Delta-spotted Spiketail (Cordulegaster diastatops)
Another day, another location with a Delta-spotted Spiketail (Cordulegaster diastatops)..this time in Warren County, Pennsylvania. I had over 25 dragonfly and damselfly species at one spot including another new county record. Meanwhile Twan also added a new county ode in Chautauqua. More to come..
Read MoreDragonflies and damselflies weekend
Twan and I spent the weekend searching for and netting various dragonflies and damselflies across Chautauqua County in a “divide and conquer” sweep of as many sites as we could hit. The number of natural areas we have to search is overwhelming. While surveying we also recorded birds, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians…you get the picture. It’s a sensory overload! Last year we added several new odonate county records in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Warren and more. This included the Delta-spotted Spiketail mere minutes from RTPI. I was able to find another population of the...
Read MoreBrokenstraw State Forest
Another gorgeous day here in Western New York! Today we did some divide and conquer work surveying for odonates plus butterflies and birds in habitats like this with more on schedule for tomorrow. We’ll show you the results all week with at least one new county record discovered already.
Read MoreDragonflies emerging!
The Western New York dragonfly and damselfly populations really exploded this Memorial Day weekend during a lovely stretch of sun and 70 or 80 degree days. I found them to be emerging just about everywhere I went with suitable habitat. We certainly have plenty of water after the several inches of rain we received in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region in the last couple of weeks which will make it all the better for a productive season ahead. I already mentioned the Dot-tailed Whitefaces emerging in multiple locations. A couple more species I wanted to highlight are the Beaverpond Baskettail...
Read MoreBig Day in PA
On September 7 the RTPI conservation staff enjoyed some incredibly successful field work while joined by a couple of friends. We took a trip south to Pennsylvania to search for conservation priority species. For now let’s look at a couple of the odonates we discovered there. Here’s a male American Rubyspot (Hetaerina americana), a gorgeous damselfly that was found in the dozens all over the locations we visited. Additionally there were probably hundreds of the Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta). This male is a relatively bright chalky white yet it seems to fit in well on this rock in...
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