California's Year 2015 Dragonfly Reports
Sightings are listed in order from MOST recently to LEAST recently seen!
Please send your sightings, with date, county and location as displayed below to Kathy Biggs and/or the CalOdes Yahoo! Dragonfly discussion group
date (month/day/year)
County (name of county where seen)
your name
place, etc.
species common name &/or scientific name - #s & other data, comments, etc.
species common name &/or scientific name - #s & other data, comments, etc.
See examples below (after dates start)
THANK YOU
Note: A Facebook Western Odonata group is a wonderful place to get help with IDs, etc. Check it out - https://www.facebook.com/groups/WesternOdonata/
Key:
Species will be posted using either the Common Name or the Scientific Name, whichever the sender uses (inc. using both),
but all first and last sightings of the year, county records, and new flight data will be posted using both names.
To contact the person making the sighting, email Kathy Biggs.
COUNTY RECORDS are underlined and in red text (some new, but prior to 2015 records are listed at the bottom of the page)
OC= Odonata Central
* = first/last sighting of species of year in CA
** = new flight data for species in CA
# = possibly a migratory event
MO = many observers (usually means a field trip full of observers)
As of the most recent date below,
106
species (out of the 114 species known to have occurred in California)
have been reported to this site as flying in California in the 2015 season.
38 new California
county records have been reported/discovered/upgraded this year.
(this # includes upgrades of previous ‘sighting only’ records)
AND,
21 new county records (see bottom of
page) were found by accessing specimens in museum collections or late reports.
`Sighting
only' records need further documentation, but please report them so we can try
to get substantiation.
County
records should be substantiated with specimen (preferable) or photo and notes. [note:
not all species are identifiable by photos]
Report new county records and early/late flight dates to
Kathy Biggs bigsnest at sonic.net
& Odonata Central (http://odonatacentral.bfl.utexas.edu/records/US_new_records.asp)
for verification
DECember
December 30, 2015
Humboldt County
Tony
Westkamper
Van Duzen River - Stony river bar, 10 meters from water
*Variegated Meadowhawk Sympetrum
corruptum [last report 2015] 439419
Saw this one actively take two small flying
insects.
December 15, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Goleta
Variegated Meadowhawk
December 8, 2015
Orange County
Jeff
Bray
Aliso Creek in Aliso Viejo
*Roseate Skimmers Orthemis
ferruginea - at least 2 [last report 2015]
*Common Green Darner Anax
junius [last report 2015]
*Wandering Glider Pantala
flavescens [last report 2015]
Variegated Meadowhawk Sympetrum
corruptum
December 5, 2015
San Diego County
Doug Aguillard
Greenwood Cemetery
in San Diego.
Pacific Fork tail
Common Green Darner
Paradise
Creek in National City
(brackish water)
Variegated Meadowhawks in Tandem
Sweetwater
Open Reserve in Bonita
*Blue-eyed
Darner Rhionaeschna multicolor [last
report 2015]
November
November 29, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Montecito
Wandering Glider
November 21, 2015
Humboldt County
Tony Westkamper
Variegated Meadowhawks - They're back! These little dragonflies overwinter
on the Van Duzen River. I have been monitoring them for 3 years now, and they
return every Fall and hang around until March or so. Not sure if they fly in, or are born
here, and if they go away or just lay eggs here. No one does, but since I've
been reporting them I've heard other folks have seen them near Bodega.
November 19, 2015
Santa Clara County
Leslie Flint
Coast near Pescadero, CA.
I went to Water Lane
Blue-eyed Darner - patrolling
the path in 55 degree weather. It landed for quite a long time allowing me to
get a photo.
November 15, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
A
weak cold front moved through Santa
Barbara County
this morning bringing a little rain. The high temp was 65 degrees.
At
12:30, the sun was out, and I was at a soccer field in Montecito when
# Wandering Gliders began to appear.
For the two hours I was there, good numbers of gliders were over the field. My
high count was 31, but a more realistic figure would be 40-50.
November 14 2015
Orange County
Jeff
Bray
Laguna Niguel
Roseate Skimmer – Female ovipositing
November 12, 2015
Marin County
Len Bumin
Mill Valley back yard
Variegated Meadowhawk
November 11, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Santa Barbara
*Vivid Dancer Argia vivida [last report 2015\
November 8, 2015
San Bernardino County
Doug Karalun
Prado Regional
Park
*Familiar Bluet Enallagma civile [last report 2015]
*Pacific Forktail Ischnura cervula [last
report 2015]
Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
*Blue Dasher Pachydiplax longipennis
[last report 2015]
*Mexican Amberwing Perithemis intensa [last
report 2015]
*Red-tailed Pennant Brachymesia furcata [last
report 2015]
…
Stephen Myers
Cajon Creek at Swarthout Canyon Road
*Walker’s Darner Aeshna walkeri 438638
[last report 2015]
November 8, 2015
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Preserve; Dos Palmas oasis, Felger oasis and Fish Ponds; Elev. -100’ to -240’; 7:00-10:40, 55-82F, cloudless, calm to light air.
*Rambur’s Forktail, I. ramburii 7 [last report 2015]
Common Green Darner, Anax junius 3
Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum 12 all with good wings, none worn.
Red-tailed Pennant, Brachymesia furcata 1 female with much worn wings; an old ode.
*Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata 1 male [last report 2015]
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis 2 males
Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea 4 males, one female.
November 7, 2015
San Bernardino County
Doug Karalun
Weekend weather got back to the
low 80s so oding season is not over yet.
Plunge Creek
*American Rubyspot Hetaerina americana [last report 2015]
*Vivid Dancer Argia vivida [last report 2015]
Variegated Meadowhawk
Flood Control Channels south of Greenspot Road in Highland
*Black-fronted Forktail Ischnura
denticollis [last report 2015]
Green Darner
Variegated Meadowhawk
November 5 & 6, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Goleta
Vivid Dancer Argia vivida
Blue-eyed Darner11/6/15
**Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta 11/5/15
- new late date and last report for 2015
Common Green Darner 11/5/15
November 5, 2015
Orange County
Jeff
Bray
Aliso Creek in Laguna Niguel
5
Roseate Skimmers this year and today
I saw another.
November 2, 2015
San Diergo County
Mark Dreiling
Santee Yard
Roseate
Skimmer
OCtOber
October 31, 2015
San Bernadino County
Doug Karalun, Tom Benson and Matt Grube
less than an hour in Jack Smith
Park in Needles
Familiar Bluet
*Blue-ringed Dancer Argia sedula 438423
[last report 2015]
Rambur's Forktail 438422
Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
**White-belted Ringtail Erpetogomphus compositus – new late
date, old late date 10/24/2003 438424
Variegated Meadowhawk
…….
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
the
pond at Rancho Goleta, pretty good for
the last day of October--83 degrees does help.
Red-tailed Pennants - two males
*Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta two [last
report 2015]
*Black Saddlebags Tramea lacerata -1 [last report 2015]
#three Common Green Darners – [photos on FB
show one that is FRESH!! And therefore surely a migrant!! – kb]
a
Pacific Forktail
a
few bluets
(too far away to attempt ID
Elings
Park
two
Wandering Gliders
Goleta
Costco car park
two Blue-eyed Darners
October 30, 2015
Sonoma County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Bohemian Highway @ small creek that flows into Dutch Bill Creek
*Great Spreadwing Archilestes
grandis - 1 f –
[last report 2015] –
our Quest a success (sort-a):
for the past 20 yrs, the only place here in Sonoma Co. where we've found
A. grandis, the largest damselfly in all of
North America, was Copeland Ck. (and Honeymoon Ck which feeds into it) in the
hills behind Sonoma State U. in Rohnert Park. But, in adding data to the Dot
Map project of 2004 (the first attempt to map distribution of Odes across the USA), I
realized that in 1968 it had been found along the "Bohemian Highway" on Oct. 28th. So Dave and I headed out that way, spending 3 hrs this
afternoon, searching for it. AND WE FOUND ONE - a female, but she was way up in
a tree. Dave tried for 20 mins. to capture her on the
camera, but failed. Still, it is awesome to now have this 2nd site for them
here. The place is where we used to hike into a waterfall. Now closed but I can
try to get permission thru Landpaths.
October 29, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Liz Muraoka
Goleta, at a small lake
Variegated Meadowhawks 438428
Wandering Glider 438427
*Striped
Saddlebags, Tramea calverti – Photo record, CA Chart #120 OC# 438426
[last report 2015]
https://picasaweb.google.com/101341401585476327714/DragonflyAtRanchoGoletaLakeInSantaBarbaraOnOctober292015?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHS6pvnvbqRcw&feat=email
October 26, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
#Santa
Cruz Island-
I don't think there is currently any fresh water on the island. Presumably
these odes were migrants:
Familiar Bluet (1)
Variegated Meadowhawk (10)
Wandering Glider (7)
*Flame Skimmer Libellula saturata (1) [last report 2015]
Common Green Darner (4)
Blue-eyed Darner (2).
October 15, 2015
Siskiyou County
Dennis Ball, Celise Sharp, Kathy & Dave Biggs
Railroad Park, Dunsmuir (just east of I-5)
Great Spreadwing, Archilestes grandis - one male caught by Dennis, IDed by Kathy. Photos taken and specimen kept.
Possibly one other of this species seen among the many Californias.
*California Spreadwing Archilestes californicus - many, several dozens at least; many in tandems [last report 2015]
*Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum - a few males [last report 2015]
*Shadow Darner Aeshna umbrosa - ~6; a few males & females in hand. females seen ovipositing [last report 2015]
*Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum - some, ~8-10 inc. tandems & ovipositing [last report 2015]
An interesting aside: these ponds were created back when a decade ago after a railroad tanker full of poison tipped over
and spilled into the nearby Sacramento River. As mitigation(?), the railroad company
created these ponds and stocked them with fish. The pre-existing park has many railroad cars, an engine and campsites.
October 11, 2015
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Preserve; Dos Palmas oasis, Felger oasis and Fish Ponds; Elev. -100’ to -240’; 7:00-11:20, 72-97F, cloudless, calm to light air.
Blue-ringed Dancer, Argia sedula 8
Familiar Bluet, Enallagma civile 5
*Desert Forktail, Ischnura barberi 2 [last report 2015]
*Citrine Forktail, I. hastata 2 [last report 2015]
Rambur’s Forktail, I. ramburii 2
Common Green Darner, Anax junius 22 including one tandem pair.
Blue-eyed Darner, Rhionaeschna multicolor 7
Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum 24 almost all were tandem pairs.
Red-tailed Pennant, Brachymesia furcata 9 including two tandem pairs.
Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata 1
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis >20
Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata 5
Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea 14
*Marl Pennant, Macrodiplax balteata 7 [last report 2015]
Black Saddlebags, T. lacerata 5
Red Saddlebags, T. onusta 1
Phenology Note: In each of the last seven years for my October visit to Dos Palmas, Variegated Meadowhawks were mostly seen in tandem pairs and at their annual peak of numbers.
October 10 and 11, 2015
San Bernardino County
Doug Karalun
Cajon
Creek:
American Rubyspot 437797
*Sooty Dancer Argia lugens [last report 2015]
Vivid Dancer
*Arroyo Bluet Enallagma praevarum [last report 2015]
Familiar Bluet 437796
Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Walker's Darner
Flame Skimmer
*Red Rock Skimmer Paltothemis lineatipes [last
report 2015]
*Cardinal Meadowhawk Sympetrum illotum [last report 2015]
Lost
Lake: Cut short by ending up knee deep in mud.
Familiar Bluet
*Spotted Spreadwing Lestes congener 437794
[last report 2015]
Flame Skimmer
Green Darner
Plunge
Creek:
Vivid Dancer
*Argia hinei Lavender Dancer OC#:437799
(10th); 437792
(11th) [last report 2015]
California/Aztec Dancer
Green Darner
Flame Skimmer
*Neon Skimmer Libellula croceipennis [last
report 2015]
Red Rock Skimmer
East Highland Reservoir:
Tule Bluet
Pacific Forktail
Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Flame Skimmer
Red-tailed Pennant
Mexican Amberwing
San
Timoteo Creek: Habitat that produced Filigree Skimmer
is completely bulldozed by flood control and the stream is
full
of silt.
Vivid Dancer
Flame Skimmer
Wandering Glider
Ford Park:
Familiar Bluet
Tule Bluet
Pacific Forktail
Green Darner
Flame Skimmer
Mexican Amberwing
Black Saddlebag
Forest Road 2N09 3
miles off Hwy 330 there is a pool of water in the road
California Spreadwing 437789
Vivid Dancer
Green Darner
Flame Skimmer 437791
Cardinal Meadowhawk 437790
October 8, 2015
Los Angeles County
Robb Hamilton
Bull
Creek, near Sylmar
California Spreadwing - M ale
October 2, 2015
Los Angeles County
Robb Hamilton
Legg Lake
Mexican Amberwing, Male, always a fave,
This
remains one of the best places to find males in the LA area. I often find the
females on Coast Goldenbush quite a ways from water,
but in the general vicinity of Legg
Lake.
….
David Bell
Eaton Canyon, Pasadena
Great
Spreadwing
September
September 28, 2015
Riverside County
Chet McGaugh
Lake Tamarisk
"resort" , a mile north of I-10 between Indio and Blythe.
Same
place I had Great Pondhawk last year, and Twelve-spotted Skimmer the year
before.
14
dragonfly species today including photos of a
Plateau
Dragonlet Erythrodiplax basifusca male
photographed –[2nd state record, new county record] CA Chart#145,
OC# tbd
September 26, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson & a bunch of friends
Sedgwick
Reserve It was around 96 degrees there.
Familiar Bluet 1
netted
Tule/Arroyo Bluet lots
*Northern Bluet Enallagma annexum
lots [last sighting 2015]
*Western Forktail Ischnura perparva 4 Highlight for me & a late date for
the county (and they are always a pleasure to see). [last report 2015]
Pacific Forktail 20
*California
Dancer Argia agrioides 1
[last report 2015]
*Desert Firetail Telebasis salva 15 [last report 2015]
Flame Skimmer 8
Variegated Meadowhawk 1
Blue-eyed Darner 5
Common Green Darner 15
Blue Dasher 5
Black Saddlebags 12
Wandering Glider 3
…….
San Bernardino County
Doug Karalun
Afton Canyon
& Zzyzx
Familiar Bluet
Black-fronted Forktail
Desert Firetail
*Comanche Skimmer Libellula comanche [last report 2015]
Roseate Skimmer
Variegated Meadowhawk
Black Saddlebags
*Paiute
Dancer Argia alberta
[last report 2015]
Desert Forktail
September 20, 2015
San Mateo County
Leslie Flint
Alpine Pond
There are still quite a few Odes
Common Green Darner (6-10)
Blue-eyed Darner (4-6)
Cardinal Meadowhawk -1
*Striped Meadowhawk Sympetrum pallipes (6-10) [last report 2015]
Variegated Meadowhawk (4-6)
few bluets. I was hoping for some spread wings - haven't found any at this location this year.
Gazos Creek Road on the Coast
Walker's Darners (2-4) - 2 patrolling the road and 1 patrolling the creek.
…….
Los
Angeles County
Steve
Sosensky and Bruce Aird
Kenneth Hahn Park
The
activity was energetic so counting was difficult.
bluets, unidentified
Blue
Dashers,
Red
Saddlebags
Black
Saddlebags,
Red-tailed
Pennant,
Flame
Skimmers,
Mexican
Amberwings,
Common
Green Darners – many
September 19/20, 2015
San
Francisco County
Paul Saraceni, Hugh Cotter, Ken
Schneider, Alan Hopkin
With warm easterly winds in San Francisco this weekend, we spent the
better part of Saturday (9/19) and Sunday (9/20) mornings observing migrant
birds
atop Battery Godfrey in the Presidio, overlooking the
Golden Gate Channel, SW of the Golden
Gate Bridge.
….the warm winds pushed some good odes for SF to the Battery (which does not have any water):
Com. Green Darner 3-5
(both days)
Blue-eyed Darner 2-4
(both days)
Variegated Meadowhawk 2
m./1 f. (9/20)
BLUE DASHER 1 imm. m. (9/20; showing pruinescence on the abdomen; only a
few prior SF records)
RED ROCK SKIMMER 2 m.
(9/20; rare in SF, but has occurred several times before at the Battery)
Black Saddlebags 2
(both days)
RED SADDLEBAGS 1 f.
(both days in same small fennel pattch; photographed;
6th SF record of which I'm aware, 4th this summer during northerly incursion)
Wandering Glider 1-2
(both days)
*Spot-winged Glider Pantala
hymenaea 1 (9/19) [last report 2015]
September 19, 2015
Placer County
Kathy Biggs
Am. River Music Festival at Henningsen-Lotus Park in Coloma-Lotus - The lawns were alive with Odes:
Common Green Darners - dozens
Wandering Glider - at least one, probably several
Spot-winged Glider - many
Black Saddlebags - many (they esp. liked to be misted I was told!!)
Red Saddlebags - a possible sighting, but I'll not even consider it a 'sight record' as I wasn't able to see the saddle,
but if flew just like one, however it was at exactly eye height and I couldn't see the wings marks, but that's what its posture was.
Head's up if you're in that area as it would be a county record!!
no odes at all were seen on the pond at the Am. River Resort though this year.
…….
Monterey County
Steve Rovell, John Sterling, Todd Easterla
Andrew Molera State Park in Big Sur
Typically there isn’t a lot of ode diversity there, but today was much better.
little blue damsels - there were surprisingly very few of. I saw maybe 4 all morning.
Upon arrival at Andrew Molera, we made a beeline toward the headlands and mouth of the river. There were probably more BLUE-EYED DARNERS there than I have ever seen in one small place. I would have to estimate 60-75 of them were present.
A few WANDERING GLIDERS were here and there in the park.
A VARIEGATED MEADOWHAWK was noticed at the beach where a tremendous display of seabirds was going on just 10 yards offshore.
COMMON GREEN DARNERS were nowhere as numerous as the BLUE-EYEDs as I only saw about 10.
One or two meadowhawks, probably CARDINAL, were along one small stretch of the river.
Two species I usually don’t see at Molera are the saddlebags, both of which were seen here today.
3-4 BLACK SADDLEBAGS
1or 2 RED SADDLEBAGS along the same small stretch of river.
…….
San Bernardino County
Doug Karalun
Lost Lake
Spotted Spreadwing - 436883
California Spreadwing - 436882
Backyard pond in San Diego near MTRP
Desert Firetail - 436791
…….
Kern County
Ali Sheehey
Kern River
Blue-eyed Darner 436969
Cardinal Meadowhawk 436968
*Pale-faced Clubskimmer Brechmorhoga mendax 436967 [last report 2015]
…….
Alameda County
Candy
McNamee
Mines
Road
Cardinal Meadowhawk – a male
photographed
September
18, 2015
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
Mission Trails Regional
Park Oak
Canyon hike
Blue
Dasher - 1 male
Common
Green Darner - Dozen, coupled male and female ovipositing
Flame
Skimmer - ~ half dozen male only
Neon
Skimmer - 1 female ovipositing
Variegated
Meadowhawk - 1 male
Wandering
Glider - ~5
California
Spreadwing – 4 436782
Back
yard pond near MTRP
Desert
Firetail - 1 male
…….
San Bernardino County
Matthew Grube
Red-tailed Pennant 436782
Sooty Dancer 436761
*Serpent Ringtail Erpetogomphus lampropeltis natrix 436760
[last report 2015]
Pale-faced Clubskimmer 436759
…….
Los Angeles County
David Bell
Big
Tujunga Wash
Blue Dasher 436750
Serpent Ringtail 436749
Flame Skimmer 436742
Neon Skimmer 436745
Mexican Amberwing 436746
Common Green Darner 436748
Pale-faced Clubskimmer 436757
September 15, 2015
Orange County
Chuck Border
San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine.
Blue-eyed Darner
Red-tailed Pennant
September 13/14, 2015
Riverside County
Doug Karalun
San Jacinto Wildlife Area
*Striped Saddlebags Tramea calverti 436489 [species #100, first reported on 13th]
Common Green Darner 436490
Western Pondhawk 436492
Blue-eyed Darner 436491
September 11, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Peter Gaede
Carpinteria Creek, near estuary mouth.
Roseate Skimmer 436416 Continuing; first found 9/02/2015
…….
Napa County
Peter Gunrow
Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens – CA Chart #143, OC# 436408
September 6, 2015
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Preserve; Dos Palmas and Felger Oases and Fish Ponds; Elev. -100’ to -240’; 7:00-10:15, 83-98F, cloudless then 40% altocumulus, calm to light breeze SW.
