Even More Dragon Hunting June 10, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in dragonflies, wildflowers.3 comments
Our second day of training started at Audubon at 9am. We drank coffee while we waited for the last of the fog to burn off. The cool morning temperatures didn’t make for very good dragon-hunting. Still, we saw a few species, including Common Whitetail, Sedge Sprites, Eastern Forktails, and Marsh Bluets. I’m only posting the Sedge Sprite here. Isn’t she pretty? bronzy-green with a tiny little dusting of blue at the tip…
On a non-odonata tangent, I did find the Swamp Milkweed Leaf Beetles again, and there WERE eggs! So pretty! Don’t click here if you are under 18.
Next we headed over to the banks of the Conewango Creek. As Jeremy predicted, we found two clubtails: Ashy and Midland. I showed Steve and Vickie how we sometimes use the magnetic white board to get pictures of diagnostic features of dragons we are submitting for the survey.
Next to Allenburg Bog. I was very embarassed to get us lost on the way in, and even more embarassed to get lost by myself on the way out. But that’s a story for around the campfire. We found my absolute favorite dragonfly at the bog: the Calico Pennant. I like the female even better than the male. Look at those markings!
Many of the bog flowers were in bloom, too. We were in a bit of a time crunch, so I didn’t take my time with the pictures… just snapped to document what we saw. I sure love the bog!
There are more flowers over at my Flickr site, if you want to take a peek!
Dragon Hunting 2007 June 8, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in dragonflies.4 comments
I finally did my first official Dragonfly Survey for 2007 today with the help of our college intern, Kim. This is year three of a 3-year study (which might be extended to 5 years) for the Natural Heritage Program.
It was a sunny, breezy day with temps around 80F. I was rusty, and Kim was a beginner, so netting a few to photograph was comical at best. I forgot the field guides and paper & pencil, so we had to rely on memory and camera shots to reconstruct a datasheet when we got back to the office.
My first catch puzzled me. It had a white face, though, so I was sure I could figure it out when I got the chance to look at the pictures. Turned out to be a female Dot-tailed Whiteface. I probably should have guessed that! We had a lot of Dot-tailed Whitefaces around these ponds last summer. Hey… I told you: I’m rusty!
Many of the others I knew on the wing. But I netted them for practice: practice netting AND practice photographing. At my training a couple of years ago, we were trained to use a white magnetic dry erase board and to hold them down by the wings with magnets. Jeremy Martin had showed me a new way to hold them for photographing and I liked that way much better. I like the photos better, and I like that I can carry less equipment in the field.
This little Baskettail was very cooperative. After several shots using the wing hold, and the leg hold, I got ready to let her go. She didn’t want to leave. She sat on my finger for quite some time allowing me to take several more shots of her. Finally, I was getting antsy to try to net another, so I set her on a bush on the other side of the trail. Eventually, she took off. I’m looking forward to searching for eggs from this species. They lay them in long strings – like miniature Toad eggs.
Many of the clubtail species tend to be found in river habitats. The Unicorn Clubtail likes muddy-bottomed ponds, however, so we regularly see them at Audubon; we have lots of muddy-bottomed ponds! Clubtails and Petaltails have eyes wide apart. All other families of dragons have eyes that touch.
I didn’t get photos of the others that were flying. But here’s a list of the species Kim and I saw. There were a few damsels, too, but I’m not sure what they were. 
Earlier in the morning, when I had too many kids around me, there were loads and loads of spreadwing tenerals… I’m not sure what kind.
Common Whitetail
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Common Baskettail
Unicorn Clubtail
Blue Dasher
Common Green Darner
Dot-tailed Whiteface female
By the way, I netted a Twelve-spotted Skimmer male who was not at all cooperative. He thrashed around in the net and between his thrashing and my attempt to calm him, we managed to damage his wings. He also bit me 2 or 3 times. Anyone else have this kind of experience with Twelve-spotteds? Is it a species trait to be feisty?
What Is Awesome? May 12, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in dragonflies, hiking, insects, reptiles.add a comment
Some of the children who come to Audubon live in rural settings not unlike what they will see on their field trip. In addition, some come with their school classes every year. It can be challenging to try to find something new and different, to elicit a “Wow!”
Yesterday I had a group that just made me smile. It was the ESL (English as a Second Language) class from a local public school. A couple of the students came last year. Most had not been in the US for even a year yet. One girl had just arrived from Puerto Rico earlier this week.
To these kids, everything was new. Things that other kids consider common place were absolutely fascinating to them and elicited plenty of giggles and squeals and exclamations of “Wow!”
Before we even left the building we had already seen many of the usual backyard critters: chipmunks, rabbits, and Canada Goose families. The local kids nearly yawn at these… Not so with this group: pure delight at each discovery.
The herps at the pond were the biggest draw. This poor frog was eventually caught and treated to high-pitched human screams. After the students made several failed attempts to remove the frog from the net and hold him in their hands, the rather large fellow managed to escape back into the pond.
One of the boys was determined to catch and hold a snake. At the spillway of Spatterdock Pond, we found several Northern Water Snakes. Carlos asked if he could pick one up. I explained that he could if he wanted, but… Northern Water Snakes almost always bite when handled, and they have an anticoagulant in their saliva. If one bites, you are likely to make quite a mess bleeding all over the place. 
He decided to take his chances… The female sat quite still, sunning herself on the branch throughout the entire effort. She was very large and apparently intimidating because Carlos ignored her and tried for one of the smaller, though more active males. Fortunately (for the snakes) he was not successful in catching one.
Everyone loves to check the bird boxes. One of the Tree Swallow boxes had 3 cold eggs. The kids were astounded that I allowed them to hold one in their hands. “They look like jelly beans,” I was told.
A good chunk of my job involves writing reports, keeping statistics, assisting with grants, recruiting and training volunteers, setting up programs, cleaning up programs… The most satisfying part by far is taking the kids outside and showing them cool stuff. The ones who find it familar aren’t quite as fun as the ones who find everything new, New, NEW… but sharing nature with children… it can’t be beat.
The Dragons are Flying! April 3, 2007
Posted by Jennifer Schlick in dragonflies, insects.3 comments
Yesterday (April 2nd) when I was out walking with Sarah, I would have sworn I saw a dragonfly above Big Pond: just caught it out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t 100% sure, however, so I suppressed my excitement.
Today, there was no mistaking it: three common green darners flying over one of the smaller ponds in the late afternoon sun – two males and one female. One of the males and the female were flying in tandem as she deposited eggs in the pond. The bachelor and the tandem pair got into a minor scuffle when the bachelor got too close. Mostly they kept their distance from one another. They’re not “supposed” to be out until later this month. But we’ve had so many warm days, I am not surprised to see them. Of course, now They are predicting snow for tomorrow… Gotta love spring in Western New York.
That amazing photo of a male flying was taken by a fellow Flickrite. You should click on the photo to see the rest of his photostream.
You might also want to check out Jeremy Martin’s Odonata Group on Flickr:
