Fall's Bounty

Checking the weather on the morning of September 29th, I found the afternoon was to be sunny, 70F, with southerly winds. Southern species and late dates were on my mind, so I took a 1/2 day of vacation and headed to the Humbug Marsh Unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

If you read the previous post, you already know of the highlight for the day.

However, there were many additional species flying, some of which represented late or near record late dates for Michigan.

This male Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa) must have perched below the roosting cormorants:

There were a few flying along the edges of the shadows.

A common species, but still a beauty is this female Common Green Darner (Anax junius):


A male Elusive Clubtail (Stylurus notatus) is a great, late season ode:

Read more about their identification here.

Female Eastern (Common) Pondhawks (Erythemis simplicicollis) are always nice:

Three or four were found in the upland areas.

Gliders and saddlebags were numerous. The southern winds of the previous days must have pushed some individuals north.

Here's a male Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea):


There were several reddish-colored saddlebags flying about.

Here's a male Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta):


...and here's a female Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina):


Finally, this was my first sighting of a Striped Saddlebags (Tramea calverti):

Truly, the first evidence of this species in Michigan.