Just when we thought we were done...A new county record!

A dull and dreary day (cloudy, windy, scattered showers, and cool) on June 30th didn't stop me from checking out a favorite dragonfly haunt. I went to Sherwood Park in Sumpter Township which is in southwestern Wayne County of Michigan. We've found many great species here in the past.

One of the first dragonflies flushed along the edge of the pond was a teneral pennant. The dark spots of the wings looked different so I swung my net. To my surprise, this was a new species for the county.... a female Banded Pennant (Celithemis fasciata) of the monomalaena form.

This is a species Nannothemis and I have hoped to find in recent years.

forewing:
hindwing:
Some of the other species present included:

Slender Bluets (Enallagma traviatum) - the only location we find them in the county

Swamp Spreadwings (Lestes vigilax) - - the only location we find them in the county

Halloween Pennant (Celithemis epinona)



Needless to say, I am flabbergasted to find another first county record on a poor weather day. Initially, I was confused about finding a teneral individual at a location where we'd never observed mature adults previously. Others have suggested that it may have been possible that it had been blown in by the weather (strong winds) in recent days. I'm hoping there is a population at the park.

Some old odes...Refound

It was another poor weather day for dragon hunting today (July 1, 2009). (cloudy, breezy, and cool with threatening showers). I decided to try for new county records at Proud Lake State Recreation Area in Oakland County near the Huron River.

Strangely, I couldn't find many odes near the water of the Marsh Trail or the Huron River. However, I did find one Southern Spreadwing (Lestes disjunctus australis). The only voucher for this species in the county is from 1958.

I then checked an upland field that is regularly mowed. However, this field is surrounded by bushes and small trees which were attractive to young odes.

Walking slowly through the patchy grass, I found the following:
- 10+ male and several female Blue-ringed Dancers (Argia sedula) - only voucher 1917
- 1 female Comet Darner (Anax longipes) - only voucher 2007
- 1 female Black-shouldered Spinyleg (Dromogomphus spinosis) - previous voucher 1923

- ~6 male and 1 female Lancet Clubtails (Gomphus exilis)
male:
female:
- 1 male and 3 female Spangled Skimmers (Libellula cyanea) - previous voucher 1965
young male:
- dozens of meadowhawks (Sympetrum sp.), some with many mites

While walking back to my car, I passed a small, grassy patch and a large darner flew up and away. I'm quite sure it was a Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), but there is some uncertainty. Unfortunately, there were no new county records positively ID'd. It just gives more reason to get out there again.

German Dragon Hunter

While looking for Kirtland's Warblers near Mio, Michigan on June 6th with a birding friend from Germany, I pulled out the net to snag a baskettail (Epitheca sp.) for ID while on a back road in Oscoda County.

After a couple tries I caught a male Beaverpond Baskettail (Epitheca canis) which was a new dragonfly for me and now a species documented in the county.

With this success, my friend asked to try out the net.
After a couple of swings...

...he also had a baskettail to show off.

Life is go dragonfly.

Success! = Cordulegaster obliqua

Friday, May 29 started out with some great weather (sunny and calm) so I headed to Lower Huron Metropark at 1000 to obtain physical evidence of the spiketails.

Initially, I walked the forest edge in hopes of finding an adult Arrowhead Spiketail (Cordulegaster obliqua) to photograph. Unfortunately, I only saw one and it did a quick flyby at head height on the opposite side of the clearing and it didn't return.

Thus, it was time to check the rivulet. Ethan Bright hinted that I should dip for nymphs in the silty areas below the sticks and branches laying over the water of the streamlet. On about the sixth dip, I came up with a large nymph of a Cordulegaster.

This is the home of this nymph.

After identifying the specific structure of the nymph habitat, I began looking for exuvia. At 1130 and a bit upstream I "hit the jackpot" by finding an emerging female. Note the large ovipositor.

She was on a tree a few feet from the rivulet and is on the trunk at the left in the photo below.

Ethan Bright also noted that there may be different sizes of nymphs if these Cordulegasters require more than one year to mature. A bit further upstream I dipped a few more times and found another nymph which was a bit smaller than the first.

It was similar in habitat structure to the first, a hole below a log with a silty layer.

Given the couple of adults I observed over a few days and the nymphs being found relatively easily, it seems there is a decent population along this waterway. Nannothemis and I will return in a couple weeks to try and obtain good quality photos of the adults since there should be more flying.

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I returned on 31-May-09 and found one male perched in a calm, sunny area at 1115. I was able to obtain only one photo, shooting through my binoculars.

Early Gomphids and a life ode

I continued the search for the early darner by visiting Lower Huron Metropark. I am somewhat at a loss where to find the Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata) in Wayne County, but I'll continue searching this location as you'll read at the end of the post.

I started and ended at the Woods Creek Picnic Area. This is adjacent to the Huron River and has a small creek running through a wooded hollow that is great for clubtails (Gomphus sp.) this time of year. Immediately upon my arrival, I began kicking up recently emerged Ashy Clubtails (Gomphus lividus) along the two-track and on the adjacent vegetation.


Walking through the grass of the open areas, I kicked up a couple of recently emerged Midland Clubtails (Gomphus fraternus) which also happen to be a new early date for Michigan.
Here's a male:

And a female:
Soon after this I saw a life ode working the edge of the forest. Initially Dragonhunter came to mind, but I realized that it was too early for that species. The individual was large (50% larger than the clubtails I was examining) and black with bright yellow markings. The dragonfly was hunting along the bushes and small trees of the partly shaded opening. Then luck was on my side and it perched on a twig, hanging vertically from the tip.

Immediately, I recognized the following:

• eyes touching at a point on top of the head = spiketail (Cordulegaster)
• yellow arrowhead markings along the dorsal surface of the abdomen = Arrowhead (C. obliqua)
• long ovipositor extending beyond the tip of the abdoment = female

No time for a photo as this female Arrowhead Spiketail (Cordulegaster obliqua) continued on her way.

I searched further and only had one more fleeting glimpse as she headed into the woods. While checking the immediate vicinity I found a small rivulet running from the hillside. This was a new water source that I wasn't familiar with and investigated further.

This looked like appropriate habitat from the little I knew of this genus. The water is one to a few inches deep and one to a few feet wide. The substrate was sandy with very silty and mucky areas.

This is one species I would have never expected to see in Wayne County (i.e., Detroit). There is one record of a male on June 14, 1931 in Detroit. In my mind, I had written C. obliqua off as an extirpated species for the county.

One never knows what can be found, even in the concrete jungle we call Detroit.

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I returned the next day and had another brief glimpse of a hunting spiketail along the edge just before it began raining.

In future days, I'll check for flying adults, exuviae along the rivulet, or possibly nymphs in the water. Wish me luck!