Dragonflies and Wildflowers at Sugarbush Trail
May 23rd, 2015
I took my mother to Sugarbush Trail in the Gatineau last week, expecting a nice walk and maybe an interesting bird or two. But despite it being a fairly cool, breezy day, it turned out to be dragonfly heaven! While Chelsea Creek was virtually deserted of odes, sunny, sheltered spots in the woods were teeming with them. And it wasn't the usual "ten bazillion Four-Spotted Skimmers" that you expect to see in spring--these were, at least for me (a perennial dragonfly novice), exotic types that I had never seen before.
Most of them I couldn't identify down to species. But there are whole genera of dragonflies that I'm largely unfamiliar with, and these were they. Baskettails, for instance:
1680x1050 wallpaper
And clubtails:
Chris Traynor, a well-known local naturalist, went to Sugarbush Trail recently himself (perhaps inspired by my post on Facebook) and saw a Moustached Clubtail, and he thinks my photo may be of the same species. If so it's a rarity in this region.
I have no idea what it's dining on here--please comment if you do! So far the best guess I or anyone has come up with is that it's eating a shrivelled-up fellow dragonfly.
American Emerald. Nothing exotic about this one, but it is beautiful. Emeralds are called that because of the color of their eyes. I think they should be called Opals instead.
The woods were full of trillium, and I searched for those elusive "pink" trilliums--white ones that have turned to pink but not yet wilted beyond the point of photogenic. My mom pointed out this one, and it ended up being the best of the lot.
<
More exciting was our discovery of a red (a.k.a. purple) trillium. This is a separate species, and one I've rarely seen. In fact I think this is the first time I've found a red trillium in full bloom. There were more along the trail, but they were all wilted already.
I tested the claim that red trillium is ill-scented. The claim is true! They pollinate themselves with the help of flies, and attract the flies by smelling like carrion. The liver-red color of the flower is also part of that subterfuge.
May 23rd, 2015
I took my mother to Sugarbush Trail in the Gatineau last week, expecting a nice walk and maybe an interesting bird or two. But despite it being a fairly cool, breezy day, it turned out to be dragonfly heaven! While Chelsea Creek was virtually deserted of odes, sunny, sheltered spots in the woods were teeming with them. And it wasn't the usual "ten bazillion Four-Spotted Skimmers" that you expect to see in spring--these were, at least for me (a perennial dragonfly novice), exotic types that I had never seen before.
Most of them I couldn't identify down to species. But there are whole genera of dragonflies that I'm largely unfamiliar with, and these were they. Baskettails, for instance:
1680x1050 wallpaper
And clubtails:
Chris Traynor, a well-known local naturalist, went to Sugarbush Trail recently himself (perhaps inspired by my post on Facebook) and saw a Moustached Clubtail, and he thinks my photo may be of the same species. If so it's a rarity in this region.
I have no idea what it's dining on here--please comment if you do! So far the best guess I or anyone has come up with is that it's eating a shrivelled-up fellow dragonfly.
American Emerald. Nothing exotic about this one, but it is beautiful. Emeralds are called that because of the color of their eyes. I think they should be called Opals instead.
The woods were full of trillium, and I searched for those elusive "pink" trilliums--white ones that have turned to pink but not yet wilted beyond the point of photogenic. My mom pointed out this one, and it ended up being the best of the lot.
<
More exciting was our discovery of a red (a.k.a. purple) trillium. This is a separate species, and one I've rarely seen. In fact I think this is the first time I've found a red trillium in full bloom. There were more along the trail, but they were all wilted already.
I tested the claim that red trillium is ill-scented. The claim is true! They pollinate themselves with the help of flies, and attract the flies by smelling like carrion. The liver-red color of the flower is also part of that subterfuge.
| ← | → |
Mike
May 24th, 2015 at 02:27 pm
Nice catches on the dragonflies... I gather the extra megapixels are helping to catch those?
Also, the red trillium masquerading as carrion is neat.
Suzanne
May 25th, 2015 at 02:16 pm
No, I've never had much trouble getting hi-res photos of large dragonflies...they'll usually let you get pretty close. Unless it's the kind of dragonfly that never sits still and then I get no pictures at all :-P What the extra megapixels have been really handy for is distant birds. My photos have much, much more cropability now.
ilanikhan
May 25th, 2015 at 10:37 am
I didn't know that about the red trillium! Thanks :)
If I recall correctly, red trillium are ever so slightly earlier than the regular white ones. By days or a week.