More Odes We Have and Where To Find Them
Aug. 1st, 2021 07:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickSecond in a series of two, this is the NON-POND odonates. These are the dragonflies and damselflies that live in non-pond surroundings. They like creeks or swampy bits or whatever, just non-pond. If you want to see these guys, you are going to have to go where they live.
Skimmers (like pond skimmers, these are a good group to start with because they're big and easy to see and easy to tell apart).
Painted Skimmer, found in swamp. Wings are overall tinted, with darker patches.
Yellow-sided Skimmer, found in swamp. Adult males are light blue, sorta. Juvenile males and females are visibly yellow-sided with a clear yellow vein in the wing. Females also have black wing tips.
Adult male:
Female:
Great Blue Skimmer, found in swamp and sometimes along Oregon Run below the dam. This is a rather large dragonfly. Field marks are huge blue eyes, white face. Frequently poses photogenically.
Bar-winged Skimmer. Also a swamp species, seen infrequently.
Common Whitetail, found in swamp and below the dam. Not often at lake. Entire abdomen of males is blindingly white to where it does not photograph well because it messes with the camera's white balance. You'll know it when you see it. Wings have black patches.
Another shot:
Gray Petaltail. This ode is a swamp-obligate species. Unlike many other odes, it does not fly patrols or anything. It is a sniper that perches like a capital letter T on tree trunks and makes short flights that end in a meal, whereupon it resumes perching. The Gray Petaltail has first-rate Realtree and learning to see them takes a bit of practice.
Here's one that is NOT on a tree:
And here's one that is...
Their camo game is seriously on point.
Spiketail group. All of these guys are black or dark brown with yellow trim.
Brown Spiketail, swamp enthusiast. Fairly easy to see in the swamp as it hops from clearing amongst the ferns to other clearing amongst the ferns.
Twin-spotted Spiketail. Enjoys Oregon Run down below the dam. Flies about 10 minute patrols about a foot above the water, center of the stream. Easiest to see in early season.
Arrowhead Spiketail. Prefers small wooded seeps. I've only ever seen the one and that was because it flew into my house one day.
Ashy Clubtail. Prefers swamps. Looks a lot like a Dusky Clubtail.
Unicorn Clubtail. Prefers swamps. Somewhat flighty.
Sable Clubtail. Patrols stream surfaces adjacent to swampy areas. Seen both above lake and below dam, in creek both times.
Southern Pygmy Clubtail. Prefers swamps, perches on vegetation. Not very big.
Fawn Darner. Patrols stream surfaces, goes along shore nosing into every nook and cranny. Easiest to see in Oregon Run below the dam, in the afternoon along about 4 PM. Brown overall color blends in very well.
Shadow Darner. Seen in late season (August to September) in my yard in the late afternoon.
Swamp Darner. In swamps, which should be rather obvious from the name. Harder to see than you would think, this is an enormous, heavy-bodied dragonfly that blends right in to the shady water and bright green vegetation of shaded swampy bits.
Stream Cruiser. Patrols stream surfaces, occasionally found at lake in early season. Another busybody nook-n-cranny flier of the shoreline.
Clamp-tipped Emerald. Seen in swamps and grassy clearings, rarely.
Eastern Red Damsel. Found below dam near outlet pipe, these are tiny. Very tiny.
Aurora Damsel. Found in streams, look for yellow patch on side.
Powdered Dancer. Found on rocks below functioning everyday spillway.
Ebony Jewelwing. Found on large creeks, both the one going in to the lake at the upper end and Oregon Run coming out of the spillway. Solid black wings and metallic-green body make this jobbie look like something out of a tropical rainforest. Females have more-transparent wings with a white stigma.
Skimmers (like pond skimmers, these are a good group to start with because they're big and easy to see and easy to tell apart).
Painted Skimmer, found in swamp. Wings are overall tinted, with darker patches.
Yellow-sided Skimmer, found in swamp. Adult males are light blue, sorta. Juvenile males and females are visibly yellow-sided with a clear yellow vein in the wing. Females also have black wing tips.
Adult male:
Female:
Great Blue Skimmer, found in swamp and sometimes along Oregon Run below the dam. This is a rather large dragonfly. Field marks are huge blue eyes, white face. Frequently poses photogenically.
Bar-winged Skimmer. Also a swamp species, seen infrequently.
Common Whitetail, found in swamp and below the dam. Not often at lake. Entire abdomen of males is blindingly white to where it does not photograph well because it messes with the camera's white balance. You'll know it when you see it. Wings have black patches.
Another shot:
Gray Petaltail. This ode is a swamp-obligate species. Unlike many other odes, it does not fly patrols or anything. It is a sniper that perches like a capital letter T on tree trunks and makes short flights that end in a meal, whereupon it resumes perching. The Gray Petaltail has first-rate Realtree and learning to see them takes a bit of practice.
Here's one that is NOT on a tree:
And here's one that is...
Their camo game is seriously on point.
Spiketail group. All of these guys are black or dark brown with yellow trim.
Brown Spiketail, swamp enthusiast. Fairly easy to see in the swamp as it hops from clearing amongst the ferns to other clearing amongst the ferns.
Twin-spotted Spiketail. Enjoys Oregon Run down below the dam. Flies about 10 minute patrols about a foot above the water, center of the stream. Easiest to see in early season.
Arrowhead Spiketail. Prefers small wooded seeps. I've only ever seen the one and that was because it flew into my house one day.
Ashy Clubtail. Prefers swamps. Looks a lot like a Dusky Clubtail.
Unicorn Clubtail. Prefers swamps. Somewhat flighty.
Sable Clubtail. Patrols stream surfaces adjacent to swampy areas. Seen both above lake and below dam, in creek both times.
Southern Pygmy Clubtail. Prefers swamps, perches on vegetation. Not very big.
Fawn Darner. Patrols stream surfaces, goes along shore nosing into every nook and cranny. Easiest to see in Oregon Run below the dam, in the afternoon along about 4 PM. Brown overall color blends in very well.
Shadow Darner. Seen in late season (August to September) in my yard in the late afternoon.
Swamp Darner. In swamps, which should be rather obvious from the name. Harder to see than you would think, this is an enormous, heavy-bodied dragonfly that blends right in to the shady water and bright green vegetation of shaded swampy bits.
Stream Cruiser. Patrols stream surfaces, occasionally found at lake in early season. Another busybody nook-n-cranny flier of the shoreline.
Clamp-tipped Emerald. Seen in swamps and grassy clearings, rarely.
Eastern Red Damsel. Found below dam near outlet pipe, these are tiny. Very tiny.
Aurora Damsel. Found in streams, look for yellow patch on side.
Powdered Dancer. Found on rocks below functioning everyday spillway.
Ebony Jewelwing. Found on large creeks, both the one going in to the lake at the upper end and Oregon Run coming out of the spillway. Solid black wings and metallic-green body make this jobbie look like something out of a tropical rainforest. Females have more-transparent wings with a white stigma.
