Common Dragonflies of Anacortes: The Three Amigos!

Anacortes is a great place to dragonfly.  It's where the Happy-face Darner was discovered – at Cranberry Lake on October 22, 2006 – and where splash-dunking was first filmed.  In addition, the previously-unknown phenomenon of spin-drying was also discovered at Cranberry Lake.  All told, something like 25 species of dragonflies and damselflies have been seen in Anacortes.

If you see a red dragonfly in Anacortes, you know for sure that you've just seen a meadowhawk.  Similarly, a yellow dragonfly is a freshly-emerged – that is, a teneral – meadowhawk.  To summarize:

red dragonfly = meadowhawk

       yellow dragonfly = teneral meadowhawk

There are three meadowhawks that are most common in Anacortes – the three amigos.  They are, in order of flight date, the Cardinal Meadowhawk, the Striped Meadowhawk, and the Autumn Meadowhawk.  The meadowhawks and their flight seasons are shown below:

The above histograms show the flight season of each meadowhawk in terms of the percentage of observations.  For example, roughly 40% of all observations of Cardinal Meadowhawks occur in July, and about 20% occur in August.

From these histograms, you can conclude that if you happen to see a red dragonfly in May, it is a Cardinal Meadowhawk.  A red dragonfly in June is almost certainly a Cardinal Meadowhawk.  In July and August, a red dragonfly could be either a Cardinal Meadowhawk or a Striped Meadowhawk.  In October and November, red dragonflies are almost certainly Autumn Meadowhawks.  In general, the shift in flight season is quite apparent from the shift in the peaks of the histograms.

There is a similar shift in the range maps of these species as well.  This can be seen in the maps shown below:

Notice that the Cardinal Meadowhawks are primarily a western species.  The Striped Meadowhawk go roughly from the west coast to the Rockies.  On the other hand, the Autumn Meadowhawk is primarily as eastern species, with just a relatively small enclave on the west coast.

A Six Meadowhawk Day

Last week, October 23 and 24, Betsy and I went to the Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, WA to enjoy the Fall colors for a couple days.  It was beautiful there, as you can see in these photos:

Sun Mountain Lodge from our room.

The Fall colors were in full effect.

A Golden-crowned Kinglet gave me an opportunity for a quick snapshot.

We went to the Beaver Pond, of course, but weren't expecting that much dragonfly activity.  We would have been happy to see a few.  As it turned out, the activity was very good, with lots of darners patrolling the shore looking for females, and meadowhawks flying in tandem over the water, dipping and laying eggs.  In some areas, each step would flush several meadowhawks from the ground into the air.  It was delightful.  We had a six meadowhawk day, with the following species:

White-faced Meadowhawk
Striped Meadowhawk
Saffron-winged Meadowhawk
Band-winged Meadowhawk
Black Meadowhawk
Autumn Meadowhawk

A six meadow hawk day would be good in the summer, but was especially pleasant to experience this time of year.  The most common species was the Saffron-winged Meadowhawk.  We saw only one White-faced Meadowhawk, and it set a new record late date by 16 days.  Here are pics of the meadowhawks:

White-faced Meadowhawk.

Striped Meadowhawk.  An older individual with frayed wings and faded stripes.

Saffron-winged Meadowhawk on the left, and Band-winged Meadowhawk on the right.

Black Meadowhawk.  We don't see Black Meadowhawks all that often, so this one was a particular treat.

Autumn Meadowhawk.  One of the "field marks" for Autumn Meadowhawks is that they land on you.

As usual, we had a great time at the Sun Mountain Lodge and the Beaver Pond.

A Convention of Cardinals In Anacortes

Betsy and I went to Smiley's Bottom in downtown Anacortes yesterday.  We weren't expecting to see that much, based on the recent low activity level at Cranberry Lake.  Instead, we were pleasantly surprised to find a convention of Cardinal Meadowhawks in full swing.  Now a group of cardinals who choose the pope is called a college or a conclave, but I think a convention of cardinals suits our meadowhawk friends.  The convention consisted of several male meadowhawks staking out prime territory along the edge of a pond, and a few pairs in tandem dipping in the water to lay eggs.

