:59 -0400 Vicki, Grey Petaltails have a multi-year life cycle. I wonder if they are like cicadas and emerge at multi-year intervals at a particular habitat when it has been colonized recently. I do not know the actual length of the life cycle or whether given cohorts get out of phase by variation in the length of the life cycle. Hal White Delaware On 5/24/2013 8:12 PM, VLDELOACH AT aol.com wrote: > > > I went to Gibbs Gardens yesterday for Aurora damsels and Gray > petaltails that I found there last May. I did find the damsels > (Chromagrion conditum) - they were the most common damselfly. But had > no luck with the petaltails. Common baskettails were the most common > dragonfly and Spangled skimmers weren't out yet as they are here. A > few Blue dashers were the only hint that summer has arrived. > Today the bluets finally showed up around the yard in good numbers: > best find was a male Vesper bluet (E. vesperum). Most were Turquoise > (E. divagans) and there were a few Stream (E. exsulans) and one > Slender (E. traviatum). > Some odes this Spring have been no-shows (Stream cruisers, which were > common last year) while others are late (only 3 Jewelwings so far). > Our cool, wet Spring has definitely had an impact. I did manage to > locate another Painted skimmer on 5-22-13 at Biello Park. > Vicki DeLoach > Woodstock GA > > > Subject: Aurora damsels, Vesper bluet - GA From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Fri, 24 May 2013 20:12:50 -0400 (EDT) I went to Gibbs Gardens yesterday for Aurora damsels and Gray petaltails that I found there last May. I did find the damsels (Chromagrion conditum) - they were the most common damselfly. But had no luck with the petaltails. Common baskettails were the most common dragonfly and Spangled skimmers weren't out yet as they are here. A few Blue dashers were the only hint that summer has arrived. Today the bluets finally showed up around the yard in good numbers: best find was a male Vesper bluet (E. vesperum). Most were Turquoise (E. divagans) and there were a few Stream (E. exsulans) and one Slender (E. traviatum). Some odes this Spring have been no-shows (Stream cruisers, which were common last year) while others are late (only 3 Jewelwings so far). Our cool, wet Spring has definitely had an impact. I did manage to locate another Painted skimmer on 5-22-13 at Biello Park. Vicki DeLoach Woodstock GA Subject: ID help From: "drivesa3 AT aol.com"<drivesa3@aol.com> Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 13:56:53 -0400 Being new to Odonates, I'd appreciate comments on this. Pictured is what looks to me like a Familiar Bluet perched like a spreadwing, photographed at a 10-acre pond southeast of Charlotte, NC. Is this indeed a Familiar Bluet and if so, is this fairly typical perching behavior? Thanks, George Andrews Indian Trail, NC Sent from my Motorola Smartphone on the Now Network from Sprint! Subject: Damsel id From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 21:01:23 -0700 (PDT) Is this a Big Bluet [E. durum]? Taken 5/16 in St. Tammany Parish, LA. It would be a lifer for me. Thanks. Mark   :   Subject: Sightings in LA From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 12:57:26 -0700 (PDT) Down here in S.E. LA I've been seeing Blue dashers galore, many Pondhawks, quite a few e. Amberwings, some Calico Pennants, one Black Saddlebags, and one Regal Darner,  a photo of which I posted earlier. Also Needham's and Grt. Blue Skimmers are back. Also Ramburs Forktails, Variegated Dancers, and a Citrine Forktail, which, to my delight, I was able to get into focus [my camera has an auto-focus, and it wants to ignore that tiny bug.] Got a nice photo of an imm. F. heteromorph Rambur's Forktail [which I also posted earlier] while picking dewberries, more than enough for a great pie. It's been a cool Spring so far here also--though   in some parts of these United states it would be considered pretty warm. While picking, saw a Cooper's hawk upsetting a pair of Killdeer, and a Redtailed Hawk with a squirrel in tow. It was a great day! Mark   Subject: Rambur's heteromorph From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 06:14:31 -0700 (PDT) Thought you might enjoy this photo of F. Rambur's heteromorph. She posed so nicely for me! Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life. Alexander Maclaren     Subject: Regal Darner From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 06:08:04 -0700 (PDT) Met a lady in Abita Springs, LA [St. Tammany Parish] who had found this Regal Darner on the sidewalk. I think he is injured. I was amazed at how beautiful he is.     Subject: Regal Crown From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 06:02:33 -0700 (PDT) How about that for a hair adornment?   --- On Wed, 5/15/13, Mark Graham wrote: From: Mark Graham Subject: a picture for you To: "Me" Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013, 10:42 PM You have been sent 1 picture. DSC04607.JPG These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google. Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/ Subject: Re: Spangled skimmers, Black saddlebags From: Tim Martin <tf_martn AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 15 May 2013 22:20:29 -0700 (PDT) Hi Vicki. Nice report. Odes have been few and far between in most areas when I look. My Dad's pond has yet to score its first Blue Dasher, which usually divided the pond into little kingdoms every summer. I have spent more time in upland areas and have visited some wooded streams. I never seem to see odes in those areas, at least this year I haven't! Spring here has been unusually cool and very wet. Butterflies not much in evidence either. Tim ________________________________ From: "VLDELOACH AT aol.com" To: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com Sent: Wed, May 15, 2013 6:13:16 PM Subject: [se-odonata] Spangled skimmers, Black saddlebags   I spotted the first Black saddlebags and Blue dasher of the year at the wetlands yesterday.  A c. baskettail was emerging so Spring has not wrapped up here.  Otherwise it was slow going.  I returned today and the Black saddlebags greeted my car and flew just ahead of me as if guiding me to the wetlands.  A Carolina saddlebags and c. green darner were also cruising.  I couldn't relocate the Blue dasher and just as I was about to give up on the slough - I spotted an immature male Spangled skimmer perched low under grassy vegetation.  It's great to finally see some activity at the slough. I decided to check another cattail slough and found a second immature male Spangled skimmer.  He was chasing a dark banded dragonfly that I couldn't quite ID:  it was flying like a female 12-spotted skimmer but wasn't quite big enough, wasn't behaving like a c. whitetail, and it's too early for Banded pennants.  I'm very familiar with all these species but couldn't quite put my finger on it.  It never perched and I never got a shot - but I'll return and find out what it is.  Here at home I'm seeing only a few Turquoise bluets.  We've had a cool, wet spring and odes are late here.  Today was our hottest day so far - 83o while I was out. Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: Spangled skimmers, Black saddlebags From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Wed, 15 May 2013 19:12:56 -0400 (EDT) I spotted the first Black saddlebags and Blue dasher of the year at the wetlands yesterday. A c. baskettail was emerging so Spring has not wrapped up here. Otherwise it was slow going. I returned today and the Black saddlebags greeted my car and flew just ahead of me as if guiding me to the wetlands. A Carolina saddlebags and c. green darner were also cruising. I couldn't relocate the Blue dasher and just as I was about to give up on the slough - I spotted an immature male Spangled skimmer perched low under grassy vegetation. It's great to finally see some activity at the slough. I decided to check another cattail slough and found a second immature male Spangled skimmer. He was chasing a dark banded dragonfly that I couldn't quite ID: it was flying like a female 12-spotted skimmer but wasn't quite big enough, wasn't behaving like a c. whitetail, and it's too early for Banded pennants. I'm very familiar with all these species but couldn't quite put my finger on it. It never perched and I never got a shot - but I'll return and find out what it is. Here at home I'm seeing only a few Turquoise bluets. We've had a cool, wet spring and odes are late here. Today was our hottest day so far - 83o while I was out. Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: Re: Don't show this to the Lep-ers! From: stelenes <mexpost AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 14:04:58 -0700 (PDT) Hi Mark & Lynn   Been in over my head lately and finally have a moment to dedicate to the internet.  Just wanted to thank you for the stunning frame of the Odonate making a meal of the competition.  Did you ID the dinner?  At first I thought it was an Amymone, but no, it looks more Pierid-ish, but would be nice to get the definitive ID.   Best wishes Doug ________________________________ From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM To: mexicodoug1 Cc: ode group ; Me Sent: Friday, May 3, 2013 9:55 PM Subject: Don't show this to the Lep-ers! Don't let your Lep buddies see this one! Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous senseof the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life.Alexander Maclaren   --- On Fri, 5/3/13, mexicodoug1 wrote: >From: mexicodoug1 >Subject: [se-odonata] Re: Dragonflying 101 >To: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com >Date: Friday, May 3, 2013, 4:02 PM > > >  > >Hi Buck & List,;-) That's a great ode to watching! Didn't realize you were so new at it, so I think your enthusiasm has paid off, congrats and keep it up.Just a related comment+video and a question to those more expert than we are regarding three things from your nice summary.1) Question: when you say "I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones" in reference to your anniversary annual batting average of an admirable, but far from complete 0.378, I suspect that different Odes have peak and poor years and much of it is just going to the right habitats where even rare bugs can be commonplace. They are just insects, after all, and insects can reproduce in plagues when the coonditions are right? Sure there will be a few at the fringe of their ranges that may have been out of place anywhere, but 42/111 seems way short, and I think all 100 of the 111 ought to be easy ones with appropriate research (well, except the ones that spend all their time over water, a hard photo). Or is the ratio really so bad in such a county, for Odes in general? (The good news is that it gives a lot to look forward to and learn more about life cycles & behavior for Dragonfly 102)2) Comment: Well on Leping vs. Odeing, I must say don't be so hard on some of us. In the twisted words of Woody Allen, "It immediately doubles your chances for pics on a date." Actually slightly more than 2X ... there are 129 Butterflies alone in Alachua according to tyhe online database.3) Comment/nice video: I have never observed a dragonfly hunting or feeding on a butterfly, and have seen and photographed hundreds of spiders feasting on Leps. I would love to see this and googled this Austin event on Youtube just to see:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlTLGGXJcNUNote the tiger swallowtail is missing huge sections of both hindwings, more than a single bird assault, as if human-inflicted (so the video could have been staged).Best wishesDougOdor/Leper (???!!!)--- In se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com, buck snelson wrote:>> I got my first digital SLR camera in February of 2012, anticipating taking some great bird photos on a trip to Costa Rica. It was a wonderful trip, but it didn't take me long to realize that the lens I had chosen was too short and too slow for photographing small birds in the tropical rainforest. As an alternative, I took a few random photos of butterflies and flowers during the trip, but I soon realized that the same lens also did not serve well for small subjects "up close and personal".> > > After returning home, I fell in with a motley group of butterfly enthusiasts (bad company, you might say) and continued to work on my photographic skills and ultimately decided that I should buy a macro lens. The butterflies were cooperative and I began to get some decent photos. There were lots of folks around Gainesville to tell me where and when to look and to help identify the species I was unsure about. But nobody among my contacts knew much about odonates. In fact, lots of butterflyers do not like (read hate) dragonflies because they have been known to eat butterflies. They say they have a distinct preference for preying on the pretty ones!> > > During my college years studying zoology, ichthyology, and marine biology, I had taken a few courses that touched on odonates and I certainly had run across lots of larvae in seining for small fish. But alas, they had never really captured my attention. My field notes and photo log show that I took my first dragonfly photo on May 9, 2012 – a mature male Eastern Pondhawk. I guess that got me hooked. I began noticing more and more dragons and damsels when I was on field trips targeting birds or butterflies. I acquired some nice field guides and books, corresponded with some helpful experts, located web resources, and soon I became a certified "dragonfly nut" (my wife's assessment, anyway).> > > I've always been goal oriented, so I decided that one of my retirement projects (in addition to all of my "honeydos") would be to photograph every odonate that had been reported from the county where I live, Alachua County, FL. A search of the database at OdonataCentral revealed that 111 species have been reported from the county, 39 zygopterans and 72 anispoterans. Some were recorded only once, others with imprecise locality information, so I figured 100 species was a reasonable target and also a nice round, easy-to-remember number.> > > As I write this approximately one year after I snapped my first odonate photo, I have gotten shots of 42 species known from the county. I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones although some species that are reported to be common in this part of Florida have thus far eluded me. I expect that getting the remaining 58 species is going to be a protracted endeavor. Fortunately, I have learned some things in Dragonflying 101 that will help. I now recognize the locally common species and can refine my "search image" for the species that are less common, more cryptic, or wary. I have learned that if I want to find different species, I have to go to different places and diverse habitats rather than revisiting the same sites over-and-over. I understand more about flight seasons and behaviors that factor into where and when to look. Finally, I have gained a greater appreciation for variations in colors and patterns associated with sex, age, female polymorphism, and regional variation. I owe much of this enlightenment to wonderful field guides, web sites, photo galleries, and personal assistance from many of you reading this blurb. There are certainly a lot of things I have not yet learned, like where all of the non-typical Bluet species hang out, why I haven't found a Blue Corporal this spring, and how to use my hand net with reasonable efficiency while avoiding ridicule from amused onlookers. > > > So as I graduate and move on to Dragonflying 102, I've got my work cut out for me. I'm planning to visit some new sites around northern Florida and hope to add at least another 20 species to my list this year. I'm also going to be on the lookout for odonates in other parts of the country as my wife and I have time to travel. It's gonna be fun!> > > Thanks to all of you who have given me help and encouragement in this new endeavor.> > > Buck Snelson> > Gainesville, FL> > > May 3, 2013> > Subject: Re: eye loupe From: stelenes <mexpost AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 13:45:56 -0700 (PDT) Hi Buck   Not for $20, though!  $33.95 including shipping was the best deal I saw using this link:   http://www.amazon.com/Loupe-Magnifier-Triplet-Folding-Imported/dp/B0002OVC9W/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2NBS9X9M7BHHZ   or get a brand new one from the steps of the Minsk factory off eBay for $28 and change shipped, hard to beat,   http://www.ebay.com/itm/221132386108   Just an incredibly indulgent suggestion, but :-) for Lepping I bought these, and they work great for dragonflies too (when I got them it felt like a private and personal lesson on optics from Newton himself):   http://www.ebay.com/itm/140975517135 (Nikon 5X Titanium Binoculars, close focus works to just over a yard.)   I guess it depends on whether you are detaining the critters, or trying to sneak up and see them in situ without breathing on them ...   The Nikons were an incredible investment I made over 15 years ago and my pair performs like the day it was new, so while the price is high ($450 or so new), there are about three things I own of this caliber that I never regret the investment and feel privileged to benefit from.   Best wishes.     ________________________________ From: Chris Hill To: buck snelson Cc: Southeast Odonata Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:16 PM Subject: Re: [se-odonata] eye loupe Buck, Look here: http://bigsnest.members.sonic.net/Pond/dragons/belomo.html I have one; it's great. Chris On May 14, 2013, at 11:49 AM, buck snelson wrote:   >A few weeks ago, while browsing through a diversity of odonate-related web sites, I saw a reference to a good quality eye loupe for use in the field. Seems it was recommended by odonate enthusiasts and other entomology types. I recall that it cost about $20 and had a lanyard attached. I have done Google searches and looked back through my "history" but have been unable to locate the reference again. Can someone please point me in the right direction? > >Thanks > >Buck Snelson >Gainesville, FL ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm Subject: Re: eye loupe From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 13:16:20 -0400 Buck, Look here: http://bigsnest.members.sonic.net/Pond/dragons/belomo.html I have one; it's great. Chris On May 14, 2013, at 11:49 AM, buck snelson wrote: > A few weeks ago, while browsing through a diversity of odonate- > related web sites, I saw a reference to a good quality eye loupe for > use in the field. Seems it was recommended by odonate enthusiasts > and other entomology types. I recall that it cost about $20 and had > a lanyard attached. I have done Google searches and looked back > through my "history" but have been unable to locate the reference > again. Can someone please point me in the right direction? > > Thanks > > Buck Snelson > Gainesville, FL > > ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm Subject: eye loupe From: buck snelson <fsnelson AT bellsouth.net> Date: Tue, 14 May 2013 11:49:48 -0400 A few weeks ago, while browsing through a diversity of odonate-related web sites, I saw a reference to a good quality eye loupe for use in the field. Seems it was recommended by odonate enthusiasts and other entomology types. I recall that it cost about $20 and had a lanyard attached. I have done Google searches and looked back through my "history" but have been unable to locate the reference again. Can someone please point me in the right direction? Thanks Buck Snelson Gainesville, FL ------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Baskettail Identification From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Sat, 11 May 2013 15:12:32 -0400 On May 11, 2013, at 2:51 PM, Harold Howell wrote: > All, > > I am having a bit of trouble differentiating between Epitheca > cynosura and > Epitheca costalis. Welcome to the club! You have two photos of a male cynosura, and two of a female cynosura (in my opinion). What you say about much longer cerci would be true about the females (cynosura short and straight, costalis long and straight), but length alone doesn't help you much with the males. What I look for is that in dorsal view, cynosura curve outward about two thirds of the way down. In male costalis viewed dorsally, the cerci bend outward about 1/3 of the way down. Yours curve abruptly outward 2/3 of the way down. Best, Chris ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm ------------------------------------ Subject: Baskettail Identification From: Harold Howell <howellh2 AT frontiernet.net> Date: Sat, 11 May 2013 14:51:58 -0400 All, I am having a bit of trouble differentiating between Epitheca cynosura and Epitheca costalis. I believe that the attached Epitheca I photographed in Hardin County, TN and in Campbell County, TN are male cynosura. Based on range maps and wing pattern, these could be costalis or cynosura. There are several indicators. The amount of black in the wings looks better for cynosura than costalis. The size and shape fit the male cynosura. The best mark is the length of the cerci. Costalis would have much longer cerci. All of these are subjective evaluations except possibly the length of the cerci. The identification should get easier with practice and comparison. I would appreciate any comments. Harold Howell Grainger County Rutledge, TN ------------------------------------ Subject: Turquoise bluets, Painted skimmer From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Fri, 10 May 2013 19:18:33 -0400 (EDT) The first bluets flying after our extended cool, rainy weather are Turquoise. I was able to relocate the Painted skimmer that I discovered just before the rains set in, but I haven't seen one Common whitetail since the extended wet weather. Their numbers had just started picking up last week. I've actually seen very few odes but things should change this coming week with nicer weather ahead. Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: RE: Citrine Forktail? From: "Krotzer, Steve" <rskrotze AT southernco.com> Date: Fri, 10 May 2013 13:51:18 -0500 Yes and yes. R. Stephen Krotzer From: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob Perkins Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2013 8:42 PM To: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com Subject: [se-odonata] Citrine Forktail? I have two questions. First, is the damselfly that showed up on my moth sheet in Orange Park, Clay County, FL on May 7 a citrine forktail or something else? Second, did I get the views needed for a convincing ID? Bob Subject: Citrine Forktail? From: Bob Perkins <perkybear AT comcast.net> Date: Thu, 9 May 2013 21:41:41 -0400 I have two questions. First, is the damselfly that showed up on my moth sheet in Orange Park, Clay County, FL on May 7 a citrine forktail or something else? Second, did I get the views needed for a convincing ID? Bob ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Bob Perkins Woodlawn, Virginia Historian and General Outdoorsman Subject: Re: Re: Dragonflying 101 From: Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson AT comcast.net> Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 20:10:17 -0700 I too enjoyed your commentary, Buck, and I wish you good luck this year. I agree with Doug that you should be able to find a lot more than 42 species in the county. Keep looking! On one matter: certain dragonflies do eat a lot of butterflies, but as a group I don't think they are major predators on them. The lepidopterivores are mostly things like pondhawks and clubtails, which eat relatively large prey, including other dragonflies. Dragonhunters eat a lot of butterflies as well as other odonates. I don't know any odonates that eat caterpillars, but stranger things have happened. Regards, Dennis On May 3, 2013, at 2:02 PM, mexicodoug1 wrote: > Hi Buck & List, > > ;-) That's a great ode to watching! Didn't realize you were so new at it, so I think your enthusiasm has paid off, congrats and keep it up. > > Just a related comment+video and a question to those more expert than we are regarding three things from your nice summary. > > 1) Question: when you say "I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones" in reference to your anniversary annual batting average of an admirable, but far from complete 0.378, I suspect that different Odes have peak and poor years and much of it is just going to the right habitats where even rare bugs can be commonplace. They are just insects, after all, and insects can reproduce in plagues when the coonditions are right? Sure there will be a few at the fringe of their ranges that may have been out of place anywhere, but 42/111 seems way short, and I think all 100 of the 111 ought to be easy ones with appropriate research (well, except the ones that spend all their time over water, a hard photo). Or is the ratio really so bad in such a county, for Odes in general? (The good news is that it gives a lot to look forward to and learn more about life cycles & behavior for Dragonfly 102) > > 2) Comment: Well on Leping vs. Odeing, I must say don't be so hard on some of us. In the twisted words of Woody Allen, "It immediately doubles your chances for pics on a date." Actually slightly more than 2X ... there are 129 Butterflies alone in Alachua according to tyhe online database. > > 3) Comment/nice video: I have never observed a dragonfly hunting or feeding on a butterfly, and have seen and photographed hundreds of spiders feasting on Leps. I would love to see this and googled this Austin event on Youtube just to see: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlTLGGXJcNU > > Note the tiger swallowtail is missing huge sections of both hindwings, more than a single bird assault, as if human-inflicted (so the video could have been staged). > > Best wishes > Doug > Odor/Leper (???!!!) > > --- In se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com, buck