29 May 2010

Spring has Sprung!

During a lunch break of a conference I was attending on May 14th at the North Campus of UM - Ann Arbor, I took a walk around the wooded areas near the Huron River.

Much to my surprise a darner flew down the trail towards me, banked and somewhat crash-landed next to me. Immediately I recognized this as a Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata) and I was able to grab it by hand. (This male may have been focused on prey it had captured.)


The top of the head:
P1020543

The face:
P1020544

Another lateral view:

This is a species I've been trying to find in Wayne County for years and I've only had a couple of unsatisfactory looks from a distance. Here, I had an hour in Washtenaw County and find one without even searching. Sometimes one is lucky and sometimes not.

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