In 1995, we were often enveloped in clouds of smallish golden dragonflies. There were thousands. We could pick up multiple ones that had been hit by cars to look at them closely. But I didn't have a dragonfly field guide back then.
When we were back in North Dakota in 2002 and 2007, we didn't see them again. It was strange, as if the golden dragonfly event happened just once, for us.
But there have been some this time. Getting a picture has been tricky, but this one is not too bad.
So, what is it? Well, it's a male- it has two little prongs at the end of it's abdomen. It's in North Dakota, which eliminates a few candidates. It has black legs (I can see this clearly in one of the poor pictures), which eliminates the yellow-legged meadowhawk.
My best guess is an immature saffron-winged meadowhawk. The adult males are deep red, but the females and immature males are yellow, darkening with age. The leading edges of the wings are amber, which is typical. Meadowhawks are known for being really hard to ID.
So, the mystery is not really solved, but perhaps it flutters closer to a solution.
I also saw a nice plains garter snake. Well, technically, I saw half a snake!
Today's lonely North Dakota picture. Railroads are alive and well here.
It was much hotter today than predicted. I finished at 2:15, but it was over 90 before noon and 98 by 1:00. The heat is hard. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler.
Miles today: 17.4. Total miles so far: 2623.4
 | See I Was Cruisin' |
3 comments:
I've always been fascinated by the wings on dragonflies.
That's pretty hot. I'm surprised you hiked as far as you did.
Lulu: "98 degrees! Too hot for my fluffiness!"
Charlee: "Oooh, we do like dragonflies, though."
Chaplin: "Might be worth braving the heat to chase those guys around."
Ann- I might have bailed out, but there aren't many access points along the canal where Om could get to me.
Chaplin- you could chase lots! I'm not sure how many you would catch.
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