Saturday, June 26, 2010

Odes from WV 2 day trip!

This past week we stopped on the way back from my nephews wedding to camp at Spruce Knob in the mountains of WV. One Monday and Tuesday I spent about 6 hours a day trekking around Spruce Knob Lake and a beaver pond ditch below the lake. Also looked around Gandy Creek for odes as well.

I'll do a post after this with a lot of butterfly photos as soon as I get a chance.

 Male Superb Jewelwing, Calopteryx amata


Female Superb Jewelwing photo above and below.
These were found along Gandy Creek. Gandy Creek only had Superb and Ebony Jewelwings and Common Whitetails.
Hagen's Bluet, Enallagma hageni (male)
These are hard to ID just from a photo like this, so I could be wrong on the ID.
I featured this damselfly on another recent posting it is a male
Aurora Damsel, Chromagrion conditumFound at the back of Spruce Knob Lake and a singleton along Gandy Creek
More on this species at Jim Bangma's website

Variable Dancer, Argia fumipenni or Violet Dancer, Argia fumipennis violacea (male)
The Variable Dancers where we live have amber tinted wings, these northern ones do no have tinted wings.
The above photo is a female Eastern Forktail, Ischnura verticalis
and the photo below is the male Eastern Forktail.
There are records of this species in our area but I have failed to find them, in WV they are very common. You can find out more about them at Stephen's website
Brown Spiketail, Cordulegaster bilineata
I saw several of these in the back waters of Spruce Knob Lake and below the beaver pond. They pose nicely for photos. See Jeff Pippen's page for more info.
Not sure on the ID here these are meadowhawks but given the difficulty to ID them I can't say for sure. Female above and male below. My guess would be Ruby Meadowhawk, but it just a guess.
Unicorn Clubtail, Arigomphus villosipes
above and below photos.
These were found in good numbers at the top of the beaver pond and the back of Spruce Knob Lake. Stephen's site on this species
I reported these incorrectly they are male Southern Pygmy Clubtail, Lanthus vernalis
Found lots of these in small rocky creeks perched on the rocks, my first for West Virginia. I have not seen this species in many years since I found females perched in trees in western North Carolina. Will Cook's page on this species

Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Libellula pulchella
Saw more of these than I ever have around the beaver pond there were more than 3 dozen alone flying all about chasing each other. Stephen's page on these.
Chaulk-fronted Corporal, Ladona julia
Saw fewer of these than most of the times I visited Spruce Knob Lake and they usually are easy to photograph, not this year. Jim's page on these.
Calico Pennant, Celithemis elisa (male)
The most common dragonfly we saw.
They were everywhere I estimated seeing at least 150 of them.
Male Dot-tailed Whiteface, Leucorrhinia intacta
My first for West Virginia, I have seen them in Maryland and Pennsylvania
Stephen's page on this species 

Wait until I get to the butterflies!

7 comments:

F Cameron said...

A lot of colors! I never knew! Glad you had a good time.

Meredith said...

I have really been appreciating the true beauty of dragons and damsels, and your photos just made it all the more apparent. I wish I could identify the damselflies as well as you can -- I'm starting with dragonflies and working my way to their smaller cousins!

Q said...

Hi Randy,
Oh my goodness! You were in Dragon heaven! So many wonderful diffferent ones too.
My heart belongs to the Ebony Jewel Wings. I am smitten. I think they are the most beautiful. I adore the way the female communicates with her white spots on her wings. I also love the way the males change form green to blue....gorgeous photographs.
Looking forward to seeing the butterflies.
Sherry

Chloe m said...

Thanks for the ID on the butterfly I posted on my blog. I was pleased to know the name of it.

Your dragonflies photos are great! It sounds likes a nice trip.

sweetbay said...

Super pictures Randy! These insects are so beautiful.

JKT said...

Hey, I just found some photos of Pine Knot Hellebores on your site and downloaded the bowl for Dick's desktop. We never have time to take photos on our open house weekends and I'm really happy to have these. Please visit us again next year! Judith Knott Tyler

The Sassy Butterfly's Chaotic Musings said...

These dragonfly pics are AMAZING!! Dragonflies were my mom's fave and when she passed she always said she'd send them our way when she wanted to say 'hi'. I see them often at her old house now. I installed a 'beginner' pond and there's always several flying about. I'm happy to know where I can finally ID some of them! Great Great job on these pics!

Thanks,
Wendy / sassyb