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which_chickThe Gray Petaltail is a fairly beefy and impressive-looking ode that hangs out in swamps. Seriously, that's where it lives. People who like odes are somewhat enthused about gray petaltails because they live in swamps and thus are not super-easy to see. (I am not sure why things that are difficult to see are... more fun or whatever, but that's ode enthusiasts for you.) I myself was enthused about Gray Petaltails because I never saw them. I mean, I have a perfectly good swamp nearby and I have lived here almost my entire life and heretofore I had not been seeing a shit-ton of Gray Petaltails. Like two, ever, before this spring, both in flight and the first one because she ran into me. Now, obvs, I am enthused because I am going to tell YOU how to do better at seeing Gray Petaltails, if that is the sort of thing you might like to be doing. One never knows.
Mostly I was doing it wrong. Most odes, at least big ones, generally fly about in some sort of routine patrolling-type motion. Fawn Darner, who is brown and not easy to see, runs patrols up and down creeks. Twin-spotted Spiketail, who is black with yellow spots, runs patrols up and down creeks. Common Green Darner, who is huge and blue and green, patrols lake and pond surfaces. Prince Baskettail, who is huge and brown with spotted wings, flies high above the lake surface. Prince Baskettails are generally not very catchable... but they are easily SEE-ABLE up there doing their thing.
This is not how Gray Petaltails work. Unlike almost every ode you are probably familiar with, the Gray Petaltail depends on being motionless and camouflaged in order to hunt. They're like snipers. Still. Hidden. No movement except to kill. There is no faffing about flying patrols like other odes. They don't do that. It is not their way.
Here's how to see more Gray Petaltails.
First off, discover what they look like. Since they are mostly hard as hell to see unless you know what you are looking for, here is a nice picture of one on a non-camouflage background (a telephone pole):
Gray Petaltail. Big, black and gray ode. Perches like a capital letter T on vertical surfaces. A lot. Imprint this image in your mind. This shape, this pattern. It's pretty striking on a telephone pole, right? Easy to see, no problem.
However, on real trees, the Gray Petaltail has first-rate RealTree. Here is an illustration that is not in any way photoshopped. It's just cropped some so that the ode is big and in the middle of the frame:
They are not impossible to see, but they take a little practice.
You will do better at seeing if you look in the right place. Gray Petaltails like swamps in forests. That's where you need to look if you want to see them. You need a decent swamp in a forest in the range of the Gray Petaltail. Look for standing water, all year round. Look for tall cinnamon ferns, like 5' by midsummer. The entire landscape should be kind of squishy, even the "dry" land. Sort of seepy wet landscape is fine, mucky is fine. Sphagnum mosses, sundews, big skunk cabbages, that style of thing. Even your Royal Ferns should get pretty big. Sunlight is helpful and your swamp should have some trees in it. Here is what my swamp looks like:
(There is actually a gray petaltail in the "swamp" picture, on the left-center tree trunk, right hand side of the trunk. It looks like a smudge or an old knot, the lowest "knot" on the right hand side.)
You will do better if you look at the right time of year. Like all odes, Gray Petaltails are easiest to see when they're kind of young adults, right after they eclose from their larval form. Early-ish June is probably a good bet for "the right time" of the year, at least where I live. Check OC for flight records in your region if you want to do better than "early-ish June". So, visit your swamp in the first half of June.
You will do better if you try looking on a day that maximizes your odds of success. Pick a warm, sunny day that follows a clear night. This is so that it will have gotten sufficiently cold the night before for your target odes to need to "warm up" in the morning before they get on with their day. Also you want a bright, sunny morning with no question of "which side of the tree is sunlit" so that the target odes will totally pick the much-warmer sides of the trees. This cuts your search area down significantly. And you want to be kind of early so that it's not really all that warm out yet. (I started this morning at 8 AM, saw like ten gray petaltails, and was done by 9:30AM.) Ideally, you will be approaching your swamp on the side the sun is coming from, like, say, THE EAST.
