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Monday 15 July 2013

Dragons

I photographed the odd dragonfly here and there in northern Ontario as well. My dragonfly knowledge is close to zero, but I've been putting in about an hour per month of practice, so I should be an expert on Ontario dragonflies in about 200 years.

Feel free to correct me where I made ID mistakes! I still do not have a net or a really good dragonfly guide (I just have Dragonflies Through Binoculars), so that is my excuse.

The closest I can come up for this is a female Frosted Whiteface. Correction: It may be a Hudsonian Whiteface.



An easy one! Common Whitetail.



Horned Clubtail? Or Beaverpond Clubtail? Correction:

The first clubtail is a Horned Clubtail, and the next two are probably both Beaverpond Clubtails.








This huge dragonfly was chasing away other insects from the mouth of the creek he was patrolling. This is a Delta-spotted Spiketail.



And for a change of pace, an American Toad that was sitting on this log in the middle of the path. Luckily I looked down just in time! This was taken with my work phone.

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10 comments:

  1. Linda16 July 2013 at 01:16

    Great series of photos.

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  2. Brandon Holden16 July 2013 at 08:22

    The last ode is a Delta-spotted Spiketail. I'd have to do some looking in the books for the others, unless someone more knowledgeable can pitch in!

    B

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    1. Anonymous16 July 2013 at 12:49

      Thanks alot Brandon, much appreciated!

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  3. Mike Burrell16 July 2013 at 09:47

    Hey Josh, looks like you might be catching the dragonfly bug! Anyways, Colin Jones looked at the photos and here's what he said:

    Excellent photos! The first photo is a Dusky Clubtail (Gomphus spicatus). It's hard to be sure about the whiteface but my impression is more of Hudsonican Whiteface (Leucorrhinia hudsonica). The clubtail after the Common Whitetail is a Horned Clubtail (Arigomphus cornutus). The last two clubtails are probably both Beaverpond Clubtail (Gomphus borealis) but I can't completely rule out Harpoon Clubtail (Gomphus descriptus). Brandon's right about the last one - Delta-spotted Spiketail (Cordulegaster diastatops). Would be interested to know the details on the Horned Clubtail (location, date) for the Ontario Odonata Atlas. Cheers, Colin Jones

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    1. Anonymous16 July 2013 at 12:59

      Thanks Mike and Colin! The habitat that the last two Clubtails were found in seemed consistent with what I've read for Beaverpond Clubtail. There were at least 10 of them (maybe more) around the edge of the wetland.
      When I'm home from work I'll check my notes/photos for details on the Horned Clubtail. The location was either near North Bay or Mattawa - I don't see any records for those areas on the Odonata Atlas. Weird...


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    2. Reuven Martin16 July 2013 at 13:55

      Horned Clubtail was just added to the Algonquin List too so perhaps they are expanding.

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  4. Brent Turcotte16 July 2013 at 16:16

    If the Horned Clubtail was in North Bay or Mattawa I would be interested in learning the location so I can go look for it. I haven't seen this species yet. I will also add it to the Blue Sky checklist on my website (which needs to be updated and reformatted -- it is from 2011)

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    1. Anonymous16 July 2013 at 21:26

      Hi Brent,

      It was on one of our study sites so unfortunately details are confidential. The location was near Sudbury, however.

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    2. Brent Turcotte16 July 2013 at 21:47

      No problem. Sudbury is outside the circle anyway. My area remains with 91 species. Since I started dragonflies I have added ten new species to the area but of the 91 species I am still missing 13. Haliburton with much much better coverage is over 105 species from what I've heard.

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