In The Beginning .......... - May, 2003 !

Although my interest in dragonflies and damselflies only started blossoming around five years ago, that interest has been bubbling just below the surface since I was about 10 years old!

Over the past year or so, a few times my thoughts have returned to a short stay that Lindsay and I had on the Mediterranean island of Sardegna. On the last day of that stay, I remember visiting a lake in the north west of the island that was very rich in dragonflies, I also remembered attempting to photograph a few. This week I decided to try and find those photos - and I did! I also managed to pinpoint which lake it was that I visited.

I warn you here and now that the photography is not great! I was using a forerunner of the modern bridge camera - the Minolta DiMAGE 7Hi. This only had a 5 megapixel sensor and on a good day the batteries would allow you to take around 80 shots before they needed recharging! I was also not adept at using this on wildlife as I was mainly photographing trains at that time! I'd originally intended to just show the dragons and damsels in this post, but I decided to include a few other items too.

Sunday 11th May, 2003

We arrived at Alghero airport in Sardegna, picked up our hire car, and set off for our hotel, which was the Hotel Catalunya. We checked in to find that we'd been allocated a 'junior suit' , which was rather splendid. The view from our private lounge wasn't too bad either!

view from our 'junior suite' in the Hotel Catalunya

The day was spent exploring the town. However, I did take a photo of a dragonfly by the harbour. I didn't attempt to identify it at the time, but I'm now fairly certain that this was a Scarlet Dragonfly.

Scarlet Dragonfly (Crocothemis erythraea) (male) - Alghero, Sardegna

Monday 12th May, 2003

Much of the day was spent exploring inland. One of the first things I photographed was, I believe, a Red-veined Darter, but I cannot tell you where I saw it.

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) (female) - Sardegna

A quick look at a rocky outcrop revealed some lizards which I believe to be Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard (Podarcis tiliguerta).

Tyrrhenian Wall Lizard (Podarcis tiliguerta) - Sardegna

The wild flowers on the island were fabulous!
 

wild flowers - Sardegna

Tuesday 13th May, 2003

The morning was taken up with a boat trip to visit a spectacular cave system, Grotta di Nettuno, most easily accessible from the sea. To get there, we passed round the dramatic Capo Caccia.

Capo Caccia - Sardegna

Grotta di Nettuno - Sardegna

In the afternoon we did more exploration by car and on foot. The scenery was wonderful, but the only wildlife photographed was this butterfly. I don't know what species it was, but it was clearly of the Lycaenidae family.

butterfly - Sardegna

Wednesday 14th May, 2003

This day we made further, and extensive, explorations by car, and no wildlife was photographed. Here's a coastal scene from that day, however.

coastal scene - Sardegna

Thursday 15th May, 2003

This was, effectively, our last day, as we left early the following day. I seem to remember that there'd been a storm in the night and the seas were a little heavy when we ventured out. I'm not sure what made me seek out the Lago Baratz, but it might even have been a mention of dragonflies. It certainly proved to be an interesting place. However, Lindsay didn't wish to venture into the wooded area surrounding the lake and so stayed in the car, thus limiting my time here. There were a good number of dragonflies around and I am sure that if I visited again in fine weather in summer I could probably happily spend days at this location. 

The first shot I took was (I am relatively confident) of a female Black-tailed Skimmer with a male Emperor (with left front wing not properly formed). However, the colouration of the abdomen of the Emperor was much darker than I'm used to seeing in UK and it caused me to check the European field guide - several times!

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) (female) + Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Lago Baratz, Sardegna

Emperor (Anax imperator) (male) - Lago Baratz, Sardegna

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) (male)  - Lago Baratz, Sardegna

Scarlet Dragonfly (Crocothemis erythraea) (male) - Lago Baratz, Sardegna

At this time I knew little about the life-cycle of damselflies and dragonflies, and so, when I saw  a number of creatures crawling across the rocky shore of the lake, I didn't realise what it was that I was looking at. I did, however, take a couple of photos. I now realise that these were emerging damselflies. However, I find it remarkable that it seems that these were making the transition from larvae to adult whilst resting on solid ground - I have only ever witnessed emergence in UK, and then it has been from the larvae clinging to vegetation in a relatively vertical position. In the second image, you can see the damselfly is only partially emerged. It does occur to me that my original supposition may be wrong and this could be a failed emergence - I'd be happy to hear your views on this! By the way - I have absolutely no ideas as to the species of these!

emergent damselflies - Lago Baratz, Sardegna

The following morning we flew home.

I have done my best to correctly identify the species in this blog post but, if you notice any errors or omissions, please let me know.

In revisiting the images from this break, I feel a strong urge to return and, as Lindsay has fond memories of this visit too, it may happen. As someone who spent the last fifteen years of my working life travelling abroad once or twice a month, I was happy, on my retirement, to confine my travels to UK. It's now 10 years since I left British shores, and maybe the time has come to spread my wings again! 