*Powdered Dancer, Argia moesta 2
Rambur’s Forktail, Ischnura ramburii 2
Common Green Darner, Anax junius >45 including 7 tandem pairs, some ovipisiting.
Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata 15 including one pair in wheel.
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis >30
Marl Pennant, Macrodiplax balteata 7
Black Saddlebags, Tramea lacerata 2
Red Saddlebags, T. onusta 1
Wandering Glider, Pantala flavescens 2
Note: unexpectedly low numbers and low diversity. I thought I would hit the time between the point where the sun isn’t high enough for odes or its too hot for ode activity.
…….
San
Bernardino County
Doug Karalun
Plunge Creek
Red Rock Skimmer 436252
Lavender Dancer Argia hinei Photo record, CA Chart #136 , OC # 436251
Vivid Dancer 436083
…….
Orange County
Andy Lazere
Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park
Pale-faced Clubskimmer
…….
Riverside County
Stephen Myers
Whitewater Preserve
Neon Skimmer 438663
September
5, 2015
San
Bernardino County
Matt Grube and Doug Karalun
Canyon Trail, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve
Marl Pennant Macrothemis balteata - Doug first spotted it, and we both obtained photographs. CA Chart #144, OC # 436238
Spot-winged Glider 436237
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh
Ranson
Sedgwick
Reserve:
Black-fronted
Forktail -- 1 male
Pacific
Forktail -- abundant
Western Forktail -- 1 male and female (late date
for county)
Familiar
Bluet -- 1 netted
Bluet
sp-- c. 50
Desert
Firetail -15
California
Dancer -- 1
Flame
Skimmer-- 6
Cardinal
Meadowhawk --3
Blue-eyed
Darner -- 8
Common
Green Darner -- 6
Black
Saddlebags --1
Santa
Ynez River… depressingly dry The large pool at Lower Oso, where there were double-digit Serpent
Ringtails last year, has but a few puddles remaining:
Common
Green Darner --10
Flame
Skimmer--4
Wandering
Glider--2
California
Dancer--10
Vivid
Dancer--10
Lavender
Dancer--1
Live
Oak
Common
Green Darner--10
Flame
Skimmer--3
California
dancer--5
Falls
Day Use
Nothing
Upper Oso, perennial stream,
still trickling
Lavender
Dancer -- 15
Vivid
Dancer --30
Bluet
sp--2
*Great Spreadwing Archilestes grandis –1
September
2, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Matt
Victoria
Carpinteria State Beach
ROSEATE SKIMMER (Orthemis ferruginea) a male found on my lunchbreak.
I consulted with H RANSON, who informed me it would be our 3rd County record and encouraged me to obtain photographs. OC#436344
I relocated the Roseate on 9-3 but failed to photograph it. Yesterday, 9-8, I finally obtained satisfactory ID images.
L BALLARD followed up on my sighting, and refound it on 9-8. BALLARD reports it continues 9-9
September
1, 2015
Modoc County
Tony
Kurz
Stough Res. east on the 299, but didn't have anything new there.
Pit River where it crosses the 299/395. Just off the road along the river edge we had a immature male
*CHERRY-FACED MEADOWHAWK Sympetrum internum – photos [ONLY report 2015] another lifer! We were stoked and not only that I finally got see a male
*BAND-WINGED MEADOWHAWK Sympetrum semicinctum (pictures) [last report 2015]
*Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta – photos [last report 2015]
Band-winged Meadowhawk – photos
……..
Santa
Barbara County
Doug Karalun
East Highland Reservoir
Red-tailed Pennant 436253
…….
Alameda County
Candy McNamee
Mines Rd.
Cardinal Meadowhawk
August
August
30, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh
Ranson
Seaside Plant Nursery, Carpentaria
On
my last visit to this location, I failed to see Rambur's Forktail so was
pleased to see one hanging out on the lily pads today
Rambur's
Forktail 1
Pacific
Forktail 1
Wandering
Glider 1
Red
Saddlebags 2
Black
Saddlebags 1
Common
Green Darner 1
Blue-eyed
Darner 1
Western Pondhawk 1 male--new for this site
Flame
Skimmer 1
*Common
Whitetail Plathemis lydia - a reports Larry Ballard from the pond on
8/24/15, also new for the location (as far as we know). [last report 2015]
…….
Monterey
County
Don Roberson & Rita Carratello
El Carmelo Cemetery, Pacific Grove.
Roseate Skimmer Orthemis ferruginea - a male perched high in a Monterey pine. Photos CA Chart #29, OC# 436062
We alerted Steve Rovell and Michael Rieser, who also were able to photograph it at about noon. It stayed in and around the sunny east side of the pines in the extreme NE corner of the cemetery, adjacent to the golf course (and one must constantly be aware of errant golf shots).
Red Rock Skimmer
Blue-eyed Darner a male that also perched for photos.
…….
Los Angeles County
David Bell & Jennifer Tobin
Amargosa River Spreading Basin
Red-tailed Pennant 436017
#Wandering Glider 436014 on the 31st
Vivid Dancer on the 31st Big Rock Creek--Lower Riparian Area 436005
Flame Skimmer Hampstead Road, La Cańada,on the 30st 436004
Western Pondhawk
Roseate Skimmer San Timoteo Canyon 436001
Neon Skimmer San Timoteo Canyon 436000
Flame Skimmer San Timoteo Canyon
*Gray Sanddragon Progomphus borealis San Timoteo Canyon 435998 [last report 2015]
Desert Firetail San Timoteo Canyon 435997
Black-fronted Forktail San Timoteo Canyon 435996
American Rubyspot San Timoteo Canyon 435995
…….
San
Bernardino County
Stephen
Myers
San
Timoteo Canyon near Fern Avenue
Filigree Skimmer 438687
August
29/30, 2015
San
Bernardino County
Matt
Grube and Jennifer Tobin
San
Timoteo Creek
I
tried to relocate the Skimmer this morning. We did not find one in the
area from yesterday, but we did find both a male and a female 1.5 to 2 miles
away.
**Filigree Skimmer - This spot should be easier to find, and more likely
to reproduce the dragonflies. OC# 435994
wards
the creek in the flood control channel. [new late date for the species]
There
is a pool of water adjacent to the first dam that runs across the creek,
upstream (east) from the road bridge.
GPS
location is 34.032377, -117.207377. Lots of other dragonflies in this
area. A friend was able to relocate both the male and the female 2 hours
later around noon.
Flame
Skimmer – photographed on the 30th 436084
Pale-faced
Clubskimmer - 435953
Cardinal
Meadowhawk - 435952
Neon
Skimmer - 435951
Black-fronted
Forktail - 435949
#Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens
- upgrade from prior sight only record. CA Chart #144, OC # 435949
Gray
Sanddragon - 435947
& 435905
Western Pondhawk - 435907
Cardinal
Meadowhawk - 435906
…
Bruce
Aird and Jeff Bray
San
Timoteo Creek to chase down a Filigree. We went to
the site reported by Matt Grube
Filigree
Skimmer - both a male and female fly by but couldn't get shots.
Roseate
Skimmer 2-3 males
Flame
Skimmers, 6-7
Common
Green Darners, 2-3
Western Pondhawks, 2-4
Gray
Sandragon, at least one
American
Rubyspot, a single male
Bluets
- of some kind (not sure what yet),
#Wandering
Gliders 3-5. The link to Matt's shot of a female is here: https://flic.kr/p/wYXjuH
…….
Siskiyou County
Dave
Payne
Light
rains last night sparked an emergence of winged ants. This event attracted a
swarm of
Common
Green Darners (about 25 dragonflies) who flitted about picking off the ants
as they ascended off the ground.
This
went on for about three hours, 10:15 am to 1:15.pm. Very entertaining to watch.
August
28, 2015
Siskiyou County
Tony
Kurz
Juanita Lake just west of Hwy 97 in Siskiyou county the Highlight
was:
3 AUTUMN MEADOWHAWKS (pictures)- very cool to see especially adult male.
I had only seen them as tenerals.
*Paddle-tailed Darner Aeshna
palmata – photos [last report 2015]
Spotted
Spreadwing – photos
Striped Meadowhawk –
photos
…….
San
Bernardino County
Matt
Grube
San
Timoteo Canyon. Approx GPS coordinates are:
34.020303, -117.184630
Filigree
Skimmer 435950
Filigree
Skimmer - 435904
Filigree Skimmer Pseudoleon superbus
- photographed CA Chart #144 OC # 435812
Roseate
Skimmer 435813
August
27, 2015
Siskiyou County
Tony
Kurz
A-12 pond, just north of Mt. Shasta.
Most notable for me was my lifer BAND-WINGED MEADOWHAWK! (pictures)
August
25, 2015
San
Bernardino County
Leslie Flint and Norm Barrett
Needles - is there a hotter place? 102 today but crazy us
went to Jack Smith Park
to see if we could find some Odes.
3 White-belted Ringtails
2 Blue Dashers
1 Spot-winged Glider.
Other than that, oodles of damsels that because we are in
a new place thought they were something other than what they might actually be.
For sure we saw
Familiar Bluet
Western Forktail
Powdered Dancer
August
24, 2015
Inyo County
Jeff
Bray
Dirty
Socks Spring
*Bleached Skimmer Libellula compositus 438537
[last reportr 2015]
August
24, 2015
San
Bernardino County
Kathy
& Dave Biggs
We
spent about 15 mins in the 113F heat at Jack Smith
Park in Needles
Ringtail
sp. Erpetogomphus - a quick flyby
Spreadwing sp. Lestes - seen briefly perched twice - flew before
we could get binnoc on it
Blue Dasher - a VERY oblique male
Powdered Dancer - 1 male
Then we went to Moabi Regional Park, where at a Blitz
a few years ago, we spied a 12-spot, but, alas, the 'back door' was blocked off
and we couldn't get to the lagoon where we'd seen it.
August
22, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Nick
Lethaby
S
Santa Barbara Island. There were many more
migrant dragonflies out there compared to late July, although interestingly no
Spot-winged Gliders:
Common
Green Darner – 2
Variegated
Meadowhawk – 1
Black
Saddlebags – 3
Red
Saddlebags – 4
Wandering
Glider – 40
August
21, 2015
Mono County
Kristie
Nelson
Lee
Vining Creek delta yesterday (north side of the
delta, the slow moving water behind the big patch of goldenrod was most
productive for Odes):
*Black
Meadowhawk Sympetrum
danae: easy to find, males and females (about 10+). Fun to see
them at Mono Lake
*Saffron-winged Meadowhawks Sympetrum costiferum : 2-3 [last report 2015
Mosaic
Darners, ~10
Western Forktail -- at least 1 female ovipositing.
So plump & small, flying slowly over the water!
Spreadwing,
probably northern (maybe Lyre-tipped) -- 1+
and
a ghostly pale teneral Dancer, not sure what species (vivid?)
…….
Los
Angeles County
David
Bell
Big
Tujunga Canyon at Vogel Flats
Lavender
Dancer 435439
August
18, 2015
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
Mission Trails
Regional Park,
San Diego River
Blue
Dasher - abundant
Red
Saddlebag - 5, 1 female ovipositing
Common
Green Darner - 7, 1female ovipositing
Flame
Skimmer - 8 male only
Neon
Skimmer - 5 male only
Roseate
Skimmer - 2 male only
Black
Saddlebag - 2 male only
Wandering
Glider - 1
Pacific
Forktail - 12+
Familiar
Bluets - 3 male only
Vivid
Dancer – 3
…….
Mono County
Ron
& Barbara Oriti
Dechambeau Ponds, just north of Mono Lake
Black Saddlebags - Lots
Red Saddlebags - Some
*Eight-spotted
Skimmer Libellula forensis – lots [last report 2015]
Bleached Skimmers -
Few
Paddle-tailed Darners - Lots
Variegated Meadowhawks - Some
Band-winged Meadowhawks - Some
Saffron-winged Meadowhawks Sympetrum costiferum – Some
Black Meadowhawks -
Few
August
17, 2015
Lassen County
Nick Lethaby
Wilson Lake. The water is getting low but there were lots of odes in trees along the edge
Band-winged Meadowhawks - dozens
*Northern Spreadwings Lestes disjunctus - dozens [last report 2015]
Striped Meadowhawk - about six
*Twelve-spotted Skimmer Libellula pulchella - about six [last report 2015]
August
16, 2015
Lassen County
Nick Lethaby
Cold Boiling and Crumbaugh Lakes. Both had numerous darners,
*White-faced Meadowhawks Sympetrum obtrusum [last report 2015]
Northern Spreadwings.
There were at least two different types of Darner and I had good enough flight looks of one to feel confident it was a Paddle-tailed.
August
15, 2015
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
His
backyard pond in San Diego
Filigree
Skimmer - final summary of the results of the Filigrees in my pond this
year.
I
witnessed ovipositing on March 12 and 16.
We
had 9 emergence with the first on June 15 and the last on August 15 (3 to 5
months development).
All
were at night with the two that I saw extending into early morning.
…….
San
Bernardino County
Paul
G. Johnson II
Colorado
River east of Park
Moabi Regional Park
and north of the Hwy 40 bridge over the river. In a small slough between the
river and the National Trails Hwy.
*Russet-tipped
Clubtail Stylurus plagiatus CA
Chart #76 7OC#: 435043
[last report 2015]
August
14, 2015
Santa Clara County
Matthew
Dodder
Ogier
Ponds:
Flame
Skimmer
*Widow
Skimmer Libellula luctuosa [last report 2015]
Eight-spotted
Skimmer Libellula forensis
Wandering
Glider
Black
Saddlebags
Red
Saddlebags
Blue
Dasher
Blue-eyed
Darner
*California Darner Rhionaeschna californica [last report 2015]
Common
Green Darner
American
Rubyspot
Bluet
(species)
Dancer
(species)
…….
Humboldt County
Tony Kurz and Casey Ryan
I finally got a photo of a RED SADDLEBAGS at two
locations in.
First at Stone Lagoon where we had a magnificent day for
Odes (diversity) with a total of 5 Red Saddlebags. The other location was Big
Lagoon parking lot. I was able to photograph 1 at each spot.
Stone Lagoon:
Familiar Bluet
Blue-eyed Darner
Paddle-tailed Darner
*Red-veined Meadowhawk Sympetrum madidum [last report 2015\
Cardinal Meadowhawk
Variegated Meadowhawk
Striped Meadowhawk
Eight-spotted Skimmer
WIDOW SKIMMER -This might be the first location we have had Widow
Skimmer right on the coast.
#RED SADDLEBAGS Tramea onusta 5
– upgrade
from prior sight only record. CA Chart # 119; OC # 434969
Spot-winged Glider
…….
San
Francisco County
Paul Saraceni
This
afternoon I observed another Red Saddlebags in San Francisco, in warm, sunny
conditions.
It
was a male flying just out from my deck for a few minutes in the Cole Valley
neighborhood of SF, ~3 miles "inland" from Ocean Beach.
There
is no water nearby. It was not flying with any other odes, though
a couple of Spot-winged Gliders were flying in the vicinity
earlier.
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh
Ranson, Laura Baldwin, and Larry Ballard
visited
a small pond at the Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley. The pond hasn't
been thoroughly surveyed for odes, so it was interesting to see the variety of
species.
We
saw 16 species in all. For me the most notable were Desert Firetail and Western Forktail for the sheer numbers present.
Western Forktail is generally pretty scarce in SBA, and I
have never seen so many firetails in one place in the
county. Temps. were around 96 degrees when we left.
California
Dancer 1 male netted
Northern Bluet 2 males netted
Tule
Bluet 2 males netted
Arroyo
Bluet 2 males netted
Western Forktail 20-30
Pacific
Forktail 15
Black-fronted
Forktail 2
Desert
Firetail 30-40
Common
Green Darner 2+
Blue-eyed
Darner 5
Cardinal
Meadowhawk 2
Blue
Dasher 10
Common
Whitetail 1 male
Flame
Skimmer 10
Red
Saddlebags 3
Wandering
Glider
August 13, 2015
Humboldt County
Nick Lethaby
Richardson Grove, Eel River. Most odes appeared to hanging out in the willows on the single banks above the riverbed.
Sooty Dancer - 12+
*Emma's Dancer Argia emma – 1 [last report 2015]
Common Green Darner - 2
W. River Cruiser - 4+
Gray Sanddragon - 1
Pale-faced Clubskimmer - 1
Flame Skimmer - 3
I saw one Darner that appeared to be a Blue-eyed. I had a suboptimal view of what may have been a Giant Darner.
…….
San Diego County
San Diego Botanical Gardens in Encinitas
Neon Skimmers
Flame Skimmers near the water fall.
I took pics of several different damsels in different ponds but have not id them yet.
August
12, 2015
Siskiyou County
Robb
Hamilton
Dunsmuir,
Railroad Resort
Pacific
Forktail
Western Forktail
Tule
Bluet
Vivid
Dancer
*Pacific
Spiketail Cordulegaster dorsalis [last report 2015]
Blue-eyed
Darner
a couple Common Green Darners
12-spotted
Skimmer
Flame
Skimmer
Western Pondhawk
Cardinal
Meadowhawk
Common
Whitetail
Black Saddlebags,
one Variegated Meadowhawk
August
11, 2015
Siskiyou County
Robb
Hamilton
Orr Lake
Saffron-winged
Meadowhawk, male.
August
10, 2015
Santa Clara County
Leslie
Flint
Monte
Bello OSP Gate 5 pond. I hadn't been there for quite a while and the edges were
dry and odeless, so I walked to where I could go down
the bank and see the entire pond. There was a lot flying around. Best was:
Red
Saddlebags - 1 (I have never seen it here)
Black Saddlebags - 12+ (Many ovipositing)
Common Green Darner - 6+
Blue-eyed Darner - 2
8-spotted Skimmer - 1
Blue Dasher - several
Striped Meadowhawk - 3
Arroyo Bluet - many
No/Bo Bluets - many
Pacific Forktail - many
Vivid Dancer - few
California Spreadwing – 1
…
Mateo County
Hoping
to find a Red Saddlebags in San
Mateo County,
I went over to Alpine Pond which is really only about 1/2 mile away as the crow
flies. However, even though it was sunny and warm, there were few odes and no
Saddlebags Common Green Darner - 1
Flame Skimmer - 6
Widow Skimmer - 12
Striped Meadowhawk - 1
Pacific Forktail – many
August
8 & 9, 2015
Inyo County
Hugh
Ranson
Rock
Creek - a few glorious days What a beautiful spot. I spent a lot of time next
to water, but there were precious few odes--two species to be exact, and both
proved to be new species for Inyo
County.
Black Meadowhawk
Sympetrum danae - a teneral on 8/8/15 at around 9800
feet, a little below Rock
Creek Lake.
CA CHART#120, OC# 434927
Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta, a
male, in Little Lakes Valley on 8/9/15 at around 10,200 feet. CA #120, OC# 434928
August
8, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy
& Dave Biggs
Grasshopper
Flat (looking for Pygmy Short-horned Lizards)
Common
Green Darners - ~10 in one group, a few others nearby
Pond
Damsel sp – 1, amazing to be so far from water!!
Pumice
Stone Well
Common
Green Darner – few
Variable
Darner – 4 in hand
*Mountain
Emerald Somatochlora semicirularis – 1 photographed; a few other
Emeralds, most appeared to be this species [last report 2015]
No/Bo
Bluet
Western Forktail
Pacific
Forktail
Northern Spreadwing – in hand
Orr Lake
Kathy
& Dave Biggs; Dennis Ball & Celise Sharp (what a hoot!! We drove up
and there were our good friends – already oding!!)
*Paddle-tailed
Darner Aeshna palmata - 1 (in
hand)
Common
Green Darner – 1-2
8-spottd
Skimmer
Western Pondhawk – 1
No/Bo
Bluet
Western Forktail - abundant
NOTE:
We are all finding way fewer dragons at these mt.
elevations than expected at this time this year
…….
Placer County
Will
Richardson and friends
some
mountain lakes (~ 7400' elev.) near Lake Tahoe
Northern Spreadwing
*Emerald
Spreadwing Lestes dryas [last report 2015]
Pacific
Forktail
Variable
Darner
Shadow
Darner
Black
Meadowhawk
Band-winged
Meadowhawk
…….
Shasta County
Ray Bruun
Logan Lake
*Lyre-tipped Spreadwing Lestes unguiculatus - a couple dozen
[ONLY report 2015] - could have counted far more than that, but it's a rough
figure of those I noticed. Lyre-tipped
Spreadwing (Lestes unguiculatus)
Northern Spreadwing were also present.
August
7, 2015
Santa Clara County
Matthew Dodder
Palo Alto
Flood Control
Basin d-Conditions were warm and windless, with several shallow warm
ponds... I was hoping for Red Saddlebags.
