Some dragons of late

A blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, adopts the obelisking posture. On hot days, as this one was, a perched dragonfly will often point its abdomen directly at the sun. By doing so, it minimizes heat absorption by exposing less of its body to direct sunlight. Obelisking dragonflies make for great photographic subjects.

I have been doing my level best this field season to focus on surveying for dragonflies. It's the final year of the three-year Ohio Dragonfly Survey, and our last crack at fleshing out the distribution and status of Ohio's Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies). If you photograph these insects in Ohio, we'd love to have your records and they're very easy to submit. CLICK HERE for instructions.

A Carolina saddlebags, Tramea carolina, moors to an old plant stalk. It's been a good year for these.

I had the good fortune of making a recent foray into various west-central Ohio haunts with uber-dragonflier Jim Lemon. He's submitted over 7,000 records to the Ohio Dragonfly Survey to date, a remarkably prolific effort and far beyond anyone else. This was one of the special species Jim showed me, a jade clubtail, Arigomphus submedianus. Lemon discovered it along the shore of Lake Loramie in Auglaize and Shelby counties last year. It was a new Ohio record, one of a number of state firsts for him.

Jade clubtail's core range is the Great Plains states, well to the west of Ohio. The habitat where Jim found this species is utterly common - shorelines of a large lake, often armored with riprap or with only a fringe of unmowed vegetation. It would seem likely that these showy clubtails inhabit other Ohio lakes, especially in the western part of the state, but no one has yet found others.

As always, click the photo to enlarge

An odd perspective on a slender spreadwing, Lestes rectangularis. This group of damselflies is noted for the wide separation between the eyes, as can clearly be seen here. The animal is perched on the stem of a rush, and was cooperative enough to allow me to sneak into position to make this shot.

Another slender spreadwing, this one carrying a complement of water mites. Such parasitism is very common in damselflies, with the larval mites appearing as tiny reddish-orange bumps on the abdomen, usually towards the base. Apparently newly hatched mites first invade the aquatic larvae of damselflies, and when a larva leaves the water and emerges from its larval case, the mites jump to the teneral (newly emergent) damselfly. Later, when the damselfly enters or nears water to mate or lay eggs, the mites hop into the water where they live out the rest of their life cycle. While the larval water mites do siphon body fluids from the damselfly host via feeding tubes, I don't believe they normally do much harm to the host.

A sphagnum sprite, Nehalennia gracilis, one of our smallest (the smallest?) damsels. They're less than an inch long, and very easily overlooked. Jim also showed me a population of these enchanting little bugs, at a beautiful fen. Sure enough, the small zone supporting these sprites was rich in sphagnum moss. Perhaps the sprites oviposit into the sphagnum and the nymphs then inhabit it, but I'm not sure about this.

Finally, a very common species, and one of our largest and showiest, the twelve-spotted skimmer, Libellula pulchella (pulchella means, essentially, beautiful or pretty). One perk of participating in this survey is the numerous opportunities to photograph these gorgeous insects. Not only that, but highly predacious dragonflies are fascinating to observe. Their powers of flight are often astonishing, and the pursuit of "dragonflying" reminds me of birding in many ways.

Again, for more information about the Ohio Dragonfly Survey, GO HERE.

Black Tern

Black Tern - A 'Locally' Common Tern 

Black Tern

 The Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) is described as 'locally common' in New Brunswick.  It is a species of North America and western Asia.  In North America its breeding range is from North West Territories  and eastern British Columbia eastward to New Brunswick and southward to most of the northern US states.  It winters from Surinam to Peru and Chile.  Its preferred habitats are lakes, ponds, marshes and coastal areas.  It prefers fresh water.  In New Brunswick I have seen this species at Black Duck Marsh, Lower Jemseg and near Hoyt.  It has also been seen at Grand Point, Grand Lake and Kouchibouguac.   It is rarely seen in the northern part of the province.