So, you've arranged for Right Place and Right Time of Year and Optimal Day with the Right Weather. Things are as good as you can make them. You are standing in your swamp on an early morning in June and the bright sun is hitting some of the trees. It's not really warm out yet but the sky is that color blue you only get in early June, the air is crystal clear, and it's going to be an absolutely picture-perfect day. Good job, you!
Now, examine the SUNLIT TREE TRUNKS (Tulip Poplar if you have them) on the brightly-lit sides, from about 4' off the ground to about 10' off the ground. You can walk at a reasonable speed, but look at the sunlit tree trunks. With any luck, your target ode will be motionless, perched vertically on the sunlit tree trunks. The Gray Petaltail is a big ode and it takes a while to warm up after a cool night, so if they're about, they will be hanging out for a while. Take your time. Look at all the trees. 4' off the ground to 10' off the ground, sunlit sides only.
Best of luck.
The big takeaway, here, is that GRAY PETALTAILS DO NOT FLY VERY MUCH. I mean, they CAN fly and they're pretty good at flying (have to be -- seen 'em eating pesky common baskettails that I can't freaking catch) but they don't fly pointlessly. Your average Gray Petaltail is not busying himself doing patrols. That is not his deal. He is gonna snipe from his camouflaged position. He sits there, motionless, on the tree trunk, making with the blending-in. Then zoom, he flies two feet, grabs a snack, then boom, is back to SIT on tree trunk, eat snack, smirk at hapless ode hunters who are dumb-assedly looking for odes that fly back and forth or some shit.
Don't be the hapless ode hunter. Don't be. They don't freaking fly about. They perch on tree trunks. This is how to find them, assuming they are in your target location. LEARN TO SEE THE GRAY PETALTAIL. Here are some shots from this morning. EVERY ONE has been substantially cropped (they are cellphone pics, sorry, my real camera broke) and there is a Gray Petaltail in each shot.
Special bonus ode, above photograph. There's a second Gray Petaltail on the right hand tree in the background. Did you see him?
(Because you are going to ask, the Gray Petaltail in the last shot is perched in profile, underneath the leaves on the right side of the trunk.)
I honestly do not know how to be more clear about this.
IF you want to see gray petaltails AND you are in a reasonable habitat within their range AND it's early June...
LOOK
AT
THE
TREES
Seriously. The trees. Look at the trees.
Mostly I was doing it wrong. Most odes, at least big ones, generally fly about in some sort of routine patrolling-type motion. Fawn Darner, who is brown and not easy to see, runs patrols up and down creeks. Twin-spotted Spiketail, who is black with yellow spots, runs patrols up and down creeks. Common Green Darner, who is huge and blue and green, patrols lake and pond surfaces. Prince Baskettail, who is huge and brown with spotted wings, flies high above the lake surface. Prince Baskettails are generally not very catchable... but they are easily SEE-ABLE up there doing their thing.
This is not how Gray Petaltails work. Unlike almost every ode you are probably familiar with, the Gray Petaltail depends on being motionless and camouflaged in order to hunt. They're like snipers. Still. Hidden. No movement except to kill. There is no faffing about flying patrols like other odes. They don't do that. It is not their way.
Here's how to see more Gray Petaltails.
First off, discover what they look like. Since they are mostly hard as hell to see unless you know what you are looking for, here is a nice picture of one on a non-camouflage background (a telephone pole):
Gray Petaltail. Big, black and gray ode. Perches like a capital letter T on vertical surfaces. A lot. Imprint this image in your mind. This shape, this pattern. It's pretty striking on a telephone pole, right? Easy to see, no problem.
However, on real trees, the Gray Petaltail has first-rate RealTree. Here is an illustration that is not in any way photoshopped. It's just cropped some so that the ode is big and in the middle of the frame:
They are not impossible to see, but they take a little practice.