That didn't happen, but did have a
nice showing of other species, and may were too far to identify:
Blue-eyed Darner 3
Common Green Darner 14
Flame Skimmer 2
Cardinal Meadowhawk 3
Red-veined Meadowhawk 2
Variegated Meadowhawk 5
Wandering Glider 10+
Spot-winged Glider 5
August
7, 2015
San
Bernardino County
Andy Lazere
Prado Regional
Park
Neon Skimmer
August
6, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy
& Dave Biggs
With
all the Red Saddlebags showing up in Oregon,
even inland, we stopped at the Greenhorn Park Ponds in Yreka, CA.
There
were LOTS of Saddlebags, but they were all black.
No/Bo Bluets
Flame Skimmers
Common Whitetail
Blue Dashers
Widow Skimmers (many)
Black Saddlebags (many)
12-spotted Skimmers
Common Green Darners
Blue-eyed Darners
Also seen - a River Otter!!
August 5, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy
& Dave Biggs; Dennis Ball & Celise Sharp
Juanita Lake, W of Macdoel
off Hwy 97, we found the lake practically devoid of Odes.
We
did show up late though (5 PM) as our route was blocked by a huge tree across
the road and we spent an hour back-tracking and approaching from a different
direction.
What we did see:
Juanita Lake
Northern Spreadwing - 2 females
No/Bo Bluets - few
Pacific Forktail - many, inc. tenerals and matures
Western Forktail - many, inc. tenerals and matures
Common Green Darner - 1-2 only
Striped Meadowhawk - few, just emerging
Red-veined Meadowhawk - a female photographed
Autumn Meadowhawk - several young females
Martin's Dairy ~6000' (not a dairy, a meadow with a creek) West of Juanita Lake
Darners - about 100 all together including
Common Green Darner - most abundant
Variable Darner - some, a few in hand
Shadow Darner - a few in hand
Blue-eyed Darner 1-2
Pacific Spiketail
Common Whitetail - a few at pondlet along road
Red-veined Meadowhawk - 1-2
Variegated Meadowhawk - 1 imm.
Black Saddlebags - 1-2 flying with the darners
August
3+5, 2015
Mono County
Hugh
Ranson
3
hours at Dechambeau Ponds
*Boreal
Bluet Enallagma boreale 1 [last report 2015]
*Alkali
Bluet Enallagma clausum
5 These bluets were netted [last
report 2015]
Tule
Bluet 2
Western Forktail --abundant
Pacific
Forktail 10
Black-fronted
Forktail 5
*Western
Red Damsel Amphiagrion abbreviatum
3 on 8/5 [last report 2015]
Darner
sp. 10
Saffron-winged
Meadowhawk 1 male on 8/3
Variegated
Meadowhawk --abundant
Western Pondhawk --abundant
Eight-spotted
Skimmer --abundant
Flame
Skimmer 4
*Four-spotted
Skimmer Libellula quadrimaculata [last report 2015] 1 on 8/5
Bleached
Skimmer 3 on 8/5 ( 1 pair photographed ovipositing,
and 1 male photographed.)
Black
Saddlebags 10
Red
Saddlebags 10
Wandering
Glider 1 on 8/5
August
3, 2015
San
Bernardino County
Andy Lazere
Prado Regional
Park
Mexican Amberwing
August
1, 2015
Colusa County
Jim
Johnson
Bear
Creek at Holsten
Canyon
*Western River Cruiser Macromia magnifica 434506
[last report 2015]
Wandering
Glider 434505
American
Rubyspot 434504
…….
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
His
backyard pond in San Diego
**Filigree
Skimmer - I got some nice pictures of a newly emerged male [new late date] 434848
July
July
31, 2015
Yolo County
Jim
Johnson
Cache
Creek at Cache Creek campground
American
Rubyspot 434502
Sooty
Dancer 434501
Emma’s
Dancer 434500
Pale-faced
Clubskimmer 434503
…
Colusa County
Bear
Creek at Holsten
Canyon
American
Rubyspot
California
Dancer 434391
Flame
Skimmer 434390
Widow
Skimmer 434389
White-belted
Ringtail 434388
Gray
Sanddragon 434387
Sooty
Dancer 434386
Red
Rock Skimmer 434384
July
30, 2015
San
Francisco County
Steve
Rottenborn, Noreen Weeden, Cindy Margulis
Hunters
Point Shipyard, along the Bay in southeastern S.F
Red
Saddlebags, male - This is not far from India Basin,
where Paul, Keven, and Hugh saw two.
Three
gliders (one Spot-winged, the other two not see well enough for
identification),
Blue-eyed
Darner
Variegated
Meadowhawk – 1
July
29, 2015
Humboldt County
Tony
Kurz
Park
at Stone Lagoon parking lot on the north side of the lagoon. Walk to the edge of
the lagoon from the parking lot.
Familiar Bluet Enallagma civile CA
Chart # OC# 434497,
photo voucher
…
Del
Norte County
Mill
Creek Acquisition pond access limited. Only open on the weekends.:
Red Saddlebags 434495
- Pulled up to the pond and noticed 1 pair flying in tandem and several other
males flying on patrol over the pond. Was able to catch a male.
Red
Saddlebags 434494
Just north of Washington Blvd.
and east of Crescent
City airport. The
dragonflies were at the parking lot at Dead Lake.
Specimen Notes:
At least a dozen Red Saddlebags working this area. Both sexes were seen and a
few were flying in tandem. We never saw any oviposting,
but very likely.
…….
Santa Clara County
Nancy
Asquith
Rancho
San Antonio OSP
Common
Green Darner 434338
Desert
Firetail 434337
July
27+29, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy & Dave Biggs, Celise Sharp & Dennis Ball
Soda
Springs on Squaw Creek
Black
Saddlebags
Cardinal
Meadowhawk
Red-veined
Meadowhawk
Common
Whitetail (8 on the 27th)
12-spotted
Skimmers
Western Forktails
Pacific
Forktails
Dave
might have seen a pair of Sedge Sprites in wheel, if so it would be a 2nd
county sige. We’ll go
back and work the area heavily soon…
Also
seen – a beaver at work
At
Squaw Creek trail (~7 miles downstream)
Pacific
Spiketail
*Grappletail
Octogomphus specularis (on the 13th) [last report 2015]
July
26, 2015
San
Francisco County
Paul Saraceni, Kevin McKereghan, Hugh Cotter
India Basin
Open Space, San Francisco
#Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta – photos upgrade
Joseph Morlan’s prior (yrs ago!) sight record. CA
Chart # 58. OC # 433978
…….
Los
Angeles County
David
Bell
Peck Road
Water Conservation
Park
Black-fronted
Forktail 434139
& 435480
July
25, 2015
Trinity County
Tony Kurz
Van Duzen Rd just off the road under bridge along the Van Duzen
river. This location is west of Ruth Lake
#Red Rock Skimmer Paltothemis lineatipes – CA Chart # 119
OC# 433878
July
24, 2015
Humboldt County
Sean MacAllister & Tony Kurz
Centerville Beach
#Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta - sighted them
again; SIGHT ONLY record, chart #106
Stone Lagoon Parking Lot.
Tony Vanderkamper
Red Saddlebags -
one sighted
……..
Contra Costa County
Peter
Grunow & brother Michael
Richmond
Landfill Loop bay trail
Red Saddlebags -
one sighted
…….
Alameda County
Nancy Asquith
Sunol
regional wilderness
American
Rubyspot 434340
Sooty
Dancer
July
23, 2015
Mono County
Leslie Flint
I
went back to de Chambeau Ponds today after yesterday's rains. Wow! the
number of Odes had declined by 90%.
1
Red Saddlebags
several
Blue-eyed Darners
1
Western Pondhawk
3
8-spotted Skimmers,
a
few Variegated Meadowhawks
Granted
it was cooler and one hour earlier, but it was definitely different.
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh
Ranson
Seaside
Nursery, Carpentaria 72 degrees, partly overcast
Only
1 Rambur's Forktail. I wonder if the pond has too many fish to support a
viable Rambur's population for long--it's teeming with fish.
…….
Madera County
Peter
Grunow & brother Michael
Madera Wastewater
Treatment Plant
#Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta - quite a
few present- at least five or six – first SIGHT ONLY record, chart #143
#Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens –
mostly seen Madera Wastewater Treatment Plant, but over the course of the day
we probably saw 100+ in this county and
Spot-winged
Gliders thousands, everywhere.
Other
spots we saw them included the town of North Fork, Finegold
Creek and Redinger Overlook
…….
Del Norte County
Tony
Kurz
Pacific Shores area near previous location that
Red Saddlebags was detected a week earlier. This area is just north of Lake
Earl Wildlife Area.
Location
is accessed from Kellogg Rd
and then off of Tell Rd.
#Red
Saddlebags – OC# 433876
July
22, 2015
Santa Cruz
County
Alex
Rinkert
#RED
SADDLEBAGS are now widespread and in some locations abundant here.
They
are occurring just about everywhere—at and away from water bodies, on the coast
and inland.
…….
Mono County
Leslie Flint, Ron Oriti, Dave Welling
deChambeau Ponds near Mono
Lake - it was a bit windy
and the sitting odes were skittish
As Kristie Nelson reported on CalOdes yesterday, the
place was alive with odes.
8-spotted Skimmers - in the dozens
Red Saddlebags -
in the dozens
Variegated Meadowhawks
- in the dozens
Blue-eyed Darners - 4-5
Black Saddlebags - a few
Striped Meadowhawk - a few
Flame Skimmer - 12+
Western Pondhawk - many
Saffron-winged Meadowhawk - 1
Tule Bluets - abundant
Maybe other damsels present but hard to get close to them
Sulfur Pond (a new place for me but unfortunately my Prius
wouldn't be able to make it through the 2 sand ditches we encountered)
Variegated Meadowhawks - dozen+
Bleached Skimmer - 2 ovipositing; 1 hovering over the pair and 1 in the
shrubbery; probably more there but with the sky threatening to rain, we got out
of there quickly.
Tule Bluets in the hundreds - I thought they should be Alkalai, but everything I photographed was a Tule.
Western Red Damsel (seen by Dave)
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Liam O’Brian with Paul Johnson
Five-day moth inventory of Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands.
My net was on fire!
*Giant Darner Anax walsinghami - My first [last report 2015]
wandering glider
…
Hugh
Ranson
Paradise Road,
Santa Ynez Valley. 76 degrees and overcast.
I
saw 3 odes total, a teneral bluet and 2 fly
over dragons. It was warm enough, so the overcast must have kept the
odes snoozing.
…….
Tulare County
Ali
Sheehey
I saw my life grappletail
There
was also a mosaic darner that was not a blue-eyed but I couldn't id with
my camera point at its erratic flight.
July
21, 2015
Lassen County
Leslie Flint
on my way from Alturas to Lee Vining,
I stopped at Blue
Lake. I saw a single
White-faced Meadowhawk
– one
Blue-eyed Darners
– many. No other darners I could ID; several ovipositing females -
perhaps Blue-eyed Darners?
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh
RansonHugh Ranson
At
La Patera Pond, Goleta,
I saw a female Red-tailed Pennant ovipositing being guarded by a male,
who aggressively chased off another male.
Sadly, this was my last visit to the pond as I was informed by the ranch
manager that my permission to visit had been revoked-no reason given beyond
"things have changed."
A
real bummer. Since 2013 I had made over 200 visits to the pond and collected
data, much of it adding to the knowledge of odes in SBA.
The
site is also the location of such exciting finds as the aforementioned
pennants, Great Pondhawk, and Roseate Skimmer.
…….
San Luis
Obispo County
Kyle
Weichert
River
Oaks Pond
Red
Saddlebags 434193
July
20, 2015
San Diego County
Brennan
Mulrooney
San
Vicente Reservoir near the town of Lakeside.
After
two sightings earlier this spring that I couldn't confirm or document, today I
finally got a great look at and good pictures.
Filigree
Skimmer – a female
One
of my previous possible sightings (a male) was also from the rocky canyons
above this reservoir.
photo https://www.flickr.com/photos/langooney/19864864822/
…….
Shasta County
Leslie
Flint
Bidwell
Pond (near Hat Creek) in search of Lyre-tipped Spreadwing. I did not find it,
however it is a very nice small pond with a great deal of activity today.
Common
Green Darner - 1
Blue-eyed Darner - 2
Darner sp. - 2
Western Pondhawk - 12+
Widow Skimmer - 2
Flame Skimmer - 4
Blue Dasher - numerous
Black Saddlebags - 12+
Western Red Damsel - 2
Vivid Dancer - numerous
No/Bo Bluet - numerous
Pacific Forktail - 12+
Black-fronted Forktail - several
Western Forktail - numerous - especially females
I saw 2 spreadwings - one male in the middle
of the creek - very blue - most likely Northern or Spotted and one Spotted
female
…
Lassen County
Ash
Creek Campground in search of River Bluet. This is a beautiful spot - Ash Creek
is flowing nicely. The meadows have a few flowers, but drier than last year. I
found River Bluet along the side of the river, but also in the meadows along
with numerous butterflies.
Darner
sp. - one patrolling the creek but I never got a good look at it.
Grappletail - 1 - this ode was struggling on the edge tangled in the
weeds so I literally jumped into the creek and moved it to a safer location =
wet boots a small sacrifice
Vivid Dancer - numerous
*River Bluet Enallagma anna - maybe 12 but obviously more; some on the creek
and others in the meadow
Bluet sp. - numerous
Western Forktail - I saw only females - maybe a dozen
American Rubyspot – 2
…….
Siskiyou County
Dennis
Deck
Gumboot Lake & Creek - It clouded over early
in the day which reduced what I saw on Monday but I was able to add:
*Hudsonian
Whiteface Leucorrhinia hudsonica at the lake [last report 2015]
*Black
Petaltail Tanypteryx hageni at
the stream!! [last report 2015]
July
19, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy & Dave Biggs, Leslie Flint, Dennis Ball, Celise Sharpe,
Sam Williams, Dennis Deck +MO (Siskiyou Field Institute Day 2 workshop)
“Sweet
Spot”, W. Barr Rd, 16 miles West of Mt. Shasta City, elevation ~6,000+ ft.,
3:15-3:30
The
weather became overcast, but we had Cascade Frogs in hand and one darner
flew by.
Gumboot
Creek, W. Barr Rd, 14 miles West of Mt. Shasta City, elevation ~6,000 ft.,
2:30-3:15
Vivid
Dancers – a few, as usual, the females looked quite different here
Grappletail
– 2-3 males
*Pacific
Clubtail Gomphus kurilis – 1 male
seen in flight by a few observers [last report 2015]
Pacific
Spiketail – 1 male patrolling, in-hand
Gumboot
Lake, W. Barr Rd, 13 miles West of Mt. Shasta City, elevation ~6,000 ft.,
11:30-2:30
Spotted
Spreadwing – 1 male in hand, photographed
Northern Spreadwing – numerous
Boreal
Bluet – numerous, assumed this species
Western Forktail – a female seen
Common
Green Darner – 1-2
Blue-eyed
Darner – 1-2
Variable
Darner – 1 found dead in the water
Emerald
sp. – a few males noted patrolling
*Ringed
Emerald Somatochlora albicincta – 1
female observed ovipositing near the shoreline, followed by Kathy for 5 mins. and finally netted when two 12-spotted skimmers males
who were harassing her, brought her close enuf. [last
report 2015]
12-spotted
Skimmer – several males
Common
Whitetail – 1-2 males
Variegated
Meadowhawk – many, some young, some old
Saffron-winged
Meadowhawk – several, all teneral, a male photographed & netted
Also
observed – Red-striped Garter Snake, numerous Cascade Frogs and the wildflower
display was still AWESOME!!
…
Dennis
Ball, Celise Sharpe, Sam Williams,
Sam Williams pond in Weed
Black
Meadowhawk Sympetrum danae - photographed
…….
Sonoma County
Jackie
Sones
Bodega Bay
#Red
Saddlebags, at least seven and four of those were male-female pairs.
And they were ovipositing (egg-laying)!
…
Dave
Barry
Riverfront Regional
Park, Russian River,
Cloverdale
California
Dancer – ID vetted by Jim Johnson OC#:
433603
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Nick Lethaby
Lake Los Carneros
a Red-tailed Pennant - this is quite close to the location where Hugh Ranson first discovered them in the county.
July
18, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy & Dave Biggs, Leslie Flint, Dennis Ball, Celise Sharpe,
Dennis Deck +MO (Siskiyou Field Institute Day 1 workshop)
Slowly
moving waterway in front of the Flowing Waters Retreat 8:00-8:30
Pacific
Spiketail – 1 female observed ovipositing
Darners
nymph – several observed & placed in a bowl so jet propelling could be
observed, etc.
Collier’s
Rest Stop/I-5 north of Yreka, 4:30-5:00
Dancer
sp. – a few on the lawn
Snaketail
sp. –1 male, probably a Sinuous
8-spotted
Skimmer – a few
Flame
Skimmer – one male
Shasta River
@ Hudson Rd.
3:00- 4:15 – where had all the Clubtails gone?????
American
Rubyspot – 1 male observed by a few participants….where had they gone?
No/Bo
Bluets - some
Emma’s
Dancer – some
Vivid
Dancer – a few seen along the road
Common
Green Darner – very few, 1-2?
Clubtail/Cruiser
– 1-2, perhaps both seen
8-spotted
Skimmer – a few
Flame
Skimmer – one male
Widow
Skimmer – a few males and one female
Common
Whitetail – a few males
Sharpe/Ball
Pond, Big Springs 12:30-2:30, 90s
Western Forktail – many, mating and
ovipositing observed
No/Bo
Bluets - many
Pacific
Forktail – many
Western Pondhawk - several, mating and
ovipositing observed
12-spotted
Skimmer - several, mating and ovipositing observed
Flame
Skimmer – several, mating and ovipositing observed
Common
Whitetail – a few, mating and ovipositing observed
Blue
Dasher – many males
Cardinal
Meadowhawk – 1 male
Black
Saddlebags – 1 male
…….
Mendocino County
Ron
LeValley
Little
River Headlands, 2 miles south of the town of Mendocino and on the north bluffs
of Van Damme Beach. (UTM NAD83, 10S 431078E,
4347345N).
Wandering
Gliders - numerous on the coast of Mendocino
for the past week.
#Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta - at
least two – upgrade from prior sight only record, CA Chart #126, OC # 433804
Spot-winged
Glider - 1 OC # 433805
Wandering
Gliders
I
was able to capture one Red Saddlebags and one Spot-winged Glider
I’ve
had Spot-wingeds here before, but this is my
first ever Red Saddlebags.
I
have posted photos in the folder Coastal Mendocino.
[Red
Saddlebags is an upgrade of a prior sight only record, CA Chart #67, OC # TBT]
…….
Santa Cruz
County
Alex
Rinkert
I
observed a substantial movement of gliders along the coast.
#Beginning
at 11 AM, I counted a continuous swarm of both glider species flying past me on
the bluff above Wilder Beach at Wilder
Ranch State
Park, Santa Cruz.
All
were flying south toward the coast, once reaching the ocean, they immediately
flew west following the coastline.
In
75 minutes of observing, 222 SPOT-WINGED and 91 WANDERING GLIDERS
passed by, as well as one RED SADDLEBAGS (fewer than I thought would be
mixed in).
This
was one day before this section of the coast was hit by monsoons originating
farther south. Perhaps these gliders were blown inland by the southern
wind the day(s) before, then the following morning worked their way back to the
coast to continue their push northward, or in this case westward (the coast
here runs west to east, southern winds blow directly inland).
July
17, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy
& Dave Biggs, Leslie Flint, Susanne krieg
(SFI ‘scout team’)
Upper
Parks Creek watershed, Weed – 5:30-6:00
Darner
sp.
8-spotted
Skimmer
Flame
Skimmer
Red-veined
Meadowhawk
Band-winged
Meadowhawk
…….
Shasta County
Hugh
Ranson
Brokeoff Meadows
*Taiga
Bluet Coenagrion resolutum -- 1
netted and photo'd.
Boreal
Bluet--1 netted
No/Bo
Bluet--c. 10
W. Forktail--1
W.
Red Damsel--4
N.
Spreadwing--15
Hudsonian
Whiteface--10
White-faced
Meadowhawk--abundant
Striped Meadowhawk--1
Darner
sp.--c.10--appeared to be Variable
Mountain
Emerald--1
4-spotted
skimmer--5
Manzanita Lake
*Chalk-fronted
Corporal Ladona julia --2
males [last report 2015]
Reflection Lake and Lily Ponds
Spot-winged Glider--1 decapitated individual found
Cardinal
Meadowhawk--1 male (only one of the trip)
N.