snelson wrote: > > > > I got my first digital SLR camera in February of 2012, anticipating taking some great bird photos on a trip to Costa Rica. It was a wonderful trip, but it didn't take me long to realize that the lens I had chosen was too short and too slow for photographing small birds in the tropical rainforest. As an alternative, I took a few random photos of butterflies and flowers during the trip, but I soon realized that the same lens also did not serve well for small subjects "up close and personal". > > > > > > After returning home, I fell in with a motley group of butterfly enthusiasts (bad company, you might say) and continued to work on my photographic skills and ultimately decided that I should buy a macro lens. The butterflies were cooperative and I began to get some decent photos. There were lots of folks around Gainesville to tell me where and when to look and to help identify the species I was unsure about. But nobody among my contacts knew much about odonates. In fact, lots of butterflyers do not like (read hate) dragonflies because they have been known to eat butterflies. They say they have a distinct preference for preying on the pretty ones! > > > > > > During my college years studying zoology, ichthyology, and marine biology, I had taken a few courses that touched on odonates and I certainly had run across lots of larvae in seining for small fish. But alas, they had never really captured my attention. My field notes and photo log show that I took my first dragonfly photo on May 9, 2012 – a mature male Eastern Pondhawk. I guess that got me hooked. I began noticing more and more dragons and damsels when I was on field trips targeting birds or butterflies. I acquired some nice field guides and books, corresponded with some helpful experts, located web resources, and soon I became a certified "dragonfly nut" (my wife's assessment, anyway). > > > > > > I've always been goal oriented, so I decided that one of my retirement projects (in addition to all of my "honeydos") would be to photograph every odonate that had been reported from the county where I live, Alachua County, FL. A search of the database at OdonataCentral revealed that 111 species have been reported from the county, 39 zygopterans and 72 anispoterans. Some were recorded only once, others with imprecise locality information, so I figured 100 species was a reasonable target and also a nice round, easy-to-remember number. > > > > > > As I write this approximately one year after I snapped my first odonate photo, I have gotten shots of 42 species known from the county. I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones although some species that are reported to be common in this part of Florida have thus far eluded me. I expect that getting the remaining 58 species is going to be a protracted endeavor. Fortunately, I have learned some things in Dragonflying 101 that will help. I now recognize the locally common species and can refine my "search image" for the species that are less common, more cryptic, or wary. I have learned that if I want to find different species, I have to go to different places and diverse habitats rather than revisiting the same sites over-and-over. I understand more about flight seasons and behaviors that factor into where and when to look. Finally, I have gained a greater appreciation for variations in colors and patterns associated with sex, age, female polymorphism, and regional variation. I owe much of this enlightenment to wonderful field guides, web sites, photo galleries, and personal assistance from many of you reading this blurb. There are certainly a lot of things I have not yet learned, like where all of the non-typical Bluet species hang out, why I haven't found a Blue Corporal this spring, and how to use my hand net with reasonable efficiency while avoiding ridicule from amused onlookers. > > > > > > So as I graduate and move on to Dragonflying 102, I've got my work cut out for me. I'm planning to visit some new sites around northern Florida and hope to add at least another 20 species to my list this year. I'm also going to be on the lookout for odonates in other parts of the country as my wife and I have time to travel. It's gonna be fun! > > > > > > Thanks to all of you who have given me help and encouragement in this new endeavor. > > > > > > Buck Snelson > > > > Gainesville, FL > > > > > > May 3, 2013 > > > > ----- Dennis Paulson 1724 NE 98 St. Seattle, WA 98115 206-528-1382 dennispaulson AT comcast.net Subject: Don't show this to the Lep-ers! From: MARK or LYNN GRAHAM <marlyn3 AT bellsouth.net> Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 18:55:42 -0700 (PDT) Don't let your Lep buddies see this one! Seek to cultivate a buoyant, joyous sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your daily life. Alexander Maclaren     --- On Fri, 5/3/13, mexicodoug1 wrote: From: mexicodoug1 Subject: [se-odonata] Re: Dragonflying 101 To: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, May 3, 2013, 4:02 PM   Hi Buck & List, ;-) That's a great ode to watching! Didn't realize you were so new at it, so I think your enthusiasm has paid off, congrats and keep it up. Just a related comment+video and a question to those more expert than we are regarding three things from your nice summary. 1) Question: when you say "I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones" in reference to your anniversary annual batting average of an admirable, but far from complete 0.378, I suspect that different Odes have peak and poor years and much of it is just going to the right habitats where even rare bugs can be commonplace. They are just insects, after all, and insects can reproduce in plagues when the coonditions are right? Sure there will be a few at the fringe of their ranges that may have been out of place anywhere, but 42/111 seems way short, and I think all 100 of the 111 ought to be easy ones with appropriate research (well, except the ones that spend all their time over water, a hard photo). Or is the ratio really so bad in such a county, for Odes in general? (The good news is that it gives a lot to look forward to and learn more about life cycles & behavior for Dragonfly 102) 2) Comment: Well on Leping vs. Odeing, I must say don't be so hard on some of us. In the twisted words of Woody Allen, "It immediately doubles your chances for pics on a date." Actually slightly more than 2X ... there are 129 Butterflies alone in Alachua according to tyhe online database. 3) Comment/nice video: I have never observed a dragonfly hunting or feeding on a butterfly, and have seen and photographed hundreds of spiders feasting on Leps. I would love to see this and googled this Austin event on Youtube just to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlTLGGXJcNU Note the tiger swallowtail is missing huge sections of both hindwings, more than a single bird assault, as if human-inflicted (so the video could have been staged). Best wishes Doug Odor/Leper (???!!!) --- In se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com, buck snelson wrote: > > I got my first digital SLR camera in February of 2012, anticipating taking some great bird photos on a trip to Costa Rica. It was a wonderful trip, but it didn't take me long to realize that the lens I had chosen was too short and too slow for photographing small birds in the tropical rainforest. As an alternative, I took a few random photos of butterflies and flowers during the trip, but I soon realized that the same lens also did not serve well for small subjects "up close and personal". > > > After returning home, I fell in with a motley group of butterfly enthusiasts (bad company, you might say) and continued to work on my photographic skills and ultimately decided that I should buy a macro lens. The butterflies were cooperative and I began to get some decent photos. There were lots of folks around Gainesville to tell me where and when to look and to help identify the species I was unsure about. But nobody among my contacts knew much about odonates. In fact, lots of butterflyers do not like (read hate) dragonflies because they have been known to eat butterflies. They say they have a distinct preference for preying on the pretty ones! > > > During my college years studying zoology, ichthyology, and marine biology, I had taken a few courses that touched on odonates and I certainly had run across lots of larvae in seining for small fish. But alas, they had never really captured my attention. My field notes and photo log show that I took my first dragonfly photo on May 9, 2012 – a mature male Eastern Pondhawk. I guess that got me hooked. I began noticing