Dragonflies 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 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 MoreDot-tailed Whiteface (Leucorrhinia intacta)
Dragonflies are emerging in big numbers this warm weekend! I found many teneral Dot-tailed Whitefaces (Leucorrhinia intacta) literally popping up from the grass yesterday as Eastern Kingbirds rapidly pursued these still slow moving insects, skillfully using me to flush their prey.
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