Spreadwing --abundant
White-faced
Meadowhawk--3
4-spotted
Skimmer--5
12-spotted
Skimmer—3
…….
Monterey
County
Peter
Grunow & brother Michael
Zmudowski
State Beach
Red
Saddlebags - 1
July
16, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy
& Dave Biggs
Dragonfly
Roost Pond, Mt. Shasta Forest,
McCloud
*Shadow
Darner Aeshna umbrosa – a female emerged
Cardinal
Meadowhawk – 1 male
No/Bo
Bluets - several
#Twelve-spotted
Skimmer – 3 emerged on the 9th BUT none has come back to the
pond…could these be migrants??
…….
Shasta County
Hugh
Ranson
Crumbaugh
Lake, Lassen NP
Hudsonian
Whiteface--1
*Crimson-ringed
Whiteface Leucorrhinia glacialis –abundant [Last report 2015]
*American
Emerald Cordulia shurtleffii
(several emeralds seen, 1 American photo'd) [Last
report 2015]
Emerald
Spreadwing –1
N.
Spreadwing--10+
White-faced
Meadowhawk--1
Darner
sp.—20
…….
Yolo County
Peter
Grunow & brother Michael
Yolo
Bypass Wildlife Area
#Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta - one flew
over parking lot B after admiring the least bittern – FIRST SIGHT ONLY RECORD
CA chart #143
…
Sierra County
Heriot Lane
#Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens - one well seen, nearly flew inside the
car
…
Nevada County
Truckee
Gravel Ponds south of Deerfield
Drive.
This
site and Lake Van Norden, which I visited earlier
this year, have a lot of odonate potential.
#Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens – at least two well seen, likely
more present.
July
15, 2015
Del Norte County
Tony Kurz
Pacific
Shores just north of the Lake Earl Wildlife area. This road is marked on
the map as Carson Rd.
#Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta – not only a
new record (photo), but the furthest north in the Western
USA. CA Chart # 119, OC# 433369
…….
Shasta County
Hugh
Ranson
McCumber
Lake
N.
Spreadwing--10
W.
Pondhawk--5
12-spotted
Skimmer--abundant
Common
Whitetail--5
8-spotted
Skimmer--1
White-faced
Meadowhawk--abundant
Band-winged
Meadowhawk--6
Flame
Skimmer--1 (only one of trip)
Black
Saddlebags--2
Darner
sp--abundant
Pond
c 2 miles north of McCumber
Striped
Meadowhawk--2
Band-winged
Meadowhawk--1
Variegated
Meadowhawk--2
W.
Forktail--abundant
12-spottted
Skimmer--c.20
Common
Whitetail--5
Tule
Bluet--8
Northern Spreadwing 10
Spot-winged
Glider—1
Summit Lake,
Lassen Nat. Park
Crimson-ringed
Whiteface--2
Variable
Darner-- several, 2 photographed
Manzanita Lake, Lassen NP
Chalk-fronted
Corporal --2 (male and female)
12-spotted
Skimmer--3
4-spotted
Skimmer--c.20
No/Bo
Bluets--many thousands over the lake, most in tandem/wheel
McCumber
Lake
Boreal
Bluet--netted 4 bluets; all were this species
12-spotted
Skimmer--abundant
Common
Whitetail--abundant
P.
Forktail--5
Band-winged
Meadowhawk--4
Variegated
Meadowhawk--5
Common
Green Darner--2
Bailey Creek,
Viola
Pacific
Spiketail—4
…….
Los
Angeles County
Peter
Gaede
Haskell Canyon off of Angeles National Forest Road 6N21. Oak
riparian woodland, surrounded by Chamise Chaparral.
Flame
Skimmer – 6, OC # 433226
Neon Skimmer - Two males observed, one photographed. OC # 433225
July
14, 2015
Del Norte County
Tony Kurz
Gravel
quarry pond in the Mill Creek Acquisition. Public access only by foot from
Highway 101. Except on weekends you can drive in.
*Autumn Meadowhawk Sympetrum vicinum – new early flight by THREE weeks. OC# 433371
…….
Modoc County
Steve Rottenborn
Modoc National Wildlife Refuge
Common Green Darner – 2
Blue-eyed Darner – 200
Western Pondhawk – 3
Eight-spotted Skimmer – 15
Twelve-spotted Skimmer – 1
Wandering Glider – 1
Common Whitetail – 8
Variegated Meadowhawk – 300
Band-winged Meadowhawk – 3
Black Saddlebags – 2
Familiar Bluet – 1
Tule Bluet – 80
South Fork of the Pit River, east of Likely (Modoc County):
*Great Basin Snaketail Ophiogomphus
morrisoni – 2 [last report 2015]
…
Lassen County
Blue Lake
* *Spiny Baskettail Epitheca spinigera – 1 male [only report 2015]
Variable Darner – 5
Northern/Boreal Bluet – 200 (all six
inspected in hand were Boreal)
Pacific Forktail – 40
Western Forktail – 50
July 13, 2015
Modoc County
Steve Rottenborn
Warner Mountains
Pond along Forest Service Road 47 near Lassen Creek, east of Goose Lake:
Common Whitetail – 4
Variegated Meadowhawk – 1
Striped Meadowhawk – 1
Northern Spreadwing – 40 (all
tenerals)
Northern/Boreal Bluet – 1
Pacific Forktail – 2
Western Forktail – 50
Lassen Creek upstream from Lassen Creek campground:
*Variable Darner Aeshna interrupta – 2
Walker’s Darner – 2 males
(photographed); Kevin McKereghan found Modoc County’s
first records about 9 miles north of here on 15 August last year, but this is
the first time I’ve seen this species in the county
Pacific Spiketail – 10
Grappletail – 8
*Hoary Skimmer Libellula nodistica – 2 [last report
2015]
Four-spotted Skimmer – 5
*Black Meadowhawk Sympetrum danae – 2
Emma’s Dancer – 50
Sooty Dancer – 1
Vivid Dancer – 65
Western Forktail – 2
Willow Creek, at bridge along County Road 133C, southwest of Buck Creek Fire
Station:
Pacific Spiketail – 1
Grappletail – 1
Emma’s Dancer – 4
Vivid Dancer – 4
Lily Lake, along Forest Service Road 2, east of New Pine Creek:
Pacific Spiketail – 1 found injured
at an elevation of 6730 ft by my daughter Holly; Tim Manolis’s
excellent guide indicates that this species has been found in California at
elevations “from sea level to a little over 1,800 m (6,000 ft)”, so perhaps
this is an elevation record for the state?
American Emerald – 15
Emerald Spreadwing – 2
Northern/Boreal Bluet – 200 (all 12
inspected in hand were Boreal)
Pacific Forktail – 3
Western Forktail – 80
July
12, 2015
Monterrey County
Don
Roberson
Pacific Grove public
hiking trail, near Jewel Ave.,
Pacific Grove
#Red Saddlebags -
at least 2 present, both a male and female perched atop a sunny bush,
occasionally flying up to forage and return.
This
is near NW tip of Monterey
Peninsula, far from
freshwater, at mid-day on a hot, sunny day.
These
are just part of an unprecedented incursion of this species in coastal Monterey County this summer 436093
…….
Modoc County
Steve Rottenborn
North Fork of the Pit River, along Highway 395 north of Alturas:
* *Pale Snaketail Ophiogomphus severus – 2 [ONLY report 2015]
*River Jewelwing Calopteryx
aequabilis– 2 [last report 2015]
American Rubyspot – 3
Emma’s Dancer – 6
Sooty Dancer – 4
Three Springs Ranch, on southwest side of Goose Lake along County Road 48:
Blue-eyed Darner – 1
Western Pondhawk – 1
Eight-spotted Skimmer – 3
Hoary Skimmer – 2
Four-spotted Skimmer – 1
Common Whitetail – 2
Striped Meadowhawk – 2
Western Red Damsel – 2
*Aztec Dancer Argia nahuana – 2 [last report 2015]
Vivid Dancer – 1
Pacific Forktail – 1
Western Forktail – 80
July
11, 2015
Colusa County
Tim
Manolis +MO
Bear Creek - Sac Audubon field trip, saw 22 species, wasn't
too bad although numbers of the "good stuff" were rather low.
One of the participants got killer photos of a pair of
Gray Sanddragon in a wheel
perched on the shoreline.
White-belted ringtail
Flame Skimmers - a
pair of Flame Skimmers circled around us closely for a few minutes while in the
wheel
Variegated Meadowhawks
ovipositing, and. And of course, great looks at flying-by
Giant Darners
July
10, 2015
Shasta County
Ray
Bruun
Redding
We've
had strange weather here in Redding
the past few days.
Next
to the building where I work is a vacant lot on a bluff overlooking the Sacramento River.
Various
dragonflies have been hanging out there, including both Glider species.
These
were landing quite regularly but were pretty unapproachable.
Today,
after almost a half hour of trying, I was able to get a Spot-winged Glider
to sit.
…….
Imperial County
Pierre
Deviche
El Centro area
quite
a few WHITE-BELTED RINGTAILS, Erpetogomphus compositus,
photographed
*RUSSET-TIPPED
CLUBTAIL, Stylurus plagiatus one female photographed [first report
2015]
*BRIMSTONE
CLUBTAILS, Stylurus intricatus multiple photographed [last report
2015]
…….
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
City
of San Diego
back yard pond
Tule
Bluet, Enallagma carunculatum – mature male OC#432982
…….
Sacramento County
Dave
Johnson
The
pond off Illinois at Sailor Bar, American River Parkway
in Sacramento
Common
Green Darner in late morning, They were ovipositing into floating
vegetation in the pond.
It
was 1125 am when I first began to take photos and by the time I left at 1151 am
they were still ovipositing in the same location although when they began the
male was facing west but when I left the male was facing east.
July
9, 2015
Humboldt County
Hugh
Ranson
Trinidad
*Swift
Forktail (Ischnura erratica) [last
report 2015]
Pacific
Forktails,
Cardinal
Meadowhawks
…….
Imperial County
Ryan
Andrews
Morton Bay
area
Red
Saddlebags
Roseate
Skimmer
July
7, 2015
Modoc County
Michael
and Muriel Plank
Cedarville
- Seyferth Hotsprings.
Beautiful morning with rain and wind afternoon and through the night.
Comanche
Skimmers male and female
*Desert
Whitetail Plathemis subornata male
and female [last report 2015]
Western Pondhawk male and female
…….
Humboldt County
Horse Mountain,
male
Common Whitetail.
Red-veined
Meadowhawk (Sympetrum madidum)
…….
Colusa County
Dave Johnson
Bear
Creek, Highway 20
American
Rubyspot (more than I had ever seen before combined) An image of a female
American Rubyspot was taken up creek from the Wilbur Hot Springs
Bridge.
California
Dancer
Sooty
Dancer, a male and a lifer ode for me
Vivid
Dancer
Familiar
Bluet
Western Forktail
Variegated Meadowhawk
Black Saddlebags
…….
Monterey County
Kyle
Weichert
Drainage
in Cholame
Valley
Black-fronted
Forktail
*Aztec
Dancer Argia nahuana – [vetted by Jim Johnson]
Western Pondhawk
Desert Whitetail Plathemis subornata CA
CHART # 136 OC # 432783
& 432776
Variegated
Meadowhawk
Large
pond off Turkey Flat Road
Variegated
Meadowhawk
Flame
Skimmer
…….
Humboldt County
Scott Burgess
Clear Lake on Horse
Mountain
Red-Veined Meadowhawk - photographed
Common Whitetail males photographed
July
6, 2015
Colusa County
Leslie
Flint
Bear
Creek While the forecast was for sun, it was semi-overcast all day with a
brisk wind with temps ranging from 85 at 10:00 to 95 at 3:00.
I
stopped at 4 places and would have done more except for the yellow star thistle
is heavy this year and I wasn't wearing my leather pants!
Probably
just give you the list with the sites rather than breaking it down.
Sites: creek flowing from Wilbur Hot Springs into Bear Creek; 3
spots along Bear Creek:
1)
1/4 mile above the Wilbur
Hot Springs Bridge;
2) the Wilbur Hot Springs Bridge area and up the creek 100 yds.
from there and 3) the Hwy 20 bridge.
Giant
Darner - 2 (one at each bridge)
Common
Green Darner - 1 - only at Hwy 20 bridge Note: no other darners
seen
Gray
Sanddragon - 6-8 - all at the Wilbur Hot ! Springs Bridge
and above
White-belted
Ringtail - 10-12 - from the Wilbur
Bridge and up stream
Variegated
Meadowhawk - hundreds everywhere in every location I checked
Blue
Dasher - 10+ all along the creek
Western
Pondhawk - 2 - 1 female and 1 male seen 1/4 miles upstream from the Wilbur Bridge
Widow
Skimmer - 6-8 - seen only at the 1/4 mile site beyond the Wilbur Bridge
Common
Whitetail - 4 - only seen at the Wilbur
Bridge
Flame
Skimmer - at least 4 at each location - probably more
Pale-faced
Clubskimmer - 6 - seen only at the spot I like which is 1/4 mile above
the Wilbur Bridge
Black
Saddlebags - 6-8 along the creek
Wandering
Glider - had a swarm! at the same 1/4 mile spot - maybe 10
Spot-winged
Glider - 2 - on the creek down from Wilbur Hot Springs
American
Rubyspot - many along several spots in the creek - dozens
Sooty
Dancer - also many spots along the creek - dozens
California
Dancer - photographed several but probably in the dozens at each location
Vivid
Dancer - saw several but not in great numbers
Emma's
Dancer - I drove home via Hwy 16 and stopped along Cache Creek where it was
blistering hot - saw about 10
Bluets
- everywhere in every location but I didn't check carefully - both No/Bo
and Tule/Arroyo
Western Forktail - I saw one male and several
females, but none along the creek leading down from Wilbur Hot Springs
-
I know Desert Forktail was seen there several years ago, but I saw none today
in that location.
July
5, 2015
Monterey County
Rita Carratello and Con Roberson
Salinas River NWR, along the trail from the freshwater pond north to the south bank of the Salinas River, and along the river bank.
Red Saddlebags - at least 3 male Red Saddlebags - One of Rita's photos is now up on her Flckr site at https://www.flickr.com/photos/74649846@N08/19263906449/
…….
Santa Barbara County
Nick Lethaby
Red Rock Skimmer - an ovipositing female about 15 miles further upstream in the Santa Ynez River drainage yesterday.
Similar to Hugh, this was the only Red Rock Skimmer present.
Although I don’t have any other dates offhand, I can definitely recall similar circumstances where female Red Rock Skimmers were present (and ovipositing) with very few or no males around.
…….
San Francisco County
Alan Wight
Fort Point in San Francisco
* *San Francisco Forktails Ischnura gemina at least eight in the wet areas along the road. [only report 2015]
Vivid Dancers three
unidentified darner one
Here are some photos from 7/5/15 plus some older ones at the same spot from 2010: http://www.sonic.net/~shwand/odonata/san_francisco_forktail.htm
July
4, 2015
Tulare County
Tony
Kurz
Just
west of Rd 284 at a pond along ave. 138. The pond is
on the north side of ave. 138. Man made pond with
very little vegetation.
Red-tailed Pennant Brachymesia furcata –
male and female photographed. OC # 432640 CA
Chart # 119
Bartlet Park below Lake Success
at the pond that has a island in it. There were several Male Red-tailed
Pennant's there. Very surprising after looking at their range. [yes, most
northern occurrence in CA]
Red-tailed Pennant Brachymesia
furcata – a male photographed OC # 432637
CA Chart # 119 [almost most northern occurrence in its entire range!!]
Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta—photographed,
OC # 432638
CA Chart # 119
Gray
Sanddragon – male photographed OC#432639
…….
Mendocino County
Peter
Grunow & brother Michael
Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta – sight
record only CA chart #143
eight-spotted
skimmers
flame
skimmers
…….
San Diego County
Ryan
Andrews
Doane Pond
Western Forktail 434215
Cardinal
Meadowhawk 434214
Flame
Skimmer 434213
Blue-eyed
Darner 434212
Desert
Firetail 434211
July
3, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh
Ranson
Paradise Road area
of the Santa Ynez River, Temps ranged from 87-93 degrees. Three species were
the FOS for me: Western River Cruiser, Walker's Darner, and Serpent Ringtail.
Live
Oak Day Use area:
Western River Cruiser -- min. 4
Giant
Darner -- min. 3
*Serpent
Ringtail Erpetogomphus lampropeltis lampropeltis
--1
Gray
Sanddragon --2
Giant
Darner--min. 3
Red
Rock Skimmer -- 1 ovipositing
Blue
Dasher --3
Flame
Skimmer-- 10
Wandering
Glider--1
California
Dancer--3
Lower Oso
Common
Whitetail --one male, likely the same individual I saw 6/20
Flame
Skimmer --10
Wandering
Glider--1
Upper Oso
Lavender
Dancer--abundant
Vivid
Dancer -- 20
*Walker's darner Aeshna
walkeri-- 1 male
…….
Santa Clara County
Steve
Rottenborn
Ogier
Ponds, located along Coyote Creek north of Morgan Hill. Temps were in the upper
80s/lower 90s F. The 22 odonate species (and
approximate numbers) I recorded were as follows:
Common Green Darner – 45
Blue-eyed Darner – 130
Western River Cruiser – 3
Western Pondhawk – 3
Eight-spotted Skimmer – 9
Widow Skimmer – 22
Flame Skimmer – 45
Blue Dasher – 60
Wandering Glider – 4
Spot-winged Glider – 3
Variegated Meadowhawk – 13
Cardinal Meadowhawk – 1
Black Saddlebags – 35
Red Saddlebags – 7 (female ovipositing; I’d previously only seen one
individual at this location)
American Rubyspot – 1
California/Aztec Dancer – 90
Vivid Dancer – 15
Northern/Boreal Bluet – 2
Tule Bluet – among 250+ bluets, the vast majority
of the males I looked at closely were Tules
Familiar Bluet – 3
Pacific Forktail – 45
Western Forktail – 9
…….
Sonoma County
Jackie
Sones
Bodega Bay
single
Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta) from on 3 July 2015. It briefly
visited a small pond in the Bodega Dunes. (I have documentary photographs.)
…….
Santa Cruz County
Steve Gerow
late
morning- I was surprised to see a Red Saddlebags fly into my front yard.
It
flew almost directly over my head, giving a good view of the large translucent
dark reddish "saddlebags" shaped patches on the basal portion of the
rear wings, and the reddish color of the abdomen.
It
perched for a time atop a small olive tree, then flew on toward the west before
I could get my camera ready.
My
house is in the northeast portion of the city of Santa Cruz,
near DeLaveaga
Park. There is no
open water nearby that I am aware of.
…….
Imperial County
Louis
Hoeniger
Found
near the East Highline canal just North of the
Interstate 8
*Brimstone
Clubtail Stylurus intricatus 432679
July
2, 2015
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
Backyard
pond in the City of San Diego
Roseate
Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea – male OC#432513
…….
Marin County
Patti
and Len Blumin
I
went to the Marin coast yesterday to escape the heat, and for some casual oding and birding. At the north end of Bolinas Lagoon
there is a small pond on the east side of Route 1, seen best from driving 75
yards up the Bolinas-Fairfax Road.
Best
ode there was a perched Twelve-spotted Skimmer. Nearby along the shore
were 3 Common Yellowthroats foraging as a group.
Then
headed up to Five Brooks, temp 80-85 with a cooling breeze. Scores to hundreds
of small blue skimmers were present, predominantly
Western Pondhawks, with lesser numbers of Blue
Dashers.
Female
Western Pondhawks patrolled the paths around
the lake, and we watched one eating a forktail the way a kid would eat a strand
of spaghetti.
Very
few damsels were seen, in part because some of the viewing sites are overgrown.
On
the north side of the pond near the bench we had good view of the ponds flora
and watched many male Western Pondhawks,
along with some Blue Dashers, 2 Eight-spotted Skimmers and 2
Flame Skimmers. Didn't see many darners at the pond, for whatever reason.
…….
Lassen County
Mountain
Meadows 1200-1415 hrs; partly cloudy, 91-100° F.
Northern Spreadwing — 2.
Alkali
Bluet — a few. OC#:432594
Familiar
Bluet — 1.
Tule
Bluet — many; the most abundant ode.
Western
Forktail — many; second most abundant ode.
Western
Red Damsel — 2.
Common
Green Darner — 3.
mosaic
darner — 1.
Great Basin Snaketail — 1. 432592
*Dot-tailed
Whiteface Leucorrhinia intacta —
5. 432593
[last report 2015]
Band-winged
Meadowhawk — 2.