Black Tern on nest

Seen above is a Black Tern on its nest.  This was taken at Point Pelee National Park where there is a Black Tern colony.  The nests were on floating vegetation in black muck and among the coarse roots and debris.  The nests were almost invisible when the birds were not sitting.  They were sitting on 3 or 4 large buff eggs with dark blotches.  They were either so dark they were difficult to see or they were smeared with the black muck.  Incubation lasts 17 to 22 days and is carried out by both adults.  The whole colony seemed to be in a continuous uproar as the adults flew around screaming at one another or at bystanders.  At one point I was dive-bombed by an upset adult even though I was well back.  I did not see any chicks but was lucky to be shown a photo of one taken by another naturalist.  It was very cute with long light gray fluff and dark eyes.

Black Tern

On the sitting Black Tern shown above note the crossed wing feathers.  The Black Tern has very long pointed wings enabling it for long flight.  It is a small tern (25 cm/9.7"long) with a black head and underparts.  The back, wings and tail are light gray.  The vent (area under the tail) is white.  The bill, legs and eyes are black.  The legs are actually dark red but appear black.  They lose this beautiful plumage in winter and turn much lighter to a dark gray back and white underneath. Some patchy black usually remains on the head.  What I found interesting was the fine white line over the wings in the sitting breeding-plumaged adult as shown in the top photo.  The white on the head in that same photo indicates a young bird and is a holdover from juvenile plumage.  The head is usually all black.

Black Tern

The Black Tern has an interesting courtship ritual.  It involves much flying with the male flying around with a fish in its mouth attempting to attract a female.  It must be a noisy colony at that time!  The female who is enticed follows him to a perch where he feeds her the delicacy.  The Black Tern feeds on mainly fish but also insects, molluscs and crayfish.  They often catch their prey from the air and rarely dive-bomb like other terns.  They will swoop down to the water while flying to drink or catch prey.  They vocalize a lot and the sound is a high-pitched grating sound.

Black Terns sometimes associate with other terns.  The colony we visited had a Forster's Tern present.  Black Terns are very social birds.  They usually breed, roost and migrate in flocks.  These flocks can sometimes get as large as tens of thousands.  Black Terns spend the winter at sea.  The only similar species found here but very rarely is the White-winged Tern which is a rare visitor from Eurasia.

Black Tern

Barn swallows in golden light

As always, click the photo to enlarge

I'm fortunate to have an accessible and pretty wildlife-friendly farm in close range. I'm free to enter, and practice photography. This is especially nice when time is tight, or I see that the late day light is going to be stunning, as it was tonight.

I only had about a half-hour tonight, but the golden light was pristine and a couple of barn swallows provided irresistible targets, so I spent my time with them. A gorgeous adult is above. Barn swallows nest in good numbers in the barns and outbuildings of this farm, and the manager is bird-friendly. Lots of swallows are produced here. Recently I made a post, HERE, about trying to capture these birds on the wing. That's MUCH harder to do than shooting the swallows at rest on a fence.

A recently fledged juvenile barn swallow flexes a wing. The youngster has a steep learning curve, learning to use its innate and superb aerobatic skills to glean insects from the air. While I imagine some of those skills are built-in, it seems to me like they keenly watch their parents and the other swallows hawking insects nearby. Observing the adults ply their trade probably helps train the youngsters.

The barn swallow is the world's most widely distributed swallow. It breeds nearly throughout North America, well into Canada and even reaching Alaska, with some nesters as far south as Mexico. Elsewhere, barn swallows breed in Iceland, throughout Eurasia, northern Africa, parts of the Middle East, and China and Japan. The North American nesters winter primarily in South America, with some individuals even reaching the Galapagos Islands.

In 1980, nearly a dozen barn swallows were discovered nesting in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina, nearly 4,500 miles south of the nearest known nesters. These swallows, when first found, bred during the austral winter (our summer), but over time shifted their nesting phenology six months to breed during the austral summer (our winter). These birds migrate north to northern South America during the austral winter.

My neighbourhood

One of the things I really like about my neighbourhood is going for walks

in the early morning or after supper just before sunset.

