Glider Glade at the Gilbert Water Ranch, Part II

As mentioned in the previous post, Glider Glade is also a good place to look for Spot-winged Gliders.  These dragonflies look a lot like Wandering Gliders – after all, they have the same general body shape and large wings – but the Spot-winged Gliders differ in having a duller, grayish brown body, and small dark spots on the hindwings close to the abdomen.  The spots can be hard to see, but show up nicely when one of these gliders flies overhead.

Here's a Spot-winged Glider, happily perched in Glider Glade.

Spot-winged Glider.

Do you see the small dark spot on the hindwing?  There's another even smaller dark spot in front of the main spot, but the main spot is the one you look for in the field.  Here's a little closer look at this individual.

A view from above shows the spots a bit better.  The next photo shows the main two dark spots.  They are so close to the abdomen, however, that they can be hard to see.  The one in the hindwing closest to us is an example of how the spot can almost disappear against the abdomen.

Here's a different individual, giving a better look at the dark spots.

Spot-winged Gliders are uncommon in the Pacific Northwest, but Betsy and I did see one and photograph it at Magnuson Park in July 2012.  Here are the relevant links:

http://thedragonflywhisperer.blogspot.com/2013/08/dragonfly-field-trip-august-25-or-25.html

http://thedragonflywhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/07/spot-winged-gliders.html