WITH APPRECIATION...

Damselflies and Dragonflies... Do you admire them for their flying acrobats, the interesting behaviours they exhibit, or the simple grace and beauty they add to the garden or pond?

When I began observing my damsels and dragons, I had developed a need to know more. I purchased my 'guide book' from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio...co -written by Larry Rosche, Judy Semroc, and Linda Gilbert.

Aside from his Odonata expertise, Larry Rosche is a bird enthusiast and a list of accomplishments to his name. That being said...I'd like to thank Larry for graciously taking time out of his busy schedule and answering I.D.questions on my previous Darner posts.

If you'd enjoy learning more of the Odonata world, may I suggest that you pick up a copy of Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio. The book is packed with wonderful photography, and is full of fascinating details of these interesting little creatures.

Thanks to everyone involved in compiling this great read...I've learned so much due to the dedication of all the contributors.

Proceeds from the book benefit the Natural Areas Division of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. If this post is viewed by anyone mentioned above...I sincerely hope my information is accurate. A couple of quick notes...the images shown here and in my blog are strictly my own. For expert photography...get the book! This post was written by myself with no knowledge of anyone who wrote, photographed, contributed or published the above mentioned book. Just thought my viewers might enjoy a good read on the world of Odonates.

DARNERS 3

Let me just say....Confusion reigns my brain!! Just when I think, I've got it....I don't! I really need to study my guide book more...I just wanted to start posting my dragons since I haven't posted all summer. This whole I.D. process is very difficult for me(must be getting old), frustrating as well. I truly would hate to give out the wrong identification.

Update...Many thanks to Larry in providing the correct I.D. for me.

The first two photos are an inmature male Common Green Darner.

The next four photos are of a male Black-Tipped Darner.

DARNERS 2

Common Green Darner-female
Shadow Darner-female
Green-Striped Darner-female
Black-tipped Darner-female

Thank you Larry for the I.D.s provided!

DARNERS...1 Black-Tipped Darner

Female Black-Tipped Darner ovipositing in cattails growing in the shallow end of the pond.



Many thanks to Larry for providing this corrected I.D.!

COMMON GREEN DARNER

The largest of our local dragonflies are of the Darner family. Here is a female teneral Common Green Darner which I was fortunate to find resting on my Hydrangea tree next to the pond.

BLACK - TIPPED DARNER

This I.D. is with much hesitation as I find the identification process with some of the dragons very difficult. If someone finds my I.D. incorrect, correction is definately welcome! Here is a female ovipositing her eggs along a mucky edge of the pond. I was so focused on the dragonfly, I didn't see the water spider next to her (third image down). She had no problems as I placed my camera right next to her, even allowing me to move a leaf that was directly under her wings.

DARNERS IN OCTOBER...

I'm showing this end of the pond for a reason. First of all, our pond level is down over a foot, due to lack of sufficient rainfall this year. The whole area just in front of the tree closest to the ponds' edge is where the shown darners spent alot of their time. You can't see it in this photo, but in that area...the ground level actually juts out about 6-8 inches..the first darner photographed was in this area....
and this is where she was ovipositing. This was taken yesterday on Oct. 18th...I thought for sure my dragons would be gone. Our lows at night have been in the low 30's. When this darner flew down in front of me...it was quite breezy and about 55 degrees outside. What's confusing to me...is that she looked just like the MALE Green-Striped Darner in my D&D guide, not the female. She was right in front of me, I just held the camera straight down....I got a good look at what she was doing. This is the area where she was somewhat under the ground(where it juts out), I thought if I leaned out over her to capture a better photo of what she was doing...I might scare her off. She was beautiful! When she first appeared as I stood there, I didn't have my camera. I asked my husband who was fishing to go and grab my camera, thinking she'd be gone if I went. I really thought my friends wouldn't be out...I also saw four Meadowhawks yesterday.

These last four photos were taken about a week ago in the same area, there two darners, one we saw briefly, this one was predominately blue. The other was mostly green and the stripes on the abdomen were thick horizontal stripes which were deep green. This dragon spent nearly a half hour around me...hovering next to me as I sat on the ponds' edge...sometimes just about a foot away...we just looked at eachother! Of course, there's me....the "Dragonfly Whisperer" (yeah, it's a nice place in my own little world!), talking away to it the whole time! I must have taken 50 or better photos...I thought for sure I had many perfect photos! I eventually just put the camera down and enjoyed the company of this curious dragon. And, uh, as far as all those "perfect" photos? Well, unfortunately...this is it. Now, I know dragons in flight are the most challenging to capture, but seldom do I see the darners at rest...add to that they love being in the hot glaring sun...I did add shadows and messed with these photographs to try and reduce somewhat the sun glare.

OCT. 5TH..LUCKY ME!...

I had thought with all of our cool daytime highs and very cool nights, my dragons would be out of sight. Sunday was beautiful and the high topped out at about 72 degrees. Can you imagine my excitement when this darner flew right in front of me, maybe 7 -8 feet away and landed?! It was a little breezy, and of course, Patches kept brushing up against me to pet her(I was sitting on the hill facing my cattails). The pictures aren't clear, I felt I had to rush and click, click , click....no time to experiment with settings! The reason being is that for my larger dragons, they have always been so elusive...they enjoy teasing me. They'll fly high, do a surprise zoom past me, or I'll turn around and one was just behind me and quickly flies away! I'm going out on a limb here...I'm fairly certain this is the Green-striped Darner of the Mosaics'. By the coloring...I'd assume it's a male. Anybody???????

MOSIAC DARNER???....STILL NEED HELP!

I'm getting the feeling...as I am a newbie at identification...and as difficult as precise I.D. is....I'll just post my photos from this past summer. This is the third summer we've had our pond, hopefully next year there will be even more dragons (and maybe I'll learn a little more about my camera!) I am not a photographer...nor an expert in any field, that is for sure! Just an avid admirer of these fascinating damsels and dragons. I basically just use the auto setting on my BASIC camera, on these photos I did use the action setting. Can any of you suggest a good camera that I could use for photographing these beauties....something not too crazy expensive and without a lot of features that an amateur would probably never use?! I must say, I have been to the blogs of my commentators....and, wow!!! Talk about talent!! Wouldn't it be wonderful to live your life traveling and photographing what you love all over the world?! Yes, I admit...I AM jealous!