Solar Power...Necessary for Late Season Dragonfly Watching

The dragonfly-watching (all bugs really) season is winding down, fewer species of lesser numbers are extant. The Bitterroot Mountain peaks have snow and daytime highs are only reaching low 60's F. Yes, time of year impacts watching these colorful insects. But, so do clouds blocking the sun in the heat of the summer; this can dramatically reduce dragonfly activity. The reverse is true in the spring/fall, solar power is the magic component for observing late season dragonflies and may be required for habitat occupancy (research). Conditions today close to acceptable, partly cloudy and about 60 F. So I made a quick trip (second time lately, visited on September 3) to Chief Looking Glass Fishing Access Site to find/photograph Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa); need a good flight shot for my G+ Dragonfly-'Darner' album. Waited several minutes at arrival for large patch of blue sky to effect dragonfly activity; yep, it worked had a Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum) perch on a rock in the shallow river.

Autumn Meadowhawk

Shortly thereafter had a darner fly past about a foot above the water. Followed and got a shot of a female Shadow Darner laying eggs in or near tree branch in river. Had success in finding a male Shadow, but the resulting photo not exactly National Geographic quality. Nature and Photography website has some good advice for photographing dragonflies. I'm going to try again, maybe multiple times if we have a typical 'indian summer' this fall. Find something cool yourself.

Shadow Darner (female)

Shadow Darner (male in flight)

Seeing the Forest for the Trees

Three days ago visited Lolo Creek Campground, west of Lolo, Montana by 16 miles. Target for field trip was to discover/photograph lichen species or a serendipitous encounter with other 'wildlife'.

Within minutes of leaving car and approaching creek bridge encountered group of chickadees in creekside shrubbery. Several were chesnut-backed (Poecile rufescens):

Forested hillside

They were vocalizing quite a bit, sounding like this (credit xeno-canto webpage and Tayler Brooks):

Also in the shrubs were Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) making their harsh call notes (credit xeno-canto and Chris Parrish):

 

After observing the chickadees and jays to satisfaction, made it across bridge/creek into the campground proper. Trees here are impressive, have never really looked at or identified them properly. Here are trunk photos of all:

Douglas Fir

Lodgepole Pine

Engelmann Spruce

Subalpine Fir

Western Larch

Looking at tree trunks is also profitable for finding lichens; here is a photo of 'lattice tube lichen' (Hypogymnia occidentalis):

Positioned near a rivulet attracted another member of this community, gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis). Quite stealthy in approach usually:

Go out and make your own discoveries...it is great fun!