Heart Lake gets its name from its roughly heart-shaped outline, as can be seen in the following map:
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| Heart Lake (center, bottom) in relation to downtown Anacortes. Cranberry Lake is just above center. |
Perhaps most striking dragonfly at Heart Lake was the Cardinal Meadowhawk, with its intense red colors showing off nicely in the bright sun. Here's an example of one of the males:
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| Male Cardinal Meadowhawk at Heart Lake. |
In this next view you can see what I regard as its best field mark, the intense concentration of red color near the wing bases.
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| Male cardinal Meadowhawk. Notice the dark red, opaque regions in the wings near the base. An excellent field mark. |
This field mark is completely diagnostic, and visible from almost any angle. It will be featured prominently in my forthcoming field guide.
Notice also the intense red color on the abdomen. It almost over saturates the eyes.
The Cardinal Meadowhawks were also laying eggs, which they do while attached in tandem. Here's an example:
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| Cardinal Meadowhawks laying eggs in tandem. The female dips the tip of her abdomen in the water to deposit her eggs. |
While this pair was laying eggs, a lone male was trying to break them apart so he could replace the current male, as can be seen below. It didn't work, though he was pretty persistent.
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| A lone male Cardinal Meadowhawk unsuccessfully attempting to break apart an egg-laying pair. |
We also saw numerous Dot-tailed Whitefaces – more than I've ever seen before. They were everywhere, flushing from the ground or grass with every step, and also sitting on their favored perches – lily pads. Here are a couple photos:
Notice the cute little yellow spot, or "dot," on the abdomen, the reason for its common name.
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| A male Dot-tailed Whiteface showing off its yellow dot. |
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| In this photo you can see the chalk white face reflecting from the jet black eyes. |
Notice the cute little yellow spot, or "dot," on the abdomen, the reason for its common name.
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