more and more dragons and damsels when I was on field trips targeting birds or butterflies. I acquired some nice field guides and books, corresponded with some helpful experts, located web resources, and soon I became a certified "dragonfly nut" (my wife's assessment, anyway). > > > I've always been goal oriented, so I decided that one of my retirement projects (in addition to all of my "honeydos") would be to photograph every odonate that had been reported from the county where I live, Alachua County, FL. A search of the database at OdonataCentral revealed that 111 species have been reported from the county, 39 zygopterans and 72 anispoterans. Some were recorded only once, others with imprecise locality information, so I figured 100 species was a reasonable target and also a nice round, easy-to-remember number. > > > As I write this approximately one year after I snapped my first odonate photo, I have gotten shots of 42 species known from the county. I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones although some species that are reported to be common in this part of Florida have thus far eluded me. I expect that getting the remaining 58 species is going to be a protracted endeavor. Fortunately, I have learned some things in Dragonflying 101 that will help. I now recognize the locally common species and can refine my "search image" for the species that are less common, more cryptic, or wary. I have learned that if I want to find different species, I have to go to different places and diverse habitats rather than revisiting the same sites over-and-over. I understand more about flight seasons and behaviors that factor into where and when to look. Finally, I have gained a greater appreciation for variations in colors and patterns associated with sex, age, female polymorphism, and regional variation. I owe much of this enlightenment to wonderful field guides, web sites, photo galleries, and personal assistance from many of you reading this blurb. There are certainly a lot of things I have not yet learned, like where all of the non-typical Bluet species hang out, why I haven't found a Blue Corporal this spring, and how to use my hand net with reasonable efficiency while avoiding ridicule from amused onlookers. > > > So as I graduate and move on to Dragonflying 102, I've got my work cut out for me. I'm planning to visit some new sites around northern Florida and hope to add at least another 20 species to my list this year. I'm also going to be on the lookout for odonates in other parts of the country as my wife and I have time to travel. It's gonna be fun! > > > Thanks to all of you who have given me help and encouragement in this new endeavor. > > > Buck Snelson > > Gainesville, FL > > > May 3, 2013 > Subject: Re: Dragonflying 101 From: "mexicodoug1" <mexpost AT yahoo.com> Date: Fri, 03 May 2013 21:02:42 -0000 Hi Buck & List, ;-) That's a great ode to watching! Didn't realize you were so new at it, so I think your enthusiasm has paid off, congrats and keep it up. Just a related comment+video and a question to those more expert than we are regarding three things from your nice summary. 1) Question: when you say "I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones" in reference to your anniversary annual batting average of an admirable, but far from complete 0.378, I suspect that different Odes have peak and poor years and much of it is just going to the right habitats where even rare bugs can be commonplace. They are just insects, after all, and insects can reproduce in plagues when the coonditions are right? Sure there will be a few at the fringe of their ranges that may have been out of place anywhere, but 42/111 seems way short, and I think all 100 of the 111 ought to be easy ones with appropriate research (well, except the ones that spend all their time over water, a hard photo). Or is the ratio really so bad in such a county, for Odes in general? (The good news is that it gives a lot to look forward to and learn more about life cycles & behavior for Dragonfly 102) 2) Comment: Well on Leping vs. Odeing, I must say don't be so hard on some of us. In the twisted words of Woody Allen, "It immediately doubles your chances for pics on a date." Actually slightly more than 2X ... there are 129 Butterflies alone in Alachua according to tyhe online database. 3) Comment/nice video: I have never observed a dragonfly hunting or feeding on a butterfly, and have seen and photographed hundreds of spiders feasting on Leps. I would love to see this and googled this Austin event on Youtube just to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlTLGGXJcNU Note the tiger swallowtail is missing huge sections of both hindwings, more than a single bird assault, as if human-inflicted (so the video could have been staged). Best wishes Doug Odor/Leper (???!!!) --- In se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com, buck snelson wrote: > > I got my first digital SLR camera in February of 2012, anticipating taking some great bird photos on a trip to Costa Rica. It was a wonderful trip, but it didn't take me long to realize that the lens I had chosen was too short and too slow for photographing small birds in the tropical rainforest. As an alternative, I took a few random photos of butterflies and flowers during the trip, but I soon realized that the same lens also did not serve well for small subjects "up close and personal". > > > After returning home, I fell in with a motley group of butterfly enthusiasts (bad company, you might say) and continued to work on my photographic skills and ultimately decided that I should buy a macro lens. The butterflies were cooperative and I began to get some decent photos. There were lots of folks around Gainesville to tell me where and when to look and to help identify the species I was unsure about. But nobody among my contacts knew much about odonates. In fact, lots of butterflyers do not like (read hate) dragonflies because they have been known to eat butterflies. They say they have a distinct preference for preying on the pretty ones! > > > During my college years studying zoology, ichthyology, and marine biology, I had taken a few courses that touched on odonates and I certainly had run across lots of larvae in seining for small fish. But alas, they had never really captured my attention. My field notes and photo log show that I took my first dragonfly photo on May 9, 2012 – a mature male Eastern Pondhawk. I guess that got me hooked. I began noticing more and more dragons and damsels when I was on field trips targeting birds or butterflies. I acquired some nice field guides and books, corresponded with some helpful experts, located web resources, and soon I became a certified "dragonfly nut" (my wife's assessment, anyway). > > > I've always been goal oriented, so I decided that one of my retirement projects (in addition to all of my "honeydos") would be to photograph every odonate that had been reported from the county where I live, Alachua County, FL. A search of the database at OdonataCentral revealed that 111 species have been reported from the county, 39 zygopterans and 72 anispoterans. Some were recorded only once, others with imprecise locality information, so I figured 100 species was a reasonable target and also a nice round, easy-to-remember number. > > > As I write this approximately one year after I snapped my first odonate photo, I have gotten shots of 42 species known from the county. I'm pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones although some species that are reported to be common in this part of Florida have thus far eluded me. I expect that getting the remaining 58 species is going to be a protracted endeavor. Fortunately, I have learned some things in Dragonflying 101 that will help. I now recognize the locally common species and can refine my "search image" for the species that are less common, more cryptic, or wary. I have learned that if I want to find different species, I have to go to different places and diverse habitats rather than revisiting the same sites over-and-over. I understand more about flight seasons and behaviors that factor into where and when to look. Finally, I have gained a greater appreciation for variations in colors and patterns associated with sex, age, female polymorphism, and regional variation. I owe much of this enlightenment to wonderful field guides, web sites, photo galleries, and personal assistance from many of you reading this blurb. There are certainly a lot of things I have not yet learned, like where all of the non-typical Bluet species hang out, why I haven't found a Blue Corporal this spring, and how to use my hand