I shall return to UK for my next blog post, but don't currently know what the subject matter will be!

Thank you for your visit - and, just in case I don't manage to squeeze in the next blog post for a week or so, I wish you all a peaceful and very Merry Christmas and a sparklingly good 2019, filled with wonderful wildlife experiences!

Highline Lake & Colorado Monument on Monday 22nd September

On Monday 22nd, we went to Highline Lake, to the north of Grand Junction and close to the Utah border. This place has a reputation as a good birding spot. Approximately half a mile from the entrance to the lake, we were greeted by a sight that looked like something out of Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. Clouds of birds were coming off a field and landing on the fences either side of the road. This was made even more amazing by the fact that the flock was of several species, including Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer’s Blackbird, Mourning Dove, European Starling and (even more amazingly) a hawk that was too far away to identify, but small and pale – and in with the other birds without disturbing them. This flock was extremely nervous and virtually impossible to approach. Every time a car came they flew off into the fields next to the road, coming back after ten minutes or so. At one time the road ahead of us was virtually completely covered in birds. We sat with the window down for a while in the hope that some would settle near enough to photograph, but I managed very few shots – and then they were gone for good.

very small part of mixed flock of birds

Yellow-headed Blackbird (male)

Brewer's Blackbird (female)

European Starlings (juvenile)

At the lake we found the Ranger who had not been on duty for long (it was only 9.am) who had seen the flock of on the way in, and confirmed that it was highly remarkable. She gave us several pointers as to what to look for where, and we set off for a four-hour walk round the lake in an anti-clockwise direction.

Eurasian Collared Dove

We quickly found a wader, which was too far away to identify (insufficient space in the luggage for a scope) but was almost certainly a Sandpiper of some type. Shortly after this we saw a couple of LBJs at a distance and into the sun (no chance of identification) and then the birds ‘dried up’ completely. However, we did see plenty of dragonflies, butterflies, crickets, and grasshoppers. There were also a few lizards. I have attempted to identify all this wildlife, but stand to be corrected if anyone knows better.

Highline Lake

unidentified wader

Thistle in 'misty' grass

Cricket sp.

Cricket sp.

Grasshopper sp.

Clouded Sulphur

Field Crescent

Common Checkered-Skipper

Western Pygmy-blue

spreadwing damselfly sp.

Western Meadowhawk (male)

Western Meadowhawk (female)

We got a little worried when we found some huge paw prints in the dust on the trail. These had visible claw marks in front of the pad impressions. They looked fresh and were heading in the same direction as us. This was a bit distracting as we found ourselves more concerned about the possibility of a bear or puma lurking ahead of us. I did, however, stop to photograph a Praying Mantis. This was fortunate as, if we had not stopped, our path would have been on a collision course with an eight foot snake which slowly crossed the path about ten feet in front of us. We carefully waited for the tail to come into sight and heaved a sigh of relief when no rattle appeared. With this, and the paw-prints that were still with us, we were even more nervous. I’m OK with snakes if I know that they are not going to harm me, and quite enjoy handling them, but at this stage, I did not know what it was.

Praying Mantis

Bullsnake

We came to a point where our path diverged from the paw prints and started to relax a bit. We then came upon some rangers building a new path who told us, when I showed them the snake photos, that this was a harmless “lazy old Bull Snake which feeds on rats and mice”.

Damselfly sp.

Cricket sp.

beetle with ants

We were now half way round the lake, and little other than crickets and lizards was seen for an hour or so.

Powdered Dancer

Western Whiptail Lizard

However, having arrived at the dam at the western end, we followed the path into an area of comparatively lush vegetation. First we were intrigued by a black spider with a red spot on its back, which was creeping up on what I believe to be an adult Antlion. The spider was reminiscent of a Black Widow, but closer examination shows otherwise.

Antlion sp. and spider

unidentified spider

In some ponds beside the path we found some Mallards which took to the air as we approached, and then there was a loud clattering as a group of Mule Deer sprung out of the bushes near us and disappeared up the slope and into the trees. A little later, an American Kestrel flew past.

Mule Deer with young

American Kestrel (female)

When we got near to our start point we found the Ranger again. She told us that, shortly after sending us off to the east, an Osprey with a fish was at the western end of the lake.

That afternoon we headed back to Colorado Monument to do some bits not done the previous day. As we left Highline Lake, there was no evidence of any birds where there had been so many earlier.

Colorado Monument

The wildlife was much the same as it had been the previous day, with possibly another species of lizard seen. I also managed to get a distant shot of a Western Scrub-Jay.

American Kestrel (male)

Prarie/Plateau Lizard

unidentified lizard sp. (prob. Prarie/Plateau Lizard)

evil 'wasp' dragging caterpillar down hole

Western Scrub-Jay

Opuntia sp.