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National Moth Week 2013
By Bryan on July 23, 2013 Grab the kids, chill the beer, mash the bananas, paint the trees, and leave the porch light burning – it’s National Moth Week. Here’s my contribution, from north central Saskatchewan, well over halfway to…
DSA Update No. 6 (Final): Emeralds
Little else in nature rivals the scintillation, the explosion of green, expressed in the eyes of the dragonflies we call “Emeralds.” Here’s how it usually happens: You’re squishing around in a spruce bog or walking a woodland trail, and you…
DSA Update No. 5: Destination North
ONWARD to the Canadian Shield – the vast region of exposed precambrian rock on which reside infinite lakes, bogs sprinkled with orchids, coniferous woods, and, of course, lots of flying things. We’ve wrapped up the formal gathering of the Dragonfly…
DSA Update No. 4: Boreas
I’m north. How so? North enough for Boreal Snaketail (Ophiogomphus colubrinus). That’s him above. Yeah, I know, perhaps some of you aren’t getting excited about seeing a dragonfly “hanging” out like this. But for many of us here in Prince…
DSA Update No. 3 and What’s This? No. 13
My regular What’s This? photo challenge joins my updates from the annual meeting of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas here in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. So, yeah, you can probably determine what animal this belongs to. But name it to…
DSA Update No. 2: Northern Exposure
Nothing says I love you in the north like copulating Coenagrion interrogatum (Subarctic Bluets). I caught this pair in the act at the Gem Lakes area north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. But another group, even more audacious than this, was the highlight…
DSA Update No. 1: Elusive Exclusive
You would almost never know that Stylurus notatus ranged far and wide across eastern portions of North America. Even the most skilled of us with nets rarely see this dragonfly. Hence its common name: Elusive Clubtail.
Where Rivers Flow North
Need I say more? I crossed somewhere in western Ontario. And when I reached the Manitoba-Saskatchewan frontier, I met up with great swarms of dragonflies. They drifted in cities, along ponds, and in little parks where I stopped for picnics. They…
What’s This? No. 12
Here’s something on my path toward dragonflies on the bogs and along the lakes of Saskatchewan, Canada. Name it and win $5 off any of my outings or lectures. And if the summer monsoons have driven you indoors with time…
John Wires (1922-2013)
Saying goodbye to John Wires a week ago was unlike any other farewell we had shared for the better part of three decades. Even our outing that humid evening was unusual. John didn’t usually go for ice cream. But when…
“Settled in Quivering Contentment”
Like most of you, I spend my summer leisure time contemplating the proboscis of the Primrose Moth, which is about half the length of its body.
Joan Thompson’s Bear Necessity
Over the years Joan Thompson has welcomed wild visitors to her home in Morrisville, Vermont. A belligerent turkey once tried to smash through Joan’s front door. A Long-tailed Weasel frequented her yard a few winters ago. And as a skilled birder,…