*White-faced
Meadowhawk Sympetrum obtrusum — 2.
Variegated
Meadowhawk — 30.
Western Pondhawk — 5.
Four-spotted
Skimmer — 23.
Eight-spotted
Skimmer — 15.
Twelve-spotted
Skimmer — 20.
Common
Whitetail — 4.
…….
Humboldt County
Scott Burgess
Clear Lake on Horse
Mountain
Common Whitetails - Photographed male and female
July
1, 2015
San Mateo/Santa Cruz County
Leslie Flint
From Coyote Hills, I went to Long Ridge OSP in San Mateo County; at the end of the trail I was on is a small pond called "Moon Lake" which actually is in Santa Cruz County on private property owned by the Zen Center.
I was hoping to see Desert Firetail and not only was I rewarded with of those, but also saw my first "local" spreadwings of the year. The pond itself had many dragonflies:
Common Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Cardinal Meadowhawk
Western Pondhawk
Blue Dasher
Pacific Forktail
Western Forktail
Bluets in large numbers
Northern Spreadwing
Desert Firetail many dozen
…
Alameda County
Coyote HIlls Regional Park - Certainly the most Red Saddlebags I have ever seen at one time.
Since I only walked the boardwalk my numbers seen are low compared to the number of dragonflies there today.
Blue-eyed Darner (lots)
Red Saddlebags (dozens and dozens)
Black Saddlebags (several)
Blue Dasher ( several)
Cardinal Meadowhawk (2 - 1 in the Nectar Garden)
Common Green Darner (1)
Variegated Meadowhawk (large numbers - many in tandem and ovipositing)
both Tule/Arroyo and
No/Bo Bluets, but I didn't take time to examine - there were lots!
…….
Sonoma County
Alan Wight and David Hofmann
Nagasawa Park at lunch, I ran into David Hofmann
who had seen
two
or more Red Saddlebags at the same spot that I described
yesterday.
Later
at that spot, I saw a male and female in partial wheel, then later two males at
the same time.
I
had previously seen a probable female Red Saddlebags near the boat ramp, so
that totals
3-4
Red Saddlebags present today.
Other
species present were the same as yesterday with the addition of
one
male Cardinal Meadowhawk.
…….
San
Bernardino County
Matthew
Grube
Prado Regional
Park
Red-tailed Pennant Brachymesia furcata
CA Chart # 144 OC # 436085
Upgrade from Sight Only to photo vouchered record
Blue
Dasher 435959
Common
Green Darner 435959
Mexican
Amberwing 435957
June
June 30, 2015
Alameda County
Robin Agarwal
Coyote Hills
Regional Park,
Fremont, CA
Boardwalk area - saw of them
Tramea
onusta Red
Saddlebags 20-30, both sexes, mating, feeding, etc. This is one of the
females submitted to Odonata Central (#432385).
For the rest of the photos, see my iNaturalist
observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/171116120-30
…….
Sonoma County
Alan Wight
Nagasawa Park
two
Red Saddlebags – a male and female in partial wheel flying over the
pond. They flew around attached and the female made a few quick drops to
the water surface just dipping the tip of her abdomen into the water.
Tule
Bluet –20+, many paired up laying eggs underwater
Pacific
Forktail – zero
Common
Green Darner – 2-3
Mosaic
Darner sp. – 3+
Common
Whitetail – 2
Eight-spotted
Skimmer – 3+
Widow
Skimmer – 1-2 males
Western Pondhawk – 2
Blue
Dasher - 6+
Flame
Skimmer - 4
Black
Saddlebags - 6+
Red
Saddlebags – 2
……..
Santa
Clara County
Alvaro
Jaramillo
Half
Moon Bay on the coastal trail
Red Saddlebags
I recall seeing one here before, over 10 years ago, perhaps early October.
Given how much sun we are getting, and the monsoon moisture that has been creeping in from the south recently, maybe it is not so much of a surprise?
…….
Yolo County
Stephan Telm
Yolo Causeway/Bypass:
Black saddlebags
Mosaic darners
Common green darners
Variegated meadowhawks (immature)
Common whitetail
Widow skimmers
…….
Tehama County
Peter Gaede
Forest Lake along the trail to Brokeoff Mountain
in Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Elevation—7,486'.
*Taiga Bluet Coenagrion
resolutum At least 100 observed along the edge of the lake,
this species dominated, at least in terms of numbers CA chart # 112; OC#: 432595
June 29, 2015
San Bernardino County
a small outfall of residential runoff near Eucalyptus Avenue
and Canon Lane, Chino Hills,
Blue Dasher
Neon Skimmer
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Goleta, I made a visit to the pond that has been hosting
Red-tailed Pennants. I had seen at least two last week
Red-tailed Pennants no
fewer than five (four males and a female). I saw a pair briefly in wheel, then
a minute later saw the the female ovipositing. A fish
shot out of the water and probably nabbed her, but pennants can move so fast
that she might have got away.
There were also many
Blue Dashers
Blue-eyed Darners
Common Green Darners
several pairs of Black Saddlebags
Red Saddlebags in
tandem,
Flame Skimmers.
Strangely, I saw only
one bluet.
…….
Lassen County
Peter Gaede
Willow Lake
in the afternoon seemed a bit slow, but I did find and photograph
one
Mountain Emerald at the SE end.
No
sprites, but coverage was mostly limited to the edges of the marsh areas.
Taiga
Bluet— At Forest Lake (Tehama County;
elevation 7,486’) this species dominated, at least in terms of numbers. At
least 100 found at this small pond located along the trail to Brokeoff Mountain in LVNP.
Alkali
Bluet — in addition to the Mountain Meadows area, some were found along the
side of Highway 36 east of Chester where it goes
crosses the northern edge of Lake Almanor in Plumas County.
June 28, 2015
Plumas County
Peter Gaede
Drakesbad
Northern/Boreal Bluet
— 100’s.
Familiar Bluet — a
few.
Vivid Dancer — 20.
W. Red Damsel — 2.
mosaic darner —
several.
BLACK PETALTAIL — 8+ (4
at a bog along the trail to Devil’s Kitchen where seen annually; at least 4
others in the Drakesbad meadow vicinity).
Grappletail — 20+.
Variegated Meadowhawk —
12+.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
— 2.
Four-spotted Skimmer —
4.
June 27, 2015
Sierra County
Don Roberson & Rita Carratello and I enjoyed a long weekend, on a combo birding/odeing/mammal trip.
Sand Pond interpretive trail to Lower Sardine Lake SIE [5800' elev] 9-11 a.m., sunny, warm. Primarily birds/mammals but:
Vivid Dancer 5 (males & females s end of Sand Pond, phs)
Grappletail Octogomphus specularis, photo record,OC#
432321,
CA Chart #29 upgrade from the previous day’s sight record
Chalk-fronted Corporal 1 male at Lower Sardine Lake (phs)
Four-spotted Skimmer 12 or more, widespread, but many males patrolling creek, female ovipositing
…….
Shasta County
Peter Gaede
Kings Creek at Corral Meadows
spreadwing sp. — 1.
*Variable Darner — 1
(in hand).
mosaic darner — 6.
BLACK PETALTAIL — 3+
(seen annually at this location).
Grappletail — 4.
Western River Cruiser — 3.
American Emerald — 1.
…….
San Luis
Obispo County
Kyle
Weichert
Dry wetland basin, Golden Hill Road, Paso Robles
Widow Skimmer
Flame Skimmer
Blue Dasher
Western Pondhawk
…….
? County
Dave Johnson
Wright's
Lake area; Of course, mosquitoes out-numbered
all the dragonflies I observed, by far.
Four-spotted
Skimmers at both Wright's Lake and Dark Lake
1
male Crimson Ringed Whiteface at Dark Lake.
……. ~ this date
Mono County
Kristie Nelson
Mono Lake
Red Saddlebags are going
off here in Mono
County. In a way I don't
think I have ever seen, at least since I've attention to D-flies (generally
2002-ish, maybe some missed years).
Around Crowley
Lake a week or so ago,
there were dozens, easily vying for the most abundant species of large D-fly
present (Blacks in much smaller #s, like in the ballpark of 1:5++ vs. red, very
exciting for at least 1 of my Bird Chautauqua trip participants).
Today, in Mono City there were several RED SADDLEBAGS
flying around (community just north of Lee Vining out
in the sagebrush), and I've been seeing transients coming thought our property
over the last week, which is very unusual.
June 26-28, 2015
Nevada/Sierra Counties
Matthew and Cricket
Dotter
Yuba Pass/Sierra Valley (Sand Pond, Upper Sardine Lake)
Black Saddlebags
Four-spotted Skimmer
Eight-spotted Skimmer
Grappletail Octogomphus specularis (several males
along Sardine Creek) – first Sierra county sight record
again, many Bluets and Dancers we couldn't figure out.
June 26-27, 2015
Mariposa County
Doug Aguillard and BJ Stacey
a meadow east of McGurk Meadow,
long the road that goes to Glacier Point. it was one of the few wet meadows in
the area – the 26th
*Mountain Emeralds Somatochlora semicircularis -flying in good numbers (20-30).
a 4 Spotted Skimmer
a Common Green Darner.
a few Emerald Spreadwings
Siesta Lake – Saturday
2 Crimson-ringed Whiteface
up to 25 Hudsonian Whitefaces, including one female
lots of 4 Spotted Skimmers,
one female 12 Spotted Skimmer.
June 26, 2015
Humboldt County
Tony Kurz
Benbow on the South Fork Eel River
Female Red Rock Skimmer photographed, the 3rd
locale for this species in Humboldt
County fide Sandra
Hunt-von Arb. OC # 432337
…….
Shasta County
Peter Gaede
Sifford Lakes
Northern Spreadwing — 100+.
Northern/Boreal Bluet —
many.
Common Green Darner —
6.
mosaic darner — 8.
*RINGED EMERALD Somatochlora albicincta — 8 (one in hand; photos). 432590
emerald sp. 4.
Four-spotted Skimmer —
3.
Crimson-ringed Whiteface
— 50.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer —
10.
…….
Sierra County
Don Roberson & Rita Carratello
shallow pond/wet meadow just NE of Haven Lake [right across Gold Lake Road from Haven Lake; 7200' elev ] 3-4 p.m., sunny and very hot
Emerald Spreadwing 100+ a major emergence underway, with 99% bright bronze tenerals but 1-2 males (photos)
Western Forktail 3 incl pair in wheel (ph)
Boreal Bluet 10+ males photo'd at close range show appendage of this species (not Northern); all were presumed Boreal here
Common Green Darner 1 male over pond
mosaic darner, sp over pond, not seen well
American Emerald 1 male (ph)
Crimson-ringed Whiteface 6, inc pair in wheel (ph)
Hudsonian Whiteface 2=pair in wheel (ph)
Variegated Meadowhawk 2, m and f (phs)
Band-winged Meadowhawk 1 fem (ph), initially thought to be
Saffron-winged, but Tim Manolis suggests it fits Band-winged better
Four-spotted Skimmer 1 male (ph)
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 4 males (ph)
June 20-25, 2015
Lassen County
Matthew and Cricket
Dotter
t 5 days in Lassen Volcanic NP, followed by 3 days in Yuba
Pass/Sierra Valley, CA. Activity was high in Lassen, and slightly less so in
Yuba Pass, but lots to look at and two lifers for us! Here's the list:
Lassen Volcanic NP Area (Lake Nora, Manzanita Lake, Reflection Lake, Lily Pond
Trail, Kings Creek and Emerald Pond:
Pacific Spiketail (side roads near Lake Nora)
Common Whitetail
Variegated Meadowhawk
Four-spotted Skimmer (everywhere)
Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Reflection Pond)
Widow Skimmer (Reflection Pond)
Chalk-fronted Corporal (Reflection Pond)
Common Green Darner
California Darner (we think, could they have been something else?)
Black Saddlebags
Striped Meadowhawk Sympetrum pallipes (Manzanita
Lake, Lily Pond Trail)
American Emerald a few dozen Paradise Meadow trail, Hat Lake,
Summit Pond)
Hudsonian Whiteface (Kings Creek, MANY)
Crimson-ringed Whiteface (Summit Creek, there were HUNDREDS!!)
Bluets… (too hard for us)
Dancers… (too hard for us)
June 25, 2015
Shasta County
Peter Gaede
Cold Boiling Springs
Lake (Lassen NP)
mosaic darner — 2.
Grappletail — 1.
American Emerald — 6.
emerald sp. —6.
Four-spotted Skimmer —
4.
Crimson-ringed Whiteface — 1000’s (staggering numbers emerging and on the wing over the lake).
*Hudsonian Whiteface Leucorrhinia hudsonica — 1.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
— 1.
…….
Alpine County
Dave Johnson
Indian Creek Reservoir, south side near the shoreline
Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum – OC # 432318
CA Chart #142
Red Saddlebags Tramea onusta OC# 432184
CA Chart #142
…….
Alameda County, approx. this date
Noah Arthur
Oakland, across the street from Washington Park,
near the shoreline
soaring RED SADDLEBAGS -- a saddlebags with deep
red-brown "bags" rather than the usual black or dark grayish-brown of
Black Saddlebags. I was too slow getting the camera out and let it slip away.
…….
Lassen County
Don Roberson
Ash Creek Wildlife Area campground [4800' elev 10:15-11 a.m.sunny & hot, mostly odeing along the creek, where the site lived up to our name for it: "Grappletail City"
California Dancer at least 1 male, presumed not Aztec here [ph]
addition dancers 10 (photos to be reviewed; Vivid has been here in the past)
darner, sp 1
Grappletail 50+ many males on territory over and adjacent to creek, one pair in wheel, 1 fem also seen (many phs)
Great Basin Snaketail 4 males, several patrolling the creek (ph)
Willow Creek Wildlife Area [about 4400' elev; Willow Creek marshland north of Susanville on Hwy 139] 12:30-1:30 p.m. very hot (90 deg plus), sunny
looked along creek where it crossed Hwy 139, and trails along canals in W.A.
Western Forktail 1 m, 20 fem
Pacific Forktail 25 all males
Tule Bluet at least 1 m [i.d. based on photos showing appendages]
additional bluets 100+ [still need to review photos; I've had Alkali here in the past]
Blue-eyed Darner 1 m
meadowhawk, sp 1 red-bodied male in flight
Saffron-winged Meadowhawk 1 fem (ph); this is a regular site for this species; ours was adjacent to creek
Four-spotted Skimmer 2 m
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 80 (mostly males)
.......
Amador County
Jeff Bleam
Silver Lake
American Emerald Cordulia shurtleffii - photo of a female found on Flickr by Hugh Ranson, OC # 432671 CA chart #120, upgrade from Dennis Paulson's previous sight only record
June 24, 2015
Mariposa County
Leslie Flint
Yosemite -in hopes ,of Odes along Glacier Point Road. So disappointed.
Summit Pond, which is off limits anyway, looked beautiful with scads of
windflowers.
The only little pond near the road had one 4-spotted
Skimmer and one American Emerald.
The creek flowing into the meadow was dry.
I hiked out to McGurk Meadow and
along the little creek by the bridge there were
2 American Emeralds,
one 4-spotted Skimmer
dozens of No/Bo Bluets
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
At Goleta
pond. Too bad the first photo isn't in focus--it's hard getting 3 species in
one shot.
The last of the three shows a Red-tailed Pennant,
the best I could do with my point and shoot.
he first county (Santa
Barbara) pennants showed up last July, when there were
at least three males present over several weeks.
Yesterday I saw my first of the year, and today there were
two. I think it's likely they are breeding at the pond.
…….
Siskiyou County
Dave Payne
Klamath River, Gina and I floated from Blue Heron to Rocky Point today.
I counted 27 Western Pond Turtles. We saw kingfishers, a dipper, several
ospreys, four great blue herons, and several families of Common Merganser.
Dragons noted were
American Rubyspot
Common Green Darner
8 spot Skimmer
Vivid Dancer
Great Basin Snaketails
*Sinuous Snaketails Ophiogomphus
occidentis [last
report 2015]
Flame Skimmer
…….
Plumas County
Peter Gaede
Wilson Lake
Emerald Spreadwing —
1.
*Northern Spreadwing Lestes disjunctus — 1000’s (most abundant ode).
Vivid Dancer — some.
Northern/Boreal Bluet —
a few.
Western Forktail — a few.
Common Green Darner —
2.
Pacific Spiketail — 1.
emerald sp. — 1.
Four-spotted Skimmer —
5.
*Chalk-fronted Corporal Ladona julia — 1.
Crimson-ringed Whiteface
— 2.
Dot-tailed Whiteface —
1.
Band-winged (Western) Meadowhawk — 100’s.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer —
50+.
Common Whitetail —1.
Black Saddlebags — 2.
June 22, 2015
Siskiyou County
Dave Payne
Klamath River, Gina and I floated from Tree of Heaven to Gottville today.
We shared the river with a mature Bald Eagle, an osprey, a
wood duck, several common mergansers, and a covey of Mountain Quail.
River Jewelwings, American Rubyspots, Sinuous Snaketails,
one Green Darner, Flame Skimmers, 8 Spot Skimmers, Widow Skimmers, Common
Whitetail, Vivid Dancers, and Emma's Dancers.
31 Western Pond Turtles were sighted on rocks and logs. One
spotted fawn came down to drink at the river's edge. A nice day on the river.
…….
San Luis
Obispo County
Kyle
Weichert
Northeastern San Luis Obispo Co.
Desert Whitetail –
male photographed OC #432137
Flame Skimmer
Blue Dasher
June 21, 2015
Santa Clara County
Leslie Flint
Monte Bello Gate 5 pond and Alpine Pond. I was hoping for some speadwings, but I saw none. Ode numbers were low at both ponds.
The Monte Bello pond had only a few odes but those that I found were mostly in the grasses, so there might have been more.
Flame Skimmer
Cardinal Meadowhawk
8-spotted Skimmer
At Alpine Pond, I had - all fewer than 10 seen but a good variety
Flame Skimmer
Cardinal Meadowhawk
8-Spotted Skimmer
Blue-eyed Darner
Common Green Darner
Blue Dasher
Western Pondhawk
Widow Skimmer
Common Whitetail
Pacific Forktail
No/Bo Bluet
June 18, 2015
Siskiyou County
Dave Payne
Klamath River, on a float from Coon Creek to Ti Bar. Many kingfishers, Common
Merganser chicks, two immature Bald Eagles, two muskrats, ten Western Pond
Turtles,
many Sinuous Snaketails,
several Flame Skimmers (first of the season for me).
…….
Alameda County
Leslie Flint
Sunol Regional Wilderness in It was pretty hot - 80s -
but the creek was quite full. Dragonflies were few in number and I didn't see a
single darner or spreadwing. The most common species
on the creek behind the Visitor's Center were:
Flame Skimmer - 5-10
Cardinal Meadowhawk - 5-10
Sooty Dancer - numerous
American Rubyspot - numerous
Emma's Dancer - numerous
Vivid Dancer - a few
At the "No Swimming Pond" along
the Little Yosemite Trail I found
Red Rock Skimmer- 2
*Bison Snaketail Ophiogomphus bison -
1 [last report 2015]
Arroyo Bluet - 10+
…….
Humboldt County
Scott Burgess
Clear Lake on Horse
Mountain
Cardinal Meadowhawk - photographed
June 17, 2015
San Diego County
Michael
Ouellette
City
of San Diego
back yard pond
Neon Skimmer, Libellula croceipennis – mature male OC#431924
…….
Marin County
Leslie Flint
Lake Lagunitas. Dragonfly numbers were way down but I saw the
following:
Common Whitetail - dozens
Flame Skimmer - dozens
8-spotted Skimmer -dozens
Blue-eyed Darner - 3-5
Blue Dasher 5-10
Western Pondhawk - 2
Arroyo Bluet - dozens
Pacific Forktail - dozens
California Dancer - a few
Vivid Dancer - few
June 16, 2015
San Mateo County
Matthew Dodder
San Fransquito Creek which is the
border between San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Wandering Glider
(bunches)
…
Santa Clara County
Spot-winged Glider (1)
Blue-eyed Darner (2)
Common Green Darner (1)
Flame Skimmer (1)
June 15, 2015
Inyo County
Troy Hibbitts
Inyo Mts, Mazourka Canyon, Barrel Springs
Argia vivida (Vivid Dancer)
- lots
Rhionaeschna multicolor
(Blue-eyed Darner) - lots
* *Stylurus olivaceus
(Olive Clubtail) - 2 females . . . a long
way from the river! [ only report 2015]
Cordulegaster [dorsalis] deserticola (Desert [Pacific] Spiketail) - 4-5
Libellula forensis
(Eight-spotted Skimmer) - 1
Libellula saturata
(Flame Skimmer) - 3-4
Owen’s River at Mazourka Canyon Rd
Argia alberta
(Paiute Dancer) - 2
Rhionaeschna multicolor
(Blue-eyed Darner) – 2
…….
