Spot-winged Glider
I finally captured a Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea) on the wing, and in this case it while the dragonfly was ovipositing – laying eggs in this pool. You can clearly see the basal spots on the inside of the hindwings along with some wear. Flying around the world must get a bit tiring… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreWildLife Guards Training – Netting Dragonflies
Training week for the Bridgeport WildLife Guards Crew Leaders continues! We will be adding some new lesson plans and activities for the WildLife Guards this year both in conservation survey work and educational outreach. While much of our work is focused on birds we felt that considering Pleasure Beach is an important migratory hub for butterflies and dragonflies that we should teach the WildLife Guards about some of the insects that they can expect to see moving through the gardens and fields of milkweed, goldenrod and so forth. I created a couple lists of ten expected butterfly and...
Read MoreSpot-winged Glider
Today was the best day that I have experienced so far this year for migratory insects! Red Admiral and Monarch butterflies were on the wing, and dozens of dozens of dragonflies were zipping by including Common Green Darners, Black Saddlebags, Carolina Saddlebags, Swamp Darners, Wandering Gliders and Spot-winged Gliders (Pantala hymenaea) like this one. You can see the spots of this very difficult to catch species here. Keep an eye out for Sean’s Meet Your Neighbour photo of it sometime soon. So much more life is emerging every day now that we have entered the summer, and it is so...
Read MoreBoothe Park Hawk Watch 9/12 – 182 migrant raptors
We had a decent day at the Boothe Park Hawk Watch in Stratford, Connecticut yesterday, considering the deep blue sky in control, as we tallied 182 migrant raptors filling in the 9:30-4:30 time frame. Having no clouds in the sky makes it very difficult to spot hawks, eagles, falcons, vultures and so forth flying at altitudes in the thousands of feet. Light clouds, especially cirrus, provide a helpful backdrop to view them on without obscuring any or dumping precipitation which would stop the birds from moving south. In essence many migrants likely flew by right over our heads that we could...
Read MoreSpot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea)
Dragonfly fall migration is underway! I netted this Spot-winged Glider flying around RTPI this week. Keep an eye out for them, Wandering Gliders, Common Green Darners, Black Saddlebags and more on the move in large numbers soon.
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