Late Sightings

This has been a weird year, as we all know, what with the pandemic affecting everything. I haven't gone out dragonflying nearly as much as in normal times, and I haven't been keeping up with this blog as much as I would like to either. I need to get back to doing some of these normal activities.

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.

The other two dragonfly species are that are out and about are Paddle-tailed Darners and Shadow Darners. They are close cousins to one another, with very similar appearance and behavior. Let's take a look at some of the relevant field marks that help to identify them.

First, let's look at the Paddle-tailed Darner. Here is a male perched in the bushes.

What a beautiful creature. This species, remember, is the Happy-face Dragonfly. A few of the best field marks for this darner are illustrated below:

These field marks are the ones that are easiest to see in a perched individual, and they are quite definitive.

Next, let's take a look at the Shadow Darner. Here is a perched male:

The same field marks for this species are given below:

Notice the direct comparisons between the two species.

There is still a lot of activity going on, including egg laying in the darners, and more sunny days coming up. I look forward to additional days observing dragonflies before the end of the season.

Happy New Year, 2020!

Well, it's here—2020—the start of a new year and a new decade. Here's wishing you and yours a healthy and fulfilling New Year.



I hope 2020 provides you with many delightful (and happy) dragonfly experiences.

The Whisperer Speaks!

This coming week, July 14-19, the International Congress of Odonatology meets in Austin Texas. Here's a poster for the event:



Here's an overview of the schedule of events:



The dragonfly whisperer will be there. In fact, I'll be giving two separate talks on Tuesday morning. The talks will focus on the two species seen in the following photo, the Paddle-tailed Darner (right) and the Autumn Meadowhawk (left):



The Paddle-tailed Darner, the Happy-face Dragonfly, is featured in the first talk, Spin-Dry Dragonflies: Nature's Fastest Spinners. This talk explores the splash-dunk/spin-dry suite of behaviors, and includes many slow-motion videos.

The second talk, Egg Laying in Autumn Meadowhawks, describes the unique egg-laying behavior of Autumn Meadowhawks. Again, slow-motion videos show the behavior in full detail.

Stop by and say hello if you're in attendance.

Happy New Year, 2019!

Well, it's here—2019. Here's wishing you and yours a healthy and fulfilling New Year.



And may it be a happy New Year as well!

In today's Rose Parade there was one float that caught my eye. It had a Japanese Garden motif, including dragonflies perched on cattails. Here's the concept drawing for the float:



I hope 2019 provides you with many delightful (and happy) dragonfly experiences.

Cool Dragonflies

Well, we're nearing the end of dragonfly season. The days are getting shorter and colder, but there are still a few dragonflies out there. Yesterday, Betsy and I went to Little Cranberry Lake here in Anacortes to check out the action, and we saw quite a bit. Here's the lakeshore:



The temperature was 44 ˚F the entire time we were there, which was approximately from noon to 1:00 pm.

First, we saw quite a few Autumn Meadowhawks; mostly males, but a few females as well. We didn't see any egg laying activity, however.  Here are a few male Autumn Meadowhawks sitting on the bench near the shore:



This is a great place for them to bask in the sun. On the fence nearby a pair was in the wheel position:



Here are a couple males that at first glance appear to be in tandem, but in fact are just resting in close proximity:



Here's another male resting in the bushes just back from the shore:



We also saw darners, both Paddle-tailed Darners (Mr. Happy Face) and Shadow Darners. Here's a male Paddle-tailed Darner perched in the bushes:



For a size comparison, notice the small housefly at the 10 o'clock position.

Here's a close up of this individual, showing the happy face:



It's always wonderful to see this in person.

Finally, here's a female Shadow Darner:



A close-up look shows a bit of a happy face for her as well:



What a lovely November day at the lake.

Mount Baker

We went to Mount Baker yesterday. It was lovely, with temperatures in the mid 60s, beautiful scenery, and some fun birds and dragonflies. First, here's the view at Picture Lake, with Mount Shuksan (just over 9,000 ft in elevation) in the background:



Here's Mount Baker, with Betsy on the trail:



In this area we saw some Pine Siskins and Bohemian Waxwings. Here are a couple views of them:

Bohemian Waxwing (left), and Pine Siskin (right).

Notice the yellow tips on the primaries, and the two white splotches on the side of the wings. I was surprised to see Bohemian Waxwings, as opposed to Cedar Waxwings, and so was eBird—I had to file a rare species form for this sighting.

We also saw some darners, including one that did a series of three splash-dunks followed by a nicely visible spin-dry. We saw a couple different species flying by, but only one landed for us—a Paddle-tailed Darner (Mr. Happy-face).



What a beautiful day.

A Real Head Turner

Darners use a variety of means to clean themselves. A particularly "splashy" method is the splash-dunk, followed by a spin-dry to dry off.

They also clean their eyes with their legs. The following video shows a Paddle-tailed Darner (the Happy-face Dragonfly) cleaning its eyes as it rests on its perch. Note the extreme flexibility of the eyes, which can rotate by at least 135˚.

Their eyes are beautiful, almost like small gemstones. Notice that the pseudopupils keep pointing toward the viewer as the head rotates, but that the "eyebrows" move with the eyes themselves. The eyebrows are actually pigment on the surface of the eyes, and are a permanent feature, visible even when the dragonflies dies.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's here—2018. Here's wishing you and yours a happy and fulfilling New Year.