San Diego County
Michael Ouellette
San Diego backyard
Pseudoleon superbus (Filigree Skimmer) I have confirmed breading in California.
I found a teneral female this
morning in my pond. I was able to get some good shots of her and recovered the
exuvia, so there is no doubt. OC# 431955
June 14, 2015
Siskiyou County
Michael and Muriel Plank
Gumboot Lake - Very warm. Upper 80's by 10:00
Boreal Bluet
Western Forktail
Common Green Darner
California Darner
Crimson-ringed Whiteface
Four-spotted Skimmer
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Black Saddlebags
American Emerald
We also hiked up to Upper Gumboot
Lake. We saw the same
dragonflies around the upper lake. More Crimson-ringed Whiteface than
lower lake.
On the paved road just about 1/2 mile past the Gumboot turn
off there is a grassy meadow on the left side of the road.
Vivid Dancer
Pacific Spiketail
…….
Inyo County
Troy Hibbitts
Searched a couple of sites in Deep Springs
Valley, mostly looking
for Desert Spiketails - found:
Antelope Springs
Amphiagrion abbreviatum (Western Red Damsel) - 3
Argia vivida (Vivid Dancer) - lots
Enallagma boreale (Boreal Bluet) - 1
Rhionaeschna multicolor (Blue-eyed Darner) - 1
*CORDULEGASTER [dorsalis] DESERTICOLA (DESERT [Pacific] SPIKETAIL)
– 4-5
Libellula nodisticta (Hoary Skimmer) – 1
Pantala hymenaea (Spot-winged Glider) – 3
Sympetrum sp. (unid Meadowhawk) –
1
Corral Springs, Deep
Springs Lake
Lestes dryas (Emerald Spreadwing) - 1
Amphiagrion abbreviatum (Western Red Damsel) - 3
Argia alberta
(Paiute Dancer) - 10+
Argia vivida (Vivid Dancer) - lots
Ischnura denticollis (Black-fronted Forktail) - 10+
Libellula nodisticta (Hoary Skimmer) - 1
Libellula saturata (Flame Skimmer) - 3
Tramea onusta (Red Saddlebags) – 1
June 13, 2015
Mendocino County
Troy Hibbitts
mostly a travel day, I tried to find ponds with emergent
vegetation for Black Spreadwings, but the only good looking pond that I saw was
POSTED . . . I did find some spreadwings, but I think
that they are Northerns (but need to more carefully
examine my photos).
Brooktrails, Ohl Redwood
Grove 1000-1045
*Lestes disjunctus
(Black Spreadwings - 10+ [last report
2015]
Argia vivida (Vivid
Dancer) - 10+
*Epitheca canis
(Beaverpond Baskettail) - 1 [last report
2015\
Libellula luctuosa
(Widow Skimmer) - 1
Libellula pulchella
(Twelve-spotted Skimmer) - 1
Plathemis lydia (Common Whitetail) -
1
Sympetrum madidum (Red-veined
Meadowhawk) - 1
Mendocino Lake, Ky-en Recreation
Area
Bluet sp - 1
Erythemis collocata (Western Pondhawk) -
1
Libellula forensis (Eight-spotted
Skimmer) - 3-4
Libellula luctuosa (Widow
Skimmer) - 1
Sympetrum madidum
(Red-veined Meadowhawk) - 2
Tramea lacerata (Black
Saddlebags) – 1
…….
Humboldt County
Scott Burgess
Clear Lake on Horse
Mountain
Flame Skimmer - photographed
June 12, 2015
Mendocino County
Troy Hibbitts
Searched Middle Fork of Eel River and Black Butte Creek
pretty much all day - peak activity between 9 and 11 am. Very good ode
numbers.
Hetaerina americana (American Rubyspot) -
4
ARGIA AGROIDES (CALIFORNIA DANCER) - lots
Argia emma (Emma's
Dancer) - lots
Argia lugens (Sooty
Dancer) - lots
Argia vivida (Vivid
Dancer) - 10+
Enallagma annexum (Northern Bluet) -
10+
Ischnura cervula (Pacific
Forktail) - 1
Ischnura perparva (Western Forktail) -
3-4
Anax junius (Common
Green Darner) - 2
Rhionaeschna sp - 1
OPHIOGOMPHUS BISON
(BISON SNAKETAIL) - lots
Progomphus borealis
(Gray Sanddragon) - lots
Macromia magnifica (Western River Cruiser) - lots
Brechmorhoga mendax
(Pale-faced Clubskimmer) - 10+
Erythemis collocata (Western Pondhawk) -
1!
Libellula pulchella
(Twelve-spotted Skimmer) - 1
Libellula saturata (Flame
Skimmer) - lots
Paltothemis lineatipes
(Red Rock Skimmer) - lots
Plathemis lydia
(Common Whitetail) - 1
*Sympetrum pallipes
(Striped Meadowhawk) - 1
Tramea lacerata (Black
Saddlebags) – 2
…….
Sonoma County
Mark Hullinger
Nagasawa was very active today and I saw multiples of the
following:
Black Saddlebags
Blue Dasher
Blue-eyed Darner
Cardinal Meadowhawk
Common Green Darner
Common Whitetail
Eight-spotted Skimmer
Flame Skimmer
Western Pondhawk
Widow Skimmer
June 11, 2015
Siskiyou County
Greg Kareofellas
Klamath River @ Collier’s e rest stop off I-5 (8 miles north of Yreka)
Gomphus kurilis – photographed one eating a damsel
Ophiogomphus occidentis
Rhionaeschna californica
Anax junius
Macromia magnifica
Epitheca canis
Libellula forensis
Plathemis lydia
Libellula saturata
Calopteryx aequabilis
Hetaerina americana
Argia vivida
Plus other damsels I did not ID
…….
Butte County
Troy Hibbitts
Searched Cherry Hill CG area for Black Petaltails
(which were abundant) . . . after lunch, decided to go across the valley to
look for Bison Snaketails. Picked a spot on the Eel River
in Mendocino Co . . . what looked like the most direct route turned out to be
almost a jeep road over the mountains.
Cherry Hill CG
Amphiagrion abbreviatum
(Western Red Damsel) - 4-5
Argia emma (Emma's
Dancer) - 4-5
Argia vivida (Vivid
Dancer) - lots
Ischnura cervula (Pacific
Forktail) - 1
Tanypteryx hageni
(Black Petaltail) - lots and lots
Cordulegaster dorsalis
(Pacific Spiketail) - 2
Libellula nodisticta
(Hoary Skimmer) - 10+
Sympetrum illotum
(Cardinal Meadowhawk) - 1
Mendocino County
Mendocino NF, on FR M4, 2.3 mi N jct FR FH7
1847 hrs
Tanypteryx hageni (Black Petaltail) 1 female (there were
several others seen along this road, but this was only one that landed where I
could photo)
Mendocino NF, Eel River CG at confluence of Middle Fork of Eel River
and Black Butte Creek - 1940-2100 hrs
Argia emma (Emma's
Dancer) - 10+
Macromia magnifica (Western River Cruiser) - 1
Ophiogomphus bison
(Bison Snaketail) – 1
Tanypteryx hageni (Black Petaltail) – 1 female 437256
June 10, 2015
Lassen County
Troy Hibbitts
Hat Creek to look for O.bison
. . . overcast morning . . . stopped at Pit River
on way. Hat Creek was VERY disappointing - beautiful creek, but very cold
water . . . virtually no odes flying . . . "punted" and dropped
elevation to search a stream near Shingletown (with landowner permission) -
better for herps than odes.
CA: Shasta Co; Pit River
at CA 299
Hetaerina americana (American Rubyspot) -
5
Argia emma (Emma's
Dancer) - lots
Argia vivida (Vivid
Dancer) - lots
Enallagma carunculatum
(Tule Bluet) - lots
Ischnura cervula
(Pacific Forktail) - 2
Rhionaeschna sp - 2
CA: Shasta Co; Lassen
NF, Hat Creek - Bridge Picnic
Area
NoBo Bluet - 1
Ischnura perparva (Western Forktail) -
1
CA: Shasta Co; Lassen
NF, Hat Creek - Old Station
Picnic Area
Bluet sp - 1
Rhionaeschna sp - 1
CA: Shasta Co; north of Shingletown on Ponderosa Rd
Argia emma (Emma's
Dancer) - 3-4
Argia vivida (Vivid
Dancer) - lots
Octogomphus specularis
(Grappletail) - lots
Cordulegaster dorsalis
(Pacific Spiketail) - 4
June 9, 2015
Lassen County
Troy Hibbitts
Ash Creek, Ash Creek CG - from about 0800-1400 hrs (rained
about 2:30)
Beautiful Clearwater
stream through Ponderosa Pine forest - lots and lots of odes, particularly clubtails
Calopteryx aequabilis
(River Jewelwing) - lots
Hetaerina americana (American Rubyspot) -
lots
Argia vivida (Vivid
Dancer) - lots
*Enallagma anna (River
Bluet) - lots
Ischnura cervula
(Pacific Forktail) - lots
Ischnura perparva (Western Forktail)
- 2
Rhionaeschna californica
(California
Darner) - lots
Gomphus kurilis
(Pacific Clubtail) - 10+
Octogomphus specularis
(Grappletail) - lots
*Ophiogomphus morrisoni
(Great Basin Snaketail) - lots
Cordulegaster dorsalis
(Pacific Spiketail) - 2
Libellula forensis
(Eight-spotted Skimmer) - 10+
Libellula pulchella
(Twelve-spotted Skimmer) - 3-4
Libellula quadrimaculata
(Four-spotted Skimmer) - 2
Libellula saturata
(Flame Skimmer) - 1
Plathemis lydia (Common Whitetail) -
2
Sympetrum illotum
(Cardinal Meadowhawk) - 10+
June 8, 2015
Siskiyou County
Dave Payne with
Liz, Paul, and Gina
Klamath River - Floated from
Ferry Point to Coon Creek.
River Jewelwings –
many
…….
Lassen County
Troy Hibbitts
Willow Creek Wildlife Area on CA 139 - 1710-1750 hrs
unid Bluets - lots
Ischnura cevula (Pacific Forktail) -
lots
Anax junius (Common
Green Darner) - 10+
RHIONAESCHNA CALIFORNICA
(CALIFORNIA
DARNER) - lots
Rhionaeschna multicolor (Blue-eyed
Darner) - lots
Erythemis collocata (Western Pondhawk) -
1
Libellula forensis
(Eight-spotted Skimmer) - 3-4
Sympetrum corruptum
(Variegated Meadowhawk) - 3-4
June 7, 2015
Sonoma County
Kathy & Dave Biggs, David Hofmann, Leslie Flint
The Cedars, above Cazadero – we went on a quest to see if the Black Petaltail still was breeding there as none had been reported for several years.
This is not public property and we had to secure permission to get in. Despite getting lost on the dirt 4-WD roads, we eventually made it to the area where they had been found before.
Temps ranged from 74-89 with a light breeze. Our report:
IN The Cedars:
Emma's Dancer?? - photographed by David
Vivid Dancer - some
Sooty Dancer - many
*BLACK PETALTAIL Tanypteryx hageni - 1 female (seen &
photographed by David Hoffmann & Leslie)
Darner sp. - 1 as we drove in
Bison Snaketail - 5-7, inc. 1 female
Pacific Spiketail - 1 (seen by Kathy)
Red Rock Skimmers - David saw a male and Dave saw a female
Flame Skimmer - 3 (2m+1f seen by Dave)
At Bette Campbell's
Pacific Forktail
Bluet sp.
12-spotted Skimmer - possibly this species
Flame Skimmer - several
Common Whitetail - many
Blue Dasher - 1+
CA/Blue-eyed Darner - 1
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
I spent a couple of hours along the middle Santa Ynez
River.. Temps ranged from 85-93 degrees.
*California
Spreadwing Archilestes californicus three - a real
surprise (two males and a female). A male was at the pool at Falls day use
area, and a male and female were at the upper pool at Live oak day use area.
This is an early county date by twelve days
Flame Skimmer (25)
Red Rock Skimmer (1)
Cardinal Meadowhawk
(1)
Giant Darner (1)
Common Green Darner
(1)
Blue Dasher (1)
Arroyo Bluet
Northern Bluet (c. 100 Bluets)
Desert Firetail (2)
Pacific Forktail (1)
Black-fronted Forktail
(2)
California Dancer (15). I didn't
go to Upper Oso
where the Lavender Dancers lurk.
…….
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Preserve; Dos Palmas and Felger
Oases and Fish Ponds; Elev. -100’ to -240’; 7:00-11:35, 77-98F,
cloudless, calm to light breeze SE.
Powdered Dancer, Argia moesta 1
Blue-ringed Dancer, A. sedula 7
Desert Forktail, Ischnura barberi 6
Citrine Forktail, I.
hastata 1
Rambur’s Forktail, I.
ramburii 13
Common Green Darner, Anax junius 4
Red-tailed Pennant, Brachymesia furcata 14
Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata >50
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis >50
Comanche Skimmer, Libellula comanche 24
Bleached Skimmer, L. composita 2
Widow Skimmer, L. luctuosa 3
Flame Skimmer, L. saturata 11 including one ovipositing female.
Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea 7
Marl Pennant, Macrodiplax balteata >50 including 3 tandem ovipositing pairs.
Black Saddlebags, Tramea lacerata 13 including one tandem ovipositing pair.
Red Saddlebags, T. onusta 15 including one tandem ovipositing pair.
Wandering Glider, Pantala flavescens 11
…….
Los
Angeles County
Bruce Aird
along the creek coming down from Mt Baldy in extreme
eastern LA County
Pacific Spiketail (Cordulegaster dorsalis). I first found a female ovipositing (photographed), and
then we later had a second fly-by of unknown gender. OC# 431439
Grappletails (Octogomphus specularis). All I got photos of were males, but I had at least four of
them. OC# 431440
Two spectacular life odes on a 1/4-mile stretch of one creek!
Very nice!
…..
Siskiyou County
Michael and Muriel Plank
Gumboot Lake -Very warm. Upper 80's by 10:00
Boreal Bluet
Western Forktail
Common Green Darner
Crimson-ringed Whiteface
Four-spotted Skimmer
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Black Saddlebags
…….
Glenn County
Greg
Kareofellas and Christine Melvin
Pantala flavescens
Wandering Glider a specimen upgrades a sight only record, CA
Chart #28 OC# 432803
June 6, 2015
Sonoma County
Mark Hullinger
Quarry Hill Botanical Garden
Flame Skimmer – many
Cardinal Meadowhawk
Blue Dasher –
many
Widow Skimmer
Common Whitetail -
8-spotted Skimmer - 1
Black Saddlebags -
two weeks ago there was a Beaverpond baskettail
June 4, 2015
Santa Clara County
Leslie Flint
Alum Rock Park (San Jose) looking for
butterflies. The most wonderful thing was that there was a swarm of
#Wandering Gliders,
Common Green Darners and
Blue-eyed Darners
right above me at my favorite butterfly
June 3, 2015
Riverside County
Chris Rasmussen
Moreno Valley
#I was walking in the old olive grove behind my parents
house and ran across
*Pale-faced Clubskimmers Brechmorhoga mendax, a half dozen
Red Rock Skimmers
male/female
Flame Skimmers.
male/female Not a drop of water anywhere close. Interesting movement of odes.
June 2, 2015
Sonoma County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Bigsnest Pond, their Sebastopol backyard
Flame Skimmer – a few males
Cardinal Meadowhawk – several, ovipositing
Blue Dasher – a
male
California Darner – a male
Common Green Darner
– none at the pond today, but several have emerged in the last week
Pacific Forktail
Western Forktail
June 1, 2015
Santa Clara County
Leslie Flint
Ogier Ponds - Dozens of the following:
Flame Skimmer
Widow Skimmer
Common Whitetail
8-spotted Skimmer
Variegated Meadowhawk
Black Saddlebags
Common Green Darner
Blue Dasher
Blue-eyed Darner - a few
And what I believe was a Western River Cruiser (Steve Rottenborn confirms they occur there near Coyote Creek) - definitely black and yellow banded with enlarged end of abdomen
…….
Siskiyou County
Dave Payne
Klamath River - floated from Portuguese Creek to Seattle Creek today with Gina.
Saw two bald eagles, an active eagle's nest, two river otters, an osprey nest or two, and several western pond turtles.
River Jewelwing were common, with several pairs in wheel.
May
May 31, 2015
Alameda County
Coyote Hills - in hopes of finding Red Saddlebags reported
last week by Robin Agarwal (first county record). I
arrived about 11:30 and went to the boardwalk where Robin had seen them.
It was mid-60s and blowing a gale. I saw nothing. So I
decided to go to the Nectar
Garden to photograph
butterflies. Around 2:00 I made the circuit again around the marsh - it was a
bit sunnier but still windy –
I saw only Variegated Meadowhawks (clinging to the ground) and one darner sp. So I
disappointedly went back to the Nectar
Garden - as I crossed
under the arbor I noticed a dragonfly above me.
It settled into the foliage
about 10' up and it was a RED SADDLEBAGS. I couldn't have been more
surprised! It sat and then moved and sat again for about 5 minutes - enough for
a photo.
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Nick Lethaby, Peter Gaede, and
Hugh Ranson
Los Padres National Forest-Manzana
Creek near Nira Campground, and a tributary next to
Davy Brown Campground. The highlight was the discovery of
4 Grappletails, a tough
species to find in SB County; it was a lifer for me. Other odes included OC# 431422
Red Rock Skimmer
Desert Firetail
Sooty Dancer
California Dancer
Lavender Dancer Argia hinei
May 29, 2015
Plumas County
Ron LeValley
Lakes Basin Camp Ground
Four-spotted Skimmer –
many
American Emerald – a
female photographed
Grappletail – a female
photographed
…….
Lassen County
Wayne Steffes
Summit Lake
*Crimson-ringed Whiteface Leucorrhinia glacialis – 100s, ties old earliest date, Photo of a teneral female
May 25, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy Biggs, Nancy Bauer
Dragonfly Roost backyard pond, Mt. Shasta Forest, McCloud
Twelve-spotted Skimmer – 1 male, 1 female solo ovipositing, 3 females emerged
1 other small skimmer type nymph walked about the beach and then returned to the pond!
California Darner – 1 male
Forktail – one exuvia found
May 24, 2015
Alameda County
iNaturalist submission - Robin Agarwal
Coyote Hills Regional Park
Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta) submitted to iNaturalist -: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1540060 [upgrade from sight only record] CA Chart #141, OC # 431022
May 21, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy Biggs, Nancy Bauer
Soda Springs on Squaw Creek, McCloud, ~ noon (Kathy
didn’t have sunglasses or binoculars, so just a short time there)
Western Red Damsel - 1 male
Western Forktail - some
Swift Forktail - a few males noted
California Darner - a few
12-spotted Skimmer - some
Common Whitetail - true to their name, common!! At least 6
Cardinal Meadowhawk – some
May 17, 2015
Imperial County
BJ Stacey
* *Double-striped Bluets Enallagma basidens [ONLY report
2015]
May 19, 2015
San Diego County
Michael Ouellette
Mission Trails Regional Park
in the City of San Diego
Filigree Skimmer, Pseudoleon superbus – two females
Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata – one female
May 16, 2015
Stanislaus County
Leslie Flint
Adobe Springs - In all the years I have driven down that
road (Del Puerto Canyon) I have never stopped at this spot. The open area of
the creek is pretty small but there were lots of Odes.
Grappletail
male and female Red Rock Skimmer (in wheel and then
the female ovipositing in the creek- loved it).
Two Flame Skimmers
several American Rubyspots
lots of Vivid Dancers and bluets
May 16, 2015
San Joaquin County
Bob Stahmer
Lodi, along the Mokelumne River in the Lodi Lake Nature Area
Emma’s Dancer Argia emma – a male colored female, photo taken CA Chart #140, OC #tbd
Western Pondhawk - male and female
May 15, 2015
SonomaCounty
Alan Wight
Nagasawa Park, Santa Rosa
The big highlight was a male Red Saddlebags that
made several passes as I stood on the edge of the pond. It was flying
over the water along the first dam reached by taking the trail over the hill
from the parking lot. The large red saddlebags on the hindwings stood out
immediately. Its overall size was a little smaller than the male Flame
Skimmers that it was flying near. It was red with a bit of a pink cast
and without the orange color of the Flame Skimmers. The eyes and face
were red. It unfortunately didn’t hang around long so I didn’t see more
than what I’ve described.
