Dragonfly Field Trip On Saturday, July 7!

A dragonfly field trip is planned for this Saturday, July 7, in Anacortes – weather permitting.  The trip starts at Smiley's Bottom at 11:00 a.m., and will wrap up by about 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.  Here are directions to Smiley's Bottom:

1.  Enter Anacortes at the traffic circle and go North on Commercial Avenue.
2.  Turn left at 12th Street (Safeway).
3.  Turn left at G Street.
4.  Go one block South to the parking lot at the baseball fields.

After dragonflying at Smiley's Bottom, we'll take a brief break there for lunch.  Then we'll proceed to Cranberry Lake in Anacortes.  Below is a map showing the route to both Smiley's Bottom and Cranberry Lake.

Note that the ground may be a bit soggy at Smiley's Bottom, it is "bottom land" after all, but it probably won't be muddy.  The footing is fine at Cranberry Lake.

Bring binoculars, spotting scope, and a camera if you like.  There should be lots of opportunities to look at and photograph perched dragonflies.

Here's a list of the species we're likely to encounter on our trip:

Northern/Boreal Bluet
Pacific Forktail
California Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Cardinal Meadowhawk
American Emerald
Four-spotted Skimmer
Eight-spotted Skimmer

A later blog will give pictures and field marks for these species.

Happy Dragonflying!