The Whisperer Speaks: Intriguing Aspects of Dragonfly Behavior

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of giving two dragonfly talks for the Sound Waters Conference.  Thanks so much for attending, and making it an enjoyable experience for all.

Here's a brief description of the talk I gave on dragonfly behavior:

My background, which is mainly in theoretical physics, is described below.  I've been studying dragonflies with increasing interest for the last 6 years or so.

Here's the handout for the dragonfly behavior talk.

After the talk, I was asked about the camera that was used to take the slow-motion videos.  They were taken with a simple point-and-shoot camera called the Casio EX-FH25, shown below.  I shoot the videos at 240 frames per second, which gives good time resolution for observing dragonfly behavior.

I was also asked about the Dragonfly Society of the Americas, and their scientific publication, Argia.  You can find more information about the DSA at the website for Odonata Central, as shown below.

The link to this page is

http://odonatacentral.org/index.php/PageAction.get/name/DSAHomePage

Here's an example of Argia, showing the first paper I published describing the spin-dry behavior of dragonflies:

The Whisperer Speaks: Identifying Dragonflies in Puget Sound

On Saturday, February 1, I gave a pair of dragonfly talks for the Sound Waters environmental conference in Oak Harbor.  These talks were a little more detailed and technical than the ones I've given in the past.  The first talk was on identifying common Puget Sound dragonflies, and the second one dealt with interesting aspects of dragonfly behavior.

Here's a description of the ID talk:

Here's page 1 of the handout I gave out for the identification talk.  It deals with identifying common non-darner dragonflies by color:

Here's page 2 of the handout, which deals with identification of common Puget Sound darners:

Thanks for attending, and participating with many interesting and insightful questions.  You helped make it an enjoyable experience for all of us.

Happy dragonflying!

The Dragonfly Whisperer Speaks Again!

It's not too soon to make plans for the upcoming Dragonfly Whisperer Talk to be given at the Prescott Audubon Society's general meeting on May 22, 2014.  They've been kind enough to invite me to speak, and I'm looking forward to it.

They have a very active organization, with lots of different programs, and they've produced some excellent promotional materials to advertise the talk.  As an example, here's an ad they'll distribute next April:

That should attract some attention.

Their website contains more specific information:

Looks like a good talk!  Betsy and I will be there – be sure to say "Hi" if you can make it too.

You can find more information about Prescott Audubon at the following website:

http://prescottaudubon.org

The Whisperer Spoke!

Thanks to all who attended the Dragonfly Whisperer talk at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum on Saturday.  We had a great time, and we hope you did too!

After the talk we did a short dragonfly walk with Roger and Gale Racut.  We looked at a number of dragonflies and damselflies through a spotting scope, and had wonderful views of their colors, patterns, and wings.

Here's a list of the odonates we saw on Saturday, both at Ayer Lake and the Mini Oasis in the Demonstration Garden:

Damselflies
Familiar Bluet
Rambur's Forktail
Desert Firetail
Blue-ringed Dancer
Springwater Dancer

Dragonflies
Blue-eyed Darner
Flame Skimmer
Mexican Amberwing
Blue Dasher

Also, during the talk I mentioned that I would post information about some of the field guides and cameras I use.  Here's a link to this information, from a talk I gave earlier this year:

http://thedragonflywhisperer.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-whisperer-spoke.html

Thanks again for attending and asking lots of great questions.

Happy Dragonflying

The Whisperer Speaks, Again!

I hope you can join us this Saturday, May 4, for a Dragonfly Whisperer presentation at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  The talk starts at 10 a.m., and will include a number of interesting dragonfly anecdotes, some basic dragonfly biology, an introduction to the Happy-face Dragonfly, and slow-motion videos showing dragonflies bathing and spin-drying (at 1,000 rpm!) on the wing.

Here's an ad from the Boyce Thompson Arboretum newsletter.  The homepage for the arboretum can be found at the following link: http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu.

I know I usually "whisper," but I'll limber up my vocal chords for the talk.  I'll also give tips on how you too can do some dragonfly whispering!  We look forward to seeing you there.

The Whisperer Speaks

I'll be giving a presentation next week – on Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30 pm, to be exact – for the Maricopa Audubon Society.  It will be held at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.  Here's a little blurb for the talk:

I look forward to sharing the enjoyment of dragonflies with lots of nature enthusiasts!

The Whisperer Speaks

The Dragonfly Whisperer will be giving a talk this Saturday (February 2) at the Sound Waters 2013 conference.  The conference is being held at Oak Harbor High School this year.  Here's a link to the home page for the conference:

http://beachwatchers.net/sw_2013/?q=htm.home

The topic of the talk will be Happy-face Dragonflies and their Spin-Dry Behavior.  Many slow-motion videos will be presented depicting various aspects of dragonfly behavior, including egg laying, predation, and of course, splash-dunking and spin-drying.  In addition, lots of dragonfly pictures will be shown, including ones of dragonflies from Arizona and Virginia.  I will also tell the story of the Happy-face Darner that makes a house call, and the strange case of the constipated darner.  You'll also learn about the Thatcher Effect and how a Slinky drops.

Here's the basic information for the talk:

I look forward to seeing lots of dragonfly enthusiasts there on Saturday!

Follow Up:  The conference was a great success, with lots of interesting talks and exhibits.  Thanks to all of you who attended the dragonfly talk.  It was a pleasure to share the wonders of dragonflies with so many enthusiastic nature lovers.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

The Whisperer Speaks

I'll be giving a talk this weekend at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  Here's an ad for the talk:

Our good friend Paul Wolterbeek at the Arboretum also placed ads in local newspapers, like the following:

It will be interesting to see how many attend.  Updates to come.

Update:  The talk was very enjoyable.  What a nice crowd.  I think we all had a good time – I know Betsy and I did.  Thanks for attending!