A Selection Of Odes
July 21st, 2011
No, not poetry. "Odes" is shorthand for odonates: dragonflies and damselflies. Here are some I've come across recently.
Four-Spotted Skimmer (wallpaper available)
Mosaic Darner (wallpaper available)
Dot-Tailed Whiteface
Dot-Tailed Whiteface (female)
Don't know the species of this one, but it was neat watching her lay her eggs in the pond. She had to evade several hungry frogs to do it!
Widow Skimmer (female) (wallpaper available)
Four-Spotted Skimmer (wallpaper available)
July 21st, 2011
No, not poetry. "Odes" is shorthand for odonates: dragonflies and damselflies. Here are some I've come across recently.
Four-Spotted Skimmer (wallpaper available)
Mosaic Darner (wallpaper available)
Dot-Tailed Whiteface
Dot-Tailed Whiteface (female)
Don't know the species of this one, but it was neat watching her lay her eggs in the pond. She had to evade several hungry frogs to do it!
Widow Skimmer (female) (wallpaper available)
Four-Spotted Skimmer (wallpaper available)
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Mustang Sallie
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:25 pm
Wow, They are quite beautiful up close, aren't they? You managed to capture quite a selection of different specimens.
Gillian
August 2nd, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Love the ode to odes! As for the mosaic darners, always try to get a clear shot (or just a good view) of the thorax for identification purposes. Canada and Lance-tipped Darner are the most common ones around Ottawa, with Shadow and Black-tipped a little less common. Learn the thoracic patterns of those guys and you should have no trouble identifying 95% of the mosaic darners you see (unless, of course, they refuse to land as happened to me yesterday!).
Suzanne
August 2nd, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Thanks! Any suggestions as to a good dragonfly field guide?
Gillian
August 3rd, 2011 at 7:07 am
Absolutely - the Algonquin Park Field Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies, available in the park bookstore or through the Friends of Algonquin online store. It covers Eastern Ontario and has all the odonates in our area. Since I bought it it has been the only field guide I use.