Photographs by Frank

9 August 2014

Connecticut River Odes

Filed under: Odontates,Summer — Tags: , , — Frank @ 12:00 PM

I haven’t done much photography in the past 10 days or so… sometimes life get in the way!

We spent a few days at the end of July helping one of Joan’s cousins move and then I spent the past week stacking the nine cords of firewood that was delivered last Sunday.

The completed pile measures 16′ by 16.75′ by 4.25′. The weight is roughly13 tons. (The web says that dry fire wood weighs between 2000 and 4000 pounds per cord; I used the midpoint in my calculation.)

I would take a photo of the stack but it looks pretty much like last years stack; this years is just a bit larger having an almost complete row in from where there was only a quarter of a row last year.

Woodpile 2013… the 2014 pile looks pretty much the same!

I did take off Wednesday afternoon from my stacking duties to accompany Joan and her cousin Suzy on a kayak trip on the Connecticut River in Walpole, NH. Joan wanted to scout out some rare plants that she will need to collect seeds from later in the season, so Suzy and I tagged along.

I, of course, wanted to explore for odes which I did. I also re-learned the lesson that making photographs of small critters from a boat in a rapidly moving current is frustrating.  Most of the species are new to me and even though I spent some time with the books, I have not been able to identify most of them.

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23 July 2014

The Dearth of Odes Continues

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: , — Frank @ 5:00 PM

Monday afternoon I spent a couple of hours (4:15 – 6:30 PM) “down back” at our beaver-made wetland. I was interested to see how the population of odes was doing here. My impression is that the total numbers of odes was low here, as it was at other sites that we visited late last week.

Usually, there are large numbers (dozens) of darners flying out over the wet meadow. On this visit there were a few… maybe five or six… on patrol mainly over the beaver pond. I also saw a single male calico pennant and a single male frosted whiteface. That was it for dragonflies.

As for damselflies, I observed a handful (maybe six total) of spreadwings. The most common damsel was the sphagnum sprite. There were both males and females present and I saw two pairs flying in tandem. That was it. I saw no bluets at all.

The rose pogonias and swamp candles that were blooming a couple of weeks ago on my last visit “down back” were completely finished blooming. However, I did note the presence of sundew which I had never seen in this location before… probably because I was’t paying attention!

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20 July 2014

A Paucity of Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Nature Conservancy properties,Odontates,Summer,wildflowers — Tags: , , — Frank @ 1:00 PM

Thursday afternoon Joan and I headed out to explore… Joan was interested in wild orchids and I in odes, of course. Our “targets” were the cedar swamp at Lovern’s Mill and the Bradford Bog.

The most significant observation was the low numbers of odes we encountered in what are usually rich environments. The number of dragonflies we observed in four or five hours can be counted on one hand. Damselflies were slightly more numerous, but only at Lovern’s Mill; we saw none at the Bradford Bog.

The main trail near the Lovern’s Mill boardwalk yielded a handful of ebony jewelwings. This is always a reliable place for them. The actual swamp/boardwalk yielded single individuals of two other species.  (All of the photos shown below were made at Lovern’s Mill.)

The dearth of odes continued when I took a careful look around the house on Friday. I saw small numbers of damselflies and two or three dragonflies.

Last Tuesday we had periods of torrential rain which came and went beginning in the evening and continuing for most of the night. I wonder if this weather is related to the general lack of odes?

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If you look closely, you will note that all of the photos of the ebony jewelwing are of the same individual (with a bent wing tip). We encountered this fellow both coming and going from the swamp. We saw three or four other individuals as well.

 

15 July 2014

Recent Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates — Tags: , — Frank @ 11:00 AM

Below are photos taken over the past few days…

The first five photos are from last Friday at the heavily wooded stream flowing from Willard Pond into the nearby Mill Pond. There were lots of male ebony jewelwings present but no females and a smattering of other species. There were also many odes out over the Mill Pond proper that I did not get a chance to photograph.

On Saturday, I gave a presentation titled “Photographing Dragonflies and Damselflies” as part of the Athol Bird and Nature Club’s Dragonfly Institute. The presentation was followed by a couple of hours in the field at a nearby park along the Miller’s River. I did not make many photographs here but I did get a nice photo of a Halloween Pennant, a species that we do not have in our NH neighborhood.

Joan and I spend Sunday afternoon over at camp.The weather was overcast and windy and it rained for a couple of short intervals. There were not too many odes out and about. There were, however, a fair number of variable dancers hanging out low in the vegetation just above the waters edge… most seemed to be in active mating mode with many pairs flying in tandem. I did get some nice photos (the last four) of  “behavior”.

Lastly, an update on the nesting loons. I visited the nest last Friday and again yesterday (Monday). There has been no change; the pair is still sitting on two eggs.  This is not good news at 36 days since I first saw them sitting on the nest. The normal incubation period is usually cited as 26-30 days.

A fellow loon watcher who was there yesterday (and whose name I can’t remember) said that he read of a pair of loons who sat on a nest for 70 days before giving up!

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10 July 2014

Odes “Down Back”

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer,wildflowers — Tags: , , — Frank @ 11:00 AM

Yesterday afternoon, I donned my waders and spent a few hours at the beaver swamp “down back” on our property. I am always amazed how quickly time passes while I am out in the field. The old saying “time flies when you are having fun” is certainly true for me!