And may it be a happy New Year as well!

Merry Christmas 2017!!

Merry Christmas from the Happy-face Dragonfly!

Happy T-Shirt

Here's a spiffy t-shirt to show that you have a happy outlook on life.



I'm Happy!  And so is the dragonfly, the Paddle-tailed Darner.

Happy Summer!

It's definitely summer now, and it's time to get out there and enjoy the beautiful sights.



Don't forget your sunglasses!

Happy Happy Happy-Face!

Over the years I've taken literally thousands of photos of the Happy-face Draongfly (aka, the Paddle-tailed Darner).  Here's a small sampling:

The two photos on the bottom right of the grid were taken on the deck in our backyard.  All of the rest were taken at Cranberry Lake, where we see the Happy-face Dragonfly all the time in the late summer and early fall.

The photo in the center is still my favorite.  In fact, it was the first one I ever took of the Happy-face Dragonfly, on October 22, 2006.  I reached into the bushes with my camera and took a shot of a dragonfly perched there without even looking at the viewfinder.  When I loaded the photo onto my computer at home I was amazed, and I called to Betsy.  "Take a look," I said, "this dragonfly has a happy-face!"  This discovery launched my interest in dragonflies, which has given me great pleasure ever since.

The following quote from Henri Poincaré summarizes my feelings about science and nature quite well.

I might add to this thought, however, that the scientist also delights in nature because it is infinitely intriguing and surprising – just take the Happy-face as an example!

I'm nearing completion of my dragonfly field guide, Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Pacific Coast, and one of its features will be spreads on things I've discovered in my days as a dragonflier, like the Happy-face Dragonfly, Splash-Dunk/Spin-Dry, Autumn Meadowhawks egg laying behavior, etc.

Below is the first draft of the left side of a spread on the Happy-face Dragonfly. It provides a view of a variety of Happy-face individuals, showing the variation in their facial features.



On the right side of the spread I compare the Happy-face of the Paddle-tailed Darner with the face of other species of darner. The Shadow and Variable Darners are in the same genus (Aeshna) as the Paddle-tailed Darner, and their faces are quite similar—including eyebrows that are actually pigments on the eyes. On the other hand, the California and Blue-eyed Darners are in a different genus (Rhionaeschna) and their eyes lack the eyebrows, giving them quite a different look.



It's fortunate that my first face picture of a dragonfly's face was of a Paddle-tailed Darner, since it has the most dramatic "Happy-face" look.

Happy Tenth Birthday

An important day in my development as a Dragonfly Whisperer was October 22, 2006, when I took the first photo of the Happy-face Dragonfly at Cranberry Lake in Anacortes, WA.  I was just trying to get a good macro shot of the Paddle-tailed Darner's head, and had no idea what a delightful happy face it has until I brought the photo home and viewed at it on my computer.  That was ten years ago, and was the impetus for my continuing interest in dragonflies.

Friendly Dragonflies

This is the time of year when two of my favorite dragonflies are out in force – the Paddle-tailed Darner (Happy-face Dragonfly), and the Autumn Meadowhawk.  In the following picture I whispered a Happy-face Dragonfly onto my finger, and in the meantime a few Autumn Meadowhawks decided to join me and land on my leg.  Such friendly dragonflies!

It's wonderful to see these dragonflies together in the same picture – especially when the Happy-face Dragonfly likes to prey on the Autumn Meadowhawks.  It's doubtful the darner sees the perched Autumn Meadowhawks as potential prey items, since it likes to hunt flying prey on the wing, but it's interesting to have the lion lay down with the lambs in any case.

Latest Version of the Vitruvian Dragonfly

Here's the latest version of da Vinci's classic illustration:

I just love this dragonfly, the Paddle-tailed Darner, aka the Happy-face Dragonfly.  Such beautiulf colors and patterns.

Ship Harbor Interpretive Sign

A couple days ago we went to the Ship Harbor Interpretive Preserve, which is here in Anacortes, near the ferry terminal.  Here's the location on a map of Anacortes:



When you get to the preserve you see this welcoming sign:



It's a very nice little park, with extensive boardwalks through the wetlands.  It also has nice views of Mount Baker and the ferries coming and going:



Lots of birds can be found in the wetlands:





In addition, Ship Harbor is home to a good-sized colony of Purple Martins nesting in boxes that have been provided for them.  The boxes are located on pilings in the water that are left over from a cannery that was at this site many years ago:



The martins are very active this time of year.  We saw several females coming to the beach to get grass stems for their nests.  In addition, we saw lots of interaction between the birds in flight:





Of particular interest to us were the interpretive signs along the trail, pointing out interesting plants and animals that can be seen in the preserve.  Here's a group of three such signs that was especially interesting to us:



If you look carefully, you may notice that the top sign looks a bit familiar.  Here's a closer view of these signs:



Now you can see the focus of our attention – the Happy-face Dragonfly.  Here's a closer look at the sign:



It's nice to know that people visiting the preserve, many of them taking a quick walk as they wait for the ferry, will have the opportunity to learn about the Happy-face Dragonfly.