The Azure Bluet

I have just about tapped all my Maine images and I will be returning Ohio material soon; even so, many of these species I have been sharing can also be observed in the buckeye state and other locales around the Midwest and Great Lakes.  Let me know if you're enjoying my daily posting schedule.  I'll just keep sharing until I run out cool things to find; and you know that will never happen! (*or, realistically, until Megan and I usher a new human being into this world come mid-October.)

The azure bluet is an absolutely stunning damselfly.  I must admit that I've photographed hundreds of bluets over the past 10 years, but I have not put in the work needed to sort them out and truly learn them all.  That's a project for the winter as I'm currently sorting through all my images of wild creatures with the eventual goal of hosting them in galleries at my Smugmug website.  For now, the bird gallery (Aves) is complete; every species of wild bird I have ever photographed is represented there. I'd appreciate it if you took some time to explore what I've posted there- it's been fun to build, but a ton of work!

-Tom

River Jewelwing, Crooked River Maine

While this may look like the much more common ebony jewelwing, look carefully at the wings.  The river jewelwing is an extremely rare damselfly in Ohio, but I find it regularly on the Crooked River in Maine.  Ohio's population persists only on a small stretch of the upper Cuyahoga River in Geauga County.  You may have seen the quite similar ebony jewelwing, which has entirely dark wings, rather than the coloration being confined to the tip as seen above.  The ebony jewelwing is perhaps our most conspicuous damselfly- it can be found along almost every wooded stream in Ohio.  The river jewelwing is a Maine treat for this Ohioan.

-Tom

Farewell to Rocky Mountain National Park

The calendar tells me its August, but I'm not quite sure I believe it.  Do you?  Yes- it's been ridiculously hot outside for a long time.  But I'm just not ready for it to be the last month full of summer.  Unfortunately, I don't have a choice- so it's be ready or nothing. 

I hope you've enjoyed my Colorado images.  I spent ALOT of time photographing in the park, and I wanted to take the time to carefully select my best images and present them here.  So much of blogging typically involves the day-to-day activities. But I wanted to take the time to explore a photographic topic in depth.  I hope you've been enjoying it.  If you haven't- let me know with a comment or e-mail.

With these four images, I'll be bringing the Rocky Mountain National Park images to a close.  On our last full day in the park, I wanted to capture some dragonfly and damselfy images.  I went to Lily Lake to see if I could find dragons and damsels- and I did.  I also found fly fisherman, picnicers, wedding parties being photographed, and plenty of day hikers.  I had spent most of my time in the park during the week, but when I hit this spot on a Saturday, I got a taste of just how much the locals use RMNP as a quick getaway from the local cities.

The last image is perhaps one of my favorites from the trip- A lone ponderosa pine, growing in granitic bedrock, overlooking the snowcapped mountains that lead to Long's Peak.  Rocky Mountain National Park is a spectacular place.  Scenic and wildlife photographic opportunities abound.  I hope we are able to return soon. 

-Tom

Male Blue-fronted Dancer

The male blue-fronted dancer, Argia apicalis, has an intense turquoise blue color on the head, eyes, thorax, and very tip of the abdomen.  When viewed at close range, this color is just breathtaking.  Dozens of b males and females dotted the bank of the Olentangy yesterday at Kenney Park. 

Tom

Blue-fronted Dancer, Argia apicalis, Eats

This afternoon I headed to Kenney Park to see if any of the late season clubtails were flying.  Two years ago I photographed both the arrow and russet-tipped clubtails here- and both observations were county records.  This afternoon the light was fantastic, but I didn't see any dragonflies.  The usual damselflies abounded along the shore of the Olentangy, so I turned my camera towards them.  This is a blue form female blue-fronted dancer, Argia apicalis. It isn't hard to catch a damsel with a meal- now that I have my sigma 180 mm lens and I can get high magnification images without scaring them away, I'd say that about half the time I look at them through this lens, they're gobbling up an insect.

Tom

Stream Bluet

Olentangy Week- This week I'll be presenting images from my most recent trip to my old stomping grounds, the Olentangy River at Kenney Park while I'm away at Yellowstone National Park.

Stream Bluet, Enallagma exsulans

Tom

The American Rubyspot

Olentangy Week-  Over the next week, I'll be presenting images from my most recent trip to my old stomping grounds, the Olentangy River at Kenney Park while I'm away at Yellowstone National Park.

This damselfy is one of my favorites- and you should be able to see it  quite easily if you live near one of Central Ohio's rivers and beyond.  The males are a beautiful red, while the females are green and gold.  These damselflies fly across the river and land on adjacent vegetation (like this water willow leaf) and also rocks in the middle of the stream.  The adults don't stray far from the river.

Tom

Tomorrow:  The Stream Bluet.

The Bugs of Crawford County

A wonderful time photographing The Bridges of Madison County yesterday. Oh wait, I mean the Bugs of Crawford County. Woops.


First, the beetles:



This yellow and black one may be a bug, on second look? What do you think?

Sorry for scaring the crap out of you, little lady beetle.

The Bugs:

The Damsels:
I'll give you ten points if you can name any one of these species.