net with reasonable efficiency while avoiding ridicule from amused onlookers. > > > So as I graduate and move on to Dragonflying 102, I've got my work cut out for me. I'm planning to visit some new sites around northern Florida and hope to add at least another 20 species to my list this year. I'm also going to be on the lookout for odonates in other parts of the country as my wife and I have time to travel. It's gonna be fun! > > > Thanks to all of you who have given me help and encouragement in this new endeavor. > > > Buck Snelson > > Gainesville, FL > > > May 3, 2013 > ------------------------------------ Subject: Dragonflying 101 From: buck snelson <fsnelson AT bellsouth.net> Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 13:46:23 -0400 I got my first digital SLR camera in February of 2012, anticipating taking some great bird photos on a trip to Costa Rica. It was a wonderful trip, but it didn’t take me long to realize that the lens I had chosen was too short and too slow for photographing small birds in the tropical rainforest. As an alternative, I took a few random photos of butterflies and flowers during the trip, but I soon realized that the same lens also did not serve well for small subjects “up close and personal”. After returning home, I fell in with a motley group of butterfly enthusiasts (bad company, you might say) and continued to work on my photographic skills and ultimately decided that I should buy a macro lens. The butterflies were cooperative and I began to get some decent photos. There were lots of folks around Gainesville to tell me where and when to look and to help identify the species I was unsure about. But nobody among my contacts knew much about odonates. In fact, lots of butterflyers do not like (read hate) dragonflies because they have been known to eat butterflies. They say they have a distinct preference for preying on the pretty ones! During my college years studying zoology, ichthyology, and marine biology, I had taken a few courses that touched on odonates and I certainly had run across lots of larvae in seining for small fish. But alas, they had never really captured my attention. My field notes and photo log show that I took my first dragonfly photo on May 9, 2012 – a mature male Eastern Pondhawk. I guess that got me hooked. I began noticing more and more dragons and damsels when I was on field trips targeting birds or butterflies. I acquired some nice field guides and books, corresponded with some helpful experts, located web resources, and soon I became a certified “dragonfly nut” (my wife’s assessment, anyway). I’ve always been goal oriented, so I decided that one of my retirement projects (in addition to all of my “honeydos”) would be to photograph every odonate that had been reported from the county where I live, Alachua County, FL. A search of the database at OdonataCentral revealed that 111 species have been reported from the county, 39 zygopterans and 72 anispoterans. Some were recorded only once, others with imprecise locality information, so I figured 100 species was a reasonable target and also a nice round, easy-to-remember number. As I write this approximately one year after I snapped my first odonate photo, I have gotten shots of 42 species known from the county. I’m pretty sure that I have gotten all the easy ones although some species that are reported to be common in this part of Florida have thus far eluded me. I expect that getting the remaining 58 species is going to be a protracted endeavor. Fortunately, I have learned some things in Dragonflying 101 that will help. I now recognize the locally common species and can refine my “search image” for the species that are less common, more cryptic, or wary. I have learned that if I want to find different species, I have to go to different places and diverse habitats rather than revisiting the same sites over-and-over. I understand more about flight seasons and behaviors that factor into where and when to look. Finally, I have gained a greater appreciation for variations in colors and patterns associated with sex, age, female polymorphism, and regional variation. I owe much of this enlightenment to wonderful field guides, web sites, photo galleries, and personal assistance from many of you reading this blurb. There are certainly a lot of things I have not yet learned, like where all of the non-typical Bluet species hang out, why I haven’t found a Blue Corporal this spring, and how to use my hand net with reasonable efficiency while avoiding ridicule from amused onlookers. So as I graduate and move on to Dragonflying 102, I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’m planning to visit some new sites around northern Florida and hope to add at least another 20 species to my list this year. I’m also going to be on the lookout for odonates in other parts of the country as my wife and I have time to travel. It’s gonna be fun! Thanks to all of you who have given me help and encouragement in this new endeavor. Buck Snelson Gainesville, FL May 3, 2013 Subject: Re: Painted skimmer - GA From: walter chadwick <mrcnaturally AT optonline.net> Date: Thu, 02 May 2013 08:39:41 -0400 Beautiful photo. From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 7:11 PM To: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com Subject: [se-odonata] Painted skimmer - GA The first Painted skimmer (l. semifasciata) showed up at the wetlands yesterday, all alone in the slough. This species first showed up in April 2011 and flew well into summer. Last year they were very scarce though one made a late showing in July. It may be that this species is going to show up in good numbers only every other year. Nothing but cool, overcast or wet weather ahead - so he may be out there alone for awhile. I have a Black swallowtail chrysalis here at home that darkened today, but doesn't want to eclose in this weather - and who could blame him/her! Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: Painted skimmer - GA From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Wed, 1 May 2013 19:11:58 -0400 (EDT) The first Painted skimmer (l. semifasciata) showed up at the wetlands yesterday, all alone in the slough. This species first showed up in April 2011 and flew well into summer. Last year they were very scarce though one made a late showing in July. It may be that this species is going to show up in good numbers only every other year. Nothing but cool, overcast or wet weather ahead - so he may be out there alone for awhile. I have a Black swallowtail chrysalis here at home that darkened today, but doesn't want to eclose in this weather - and who could blame him/her! Vicki DeLoach Biello Park/Woodstock GA Subject: Re: Gomphaeschna ID help From: buck snelson <fsnelson AT bellsouth.net> Date: Wed, 1 May 2013 14:38:11 -0400 Chris: Here are the additional shots you suggested. The specimen has desiccated somewhat by now and lost a good bit of "color". This dorsal view of the abdomen (taken with flash) has been "enhanced" some in Lightroom. The colors are not this vibrant to the naked eye, but I thought the pattern might be more visible with added saturation. Here is dorsal view of the left wing veins. Buck On Apr 30, 2013, at 8:17 PM, Chris Hill wrote: > Buck, > > > Someone can probably ID this from the shots you've shown, but I won't feel sure unless I have a shot from directly above, where I can see the top of the abdomen and hopefully the wing venation. So I won't say which way I'm leaning, but will hope you can supply such a shot or that someone else can pitch in. > > Chris > > On Apr 30, 2013, at 8:02 PM, buck snelson wrote: > >> I found this dead on the road in front of my house in Gainesville, FL this morning, 4/30/13. It was pretty fresh and in good shape except for missing the terminal part of the abdomen beyond the middle of S9. I have no prior experience with Gomphaeschna, and I hope someone can identify it from the photos - I presume either antilope or furcillata. >> >> Thanks >> >> Buck Snelson >> Gainesville, FL >> >> >> >> >> >> > > ************************************************************************ > Christopher E. Hill > Biology Department > Coastal Carolina University > Conway, SC 29528-1954 > 843-349-2567 > chill AT coastal.edu > http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm > > > > > > > Subject: File - yahoo mail help.odt From: se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com Date: 1 May 2013 11:52:41 -0000 File : yahoo mail help.odt Description : Yahoo Mail Spam IMPORTANT!!! ------------------------------------ Subject: Re: Gomphaeschna ID help From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:17:15 -0400 Buck, Someone can probably ID this from the shots you've shown, but I won't feel sure unless I have a shot from directly above, where I can see the top of the abdomen and hopefully the wing venation. So I won't say which way I'm leaning, but will hope you can supply such a shot or that someone else can pitch in. Chris On Apr 30, 2013, at 8:02 PM, buck snelson wrote: > I found this dead on the road in front of my house in Gainesville, > FL this morning, 4/30/13. It was pretty fresh and in good shape > except for missing the terminal part of the abdomen beyond the > middle of S9. I have no prior experience with Gomphaeschna, and I > hope someone can identify it from the photos - I presume either > antilope or furcillata. > > Thanks > > Buck Snelson > Gainesville, FL > > > > > > ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm Subject: Gomphaeschna ID help From: buck snelson <fsnelson AT bellsouth.net> Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:02:11 -0400 I found this dead on the road in front of my house in Gainesville, FL this morning, 4/30/13. It was pretty fresh and in good shape except for missing the terminal part of the abdomen beyond the middle of S9. I have no prior experience with Gomphaeschna, and I hope someone can identify it from the photos - I presume either antilope or furcillata. Thanks Buck Snelson Gainesville, FL Subject: Re: At last my odes have come along From: Tim Martin <tf_martn AT bellsouth.net> Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:07:52 -0700 (PDT) Hello Chris, no I didn't. At least I don't remember getting any; sometimes the old spam filter catches a few and sometimes I get so many emails some get lost for a few days. Thanks for the ID correction. I didn't feel good about my ID and was hoping someone would step in. I know I saw male Fragile Forktails that day, didn't photograph any. Thanks again Tim ________________________________ From: Chris Hill To: Tim Martin Sent: Sun, April 28, 2013 12:31:55 PM Subject: Re: [se-odonata] At last my odes have come along Tim, did you get any responses?  Looks like a female Fragile Forktail in your photos.  Note that the abdomen is dark all the way back, with no blue at the end like Skimming Bluet.  The colors are really different, but the pattern (exclamation point on the shoulder) is similar to the male F.F. Best, Chris On Apr 25, 2013, at 8:43 PM, Tim Martin wrote:   > > >Sounds good. That is a great list! I haven't spend as much time in ode-friendly >habitats this spring (or when I did there were none to be seen) but I saw my >first odes of 2013 this past weekend. When hiking and photographing wildflowers >this past Saturday I saw and photographed Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) and >Common Whitetail (Platehmis lydia). The area was a open field on a forested >hillside, one that is always been open, ringed by cedar and other trees. Usually >the grass and other vegetation is pretty sparse there. For some reason I often >see odes around this clearing despite there being no body of water as far as I >know particularly close by. > > >On Monday I went to a large lake at a nearby subdivision. I didn't see a lot of >odes but I did see Fragile Forktail and photographed what is maybe Skimming >Bluet. I included 2 photos of the latter, best I could do given the windy >conditions and the strong light. > > >Tim > > > ________________________________ From: Marion Dobbs >To: "se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com List" >Sent: Wed, April 24, 2013 10:37:52 PM >Subject: [se-odonata] At last my odes have come along > >  >At long last, things are picking up here in northwest Georgia for odonates (and >migrating birds). Over the past two days, these species have been seen at >favored sites of mine near my home: a small lake and its feeder stream that runs >through open sunny fields and a deep dark swamp and another somewhat similar >site near a large river. > >Turquoise Bluet (Enallagma divagans) >Skimming Bluet (Enallagma geminatum) >Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) >Common Green Darner (Anax junius) >Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata) >Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros) >Lancet Clubtail (Gomphus exilis) >Cocoa Clubtail (Gomphus hybridus) >Ashy Clubtail (Gomphus lividus) >Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa) >Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) >Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) >Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) >Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) >Common Whitetail (Platehmis lydia) >Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina) > >Some things are just about on time, others a bit late. Baskettails are unusually >hard to come by. > >Marion Dobbs >9 Bridlewood Lane >Rome GA 30165 >ecurlew AT mac.com >http://www.mamomi.net >http://mamomi.smugmug.com > > > > >2.jpg> ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm Subject: Re: magical moment with darners & saddlebags From: "Mathis" <weer AT skybest.com> Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:00:31 -0400 Vicki, Great photos! Thanks for sharing. Cecelia Mathis Sparta, NC Subject: magical moment with darners & saddlebags From: VLDELOACH AT aol.com Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:25:19 -0400 (EDT) On Thursday, April 25, I had a magical time with at least 8 darners on the hunt, zipping around my head and clacking as they hit each other or captured prey. We've seen this happen in past Springs but they're usually high overhead. This time they were at head level and it was fabulous! I had to duck a couple of times because the Swamp darners came so close I thought they would smack into me. They were capturing large bugs but I couldn't tell what they were. At one point a Common baskettail (E. cynosura) zipped up to check me out - right in the midst of the fray! I don't know if he made it out. Several butterflies joined in: a Question Mark peeked out then rushed back to his favorite tree, while a Cloudless sulphur fluttered right by me and on down the trail without a darner in pursuit. This went on for a good 30 minutes ... A female Carolina saddlebags (T. carolina) joined in the hunt, and she was the only one that would pose for me. I got many shots as she perched several times, even allowing me w/i minimum focusing distance. I don't find a lot of saddlebags perched and even fewer females. She had a noticeable ovipositor which I don't see in many photos of this species. And I noticed that her abdomen was heavily shaded by her wing patches when she dropped her tail down vertically, then would raise it up to get some sunshine. I wondered if they use the wing patches to regulate their temperature: There were at least 5 Swamp darners (E. heros) and 3 Common green darners (A. junius) and two other darners patrolled the wetlands as I left. One that zipped right by my face looked like a very blue mosaic darner, much bluer than a Swamp. But I'll never know what it was. I was disappointed my husband wasn't with me to experience this since he is so patient to often go with me, but maybe they were less intimidated by me alone since they came so close. Common whitetails (P. lydia) are also picking up in our area. I'm anxiously awaiting bluets to get going - have only seen Double-striped (E. basidens). And it's another Ashy clubtail (G. lividus) season, with Ashy's outnumbering Lancet's again. Vicki DeLoach Biello Park / Woodstock GA Subject: A species I look forward to seeing every year From: Marion Dobbs <ecurlew AT mac.com> Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2013 19:18:39 -0400 I was able to add a few more species to the northwest GA spring list yesterday. Enallagma basidens (Double-striped Bluet) Enallagma civile (Familiar Bluet) Enallagma signatum (Orange Bluet) Ischnura hastata (Citrine Forktail) and my favorite - Lestes sp., commonly known as Whatspreadwing Isthat. There was a mass emergence underway, and everywhere you looked there were shiny-winged things all wearing that shade I call "teneral brown." Hundreds of virtually featureless spreadwings. Of the four species that occur at this location, three were possibilities: Lestes australis (Southern Spreadwing) Lestes forcipatus (Sweetflag Spreadwing) Lestes rectangularis (Slender Spreadwing) I saw not a single female with the giant ovipositor of Sweetflag and chose to mark that off the list. I saw no male with the wing-body length proportions of Slender and did away with it. Of course, there certainly could be multiple species, but every one I looked at closely was ok for Southern, so that's what I'm saying they were! Here's a reasonably good photo of male terminal appendages of one individual, and they adhere pretty closely to the diagrams in all three field guides: Beaton's, Lam's, and Paulson's. ------------------------------------ Marion Dobbs Rome (Floyd Co.) GA spreadwing AT mac.com pond_damsel AT comcast.net http://www.mamomi.net http://mariondobbs.smugmug.com "What we need is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out."