You will do better at seeing if you look in the right place. Gray Petaltails like swamps in forests. That's where you need to look if you want to see them. You need a decent swamp in a forest in the range of the Gray Petaltail. Look for standing water, all year round. Look for tall cinnamon ferns, like 5' by midsummer. The entire landscape should be kind of squishy, even the "dry" land. Sort of seepy wet landscape is fine, mucky is fine. Sphagnum mosses, sundews, big skunk cabbages, that style of thing. Even your Royal Ferns should get pretty big. Sunlight is helpful and your swamp should have some trees in it. Here is what my swamp looks like:
(There is actually a gray petaltail in the "swamp" picture, on the left-center tree trunk, right hand side of the trunk. It looks like a smudge or an old knot, the lowest "knot" on the right hand side.)
You will do better if you look at the right time of year. Like all odes, Gray Petaltails are easiest to see when they're kind of young adults, right after they eclose from their larval form. Early-ish June is probably a good bet for "the right time" of the year, at least where I live. Check OC for flight records in your region if you want to do better than "early-ish June". So, visit your swamp in the first half of June.
You will do better if you try looking on a day that maximizes your odds of success. Pick a warm, sunny day that follows a clear night. This is so that it will have gotten sufficiently cold the night before for your target odes to need to "warm up" in the morning before they get on with their day. Also you want a bright, sunny morning with no question of "which side of the tree is sunlit" so that the target odes will totally pick the much-warmer sides of the trees. This cuts your search area down significantly. And you want to be kind of early so that it's not really all that warm out yet. (I started this morning at 8 AM, saw like ten gray petaltails, and was done by 9:30AM.) Ideally, you will be approaching your swamp on the side the sun is coming from, like, say, THE EAST.
So, you've arranged for Right Place and Right Time of Year and Optimal Day with the Right Weather. Things are as good as you can make them. You are standing in your swamp on an early morning in June and the bright sun is hitting some of the trees. It's not really warm out yet but the sky is that color blue you only get in early June, the air is crystal clear, and it's going to be an absolutely picture-perfect day. Good job, you!
Now, examine the SUNLIT TREE TRUNKS (Tulip Poplar if you have them) on the brightly-lit sides, from about 4' off the ground to about 10' off the ground. You can walk at a reasonable speed, but look at the sunlit tree trunks. With any luck, your target ode will be motionless, perched vertically on the sunlit tree trunks. The Gray Petaltail is a big ode and it takes a while to warm up after a cool night, so if they're about, they will be hanging out for a while. Take your time. Look at all the trees. 4' off the ground to 10' off the ground, sunlit sides only.
Best of luck.
The big takeaway, here, is that GRAY PETALTAILS DO NOT FLY VERY MUCH. I mean, they CAN fly and they're pretty good at flying (have to be -- seen 'em eating pesky common baskettails that I can't freaking catch) but they don't fly pointlessly. Your average Gray Petaltail is not busying himself doing patrols. That is not his deal. He is gonna snipe from his camouflaged position. He sits there, motionless, on the tree trunk, making with the blending-in. Then zoom, he flies two feet, grabs a snack, then boom, is back to SIT on tree trunk, eat snack, smirk at hapless ode hunters who are dumb-assedly looking for odes that fly back and forth or some shit.
Don't be the hapless ode hunter. Don't be. They don't freaking fly about. They perch on tree trunks. This is how to find them, assuming they are in your target location. LEARN TO SEE THE GRAY PETALTAIL. Here are some shots from this morning. EVERY ONE has been substantially cropped (they are cellphone pics, sorry, my real camera broke) and there is a Gray Petaltail in each shot.
Special bonus ode, above photograph. There's a second Gray Petaltail on the right hand tree in the background. Did you see him?
(Because you are going to ask, the Gray Petaltail in the last shot is perched in profile, underneath the leaves on the right side of the trunk.)
I honestly do not know how to be more clear about this.
IF you want to see gray petaltails AND you are in a reasonable habitat within their range AND it's early June...
LOOK
AT
THE
TREES
Seriously. The trees. Look at the trees.
