First Of The Year: The Odonates Are Back!

We saw our first odonates of the year today at Little Cranberry Lake here in Anacortes. We had been looking for them for the last couple weeks, but today, quite suddenly, they were here in numbers.

Our first sighting was a female Pacific Forktail resting on a twig away from the shore, soaking up the sun:





A few minutes later we found another one on a fern leaf not far away:



Notice that the female has only a single blue segment at the tip of the abdomen. In addition, she often has a stripe on top of the thorax rather than spots as in the male. The stripe may break off in the middle, however, as in the first individual.

A short time later we saw a male on a floating twig near the shore:



The male has nice distinct spots on top of the thorax, two blue segments at the tip of the abdomen, and hamules under segment 2 of the abdomen. He was at the water waiting for a female to mate with; the females were away from the shore where they can rest and feed.

We also saw a couple female California Darners flying back and forth along the shore, and occasionally perching on the ground—as is their want:





Notice the lack of front stripes on the thorax, as expected for a California Darner. The fact that these are females is attested to by the wide segment 3 of the abdomen, flat segment 2 on the underside (where the male's hamules would be found), ovipositor on the underside near the tip of the abdomen, and cerci only (upper appendages) with no lower appendage.

We'll keep checking from day to day now that we have a thriving population to investigate.

A Flurry of Forktails

Betsy and I went to Cranberry Lake here in Anacortes for our first visit of the 2018 dragonfly season. The activity was intense, with lots of Four-spotted Skimmers zipping around, landing on the path, mating, and laying eggs. Here's an example of a Four-spotted Skimmer:



Notice the four dark spots on the center of the leading edges of the wings—these are the four spots in the name. The dark spots near the tip of the wing are the stigma, which all dragonflies possess, and hence are not distinguishing features. Finally, note the dark wings patches near the base of the hindwings with the white veins, a distinctive feature of this species.

Four-spotted Skimmers are also quite friendly and approachable dragonflies; they can be whispered for a closer look:



We also saw California Darners, American Emeralds and Spiny Baskettails—more about the baskettails in another post to follow.

There were lots of Pacific Forktails out and about today as well. In fact, there was one rock where they liked to congregate—forktail flats. Here's a look at seven of them enjoying the sunny day.



Here's a little closer look:



Notice the mix of males and females in this photo.

All in all, a lovely day at the lake.

A Visit To Heart Lake

Yesterday, Betsy and I went to Heart Lake after lunch. It was a beautiful day, temperatures in the 70s and not a cloud in the sky. Nice and calm too. We were glad we went because the dragonfly activity was high.

Here's the location of Heart Lake. It's within the city limits of Anacortes, and also a part of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands.



The first thing we noticed as we got out of the car was an abundance of Pacific Forktails. They were all over the place. Every step you took in the grass flushed a small cloud of them. Most were immatures, and many were females.

The females are quite striking in this species. Here are a couple examples:





Notice the single blue segment at the tip of the abdomen (males have two) and the stripes on the top of the thorax (males have spots).

Here's a look at the ovipositor of this species—the "bulge" at the tip of the abdomen. The female uses this to cut a slit in a stem in which to deposit her eggs.



Here's the male Pacific Forktail for comparison:



As mentioned above, he has two blue segments at the tip of the abdomen, and blue spots on top of the thorax.

We also saw lots of Dot-tailed Whitefaces. They love lily pads, but there were so many of them that they were perching all over the place.



Notice the chalk-white face, and the yellow "dot" on the abdomen.

Western Pondhawks were also numerous. Many were quite young and fresh in appearance, like the female shown below.



Here's a male showing off his blue color, and his "Groucho Marx" mustache.



Cardinal Meadowhawks were common, as well. Notice the red wing patches near the base of the wings, the bright red face, and the intense red dorsal fovea on the top of the eyes. In contrast, you can see one of the white dots on the side of the thorax.



We also saw Variegated Meadowhawks, which seemed to prefer perching on the ground near the shore of the lake. Notice the complex pattern on the abdomen. Just barely visible is one of the yellow dots this species has on the sides of the thorax.



Of particular interest was a single Four-spotted Skimmer. It was the first of its species to be observed at Heart Lake (though they are common at Cranberry Lake).



All in all, it was a beautiful day at Heart Lake, and a sure indication that dragonfly season is well underway.

A Trip To Fobes

Last Saturday, Betsy and I went to Fobes to do some dragonflying and birdwatching.  Haven't heard of Fobes?  It's a small "town" near Snohomish that is little more than an intersection where five roads meet.  I lived there as a kid, on a seven acre farm.  The old farmhouse is shown below:

Our house in Fobes.  I walked across the street to go to school.

When I was young, Fobes was defined by a small four-room schoolhouse – one room for kindergarten, and three other rooms with two grades each – plus a small grocery store across the road from the school.  The grocery store was the front half of someone's home, but it was big enough to supply the snack needs of the school kids.

One of the five roads that meet in Fobes leads down to the Snohomish River.  That's where we go to view wildlife, along a dike that helps to prevent flooding.  Here's a view of the river from the dike:

The Snohomish River on its way to Puget Sound.

It was wonderful day, with temperatures in the 70s.  Lots of birds and dragonflies, too.  Betsy spotted an Eastern Kingbird, and soon saw that it had a nest and was feeding young.  The nestlings were still covered in down, and were begging to be fed.  Eastern Kingbirds like to feed on flying insects, and much of their diet at this location turns out to be dragonflies.  There were certainly enough to support a growing family of kingbirds.

Young Eastern Kingbirds anticipate a meal – which will probably be a dragonfly or damselfly.

An adult at the nest.

Lots of dragonflies were escaping the various predators and going about their lives.  Here's our species list for the day:

Northern/Boreal Bluet
Tule Bluet
Pacific Forktail
Common Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Four-spotted Skimmer
Eight-spotted Skimmer
Cardinal Meadowhawk
Blue Dasher

The Pacific Forktail is a particularly friendly damselfly.  It likes to land on people, and gives plenty of good photo opportunities.  The male has an interesting face that is black on top and brilliant green below.

Male Pacific Forktail, a friendly damselfly.

The female can take on different forms, as is so common in damselflies.  An andromorphic female looks almost the same as a male.  On the other hand, heteromorphic females have a distinctly different look, as illustrated by the immature female shown below:

An immature, heteromorphic female Pacific Forktail.