Tule Bluet - many
Pacific Forktail –
many
Darner sp. – 3+
Blue Dasher – 4
Red Saddlebags – 1
male [first reappearance in the county in ~ a decade – kb]
…….
San Joaquin County
Bob Strahmer
Lodi Lake
Nature Area
Emma’s Dancer Argia emma CA Chart #140 OC #431215
May 10, 2015
Siskiyou County
Kathy & Dave Biggs, Celise Sharp & Dennis Ball
Shasta River @ Hudson Rd, 8 miles north of Yreka; 83F,
light high overcast, light breeze; 12:30-4:00
Celise and Kathy told their husbands that all they wanted
for Mother’s Day was Jewels…..River Jewelwings! And they delivered.
*River Jewelwing Calopteryx aequabilis - about three dozen, but we sat and had them displaying
behaviors right in front of us:
- males in territorial disputes – holding their wings to
make “X”es (I always think of the X-wing
fighter ‘jets’ in Star Wars movies)
- males doing ‘canoeing’ – they float on the water surface
and then lift off – after 10 yrs of visiting this site, we had never witnessed
this display before
- males dancing just inches away from a female (one guy
danced behind two females and both females accepted him by briefly opening her
wings, while another guy danced in front, and was also accepted)
- copulation (timed at 2 mins for
one, and 2+min for another)
- ovipositing with male guarding by perching nearby and
flying out to thwart any other male; after 20 mins,
the female submerged, he stayed 10 mins. continuing
to guard her, but then was completely distracted by another female, who he
again danced behind and was accepted. Celise ended up ‘rescuing’ the submerged
female as we were leaving and were afraid that she wouldn’t be able to break
the water tension when she attempted to get out.
American Rubyspot –
only about 6 seen, inc. at least one female
Emma’s Dancer –
dozens, mostly females
Vivid Dancer - few, as
usual at this site, they were mostly seen along the road, not at the water
No/Bo Bluet – a few
males at the water
Western Forktail - ~12, mostly pruinose females, 1 mature male seen
California Darner – 3-6 males
seen cruising the shoreline, 2 in-hand
Pacific Clubtail –
many, all over the place, and as has been noted before, those perched on the
road would let you almost touch them before they flew off!!
Beaverpond Baskettail
- ~3 cruising midstream
…….
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Preserve; Dos Palmas Oases and Fish Ponds; Elev.
-100’ to -240’; 7:00-11:50, 68-88F, cloudless, calm to light breeze S.
Blue-ringed Dancer, Argia sedula 4
Desert Forktail, Ischnura barberi 4
Rambur’s Forktail, I.
ramburii 8
Common Green Darner, Anax junius 11 including one tandem ovipositing pair.
Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum 1
Red-tailed Pennant, Brachymesia furcata 3
Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata >45
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis >40
*Comanche Skimmer, Libellula comanche 3
*Bleached Skimmer, L. composita 9 including two tandem pairs.
Flame Skimmer, L. saturata 9
Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea! 3
*Marl Pennant, Macrodiplax balteata >20
Black Saddlebags, Tramea lacerata 5 including one tandem pair.
Red Saddlebags, T. onusta 1
Wandering Glider, Pantala flavescens 7 including one female ovipositing.
Spot-winged Glider, P. hymenaea 1
…….
Shasta County
Michael & Muriel Plank
a little pond/tule spot in
the road off of highway 44 on Ponderosa and Withrow
Roads below Shingletown. Thanks to Ray Bruun for turning us on to this place a
few years ago.
*Hoary Skimmer Libellula nodisticta - quite a few flying and landing. Male and female.
Lake McCumber above Shingletown
Beaverpond Baskettails,
American Emerald,
Four-spotted Skimmers,
Dot-tailed Whiteface,
Pacific Forktail,
Northern Bluet,
Tule Bluets.
May 9, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
I spent a couple of hours along the middle Santa Ynez River
along Paradise Road.
Temps were quite cool--67-69 degrees, but there were still quite a few odes
around. I photographed a meadowhawk at Live Oak Day
Use Area
Red-veined Meadowhawk (1),
only the second for Santa Barbara
County. The first was on Santa Cruz Island in 1983.
Giant Darner (2),
Common Green Darner
(1),
Red Rock Skimmer (5),
Flame Skimmer (7),
Cardinal Meadowhawk
(8),
California Dancer (5),
Vivid Dancer (20),
*Lavender Dancer Argia
hinei (4--my FOS--photo attached),
Western Forktail (1),
Northern Bluet (15)
…….
Stanislaus County
Matthew Dodder
Del Puerto Canyon… 12 species of Odes. The grassy hills close to Hwy 5 and the new cherry orchards had Wandering Glider, while he rocky creek sections further west had various Darners, Skimmers and Whitetails.
The most interesting area was Adobe Springs where we had 2 Grappletail, 1 Pacific Spiketail, 3 Red Rock Skimmers, about a dozen American Rubyspots, and many Vivid Dancers. Additionally, the Butterflies were numerous, but that's another list...
Wandering Glider
Common Green Darner
California Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
Common Whitetail
Flame Skimmer
Red Rock Skimmer
Grappletail
*Pacific Spiketail Cordulegaster dorsalis
Vivid Dancer
American Rubyspot
…….
Humboldt County
Sandra Hunt-von Arb
Korbel Ponds (Private)
Red-veined Meadowhawk (Sympetrum madidum), Still have lots emerging, but I'm finally finding some that are fully colored up. I found all the adult males on the gravel road while all the adult
cardinal meadowhawks (Sympetrum illotum) were perched on vegetation.
May 8, 2015
Sonoma County
Alan Wight
Nagasawa Park in Santa Rosa
Black Spreadwing – 5
Vivid Dancer – 1
Tule Bluet – several
Pacific Forktail –
several
California Darner – 2
Darner sp. – several
Beaverpond Baskettail –
1
Western Pondhawk – 1
Eight-spotted Skimmer
– several
Flame Skimmer –
several
Blue Dasher – 3
Common Whitetail – 1,
male, first of year
Cardinal Meadowhawk –
4
Black Saddlebags – 1,
first of year, early
May 7, 2015
Colusa County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Bear Creek @ Hwy 20, 2-2:30, 68F with gusty winds
We were disappointed to not see as many species as were
seen on the 3rd
We accessed the area approached from under the bridge &
at ~1/4 mile as seen from the road.
Northern/Boreal Bluet ~12
Tule Bluet – 1 male by
the cattle chute
California/Aztec Dancer ~12
Pacific Forktail – 1
female under the bridge (the bunny is still living under the bridge!!)
Western River Cruiser -1
NO darners
NO Clubtails
Western Pondhawk -1 male by the beaver dam
but the best was the “also seen” – a male Lawrence’s
Goldfinch drinking from the creek, and the Mariposa and other lilies were
blooming.
May 6, 2015
Siskiyou County
Dave Payne
Shasta River @ Hudson Rd,
8 miles north of Yreka
*River Jewelwings Calopteryx aequabilis - about three dozen today
Pacific Clubtail, many
Vivid Dancers
May 4, 2015
Santa Clara County
Leslie Flint
Ogier Ponds
a Beaverpond Baskettail. I was looking for
them in the usual places there and didn't see any, until I must have scared one
from a perch because it flew right over me and then disappeared
many Flame Skimmer
8-spotted Skimmers
1 Blue Dasher
5-10 Widow Skimmers (my first for the season and I
think the females are just too beautiful).
Several Blue-eyed Darners but no Common Green
Darners (!)
several Cardinal Meadowhawks
2 Variegated Meadowhawks
1 Pacific Clubtail which I found by walking through
the grasses away from the ponds.
The only damsels saw were California Dancers and
there were dozens all along the trails.
…….
Marin County
Allen Fish
Marin Headlands
A female darner was photographed being eaten by a
Black Phoebe!...wings and all.
…….
Shasta County
Michael Plank
a trail along Clear Creek in south Redding. Saw my first of season
Sinuous Snaketail 1
Sooty Dancer 1
*Band-winged Meadowhawk Sympetrum semicinctum 1
May 3, 2015
San Diego County
Santee Lakes
Filigree Skimmer –
female photographed, this is a 2nd from this site today, with the other being
darker and possibly a male
Red Saddlebags – male
photographed
…….
Colusa County
Steve Rottenborn
Bear Creek, I looked along a 100-m reach of creek about 0.7
mi south of Highway 20 from 13:45 to 15:00.
I was hoping to find Giant Darner but did not see that
species (nor, surprisingly given the abundance of odonates in general, any
Common Green or Blue-eyed Darners either). Still, odonates were
plentiful:
*White-belted Ringtail Erpetogomphus compositus 1
Western River Cruiser 30+
California Darner 40
Pacific Clubtail 125+
Cardinal Meadowhawk 1
Flame Skimmer 150
Red Rock Skimmer 1
Common Whitetail 15
Northern/Boreal Bluet 100s
California/Aztec Dancer 20
Western Forktail 50
…….
Solano County
Leslie Flint
Lake Solano County Park had lots more dragonflies today than last week when I was
there.
at least six 8-spotted Skimmers
4 Cardinal Meadowhawks
1 Common Whitetail
several Western Pondhawks
a few Blue Dashers.
The children's fishing pond there is very low so the Odes
were concentrated in a small space and hard to be sure of the count and even
more difficult to get close to them. I could see
bluets on the water.
*Exclamation Damsels
Zoniagrion exclamationis. [last
report 2015!]
In Mix
Canyon I was re ally
excited to see
one Grappletail sitting on a rock in the creek below
me.
Darners on the road in
several places, but it was difficult to determine what exactly they were
May 2, 2015
Yolo County
Stephan Telm
California Raptor Center's
Open House. It id located right by Putah creek, so i
checked it out afterwards; Upper 80s, light breeze, 14:00-14:15
1 Common green darner
1 Black saddlebags
1 *Widow skimmer Libellula luctuosa
(immature male)
No/Bo bluets - dozens
Vivid dancer - dozens
1 American rubyspot (male)
…….
Santa Clara County
Matthew Dodder
While leading a birding tour of Sanborne Park, we explored Lake Ranch Reservoir.
Common Green Darner
California Darner
Common Whitetail
Cardinal Meadowhawk.
I fully expected to see Flame Skimmer here, but did not. Instead, there was what I believe to be a RED SADDLEBAGS. It was considerably larger than the Cardinal Meadowhawk, and it's hind wings were generously, but very sharply, marked with dark red areas at their base, but otherwise clear, the abdomen was dark red.
The pointed abdomen appeared short, like Black Saddlebags, but perhaps slightly longer. I cannot reconcile these field marks with any other more common species, but am happy to consider alternatives. We did not get photographs.
…….
Inyo County
Ron and Barbara Oriti
along a rocky creek near the Keough
Hot Springs a few miles south of Bishop.
Red Rock Skimmer Paltothemis lineatipes - no less than six males and one female ovipositing.
CA chart #100 (photo record), OC # tbd
Eight-spotted Skimmers -
our first of year
*Gray Sanddragon Progomphus
borealis – first of the year
Mono County
Fish Slough
Four-spotted Skimmers
our first of the year
…….
Sonoma County
Jackie Sones
Pine Flat Road
*Western
River Cruiser Macromia
magnifica - photo of a male
Grappletails (Octogomphus specularis) - photo of a male
…….
Modoc County
Steve Rottenborn
Seyferth’s Hot Spring, in Surprise Valley
northeast of Cedarville:
Variegated Meadowhawk 1
Western Pondhawk 8
Paiute Dancer 5
Western Forktail 6
Pacific Forktail 2
May 1, 2015
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
The Living Desert, Palm
Desert; 33.7001825N,
-116.37313929W; 11:00; 100F, high cirrus, calm air.
Filigree Skimmer, Pseudoleon superbus 1 male
…….
Modoc County
Steve Rottenborn
Modoc National Wildlife Refuge:As
nighttime temperatures are still in the 30s or even upper 20s F in much of
eastern Modoc County, odonate numbers and diversity
were still low.,
Common Green Darner <100
California Darner 5
Variegated Meadowhawk <100
Western Forktail <20
Three Springs Ranch, southwest side of Goose Lake:
*Western Red Damsel Amphiagrion abbreviatum 100+
Western Forktail 15
April
April 30, 2015
Sonoma County
Len Blumin
2 hours (10-noon) at Lake Nagasawa Checked the swale on the
left as you approach the main boat launch lot. It's downhill from the white
fire hydrant. Thick grass in this moist low spot. First survey yielded a single
Black Spreadwing. Returning at bit later I was rewarded with a pair in
tandem who stayed long enough for some digiscoped shots. The lake itself had
good numbers of male odes, including
dozens of 8-spotted Skimmers
10 or more Flame Skimmers
8-10 Blue Dashers
4-5 Western Pondhawks
(including one female)
at least one Pacific Forktail male
3-4 Cardinal Meadowhawks
3 species of damsels, with Western Forktail
the most common
a Blue-eyed Darner
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Exactly one year to the day after Santa
Barbara County's
first Roseate Skimmer was recorded at a Goleta pond, a PAIR showed up at the same
location. The female was ovipositing, with the male buzzing intently around
her.
She disappeared after a few minutes, but the male stuck
around and put on quite a show. I haven't seen female Roseate before, and the pics are pretty awful--but I can't think what else it could
be.
Also present was a Common Whitetail, only the third
for the site. Intriguing was a bright green dragonfly that flew past me and
didn't stop. My gut reaction was that it was on the large side--Great Pondhawk?
Or perhaps I was just getting giddy.
April 28, 2015
Shasta County
Ray Bruun
On my noontime walk today, in Redding
**Neon Skimmer Libellula croceipennis – a male Got an
ID shot (barely) with my iPhone, then went back to
the office for the bug camera. Those pictures turned out better:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bruunphoto/
[Old early date was 5/24/2011!]
…….
El Dorado County
Dave Johnson
Serrano Parkway Nature
Area in El Dorado Hills, after I crossed Silva Parkway I checked the small creek
that flows north to south and saw
a few Vivid Dancers
*Black-fronted
Forktails Ischnura denticollis, at least 50 - a lifer ode,
and in order to get the photos that I wanted I had to get down on my belly,
often in dampish soil, to get down to their level.
Unfortunately, the area
that I located these small forktails in has had much
of the vegetation removed, probably by the Serrano Parkway Nature Area
maintenance staff.
April 27, 2015
Solano County
Leslie Flint
Lake Solano County Park (Putah Creek). It was quite hot but very windy.
1 Common Whitetail (I took one photo and then a
Black Phoebe snatched it!),
2 Cardinal Meadowhawks
1 Western Pondhawk.
Tule and Arroyo Bluets
(photo here actually shows the appendages)
Exclamation Damsels -
all in large numbers. The Exclamation Damsel I photographed would be confusing
if I had never seen them before pretending to be a spreadwing!
……..
Riverside County
Jennifer Tobin
Palo Verde Ecological Reserve
*Great Pondhawk Erythemis vesiculosa OC# 430701
[last report 2015]
Photographed along the edge of a grove of trees which it
was flying back and forth along, perching occasionally. I got the impression
there may have been more than one of this species, as I saw the one I
photographed fly off quickly west down the road and then just after ran into
another heading west as I walked back east.
April 26, 2015
Shasta County
Ray Bruun
near Viola
one immature Bison Snaketail Ophiogomphus bison
a 12-spotted Skimmer Libellula pulchella
un-IDed meadowhawk
…….
San Diego County
Doug Aguillard
near Potrero
female *Mexican Amberwing Perithemis intensa
April 25, 2015
Marin County
Sandra Hunt-von Arb
Five Brooks, Pt. Reyes NP
Great group of folks came to the dragonfly tour at the
Point Reyes Bird Festival.
We had a classroom session and then headed to Five Brooks
pond where we found
-Pacific forktail - many
*-Boreal bluets Enallagma boreale- many
(some in hand)
-Arroyo bluets - few
-Cardinal Meadowhawk - dozens
-Western Pondhawk - dozens, all female, most
teneral
-Blue dasher, one young male
-California Darner – dozens
Every species was seen in hand (my net was possessed by a
dragon god or something).
…….
Sonoma County
Jackie Sones
The Cedars
Bison Snaketail
April 24, 2015
San Mateo County
Leslie Flint
Clarkia Trail at Edgewood.
I was looking for birds and butterflies, but found two dragonflies:
Variegated Meadowhawk
Red-veined Meadowhawk
(first for me this year).
…….
Sacramento County
Dave Johnson
pond off Illinois
Avenue at Sailor Bar, American River Parkway
Blue-eyed Darner (1),
Common Green Darner (4
including one mating pair),
Pacific Clubtail,
Common Whitetail (4),
Flame Skimmer (4),
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
(1),
Variegated Meadowhawk
(1),
Blue Dasher (1)
Black Saddlebags (1, a
female ovipositing in floating vegetation).
Arroyo Bluet (6),
Tule Bluet (8),
California Dancer (2)
Vivid Dancer (6).
Although the level of the pond
is down about 2-3 feet from where it was last year because of the 4th year of
drought, there is still some vegetation growing near the edge of the pond to
allow for perching position
…….
Los
Angeles County
Robb Hamilton
Rio Hondo in Rosemead
Vivid Dancer
April 22, 2015
Humboldt County
Van Duzen River
Tony Westkamper
Pacific clubtail
…….
Placer County
Dave Johnson
Miner's Ravine Nature Preserve
20 Vivid Dancers,
1 female Exclamation Damsel (first one I've ever
seen here),
2 Common Whitetails (1 adult male and 1 immature
male)
8 Pacific Clubtails including one mating pair
…….
Alameda County
Leslie Flint
Sunol RP. It got sunny around noon and things began
to appear. Here's my list:
Exclamation Damsel -
many
Tule Bluet - a few
teneral but no adults seen
Vivid Dancer -
abundant on all the trails
American Rubyspot -
5-10
Pacific Forktail - 2
Cardinal Meadowhawk -
2
California Darner - 1
Blue-eyed Darner -
several patrolling the fields
Red Rock Skimmer - 6
in two locations
Pacific Clubtail - 4
in two locations
…….
Shasta County
Michael Plank
Coleman Wildlife Area this evening and saw
ten or more Pacific Clubtail,
One Male Grappletail,
California Darner,
Pacific Forktail,
Vivid Dancer. Nice to
be out seeing the new year unfolding.
…….
Contra Costa County
Had a female Red Rock Skimmer in my yard
today.
As far as I know the only regular spot for them in the
county is Donner and Mitchell Canyons on Mount
Diablo which is over 12
miles away.
April 21, 2015
Sacramento County
Dave Johnson
William Pond Rec Area, American River Parkway
Exclamation Damsel
April 19, 2015
Shasta County
John Plank & wife
Darrah Springs Fish Hatchery, East of Redding (for our April
Grappletail hunt).
*Grappletail Octogomphus specularis – five, 3 male and 2 female
Cardinal Meadowhawks -
more than we have ever seen there.
Grace Lake near Shingletown
Swift Forktail
Pacific Forktai
Vivid Dancers
California Darner
April 19, 2015
Mono County
Ron & Baraba Oriti
Fish Slough
We photographed our first
Desert Whitetails of the season......two
young males. So good to see them!
**Desert Whitetails Plathemis subornata [old early date 4/22/2008] Ron actually saw
one yesterday, but didn't get a picture.
Western Pondhawk
Week of April 12-18, 2015
Sonoma County
Alan Wight
Nagasawa Park, Santa Rosa
April 15, 2015, I saw:
Black Spreadwing – 8
Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum – several
Pacific Forktail -
several
Flame Skimmer – 3,
first of year
Cardinal Meadowhawk – 2
Eight-spotted Skimmer –
2
Western Pondhawk – 2, 1 male, 1 female
Darner sp. – 4
Beaverpond Baskettail –
3
On April 17, 2015, I saw:
Pacific Forktail –
many
Bluet sp. – a few
Cardinal Meadowhawk – 3+
Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis – 8+
Flame Skimmer – 4
Western Pondhawk – 1, female
Darner sp. – 2
Pacific Clubtail – 2,
first of year
Beaverpond Baskettail – 1
…
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Bigsnest Pond, Sebastopol
Vivid Dancer – one
seen on the 15th
Pacific Forktail – a
few
Western Forktail – a few
Exclamation Damsel – 1
seen several of the days this week
California Darner – a few
Blue-eyed Darner – a
male showed up on the 16th
Cardinal Meadowhawk –
6 or more, lots of ovipositing and emerging
Eight-spotted Skimmer –
1 male seen on 2 different days
Flame Skimmer – 1 male
showed up on the 17
April 17, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
I ventured into the Los Padres National Forest) to look for dragonflies
along Manzana Creek upcreek
from Nira campground, an area that, to my knowledge,
has not been surveyed before.