And finally, this gigantic fishing spider. It wasn't eating the slug, but we did watch it eat several smaller spiders that dared to walk near it. Lightning fast, what an amazing creature.


Again, we had a great time yesterday doing a bioblitz for Crawford County along the upper portions of the Sandusky River. This river is a hidden gem of northern central Ohio.

Tom

Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeastern Ohio, 2nd edition

Today I received my two copies of "Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeastern Ohio, 2nd edition" by Larry Rosche, Judy Semroc, and Linda Gilbert. This is the book to have on dragonflies in northeast Ohio and beyond. It truly is a fantastic work loaded with tons of fantastic photos, awesome drawings, and great insights into dragonfly behavior and identification.

It just so happens that I also had the pleasure to hunt for dragons and damsels today along the Vermillion River in Huron County with both Judy and Larry. They really got me started looking at these flying creatures beginning 2006. I'm hooked, and I can't wait to read more of this fantastic book. To order your own copy, go here:

A Guide to the Dragonflies & Damselflies of NE Ohio

I ordered two copies, one to keep on the bookshelf, one to get a bit dirty when I take it out in the field. Get it now before it hits bookstores.

Tom

Stream Bluet Stack 'em Up

Megan and I are in the midst of packing. Somehow, water soaked our basement floor this past week, just after our 5 inch rain night. The strange thing is, we haven't figured out how the water go in. It didn't come through the walls, because they were all dry. Just strange. Anyways, we're busy packing all our things into boxes in the basement so the wet carpet can be ripped up. It is starting to smell horribly like mildew. We've had fans and the dehumidifier running 24/7.

The evening I took this picture, earlier this week, there were stream bluets covering the banks of the river. They are fascinating creatures. What makes the males all get together like this? Are they hoping a female might fly by? Why are there so many more males than females? The females I do see have usually found a male. Nature is full of questions, isn't it?

Tom

Blue-Fronted Dancer Female

Isn't this creature a looker? I spent some time this morning setting up this shot to get it "just right". The camera is actually mounted on a tripod. Damsels like this love to bask along the shorelines of rivers and streams, and I know that I used to pass them off without giving them a good look. But when viewed close up, they have an amazing variety of colors, structures, and behaviors. To me, they are incredibly fascinating. I'm so glad that our home search is over. Megan and I were spending hours each night with the Realtor for several weeks, leaving little time for naturalizing or blogging. Now, we have a bit more free time, but only a bit. Megan is wrapping up her dissertation and soon we'll have to pack up all of our stuff in preparation for the move. We can't wait.

Tom

The Prince Bastkettail....and a House...Finally

About a week ago, I walked down to the Olentangy one evening about 7:00 to see what I could see dragonfly wise. Sure enough, the river did not disappoint, and I spotted a species that I missed last year. This dragon is called the prince baskettail. I've since learned that it is common in Ohio around ponds and lakes, and apparently even rivers. This dragon was flying back and forth along the riverbank, darting off course occasionally to gobble up a mosquito. I think the most interesting part of this creature are its green eyes.

You may have noticed that I've been much more quiet now that field season is fully here. During the winter and spring, I had plenty of spare time to blog and read other blogs. Now that the field season is here, I'm working irregular hours driving to the extreme corners of the state to botanize. So far it has been a fantastic summer, and I have really been focusing on learning the sedges, or Carex species, that grow in Ohio. My plant presses are full of specimens.

And on the home front, as you probably know, Megan and I have been looking for a house for about two months. Well, I think that we are far enough along in the process that I can announce that "WE HAVE FOUND A HOUSE!" We are in contract, have been through inspections, requests to remedy, final mortgage approval and we are set to close on July 14th. What a day that will be- the day we purchase our first house.

The house is in Worthington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. The house itself lies 2.7 miles north of our current home. I'll be a little farther from the river, but still a very quick bike ride away. I'm looking to expand my horizons. Instead of just going to Kenney Park to naturalize, I'll get on my bike, have the camera, and zip up and down the river corridor. From our new house's neighborhood, we have direct access to the Olentangy River Bikeway. This path travels all the way south through campus (of The Ohio State University) and then down to downtown all the way to where the Olentangy meets up with the Scioto River. I'm looking forward to learning about the Olentangy in even more depth. Who knows, maybe there will be a more diverse dragonfly fauna up north.

And finally, one of the coolest things about our new house is the gigantic bur oak, a gorgeous specimen, that grows in the backyard. It has a diameter at breast height (a forestry term, really) of four feet! More on the house and the tree to come, including a historical look at our neighborhood when this tree was literally the only one on the block.



Tom

Kelleys Island

Thanks to Derek Jensen for releasing this fabulous oblique aerial photo of Kelleys Island to the public domain. You can can get a great feel for how large and still how wild this island is. Let me qualify that: wild for OHIO! We do have 10 million people in this state, so finding any high quality natural areas is quite a challenge. You can see in this photo the quarries. The island is a hunk of limestone with thin soil on top. Much of the limestone has been quarried away. The abandoned quarries make fantastic habitat for many of Ohio's state listed plants. There are also red cedar woods across the island which also make for interesting habitat.

