Northern Spreadwing

On our recent trip to Beaver Pond in Winthrop we saw lots of Spotted Spreadwings, but also a few Northern Spreadwings. Here's one of them:

Notice the pruinose thorax, which is quite different from the "staircase" pattern on the side of the thorax in the Spotted Spreadwing.

 Blue Dasher — Beautiful Eyes

There were lots of Blue Dashers at the Quincy Lakes on August 13, 2023. Their eyes are beautiful, and the appearance of the eyes depends sensitively on the angle at which they are viewed. This applies especially to the large dorsal fovea areas on the top of the eyes, as seen in the photo below.

In the next photo, the dragonfly pivots a bit, and gives us a slightly different view. The large dark spot moves from one side of the eyes to the other.

Helping with the appearance of the eyes is the chalk white face, which provides a wonderful contrast.

 Tule Bluet

Here's a male Tule Bluet at Burke Lake near Quincy, Washington. We were there last Sunday, August 13, 2023.

Notice that the blue rings are a bit smaller than the black bands, as opposed to Northern and Boreal Bluets where the blue covers most of the abdomen, with black rings separating the blue bands.

 Black Saddlebags

We saw lots of Black Saddlebags flying about at Quincy Lakes and Crab Creek. We never saw one land, however, so the best I could do was a flight picture.

It appears this individual is snacking on a smaller flying insect that it caught on the wing.

 Quincy Lakes, August 13, 2023

Over the weekend we visited the Quincy Lakes area near George, Washington. Here's a nice Emma's Dancer posing for me.

Note the lavender color on the head and thorax. The abdomen is lavender with a blue tip. As is usual with dancers, the wings are being held up above the abdomen.

 Blue-eyed Darner

The Blue-eyed Darners are out flying at Little Cranberry Lake—in fact, they're the only darners flying there right now. They're also perching in the bushes, posing for pictures. Here's a male, showing off his unique forked appendages. That, plus his intense blue eyes and side stripes, make identification very easy.

It was windy, but we saw one flying into the wind as it did three splash-dunks following by a nicely visible spin-dry.

 Four-spotted Skimmer

Here's a side view of a Four-spotted Skimmer perched near the shore of Little Cranberry Lake. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the colors of this dragonfly were on full display.

Usually when you see a Four-spotted Skimmer its from above and behind. This is because you're standing on the shore, and the skimmer is below you on some low vegetation looking out over the water. This time, however, I had a nice side view of the skimmer on a bulrush stem, giving a detailed look at the complex pattern on the side of its thorax.

 Western Pondhawk at Little Cranberry Lake

Lots of activity at Little Cranberry Lake, including Western Pondhawks, which are not normally seen at this location.

This male is looking right at me, and has a "bug-eyed" appearance due to its pseudopupils being so large at the top of the eyes, at the dorsal fovea. We can also see the bold, black "Groucho Marx" mustache across the front of the green face.

Female Western Pondhawks are green—the only green dragonfly in the Pacific Northwest. Males start off green, and then turn blue as they mature. This particular male is still turning blue, and shows residual signs of green on the thorax and at the base of the abdomen.

Little Cranberry Lake

Yesterday was very active at Little Cranberry Lake. Lots of dragonflies and damselflies flying constantly. The Eight-spotted Skimmers were especially prominent.

Eight-spotted Skimmers are named for the eight large black spots in their wings. The small black spots, the pterostigmas, aren't counted because all dragonflies have them. The white spots aren't counted because the females have only the black spots in their wings.

 Ode to a Dragonfly:

Exploring the World of the Happy-face Dragonfly

Childhood Experience

This photo shows an example of the dragonfly I saw as a child—the Paddle-tailed Darner. It's a large insect, with beautiful colors. This was the first perched dragonfly I had seen, and I didn't see another one like it for decades.

The Happy-face Dragonfly

This is the first picture I took of a Happy-face Dragonfly.  When I blindly took the picture at Cranberry Lake on October 22, 2006, I had no idea its face looked like this – it wasn't until I got home and viewed the picture on the computer that I realized what I had discovered.  This picture is what really "hooked" me on dragonflies. Looking at this picture always makes me smile myself.

A Few Dragonflies and Damselflies From Cranberry Lake

Clockwise from upper left: Paddle-tailed Darner, Paddle-tailed Darner, Shadow Darner, Blue-eyed Darner.

Clockwise from upper left: Cardinal Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawks mating while perched on my finger, Four-spotted Skimmer, Eight-spotted Skimmer.

Clockwise from upper left: Blue Dasher (male), Blue Dasher (female), Western Pondhawk (female), Western Pondhawk (male).

Damselflies, clockwise from upper left: Spotted Spreadwing, Tule Bluet, Northern Bluet, Pacific Forktail.