_Bertrand Russell Subject: Goochland and Fluvanna Counties, Virginia Odes From: Allen Bryan <nshrike1 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:14:21 -0700 (PDT) I visited several sites this morning in both Goochland and Fluvanna Counties in Virginia for emerging odes. The following were observed: Fragile Forktail6 Springtime Darner5 Opiogomphus near susbehcha3 Green-faced Clubtail (Gomphus viridifrons)3 Spine-crowned Clubtail (Gomphus abbreviatus)50 Common Whitetail2 Some photographs can be found at:http://www.visitingnature.com/visitingnatureouting2013march.htm   Enjoy each day, Allen Allen Bryan Richmond, Va. www.visitingnature.com Subject: Re: At last my odes have come along From: Tim Martin <tf_martn AT bellsouth.net> Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:43:01 -0700 (PDT) Sounds good. That is a great list! I haven't spend as much time in ode-friendly habitats this spring (or when I did there were none to be seen) but I saw my first odes of 2013 this past weekend. When hiking and photographing wildflowers this past Saturday I saw and photographed Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) and Common Whitetail (Platehmis lydia). The area was a open field on a forested hillside, one that is always been open, ringed by cedar and other trees. Usually the grass and other vegetation is pretty sparse there. For some reason I often see odes around this clearing despite there being no body of water as far as I know particularly close by. On Monday I went to a large lake at a nearby subdivision. I didn't see a lot of odes but I did see Fragile Forktail and photographed what is maybe Skimming Bluet. I included 2 photos of the latter, best I could do given the windy conditions and the strong light. Tim ________________________________ From: Marion Dobbs To: "se-odonata AT yahoogroups.com List" Sent: Wed, April 24, 2013 10:37:52 PM Subject: [se-odonata] At last my odes have come along   At long last, things are picking up here in northwest Georgia for odonates (and migrating birds). Over the past two days, these species have been seen at favored sites of mine near my home: a small lake and its feeder stream that runs through open sunny fields and a deep dark swamp and another somewhat similar site near a large river. Turquoise Bluet (Enallagma divagans) Skimming Bluet (Enallagma geminatum) Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) Common Green Darner (Anax junius) Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata) Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros) Lancet Clubtail (Gomphus exilis) Cocoa Clubtail (Gomphus hybridus) Ashy Clubtail (Gomphus lividus) Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa) Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) Common Whitetail (Platehmis lydia) Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina) Some things are just about on time, others a bit late. Baskettails are unusually hard to come by. Marion Dobbs 9 Bridlewood Lane Rome GA 30165 ecurlew AT mac.com http://www.mamomi.net http://mamomi.smugmug.com Subject: Ode big day invitation - Horry Co., SC From: Chris Hill <chill AT coastal.edu> Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:57:36 -0400 As I sometimes do, I think I'm going to try to see as many species as possible in my home county in one day this spring. I'm aiming for Monday, May 6, if the weather is favorable. Anyone within driving distance is invited to join me. One of these years maybe I'll break the 50 species mark. I'm sort of semi-trying to do a home county "big year", too. So far I'm on track, having seen all the early-emerging species I know of for sure: Mantled and Common Baskettails, Harlequin and Springtime Darners, Blue Corporals (of course), Ashy, Lancet, Cocoa and Banner Clubtails. Plus a new one for me, Robust Baskettail. So a big day will also be a chance to tick a lot of species towards that goal, and maybe find something unexpected, too. Chris ************************************************************************ Christopher E. Hill Biology Department Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC 29528-1954 843-349-2567 chill AT coastal.edu http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm ------------------------------------ Subject: At last my odes have come along From: Marion Dobbs <ecurlew AT mac.com> Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:37:43 -0400 At long last, things are picking up here in northwest Georgia for odonates (and migrating birds). Over the past two days, these species have been seen at favored sites of mine near my home: a small lake and its feeder stream that runs through open sunny fields and a deep dark swamp and another somewhat similar site near a large river. Turquoise Bluet (Enallagma divagans) Skimming Bluet (Enallagma geminatum) Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) Common Green Darner (Anax junius) Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata) Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros) Lancet Clubtail (Gomphus exilis) Cocoa Clubtail (Gomphus hybridus) Ashy Clubtail (Gomphus lividus) Stream Cruiser (Didymops transversa) Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata) Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) Common Whitetail (Platehmis lydia) Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina) Some things are just about on time, others a bit late. Baskettails are unusually hard to come by. Marion Dobbs 9 Bridlewood Lane Rome GA 30165 ecurlew AT mac.com http://www.mamomi.net http://mamomi.smugmug.com ------------------------------------ Subject: Website update From: Marion Dobbs <ecurlew AT mac.com> Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:07:30 -0400 The season is finally upon us here in the lower right quadrant of the country, and in honor of the event I have updated my Georgia/Southeast website. Actually, that is a never-ending process. The site has collections of images of most species found in Georgia, and, of course, many of these are found throughout the southeast and beyond. I also have Georgia county-level distribution maps for each species as well as other pertinent information. I have considered putting up a downloadable .pdf of flight dates, but I think that would be of limited value and even more limited interest, so that's off the radar for the moment. My goal is to have photos of each species, both sexes, at various developmental stages, from every conceivable angle, in a suite of lighting environments, and engaging in a variety of behaviors. I have a way to go yet! Still, I hope that what is there can be of use to oders, local and visiting. Comments, suggestions, corrections, questions - all are actively solicited and much appreciated. http://www.mamomi.net Marion Dobbs 9 Bridlewood Lane Rome GA 30165 ecurlew AT mac.com http://www.mamomi.net http://mamomi.smugmug.com "A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes."_Gotthold Ephraim Lessing ------------------------------------ Subject: Richmond dragonflies From: "paul" <pbedell AT verizon.net> Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:50:35 -0000 Things are starting to emerge in the Richmond area. Steve Roble last week found the first Ophiogomphus exuviae along the James R. On Sat. 4/20 I had a nice variety at Pocahontas SP. Springtime Darner Lancet Clubtail Common Baskettail Slender Baskettail (caught and released this one with a narrow constricted abdomen and relatively long parallel cerci) Selys' Sundragon Twin-spotted Spiketail Blue Corporal C. Whitetail Painted Skimmer Paul Bedell, Richmond, VA ------------------------------------ Subject: Central Virginia Odes From: Allen Bryan <nshrike1 AT yahoo.com> Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 08:41:58 -0700 (PDT) I visited several sites yesterday (Saturday) to enjoy the day in Goochland, Powhatan & Fluvanna Counties.  I observed the following: Fragile Forktail5 Springtime Darner7 Spine-crowned Clubtail2 Ashy Clubtail8 Ophiogomphus near susbehcha6 Common Baskettail10 Common Whitetail5 Some photographs can be seen at:http://www.visitingnature.com/visitingnatureouting2013march.htm Enjoy each day,  Allen Bryan Richmond, Va. www.visitingnature.com