Blue Dasher and Another Looming Storm
Well, we got another visit from a dragonfly a few days ago. And obviously, that's nothing new... Here's a link to our Gomphus Borealis post. (I swear, someone has got to name a rock band "Gomphus Borealis", or there will be no balance in this sphere!)
To be completely honest, I know zipoid about dragonflies, or damselflies (or pretty much anything else for that matter...) So the fellow below was a complete mystery.
Thank heavens for the Internet... I contacted Glenn Corbiere, an expert on dragonflies (his site and photography are amazing) and asked him what he thought of the critter above. I wondered if it might be a petaltail, a darner, a clubtail, a snaketail, a spiketail, a baskettail... Mr. Corbiere, politely and thoroughly corrected me and informed that the insect is in fact a Blue Dasher (aka "Pachydiplax longipennis"). A better photo from Mr. Corbiere is available here. Live and learn...
On a different but very important note, everybody on the East Coast should keep their eyes wide open concerning storm Danny. Once again, I point to a great booklet that discusses emergencies.
Let's be careful by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding
eBirdseed and misc. references