I catch such pretty lighting at these times of the day.

I loved catching the early evening sun behind these beautiful wild roses.

These yellow roses are really lovely too and in an area of individual houses

with lovely gardens and on very quiet streets.

One of my favourite colours in roses: a warm apricot colour.

Wild flowers pop up on the edge of gardens and I love to capture them too!

Delicate little Aquilegia appear wherever they are left to grow.

So dainty!

I often see these beautiful Delphiniums as I pass them by on my evening walks.

Their dark blue petals look like shot silk with reflections of pink and purple.

Bright red roses grow through the fencing - much to the delight of passers-by.

On Saturdays, I like to go down to the market. 

This lovely stall is where I bought the Gaillardia for my balcony garden.

This is the Spelt bread that I buy at the market. This loaf lasts me the whole week.

The strawberries are called 'Mara des Bois' and they taste like wild strawberries.

Fresh organic asparagus is lovely at this time of the year too.

Last week, we had very violent rain and hailstorms at the end of the day.

I managed to save all my flowers by removing them from the balcony edge,

but the Gaillardia still got a little beating.

Despite that, the beauty remains!

The new buds have formed beautiful blooms in the meantime.

Also just changing into the most delicious shade of raspberry pink,

my second hydrangea plant from two years' ago.

They are a good contrast to the paler pink hydrangea from this year.

My lavender is doing well and the bees are getting interested!

A golden yellow Zinnia with red and pink ones too and a cascade of Alyssum

shedding tiny white petals everywhere, but smelling like honey!

I have been crocheting

A chunky yarn couch throw.

I'm waiting for a yarn order to make it grow.

Teddy got a new granny square jacket too. Orange, to match his eyes!

To celebrate the Summer Solstice

I've crocheted a sunny Mandala

which I've called: ' Daisy and Buttercups and Changing Skies'!

Wishing you all a very happy Summer Solstice!

Do you do something special to celebrate?

I'll be taking a little blog break as I'm going to England for a visit next week!

See you sometime in July!

A few interesting insects from recent days

The insect world is seemingly endlessly diverse, and always fascinating. "Bugs" make the world go around, and natural systems would collapse without them. Insects also make for great macro photography. Here's a few images from recent outings.

Ants tend the caterpillar of an Appalachian azure butterfly, Celastrina neglectamajor. Caterpillars of this species eat only the flower buds of black cohosh, Actaea racemosa. A bud cored by the caterpillar can be seen at right. The somewhat shapeless greenish-white blob of a caterpillar has its tiny brownish head to the left. Ants (species unknown to me) swarm the larva. This batallion will stay with the caterpillar, defending it from would-be insect predators. In return they are rewarded with nutritious "honey dew" secretions from the caterpillar. Shawnee State Forest, Scioto County, Ohio, June 16, 2019.

Tiny Buck's plume moths, Geina bucksi, dangle from the flower of a poke milkweed, Asclepias exaltata. These moths, which resemble mosquitoes when in flight, are smitten with milkweed nectar. We saw hundreds of them swarming milkweed flowers on this day. Shawnee State Forest, Scioto County, Ohio, June 6, 2019.

A ferocious "bumblebee" indeed! A robberfly in the genus Laphria (possibly L. thoracica) perches atop a black ash leaf. It is the consummate bumblebee mimic, and probably is often dismissed as such. When a suitable insect victim wings by, the robberfly whirs into action, overtakes and grabs the victim, and injects it with its hypodermic proboscis. The prey is quickly debilitated by neurotoxins and is taken to a perch to be consumed. Cedar Bog, Champaign County, Ohio, June 12, 2019.

A female ebony jewelwing, Calopteryx maculata, pauses briefly in a dim forest understory. These dark-winged damselflies are common sights along wooded streams, and are distinctive in their fluttery flight. Seen well, they are marvels of iridescence, as shifting light brings out different colors in the animal's body and wings. Scioto Brush Creek, Scioto County, Ohio, June 16, 2019.