Dragonfly Whispering

If you lift up gently under a perched dragonfly it may come along for a ride on your finger. In fact, once perched on your finger, it doesn't want to let go until it decides to fly off. Here a Happy-face Dragonfly basks in the sun on my finger. This is my favorite "Dragonfly Whispering" picture.

Here's another shot of the Happy-face Dragonfly on my finger. It's amazing to have this insect looking up at you with that expression on its face—sometimes it's hard to believe it's real.

Common Green Darners in the wheel position during mating.

Here is a pair of Comm Green Darners, the official state insect of Washington, mating while perched on my finger. This is the largest insect in the state of Washington.

A young (teneral) male Western Pondhawk. This dragonfly will be brilliant blue when it matures. Females will retain their green coloration.

The pleasures of interacting with dragonflies.

A young girl on a field trip is delighted to hold a dragonfly that I transferred from my finger to her hand. When he finally flew off she kept her hand in this position and asked me, "Will he come back?" I told her "No, he has a lot of things to do today, so he probably won't be coming back this way." If I had said "Yes" I know she was prepared to wait for him.

Happy-face Darner (left) and Shadow Darner (right). These dragonflies are close cousins.

After whispering one dragonfly onto a finger it occurred to me that I might as well whisper another one onto another finger. The dragonflies were happy to come along for the ride.

Three dragonflies perched on my fingers. No need for a net to get a close look at dragonflies.

Here a Happy-face Dragonfly is perched on my finger, while at the same time some friendly, red Autumn Meadowhawks have come to perch on my wrist, shoulder, and hat.

My wife Betsy experiences a red dragonfly on the shoulder, and a second one on her hat.  Both dragonflies are male Autumn Meadowhawks, the friendliest dragonfly we know.

Autumn Meadowhawks are well described by a famous haiku:

Red dragonfly on my shoulder,

Calls me his friend.

Autumn has arrived.

I’ve often had them “on my shoulder,” but I've also had them covering my entire body – literally from head to toe.

A gathering of Autumn Meadowhawks at Cranberry Lake in Anacortes.

The ones pictured on my lower body are only half the story – they covered me from head to toe.

Splash-Dunk/Spin-Dry

An illustration of a typical splash-dunk/spin-dry sequence.

 

Frame grabs from a slow-motion video showing a dragonfly preparing for a splash-dunk (left), splashing (center), and taking off (right).

 

A dragonfly in mid spin-dry, surrounded by a halo of droplets.

Next is a video from Cranberry Lake showing a series of six splash-dunks, followed by a spin-dry that sheds a spray of water droplets.

A trailer for the Happy-face Dragonfly movie.

The Dragon Splash

A frame grab from a slow-motion video that shows a sequence of three splash-dunks. Splash-dunks #1 and #2 produced ripples that are spreading outward. Splash-dunk #3 has just occurred, resulting in a nice symmetric "dragon splash." The central spike results from the body of the dragonfly hitting the water, and the other two come from the wings.

The Vitruvian Dragonfly

The Happy-face Dragonfly is such a well proportioned animal that it occurred to me to give it the "Vitruvian Man" treatment.

Prospective Book Cover

Notable Dragonfly Facts

They have six legs, but don't walk.

The have incredible vision, but can't hear.

Some cultures fear them, others see them as signs of good luck and prosperity.

They are very successful today, but extend back in the fossil record to before the dinosaurs.

They don't bite or sting, but consume large quantities of flies and mosquitos.

Eight-spotted Skimmer

A male Eight-spotted Skimmer, Cranberry Lake, July 30, 2022.

This was a relatively early-in-the-season individual. The body and wings are quite pristine, with just a slight indication that it may have mated—the dark area that can be seen mid abdomen, where a female may have grabbed hold and rubbed off a bit of pruinosity.

Red-veined Meadowhawk

Red-veined Meadowhawk (m).

July 30, Smiley's Bottom

With that in mind, I've been visiting Little Cranberry Lake recently on nice sunny days. It's late in the season, but there are still three species of dragonflies that are out and active. One is the Autumn Meadowhawk.

The above photo shows a pair of Autumn Meadowhawks in tandem—that is, with the male attached to the female, though they are not in the wheel position. Notice the brighter red color in the male (top), and the tiny appendages at the tip of the female's abdomen (bottom). There are lots of these meadowhawks flying about and landing everywhere—including on people—but I haven't seen any of them laying eggs yet.

Four-spotted Skimmer emerging

A Four-spotted Skimmer just emerging from its larval skin, last year on June 10.

Another view.

Fully emerged now, resting and pumping up its body and wings.

 Prospective book cover.

 The Vitruvian Dragonfly.

 Paddle-tailed Darner hovering over the pond.

Looking good.

Blue-eyed Darner at the retention pond.

 This is a male, nicely showing it's forked appendages.