Darners have appeared out over the wet meadow since I last visited the swamp. You know…the ones that I have yet to figure out how to photograph! Their numbers are small right now but their arrival is, to me, a signal that summer is truly here.

Additionally,  male spangled skimmers and male frosted white faces were present in good numbers. Mating season for the bluets (which I can not identify exactly) was in full swing… I saw more pairs flying in tandem than I did individuals.

The most common damselfly present was the sphagnum sprite. I had forgotten how frustrating these are to photograph. They spend all of their time down low in the vegetation and are very small. One finds them by looking for the bright blue spot on the end of their abdomen. Then the challenge is to find a clear “window” through  the grasses and sedges in which to photograph them. All good fun!

The fragile forktail is quite rare here. The single individual I saw and photographed yesterday represents only the second time that I have observed one “down back”.

In the water at the edge of the pond, there were large numbers of  rose pogonias in bloom. I had not noticed them in years past. Their foliage is very inconspicuous and thus they are easily missed  if you do not catch them in bloom.

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9 July 2014

Sunday Odes

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Summer — Frank @ 12:00 PM

I am a bit behind on the blogging… too much to photograph!

On Sunday, I spent some time roaming the yard and the logging road across from our driveway. The most common ode present were many immature male calico pennants. There were also at least two female spangled skimmers and a smattering of other species. Not a bad assortment for a warm and windy afternoon.

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19 June 2014

Connecticut River Odes… sort of!

Filed under: Odontates,Spring — Tags: , — Frank @ 8:00 AM

Tuesday, Joan and her PCV colleagues decided to head back to Hinsdale for a re-survey… don’t ask! The weather was looking much better (sunny with a high around 80 deg. F) for odes than the last trip. I decided to tag along again.

I spent most of the day on the causeway at the Hinsdale setback, having a grand time photographing the odes. All but the last three photos were made there.

Early in the outward bound trip, I passed a pair of adult Canada Geese with a single gosling wandering down the roughly twelve foot wide causeway. Eventually they headed for the water with enough warning that I was able to remove the extension tube from the ode rig and make a couple of photos of them in nice morning light.

As I was finding and photographing odes, it slowly began to dawn on me that I was seeing things I was mostly familiar with and no “big river” species. The reason was also slow in coming, but it did eventually arrive… the portion of the river I was exploring is just up stream from the Vernon Dam. Thus, it is much more lake-like than riverine!

After mulling the situation over while eating my sandwich in a small patch of shade, I decided to head south. I had a vague memory that there was a boat launch on the river in Northfield, MA just south of the NH border. My memory served me well and I spent some time at the Pauchuag Brook boat launch. There is a nice stretch of  muddy river bank to walk here. I saw only two odes a large clubtail and a damselfly (the penultimate and third from last photos). The dragonfly sat still only long enough for me to get a single frame. The area has potential and I intend to return there at some point.

I was just getting back to the car when Joan phoned saying that she was done. The folks she was with were planning to head south (east?) on route 119, so we agreed to meet at the park along the Ashuelot River in “down town” Hinsdale.  While waiting for the group to arrive I, of course, explored the river. Being just below the dam, the river is fast moving here. I observed and photographed a single ebony jewelwing in the maybe ten minutes before Joan arrived.

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I need to finish identifying some of these critters, but have decided, in the interest of having a timely blog post, to put off this onerous chore!

18 June 2014

One Quarter Mile – Seven Species

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: , — Frank @ 12:05 PM

It is about a quarter mile between our house and Gregg Lake. There is an old logging road that begins across from the end of our driveway and heads directly for the lake.  On Monday, I spend a few hours wandering this road photographing odes.

I was able to photograph seven species in this short distance. (There are eight photos because I got both sexes of the Aurora Damsel.)

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16 June 2014

Food & Sex

Filed under: Mammals,Monadnock Region,Odontates,Other Insects,Spring — Tags: , , , — Frank @ 10:00 AM

How is that for an attention-getting post title!

It might be attention-getting, but it is a good description of the ode activity in our yard yesterday.  There were dozens of whitefaces, at altitudes ranging from one to twelve feet constantly on the move and feeding.  There were also smaller numbers of other species both hunting and mating.

In addition to the odes there were also decent numbers of butterflies around… small orange butterflies down low in the vegetation, many swallowtails nectaring (especially on the blackberries) and a single black butterfly on the edge of the road looking for salt. (The last two butterfly photos as of the same individual.)

There were often groups of three or four swallowtails doing their in flight dances… is this mating behavior or is it about territory? More stuff to learn!

Through it all, the chipmunks living in our stone walls would chatter at me. I guess that they want the yard to themselves.

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10 June 2014

“Down Back”

Filed under: Monadnock Region,Odontates,Spring,The "New" Yard & Environs — Tags: — Frank @ 12:00 PM

Still catching up…

Saturday afternoon I spent some time “down back” at the beaver-made wetland (a large wet meadow and small pond) on our property.

I was expecting to find Hudsonian Whitefaces back at the water to mate. They had been present up near the house for a couple of weeks but the numbers have fallen off in the past ten days or so.

Also present were the first four-spotted skimmers of the year and a few female chalk-fronted corporals. I saw, but did not photograph, a single damselfly… a sprite, probably a sedge sprite.

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