(Nick Lethaby has oded downcreek).
The creek was, to my surprise, flowing strongly, and there
were lots of odes out. I did not, however, see my target
species--Grappletail--though the habitat looked good.
I walked in the creek bed for over 3 hours, and Red-rock
Skimmers were my constant companion. My conservative estimate is 150
individuals, all males except for 3. I even saw one hanging up (see photo).
Desert Firetail (4)
*Sooty Dancer Argia lugens (2). These are also county early dates.
American Rubyspot (1)
Pacific Forktail (1)
Black-fronted Forktail (2)
California Dancer (15)
Vivid Dancer (30)
Bluets (100+--the 2 I netted were Northern Bluets)
Flame Skimmer (2)
Cardinal Meadowhawk
(15).
I will definitely return to this location--there's lots
more to explore.
…
Nick Lethaby
middle Santa Ynez River whilst Hugh was at Nira. Nick reports a mostly disappointing time, with
a few Flame Skimmers
Cardinal Meadowhawks,
2 Giant Darners
Weeks of April 5-16, 2015
Napa County
Alex Greene
Napa
Vivid Dancer - many,
starting on 4/9
Exclamation Damsel -
1, 4/15
California Darner - 1, 4/16
Beaverpond Baskettail,
5, 4/16
Common Whitetail,
beginning 4/5
Flame Skimmer,
beginning 4/8
*Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis, beginning 4/8
*Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Libellula pulchella1, 4/16
Cardinal Meadowhawk,
beginning 4/9
April 16/17, 2015
Louis Hoeniger
Imperial County
near the Imperial Dam
Familiar Bluet
*Powdered Dancers, Argia
lugens
Blue-ringed Dancers
American Rubyspot
April 15, 2015
Humboldt County
Sandra Hunt-von Arb
Korbel Ponds (private)
*red-veined meadowhawk (Sympetrum madidum) - male. If I remember my lessons from last year correctly, I see two rows of cells in the radial planate.
…….
San Benito County
Leslie Flint
I led a birding field trip yesterday to the Pinnacles National Park (). I go every spring, but I have never seen as many Odes …
Up at the Reservoir there were dozens (maybe hundreds) of Blue-eyed and California Darners, 1 Common Whitetail and at least 2 Flame Skimmers.
Bluets (maybe Familiar) and Pacific Forktails were in the reeds.
Along the creek at the Bear Gulch parking area were several Cardinal Meadowhawks.
A beautiful cool day at the Pinnacles with 4 CA Condors and pairs of Lawrence's Goldfinches foraging on the ground just feet away making it a perfect day.
April 12, 2015
Santa Cruz County
Matthew Dodder and wife
Henry Cowell Redwoods Park
RED ROCK SKIMMERS several along the creek
VIVID DANCER on several trails.
.......
Alameda County
Allen Fish
First yard odonate of the year today
Cardinal Meadowhawk, male
…….
Inyo County
Ron and Barbara
Death Valley – golf course pond.
many Roseate Skimmers
many Red Saddlebags, more Reds than
Black Saddlebags
several Flame Skimmers, a little confused by
the dark stigmas
Variegated Meadowhawks,
Common Green Darners
a few Pondhawks
Wandering Gliders
Spot-winged Gliders
April 11, 2015
Alameda County
Matthew Dodder and class
Sunol Regional Wilderness
RED ROCK SKIMMERS along the creek
CALIFORNIA DARNER, 1
PACIFIC CLUBTAIL
VIVID DANCER
Spreadwing sp.
.......
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Seaside Nursery, Carpinteria
Rambur's Forktails were first discovered here in September 2014. There was one individual at the same location today.
…….
San Diego County
B.J. Stacey and Jay Keller
Cibbetts Flat Campground
Filigree Skimmers http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1461375
Mosaic/Neo-tropical Darner
Variegated Meadowhawk
We went out looking for whatever we could run into.
Filigree Skimmers were on the hoped for list with the invasion that is happening in southern California this year.
We went and found one in the same spot near Cibbetts Flat Campground as previously reported
(my photos at http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1390992) and also had two probably others at a spot a couple of miles away along the same creek that Doug Aguillard thought he may have had one a few days prior.
Those two are thought to have been a male and female but photos weren't obtained so we have to say unsure.
April 10, 2015
Sacramento County
Dave Johnson
William Pond Rec Area, American River Parkway
Pacific Forktails
Exclamation Damsels
bluets
Vivid Dancer
*Pacific Clubtail Gomphus kurilis
April 9, 2015
Sacramento County
Dave Johnson
I had my FOY male Flame Skimmer at Sailor Bar, American River Parkway
…….
Amador and Calavaras Counties
Pete Gunrow
Lancha Plana Bridge,
Mokelumne
River.
Pacific Clubtail Gomphus kurilis – found on both sides of the river. County voucher photo
for Amador. CA Chart # 143, OC# 435116
April 8, 2015
Humboldt County
Sandra Hunt-von Arb
Korbel Ponds (private).
*EMERALD SPREADWING Lestes dryas FOY (or black- about 200 of them
and most looked young yet),
CALIFORNIA DARNER (dozen+/-)
COMMON GREEN DARNER FOY(one)
WESTERN FORKTAIL (many- 50+
mostly females, many ovipositing)
PACIFIC FORKTAIL (~25, female to male ration
~ 5:1 ?!?)
…….
Sonoma County
Don Loarie
Alexander Valley
**Bison Snaketail
Ophiogomphus bison http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/1378368
- old early date 4/17/2004.
April 5, 2015
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Preserve; Dos Palmas Oases, Fish Ponds, Agua
Farms and Core Marsh; Elev. -100’ to -240’; 7:55-12:25, 56-86F, cloudless
then cirrus, calm to light breeze S.
Paiute Dancer, Argia alberta 3
Blue-ringed Dancer, A. sedula 6
Citrine Forktail, Ischnura hastata 2
Rambur’s Forktail, I.
ramburii >10
Common Green Darner, Anax junius 3
Blue-eyed
Darner, Rhionaeschna multicolor 1
Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum 2
Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata >20 including one pair in wheel.
Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax l! ongipennis >30
Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata ~15
Black Saddlebags, Tramea lacerata ~10 including a tandem pair ovipositing.
Red Saddlebags, T. onusta 3
Spot-winged Glider, P. hymenaea 3
April 4, 2015
Sacramento County
Tim Manolis
American
River Parkway behind Rio
Americano High
School. Had a number of FOS odes for
me…
*Emma's Dancer Argia emma -- 1 female
Exclamation Damsel -- 1 male
Arroyo Bluet -- 1 male netted
Common Whitetail Plathemis lydia -- about 10, most patrolling males, and
also
Sinuous Snaketail – another male
Tule Bluet
Spot-winged Glider
Pacific Forktail
Common Green Darner
Blue-eyed Darner
…….
San Diego County
Christopher Adler
Kitchen Creek, Cleveland
National Forest
Pseudoleon superbus Filigree
Skimmer (male) photographed: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9638954@N07/16850744209/
April 3, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
middle Santa Ynez River, Falls Day Use area.
Spurred by recent reports of exotic skimmers, I went over
to the middle Santa Ynez River this afternoon. Lo and behold, one of the first
dragons I looked at was …
*Filigree Skimmer Pseudoleon superbus - a female
photographed: CA Chart # 120, OC# 430369
American Rubyspot 1
Pacific Forktail 6
Northern Bluet 30
California Dancer Argia agrioides 8
Vivid Dancer 20
Red Rock Skimmer 20+
Flame Skimmer 10
*Common Whitetail Plathemis
lydia 1
**Giant Darner Anax walsinghami 2+ (new early date for state, I believe) [yes, old early
date 4/12/2002 -kb]
Cardinal Meadowhawk
6
April 2, 2015
Sonoma County
Alan Wight
Nagasawa Park in Santa Rosa
Black Spreadwing – 10+
Tule Bluet – 6+
Pacific Forktail –
many
Western Pondhawk – 1
male, first of year, possibly an early date for Sonoma County,
photographed
Beaverpond Baskettail
– 1
…….
Santa Clara County
Matthew Dodder
Charleston Slough in Mountain
View
BLUE-EYED DARNERS –
two, the first I've seen this spring. The Mosaics I saw last week all
California Darners.
April 1, 2015
Colusa County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Bear Ck in Colusa Co., (between Williams and Upper Lake off Hwy 20) to check for dragonflies, there were some, but the WILDFLOWERS were FANTASTIC - best we've ever seen.
I put a set of our photos up Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/…/26704961@N…/sets/72157651716581531/
Calif. Darners – 3-5 males
Vivid Dancers – very few
Northern Bluets – a few
Pacific Forktail – 1 female
…
Lake County
Nearby at Cache Creek @ HWY 20
*American Rubyspot Hetaerina americana – 1 male
…….
Riverside County
Jim Pike
Mill Creek within the Prado Basin of western Riverside County (Corona)
Filigree Skimmer Pseudoleon superbus – a male working a wooded trail, photographed CA Chart #139 OC # 430368
March
March 30, 2015
Mono County
Ron & Barbara Oriti
We checked out all locations in Fish Slough
*Paiute Dancer Argia alberta – photo of a male was taken at Pupfish Pond.
Pacific Forktails
a couple old Variegated Meadowhawks
several Mosaic Darners. I can't tell you what
kind, because all were flying….
March 29, 2015
Mono County
Kristie Nelson
our yard near Mono
Lake (elevation is 6800')
Red Rock Skimmer Paltothemis lineatipes – a male photographed. Apparently the first ever east of
the Sierra Nevada. CA Chart
#138 OC# 430355
Also, now having seen this, I'm pretty sure I had at least
a couple other Red Rocks come thru our yard on March 19.
March 28, 2015
Inyo County
Ron & Barbara Oriti
Death Valley
Black Saddlebags, some
Red Saddlebags, some
Common Green Darners,
some
Variegateds, especially tenerals,
a few
Flame Skimmers, a few
Western Pondhawks, some
lots of damselflies.
There was assorted exuvia on the vegetation. Was
hoping for Roseates, but didn't see any.
However, there were a couple teneral skimmers that I could
not identify. By ovipositing behavior, they may have been Spot-winged Gliders
March 26, 2015
Humboldt County
Sandra Hunt-von Arb
"speed oding" (10-15
minute visits) at two locations - one pond habitat that is inland and
creek/beach coastal habitat.
Inland
Pacific Forktails,
many
*Swift forktails Ischnura
erratica, some and a possible
surprisingly vastly outnumbered by - a possible
There were also two individual surprisingly vastly
outnumbered by that I was unable to ID beyond Blue-type darner...
beach/creek there were
Pacific Forktails a
few but they were
Swift Forktails (I had
two in hand) surprisingly vastly outnumbered by
Spot-winged Glider - 1
buzzed above my head for quite a while and as I was leaving,
I did see a darner type in wheel. I'm still in awe of how
much ode activity we have as there's usually pretty much nothing until April.
…….
Santa Clara County
Matthew Dodder
Matadero Creek in Palo
Alto
California Darner (2)
Cardinal Meadowhawk (3)
Variegated Meadowhawk
Common Green Darner
Pacific Forktail
…….
Sonoma County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Sonoma Horticultural Gardens (all but the Cardinal Meadowhawk seen in the
“Yellow Garden”
Pacific Forktail – 1
Exclamation Damsels -
97 counted
California Darner – 1-3
Cardinal Meadowhawk –
1 male
……
Santa
Cruz County
Alex Rinkert
Quail Hollow
Ranch County
Park
*Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum - an adult male netted
March 25, 2015
San
Francisco County
Michael Chassé
Fort
Winfield Scott, Presidio, San Francisco, Golden Gate National
Recreation Area,
Red Rock
Skimmer (Paltothemis lineatipes)
…….
Sonoma County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Yahoo! 5 species of Odes on the backyard pond (Sebastopol) today- #5 being my "totem Ode" –
*Zoniagrion exclamationis, Exclamation Damsel. Not a new early date for the species though, they have
been seen as early as March 19th.
Pacific Forktail
Western Forktail
California Darner
Cardinal Meadowhawk
March 23, 2015
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
Goleta pond this afternoon
**Great Pondhawk Erythemis vesiculosa - brief looks and poor photos at rest. [new early flight data by MONTHS for CA, new early flight data for the whole greater Southwest area by 3 wks - kb] CA Chart #120, OC# 430283
Flame Skimmers, multiple
Cardinal Meadowhawks, multiple
Red Saddlebags, multiple
Blue-eyed Darners, multiple
Wandering Gliders, multiple
bluets, many
March 20, 2015
Sacramento County
Tim Manolis
Glen Hall
Park in Sacramento
**Sinuous Snaketail Ophiogomphus
occidentis - One-two
male were on the sand/gravel bar in the afternoon-previous early date for this
species was 30 or 31 March, in Roseville, Placer County.
March 19, 2015
Marin County
Len Blumin
Sunny day with a light breeze encouraged me to visit Five Brooks pond, Route 1, south of Olema
The temp was in the low 70's at 2-3 pm.
There were hundreds of damselflies along the paths around the pond at just about every sunny spot.
Many were in tandem or a wheel, and some ovipositing.
Bluet sp.[Northern &/or Boreal] outnumbered the Forktails
Pacific Forktails
My vision and field skills are not up to ID most dragonflies in flight, but there numbers were small compared to the damsels.
California Darners a pair of in a wheel.
March 18, 2015
Sonoma County
Kathy & Dave Biggs
Bigsnest Pond, Sebastopol
California Darner – a female
emerged in the morning. Our first exuvia was seen on the 16th
Cardinal Meadowhawk –
a young male came in to claim the pond as his. Our first exuvia was seen on the
16th
…
Sonoma County
Alan Wight
Keysight Technologies site
near Nagasawa Park,
in Santa Rosa
Vivid Dancers - two
March 17, 2015
Santa Cruz County
Scott Pedan
BB State Park, Redwood DO coastal division
Red Rock Skimmer – 1 f photographed http://smu.gs/1O4t8Pv
Variegated Meadowhawk – photographed
…….
Alan Wight
Sonoma County
at lunch, I saw the following at Nagasawa
Park in Santa Rosa
**Black Spreadwing Lestes stultus – 3-4, photographed, first of year, earlier than normal - new
early date, old early date 3/27/2003
Pacific Forktail –
lots
Bluet sp. – 4, likely Tule
Bluets
Beaverpond Baskettail –
3-5
Variegated Meadowhawk
- 2
March 15, 2015
Riverside County
Peter Siminski
Dos Palmas Oasis and Fish Ponds, Dos Palmas Preserve; Elev.
-100’; 7:05-11:35, 67-94F, cirrus, calm to light breeze S.
*Blue-ringed Dancer, Argia sedula! 4
Familiar Bluet, Enallagma civile 1
*Desert Forktail, Ischnura barberi 3 including one female ovipositing.
Citrine Forktail, I.
hastata 4 including one tandem pair.
Rambur’s Forktail, I.
ramburii 5
Common Green Darner, Anax junius 11
Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum 9
*Western Pondhawk, Erythemis collocata 7
*Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis 20
Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata 21 including one female ovipositing.
*Roseate Skimmer, Orthemis ferruginea 2
Red Saddlebags, T. onusta 4 including one ovipositing pair.
Spot-winged Glider, P. hymenaea 4
March 14, 2015
Orange County
Michael
A. Patten/Rob Hamilton
Lower Silverado Canyon, approximately 4300 feet upstream of
the crossing of Black Star Canyon
Road.
This was a wide spot in the creek with limited standing
water and knocked-down cattails and other emergent vegetation.
A path was recently created into this area through the
dense willow scrub downstream, making it more accessible and open than it
normally would be.
**Filigree Skimmer, Pseudoleon superbus – this one
appeared to be a female, but there isn’t a photo, CA Chart #137, OC#430249
(pending as a sight record only)
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
I spent a couple of hours late morning/early afternoon
along Paradise Rd. Temps ranged from 77-88 degrees.
*Black-fronted Forktail Ischnura denticollis 3+
Pacific Forktail 5+
Western Forktail 2+ (ph)
Vivid Dancer 3
*Northern Bluet Enallagma annexum -- many, 4 netted
Cardinal Meadowhawk -- 4
Red-rock Skimmer -- 4,
including ovipositing
…….
San Diego County
Robyn Waayers
Coyote Creek, Coyote
Canyon, Anza Borrego
Desert. Desert riparian
area
Pseudoleon superbus (Filigree Skimmer) Individual
was perched on a small rock in Coyote Creek in the mid-afternoon. Temperature
in the high 80s on a sunny day Photo at OC#:430258
March 13, 2015
Sonoma County
Alan Wight
at lunch, I saw the following at Nagasawa
Park in Santa Rosa,
Sonoma County:
Pacific Forktail –
lots
Bluet sp. – 4, 1
photographed appears to be Tule Bluet which is the species expected here
Darner sp. – 1 or 2,
very likely California Darner based on small size and time of year
*Beaverpond Baskettail Epitheca canis – 1 or 2, 1 seen well and photographed, second one got
away before I could identify it for sure
The Tule Bluet (if the photo proves conclusive for
identification) and the Beaverpond Baskettail are potentially new early records
for Sonoma County by about a week per the records I
currently have.
March 11, 2015
San Diego County
Michael Ouellette
Backyard pond near Mission
Trails Regional
Park and Lake
Murry, in
the City of San Diego
Filigree Skimmer, Pseudoleon superbus –a female photographed AND egg laying witnessed!! OC # 430235
…….
Sonoma County
Kathy& Dave Biggs
Bigsnest Wildlife Pond, our Sebastopol
backyard
Western Forktails - a male and a
pruinose female seen (the pond’s FOY)
Pacific Forktail – 1
male
March 10, 2015
San Diego County
Michael Ouellette
City of San Diego,
backyard pond
Filigree Skimmer, Pseudoleon superbus – this one appeared to be a female, but there isn’t a photo
March 9, 2015
Santa Barbara County
Hugh Ranson
I saw species #12 on the wing today at a pond in Goleta, CA,
*Flame Skimmer Libellula saturata -1 (a new county early date).
Cardinal Meadowhawk
Blue-eyed Darner
California Darner
Pacific Forktail
Arroyo Bluet
Familiar Bluet
…….
Glenn County
Greg Kareofellas
Knoville Road, Eticuerra Creek about 1:30
Paltothemis lineatipes, a male
Sympetrum corruptum,
several
March 8, 2015
San Mateo County
Leslie Flint
Alpine Pond
Not a single dragonfly; but I did find a few damsels - very
few.
Pacific Forktails -
maybe 6 and
Western Forktail - a singe my first of the season.
…….
Monterey County
Don Roberson
Salinas River NWR
Western Forktail (photo'd, several teneral orange ones)
Calif. Darner (in flight, apparent i.d. on size)
These provides an early date for MTY for each species that is 10 days to 3 weeks earlier than prior earliest dates.
March 6, 2015
Inyo County
Ron & Barbara Oriti
Death Valley, at the golf course pond:
**Black Saddlebags Tramea
lacerata -- 15 or more – new early date by ~2 wks, old early
date 3/20/2004
Red Saddlebags
-- 12 or so
Common Green Darners -- half a dozen
Variegated Meadowhawk
-- 20+ mature to aged,
Damsels --
and a similar number of tenerals as well
…….
Santa
Barbara County
Ranch
pond, Goleta
Hugh Ranson
*California
Dancer Argia agrioides
March 5, 2015
Santa Clara County
Matthew Dodder
ditch beside the trail at the Emily Renzel
Wetlands in Palo Alto
COMMON GREEN DARNER
VARIEGAGED MEADOWHAWKS - 2
March 3, 2015
Sonoma County
Kathy& Dave Biggs, Sandra Hunt-von Arb
Pine Flat Rd,
east of Healdsburg
*Western Forktail Ischnura perparva – 1 m, 1 f –at tiny pond above Ferguson Seep
Cardinal Meadowhawk – 1 male, fully mature, but not ‘old’ –at tiny pond above Ferguson Seep
Vivid Dancers Argia vivida – 2, at least one a
female, very teneral, seen on maiden flight! At ‘Doug’s seep’ (first nocal report)
Calif. Darners – pair in
wheel, just above Rebizzo Ranch
March 1, 2015
Sonoma County
Gloria Diamond Conley
Sebastopol backyard - TWO Cardinal Meadowhawks emerged today
our foy! Here are past years' dates:
2010 3/20
2011 3/28
2012 3/18
2013 3/15
2015 3/13
2015 3/1 !!! Almost two weeks earlier than last year's record date for
our pond.