Cardinal Meadowhawks are incredibly colorful – a treat for the eye.  In addition, they have a perching index of about 90%, meaning they spend 90% of their time perched waiting for prey or a mate.  This makes them an ideal subject for close observations with binoculars or a spotting scope, and for photographs as well.  Just find a favorite perching site of one of the males, position yourself nearby, then wait for him to return and put on a show for you.  Here's one from yesterday that landed just inches from me.

Cardinal Meadowhawk (male).  The small yellow dots on the abdomen are a holdover from his days as a teneral, when he was mostly yellow.

Notice the concentrations of dark red color near the base of the wings.  This is a key field mark for these dragonflies.

Young dragonflies like this one have "blank expressions" in their eyes.  As the eyes mature they become more transparent and show noticeable pseudopupils.

Cardinal Meadowhawks are easy to ID.  First, they are intensely red.  Once you get to see the red of a Cardinal Meadowhawk it's pretty easy to recognize it when you see it again.  Second, they have a concentration of dark red color at the wing bases.  This feature distinguishes the Cardinal from all other meadowhawks in our area, and is readily visible from almost any angle.

As mentioned above, Cardinal Meadowhawks generally lay eggs in tandem.  They hover low over the water, then gently dip down to immerse the tip of the female's abdomen, at which point she releases a few eggs into the water.  Here are a couple shots showing the egg laying in action.

Cardinal Meadowhawks flying in tandem, preparing to lay eggs.

The actual process of laying eggs is quite gentle in Cardinal Meadowhawks.  Female Autumn Meadowhawks don't have it so easy.

Other dragonflies at Smiley's Bottom yesterday included a single Four-spotted Skimmer and several California Darners.  One of the California Darners was seen to do a spin-dry, something we've seen them do several times so far this year.

Cardinal Meadowhawks: An Early Dragonfly

The three most common meadowhawks in our area are the Cardinal Meadowhawk, Striped Meadowhawk, and Autumn Meadowhwak.

Cardinal Meadowhawks are the first to fly, appearing as early as mid May.  Striped Meadowhawks become common in July, and Autumn Meadowhawks show up in numbers in August.  By the way, the Autumn Meadow is our latest flying dragonfly – hence its name – and it can be seen well into November.

The photos below are of Cardinal Meadowhawks in Vacaville, California in late May.  If you see a red dragonfly in our area in the next several weeks it'll probably be a Cardinal Meadowhawk.  The best field marks for Cardinal Meadowhawks are white spots on the side of the thorax and dark concentrations of red at the base of the wings.  Look for these marks in the following photos:

Cardinal Meadowhawk, male.  Notice the white spot on the thorax and the dark red at the base of the wings.  The four white spots are often hard to see when covered by the wings, as here, but the dark red in the wings is almost always visible.

Cardinal Meadowhawk, male.  One of the four white spots on the thorax is visible, as is the dark red at wing base.

Cardinal Meadowhawk, immature female.  The tiny egg scoop near the tip of the abdomen shows it's a female, and the white spots and dark red in wings shows its a Cardinal.  This individual will become slightly more colorful as it matures.  Teneral (freshly emerged) meadowhawks are often yellow, and become red with age.

In the field, male Cardinal Meadowhawks are intensely red.  Sometimes it's hard to believe a living creature can be that colorful – when you see one you'll know what I mean.

A Swarm of Meadowhawks

Recent reports of mass gatherings of dragonflies make it seem there is “something in the air” when it comes to events like these.  Large numbers of baskettails have been observed in Canada, and a large gathering of Striped Meadowhawks was recently seen in Oregon.

In my case, the dragonflies involved were Autumn Meadowhawks.  These friendly dragonflies, which like to land on people, are a common sight at Cranberry Lake in Anacortes, Washington late in the season.

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 last autumn I had them covering my entire body – literally from head to toe.  Here’s what happened.