To get to Kelleys, you can take a boat or fly. We take the ferry. Cedar Point roller coasters in back left.

The ferry landing.

To the east quarry to botanize.

Carex viridula, an Ohio potentially threatened species.

Very interesting dragons in the wheel position. Any thoughts?

A tiny american toadlet with vestiges of his tadpolian tail.

Our super invasive non-native Phragmites australis subspecies australis.

A quarry sedge swale not yet invaded by Phragmites.

It supported larval ambystomatid salamanders, perhaps the Kelleys Island salamander.

The clear horseshoe shape lake of the quarry supported a lush growth of pond weed. (Potamogeton)

To the woods, a natural calcareous cliff, perhaps an old shoreline.

A not so natural fence, contructed long ago.

The blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata, is not uncommon on the island.

Neither is the honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos.

And last but not least, the woods was teeming with this damsefly, perhaps an emerald spreadwing. Thank goodness for them. Nature's Bug Spray. Dragons and Damsels.

Tom

Dragons and Damsels (and other cool stuff) are Here

Summer, welcome, you are here. And with you came the mussel display that I captured via video and still images. And yesterday, i took my first damselfly images of the season. They started to fly about a week ago, and have been gradually gaining numbers to where almost every patch of water-willow has a dozen or so residents. Here's a teneral, or just hatched stream damselfly. It is either a female or it is a male that hasn't gotten its color quite yet, and I'm not brave enough to ID them until they mature. It should be only a few days or so before they obtain their full coloration.
Here is an up close view of their eye through my Canon 60 mm macro lens. I was quite surprised this damsel let me approach so closely, but they are more clumsy and less docile when they are still teneral.
One of our most common butterflies, the pearl crescent. I also saw one mourning cloak fluttering about the understory of the floodplain forest, but it was much more wary than this crescent, which was hanging out in the tall grass of the active recreational area of the park.
And finally, this little creature caught my attention this evening in my backyard as I was setting up to get shots of a blue dasher dragonfly. I believe that it is a crab spider in the family Thomisidae. It almost reminds me of some deranged cartoon character. It sits in wait, ready to ambush any insect that may come by, closing its long outstretched legs. I saw this individual take a few swipes but it never caught anything. It was incredibly patient as well. The front lens of the camera was only about two inches from the insect in this shot.

And those are just some of the things that I have been observing, I have not taken enough insect pictures this summer, and soon we'll be back in winter lamenting the lack of arthropods!

Tom

The Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Olentangy River

Megan and I live near the Olentangy River, exactly 890 feet from the river, as measured using Google Maps. Over the past summer, I was photographing damselflies and dragonflies almost every day. What I have presented here is a timeline of the dragons along the river. Each image represents the first encounter I had with each species. The common name, scientific name, and date of first observation is given below each image. A link is provided to a range map at the Ohio Odonata Society Website. Also, I have uploaded the images in full resolution- clicking each image will link to a higher resolution version. I'm most interested in getting people's feedback on the rapids clubtail and the arrow clubtail.

Female ebony jewelwing, Calopteryx maculata.
May 28, 2007.


Stream bluet, Enallagma exsulans. June 3, 2007.


Powdered dancer, Argia moesta. June 3, 2007.


Blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis June 6, 2007.


I'm not exactly sure what this one is. It could be a blue morph female powdered dancer, or a female blue-fronted dancer. June 6, 2007.


Great blue skimmer, Libellula vibrans, June 9, 2007.



Possibly a rapids clubtail, Gomphus quadricolor. That is what was teased out at Bug Guide.net. Go here to see the pictures and comments there. June 9, 2007.


Blue-fronted dancer, Argia apicalis, June 16, 2007.


Blue-ringed dancer, Argia sedula, June 16, 2007.


American rubyspot, Hetaerina americana, June 16, 2007.


Eastern forktail, Ischnura verticalis, July 15, 2007.


Violet dancer, Argia fumipennis violacea, July 15 2007.

Eastern amberwing, Perithemis tenera, July 15, 2007.



Eastern Pondhawk,Erythemis simpliciollis (and two perilously close powdered dancers!) July 15, 2007.


I really not sure what this one is. My guess is that it is a female green darner laying eggs, although the riverine habitat seems somewhat strange. Any thoughts on this one? July 15, 2007.


Dusky dancer, Argia translata, July 15, 2007.



Twelve-spotted skimmer, Libellula pulchella, July 24, 2007.


Widow skimmer, Libellula luctuosa, July 24, 2007.


Blue-tipped dancer, Argia tibialis, July 27, 2007.


Fragile forktail, Ischnura posita, August 4, 2007.


Black-shouldered spinyleg, Dromogomphus spinosus, August 26, 2007.


Arrow clubtail, Stylurus spiniceps? September 21, 2007.



Fawn darner, Boyeria vinosa, September 30, 2007.

And finally, while I was watching our fish swim in our water garden, this female darner, which I'm guessing is a shadow darner, came to visit our backyard.


Shadow darner, Aeshna umbrosa, October 26, 2007.