Do you dragonfly?
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department asserts that "dragonflying is the new birding."
Gray-waisted Skimmer courtesy of Joshua Rose, Ph.D., © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
The birding industry has established universal appeal, but birds and butterflies are not the only winged migrants to attract a crowd. Dragonflies and damselflies are gaining popularity among wildlife enthusiasts, and southern Texas is home to 93 species, making it one of the most biologically diverse regions in the United States.
The ninth annual Dragonfly Days weekend is a chance to see why dragonflying is becoming as popular as birding in some places. The event takes place in Weslaco May 15-18 and is sponsored by the Estero Llano Grande State Park World Birding Center site near Weslaco and the Valley Nature Center.
Gray-waisted Skimmer courtesy of Joshua Rose, Ph.D., © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
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posted by Amy at 10:16 AM
10 Comments:
Wow, this is the first I've heard of it. I do indeed "dragonfly."
It's the first I've heard of it, too, and it's the 9th annual event. The PR efforts apparently have been rather low-key.
I think its becoming pretty popular in the UK. I seem to recall a couple of dragon id guides being marketted fairly specifically at curious and/or convertible birders.
Yes, I do "dragonfly." I especially like watching them in the summer once the birds have quieted down and little else is stirring.
I think dragonflies are great. I've designed many t-shirts and decided the other day to try a dragonfly. It took me 3 days to finish this design of a dragonfly in a pond setting of cat tails. You can see the cat tails through its translucent wings. I really like it. Dragonflies are great. This is my new
Dragonfly Art T-Shirt I've been working on for the past 3 days.
Dragonflys are really cool insects I have had an interest in them since before I started seriously birding. The other think about them is that very little is known about them, relatively speaking. In any event they are very much fun to chase and photograph.
Amy:
Cool post! During our field season working on the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, our crew of three are dropped off out in the middle of the Everglades freshwater marl prairie. It's a beautiful place, indeed, but our little 8X16' structure can be quite small in May, June and July when biting insects are the norm and you become the plate du jour.
A few years back I picked up a copy of Sidney Dunkle's Dragonflies Through Binoculars (Oxford University Press) to keep me occupied once the sparrows stopped singing. I spent all of my extra time trying (struggling??) to identify the local dragonfly fauna. I have posted some photos on my flickr site here:
David's Odonata
Since then I haven't spent much time exploring the wonderful world of dragonflies- but your post has caused me to pull the book off the shelf and reconsider.
Thanks for always piquing my interest.
Cheers
David
Is that what I am supposed to call it?
Then I am, along with being a birder, also a dragonflyer.
I don't know any of them except for Eastern Pond Hawks, but I couldn't care less. They are gorgeous.
News to me, thanks for the info :)
I only know a couple of different types, but I do like them. I'm still so busy learning bird names and field marks and songs that I just can't spare the brain cells for dragonflies too.
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