I went to Cranberry Lake on November 9, 2011 to observe the dragonfly activity.  The weather was sunny and calm, with an air temperature of 57 ˚F.  On other similar days I would observe about a dozen Autumn Meadowhawks and half a dozen Shadow Darners.  On this day, however, I immediately realized something was different – there were so many Autumn Meadowhawks on the gravel walking path that I had to choose my steps carefully to keep from stepping on them.

I walked to some bushes near the shore to see if any darners were perched there, but as soon as I stood still for a moment the meadowhawks began to gather on me.  It felt like a scene from Hitchcock’s movie, The Birds.  They were landing all over me in a frenzy.  I took some pictures showing the ones perched from my waist down, but as I took those pictures I could feel them perched on my arms, my upper body, my head, even on my face.  The pictures show over 30 on my lower body, and I would estimate there were 50 or more on my body as a whole.  I’ve had several Autumn Meadowhawks land on me before, but never anything like this.  

A gathering of Autumn Meadowhawks at Cranberry Lake in Anacortes, Washington on November 9, 2011.

The ones pictured on my lower body are only half the story – they covered me from head to toe.  It felt like a scene out of The Birds.

After taking a few pictures I looked up and saw that the air was just “full” of meadowhawks flying in all directions, hooking up in tandem or attempting to hook up.  It was similar to a mass flight of winged ants or termites.  A few darners were flying too, picking off individual meadowhawks, and also pairs in tandem, and heading for the bushes or trees to enjoy their catch.  It was quite a scene.  It’s hard to estimate the number of meadowhawks, but it must have been in the several hundreds.

I decided to go home and bring Betsy to see this phenomenon.  As I walked back to the car the meadowhawks went along for the ride on my body.  The car was a considerable distance away, and in the shade, but there were still a dozen or more dragonflies on me when I got there.  I had to “shoo” them away to keep them from getting in the car with me – though one managed to do so anyway.

When Betsy and I returned a few minutes later, the activity level was a bit lower, though still intense.  We marveled at the meadowhawks that seemed to be everywhere we looked, including all over us.  Along the shore we observed an egg-laying frenzy, with intense competition for prime sites.  As a result of the competition, many meadowhawks were being knocked into the water where they became stuck.  We ended up rescuing a dozen or more.

As we watched the egg-laying activity, the shadows of the afternoon (it was about 2:00 pm at this point) began to lengthen.  We expected to see the meadowhawks moving along the shore to stay in the sunlit areas, but at one point – quite suddenly – we noticed that the egg laying had ceased, and the air was now clear of meadowhawks.  It was almost as if someone had flipped a switch.  We’re not sure what the signal for stopping was – it wasn’t evident to us – but the meadowhawks seemed to respond en masse.

We returned the next several days, but each time the activity was completely normal again, with just a dozen or so meadowhawks along the shore.  The mass behavior seen on November 9 was a short-lived phenomenon, but one we’re happy to have experienced.

Interacting With Dragonflies

Autumn Meadowhawks in the wheel position.

Interacting with dragonflies is part of the fun of dragonflying.  In the photo above a pair of Autumn Meadowhawks in the wheel position rests on my finger.  These are the latest flying dragonflies in our area, and they are very comfortable with landing on people or sitting on your finger.  Betsy and I have given them the title of "Friendliest Dragonfly."

The pleasures of interacting with dragonflies.

Nature is a delight.

One day while taking pictures of dragonflies I had a Blue-eyed Darner on my finger.  A father and his daughter stopped and asked what I was doing.  When I told them, the girl said, "Can I hold it?"  I said sure, and transferred the cooperative dragonfly from my finger to her hand.  As you can see, she was delighted with the experience.  It was a beautiful dragonfly, with incredible blue colors.  The dragonfly sat on her hand for about five minutes.  We eventually walked closer to the shore, she held her hand out, and the dragonfly took off.  She said, "Will it come back?"  "No," I said, "it has a busy life and lots of things to do."

The dragonfly had not been caught with a net or manipulated in anyway – it was a "free range" dragonfly.  I simply lifted it up from the bushes on my fingertip.  It was free to fly away any time it wanted.