Sky blue

  

Walking over to the farmers market this morning, I caught a glimpse of a dragonfly exploring the sun-exposed branches of a willow tree.  It disappeared, but when I turned the corner I started scanning up high, looking for potential sites where it could have landed.  I was about to give up, when my eyes caught the blue of the darner's eyes.

Blue-eyed Darner (Rhionaeschna multicolor) in Sebastopol on 17 May 2026. 

Shiny and new

  

The beautiful wings of a California Darner (Rionaeschna californica).  Note how shiny and new they look.  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]  I could see this darner's wings glittering in the sun as it flew across a grassland.  When it landed nearby, I leaned in for a closer view.  Because the wings are so fresh, it's likely this individual metamorphosed recently.  Once a dragonfly has been flying for a while, the wings lose their shine and can show nicks and other impacts.

Satyrs and dragons

  

 Satyr Anglewing (Polygonia satyrus)

 

 

 

Close-up of a California Darner (Rhionaeschna californica)

 

Both photos from Cotati on 4 May 2025

 

Summertime

  

I've been behind a desk a lot lately, so here's a photo from last month -- a beautiful Blue-eyed Darner (Rhionaeschna multicolor) perched in our backyard on 27 May 2024.  The grayish eyes on this individual probably indicate a younger male.

At least some species of dragonflies can be observed across a broad portion of the year in Sonoma County, but along the coast I think of summer as prime time to watch for them.

Happy Summer Solstice!  :)

On the surface

 

 

Female darner (possibly a Blue-eyed Darner, Rhionaeschna multicolor) ovipositing in tule stems lying on the surface of the water.  Photographed in Petaluma on 16 October 2022.

Darners in the dunes

  

Arriving at the coast in the early afternoon, Eric spotted a number of dragonflies cruising back and forth along a dune ridge.  I went back to check on which species it was.  They were primarily Common Green Darners (Anax junius), but there were a few Spot-winged Gliders (Pantala hymenaea) and Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata), too.  

Although this is the time of year when we can see dragonflies moving along the coast, I'm not sure what triggered this particular movement.  It didn't seem that warm and I can see in the air temperature records that the maximum temperature this afternoon was ~66°F (19°C). Winds were relatively light today, out of the southwest this morning, becoming northwest later in the day.  Maybe the dragonflies were triggered by conditions elsewhere that aren't as apparent in Bodega Bay.

Ashes on her eyes

Late this afternoon I was walking by a wall that I pass by regularly when something caught my eye.   A large dragonfly was perched there, so I approached for a closer view:

 

 

 

As I moved closer, I noticed little white flecks here and there, and wondered if they might be ash.  You can see them on the green thorax and on the dark brown eyes:

 

 

Well, I couldn't tell for sure if the flecks were ash, but they look like the ash that's on our car right now.  This is a Common Green Darner (Anax junius), photographed on 13 September 2020.

 

Dragons in the afternoon

We're having trouble accessing the Internet tonight, but I'm going to try to post a few quick dragonfly shots from this afternoon (25 July 2020):

 

Ovipositing darner (Blue-eyed Darner?)

Haven't had a chance to check yet.

 

 Western Pondhawk (Erythemis collocata)

 

Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens)

 

Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea)

First of the season

 

With the heat, come the dragons.  It was warm today (15 August 2019).  At the coast, air temperatures reached ~71°F (~22°C).  With these late summer conditions, we often see more insects at the coast.  I noticed a few Common Green Darners (Anax junius) on Bodega Head this afternoon, the first of the season for me.

October dragons

Well, this feels a little strange.  I started learning about dragonflies in New England in the early 1990s.  But I've been living in California for over 12 years now, so I'm a little "rusty" when it comes to identifying some of the species in the northeastern U.S.  

We had a fun experience with a few darners yesterday (3 October 2017) near Alstead, New Hampshire.  We found a warm, sunny field where several darners were feeding.  They were flying a little slowly, perhaps because of cooler nighttime temperatures?  And somewhat surprisingly, when we stood still in the middle of the field, the dragonflies started flying very close to us (looking for insects?) and sometimes landing on us.

Here are two examples.  I'll hazard guesses to the species' identifications, but perhaps I can get some help from some New England friends to confirm the i.d.'s.  

 

Black-tipped Darner (Aeshna tuberculifera)? 

 

Mottled Darner (Aeshna clepsydra)? perched on my mother's fleece jacket!  The striped patterning on the thorax didn't quite fit the classic pattern for this species, but I'm not coming up with another idea (at least not yet).  Here's a close-up of the thoracic stripes:

 

Then Eric spotted another beautiful darner perched on an old birch tree at the edge of a boggy swamp:

 

How about Variable Darner (Aeshna interrupta) for this one?

Here's a close-up (dorsal view), with nice yellow highlights:

 

And in case you're interested in helping to confirm the identification of this species, here's another close-up, this time from the side so you can see the lateral thoracic stripes:

 

Fun with dragons in October!

ADDENDUM (5 October 2017): Blair confirmed all three of my identifications above, so you can now consider the identifications solid.  Thanks, Blair!

Soaking up some rays

Air temperatures reached ~58°F (~14.5°C) in Bodega Bay this afternoon, but the sun and calm wind conditions made it feel even warmer.

I happened upon a few insects basking in the sun:

 

Two-banded Skipper (Pyrgus ruralis)

(This is the first time I've seen this butterfly species in Bodega Bay.)

 

California Darner (Rhionaeschna californica) 

And a close-up from the side:

 

 

Cardinal Meadowhawk (Sympetrum illotum)

It looks like it might be cloudy for the next few days, but the sun might return at the end of the week, bringing more chances for insect sightings.