A margined calligrapher, Toxomerus marginatus, taps nectar from the flower of brookweed, Samolus parviflorus. The blossom is only 3mm across, giving scale to the elfin flower fly, which is an excellent bee mimic. Shawnee State Forest, Scioto County, Ohio, June 6, 2019.

From afar, this gold-spotted ghost moth, Sthenopsis pretiosus, would be nearly invisible. It hides in plain sight, looking all the world like a bit of dead leaf. Sharp-eyed Laura Hughes spotted it. The caterpillars of this interesting moth eat ferns. Shawnee State Forest, Scioto County, Ohio, June 6, 2019.

A summer azure, Celastrina neglecta (L) butts heads with a harvester, Feniseca tarquinius. The two butterflies were tapping minerals from moist gravelly ground. Each is no larger than a quarter. Shawnee State Forest, Scioto County, Ohio, June 6, 2019.

A northern pearly-eye, Enodia anthedon, regards the photographer from a nearby leaf. I normally find these butterflies tough to shoot. They frequent dim forest understories, and are prone to quickly flushing and then alighting high on a tree trunk, facing downward. Not so this one. It flew right to me as if to demand its photo be taken. Scioto County, Ohio, June 16, 2019.

A pair of six-spotted tiger beetles, Cicindela sexguttata, making more of their kind. These predatory beetles are the cheetahs of the insect world, chasing down lesser bugs with astonishing speed. Scioto County, Ohio, June 16, 2019.

Southern Flying Squirrel Extravaganza!

A southern flying squirrel, in a rare moment of repose. 

I had a rare treat last night, when a friend, Roman Mast, invited me to see an incredible display of southern flying squirrels at his property in north-central Ohio. Roman is into birds, and puts out feeders for the feathered crowd. It didn't take him long, some years back, to realize that come nightfall an army of flying squirrels would descend upon his feeders.

He made some clever tweaks to the feeding operation to facilitate the squirrels (and the squirrel-watchers!), and they've responded to his largesse. While at least a few squirrels visit year round, for a few magical weeks in June/early July, the numbers are over the top. Last night, we estimated 50-70 of the furry gliders were around the feeders. But there's really no way to estimate them very accurately. Flying squirrels are such frenetic balls of energy, racing pell-mell through the trees, and routinely leaping into space to glide to a distant tree, that's it's impossible to keep any sort of tab on them. A possible explanation for this seasonal boom in numbers may be juveniles fresh from the nests. April is apparently a big month for birthing flying squirrels, and they remain under their mothers' care for about six weeks. It's possible that the parents bring the newly active juveniles to Roman's feeders for some easy pickings. As the youngsters become more adept at harvesting wild foods, and are forced to strike out on their own, the numbers of squirrels at the feeders drops.

At times, ten or more animals would be on one tree trunk in the vicinity of the feeders, and a glance into the towering white pines would reveal many others darting about. A hallmark of a flying squirrel is its astonishing ability to glide. A loose flap of skin - the patagium - stretches between fore and hind legs, and when the squirrel launches into space, it flares it legs and becomes a furry wingsuit. Glides in excess of 300 feet are possible, and the squirrel can adeptly jig and jag to avoid limbs and trees. When it's ready to alight, it flips its flat wide tail up vertically, which acts as an airbrake and serves to force its body down and head up. This positions the animal for a graceful landing, and oftentimes upon alighting, it'll race around to the other side of the tree. This may be a behavior designed to thwart owls that might be on their heels.

Flying squirrels are said to be the most common squirrel in wooded regions of eastern North America, including Ohio, and I'd have no reason not to believe it. This animal is so thoroughly nocturnal that few people see them. I do lots of nighttime field work and have done so for years, and I hear their high-pitched twitters and the scrabble of sharp claws on bark all of the time at night. The concentration of squirrels at Roman's place offers a window into their abundance. I don't think, nor does he, that there is anything exceptionally unusual about the overall habitat around his property. A mixture of various ages of deciduous forest interspersed with openings as is common in much of the state, excepting the regions of intense agricultural.