Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Sandpiper Pond, September 8

This Widow Skimmer was having no problems flying although missing a piece of wing. Its getting late in the season, and the Odonates are looking a bit ragged.

Western Forktail female

Tule Bluet pair with a brown female above and a blue female below. The different color forms that female Odonates have make identification more difficult.


I'm often asked about these tiny hopping bugs that are numerous along shorelines of water bodies. They are perfectly colored and even have a warty body resembling the irregularities in the mud making them very hard to see. They are Toad Bugs (predators) in the order Hemiptera; family Gelastocoridae

Striped Meadowhawk

Flame Skimmer

Yellowlegs break time


Blue Dasher female

Black Saddlebags above and below