 

Mystery spot

 

This might be tough, but can you guess where this photograph of a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) was taken?

Here's a more helpful clue:

 

It might also help to tell you that I was in San Francisco today.

Could you tell that these pictures were taken at a baseball field?  All of them were taken at AT&T Park on 27 August 2015.  The dragonflies were a nice bonus to an exciting baseball game!

In the past —  see the post from 1 July 2012 — I've mentioned that I have some fun when attending baseball games by keeping track of bird and insect sightings.

Today the most visible dragonflies were Common Green Darners.  They were actively feeding along the edges of the field.  I'm not sure exactly how many individuals were in the Park, but I photographed at least three at one time:

 

Although distant, I also photographed one tandem (male/female) pair of green darners:

 

And today I added one new "ballpark species" to my list.  I didn't get a photograph, but I saw one Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata).  I'd love to hear about your bird and dragonfly sightings at baseball games!

 

A record day

Today I set my personal record for the greatest number of dragonfly species seen on Bodega Head in one day.

Remember that Bodega Head isn't a great site for dragonflies — it's often cold and windy, and there isn't much fresh water.  But on warm days in late summer/fall, species that are known to disperse along the coast often appear.  I was happy to set my own record, and to document one species that I hadn't observed on Bodega Head before.  

How many species do you think I saw?  (The answer is below this picture.)

 

Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) — male

On 15 August 2015, I recorded 10 species of dragonflies on Bodega Head.  I was excited, but also a little frustrated, because I thought I should have been able to find one more species.

I photographed 8 out of the 10 species.  Although I have seen a Blue Dasher (above) in the Bodega Dunes, this is the first time I've photographed one on Bodega Head.

The next picture is a "documentary" image — it's not a great photo, but it serves as a record.  This is the first time I've seen this species on Bodega Head.

 

 Western Pondhawk (Erythemis collocata) — an ovipositing female

Below are the other six species I photographed today:

 

 Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) — male

 

 Cardinal Meadowhawk (Sympetrum illotum) — ovipositing pair

 

Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) — male

 

Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta) — female 

 

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) — male

 

 Common Green Darner (Anax junius) — male, in the upper left corner of the photo
[There is also a Black Saddlebags in the upper right corner.]

And the two species that I observed but didn't photograph?  Spot-winged Glider (Pantala hymenaea) and a mosaic darner, probably Blue-eyed Darner (Rhionaeschna multicolor).

I don't think it will be easy to see more than 10 species of dragonflies in one day on Bodega Head, but I'll keep trying, and I'd love to hear about your observations, too.

 

Ode at high tide

We took a quick look at a couple of spots around Bodega Harbor near the peak of the 6.5' high tide this morning (that's on the high end of high tides for this area).

I wasn't expecting to see this:

 

Although I've often seen phoebes taking advantage of insects being flushed by tides in the salt marsh during winter, I think this is a first for me on Bodega Head — a December darner!

This dragonfly was actively feeding on smaller insects over the salt marsh vegetation.  It was backlit, so hard to identify at first.  Then I walked around for better light and saw this:

 

Anax decemberus?  No, just kidding.  This is Anax junius, otherwise known as a Common Green Darner.  But it was fun to play with the name.  Anax junius means "Lord of June," and refers to this species' abundance at that time of year.  It's much easier to see Common Green Darners around the summer solstice than near the winter solstice!

I've heard that Common Green Darners have been observed in Santa Barbara County recently, but I'm not sure how often they're seen in northern California at this time of year.  I'll have to inquire and get back to you.

P.S.  If you're wondering about the title of this post — "ode" is sometimes used as an informal abbreviation for "odonate," the group encompassing dragonflies and damselflies.  [I also had this crazy thought that "Ode at high tide" sounded somewhat similar to "Auld Lang Syne" — perhaps the season is getting to me!]

 

Traveling day

Today was mostly a traveling day, but below are a few images from brief stops here and there along the way:

 

 Close-up of Common Green Darner (Anax junius) in Walpole, MA

 

A wonderful jumping spider with bright emerald green palps!  The next picture shows the same spider from above.  These were taken in North Eastham, MA.

 

 

Sunset over Cape Cod Bay

Images of the day

A few images from the day traveling to San Juan Island and a short walk on the island:

 

Purple Martin near the ferry dock.

 

The skies cleared just in time to see the Olympics from the ferry. 

 

Shoreline near Friday Harbor.

 

Close-up of a still-to-be-identified darner.

 

Full moon rising at the end of a beautiful day.

California ovipositing

It was pretty breezy this afternoon, so I checked out one of the more sheltered dune ponds and noticed this dragonfly at the surface of the water.

 

This female California Darner (Rhionaeschna californica) was ovipositing (laying eggs) in the leaves of the submerged vegetation.  At this stage, she has already mated with a male, so the eggs are fertilized.

 

A male California Darner was hovering nearby.  It's likely he was the last male to mate with this female.  The male was actively guarding the female, defending her against visits by other males.  (There's a good reason for doing so, as it's thought that dragonflies can remove the sperm from previous matings.  By chasing away other males, he protects his investment.)

 

Here's a close-up of the male in flight:

 

The eggs that the female deposited will eventually hatch into larvae (dragonfly nymphs).  In large species such as this, the larval stage will often last for at least a year or more.  Then the nymph will undergo metamorphosis, crawl up a plant stem into the air, and break out of its nymphal skin to emerge as a flying dragonfly.  The adult dragonfly may live for a month or two.