[Odonata-l] Fwd: [se-odonata] the annual enormous swarm of coastal migrating dragonflies

[Chris Hill]

Sorry to reply to my own post, but I got Sharon's e-mail address  
wrong -she's ictinia at hughes.net now.

CH

On Sep 18, 2006, at 8:18 AM, Chris Hill wrote:

> Odonata-l readers,
>
> Here's a post to a regional odonata list that I thought probably
> would be of interest to a wider audience.  See in particular the
> followup post that comes second.  South Carolina, USA.  Original
> poster's address is ictinia at mindspring.com - I don't think she's on
> Odonata-L, so if you respond, please copy her.
>
> Begin forwarded message 1:
>
> found myself at Edisto Beach (Colleton County, SC) this evening for
> other reasons - ie, totally unprepared - no camera & with only the
> crummy 'truck binoculars' - and there it was - the "as far as my eyes
> can see North to South" swarm of migrating dragonflies, feeding as
> they went - just as I saw along the beach & the dunes last year on
> Sept. 10.
>
> I was only familiar with 2 of the 4 predominant species. The most
> common were Wandering Gliders. The second most numerous species was
> Common Green Darner. After that - could we have Fawn Darners on the
> lower SC coast and if so, would they migrate along with the previous
> two species? They came down pretty much in my face enough times to get
> some good looks at them. They were not quite as long as the CG
> Darners, colored similar to the gliders, but extremely thin in the
> abdomen & with amber wings. I also clearly saw green eyes on some
> individuals, which I read is characteristic of Fawn Darner females.
>
> The fourth species . . . I am kicking myself for not at least having
> good binos - they were about 2.5" long, of medium build & uniformly
> dark but not black (dark brown? very dark olive?) and I think at least
> some of them were green eyed as well. They were more direct in flight
> than the other 3 species. I realize that's a really sorry description,
> but I'm throwing it out there in case it rings a bell with someone.
>
> Needless to say, I am going back to the beach tomorrow with the camera
> & good binos. Tonight's weather, btw, was *bizarre* - there wasn't so
> much as a puff of wind. The ocean looked like a pond & the biting
> flies were nearly unbearable, so I will also have long pants, socks &
> shoes tomorrow - but there was lots of ode food out & they were
> feeding. It was awesome watching them catch their prey & then chow
> down in flight - looking for all the world like odonate Mississippi
> Kites. :)
>
> Sharon L. Brown
> http://SLBrownPhoto.com
>
>
> Begin forwarded message 2: "What a difference a day makes"
>
> I only saw a total of 10 dragonflies of only 3 species on the beach
> today, all afternoon. The moral of the story is "don't go out without
> the camera." I am kicking myself all over town for missed shots last
> night of that huge swarm. I have counted some large bird migrations -
> record count for me was a long & incredibly huge fall flight of
> 168,000 American Robins, which I believe pales in comparison to the
> number of odes I saw yesterday. The procession stretched in both
> directions (flying along the beach) as far as my eyes could see, went
> from near the water's edge at least 100 feet back to the line of
> houses, and my estimate on density was 1 ode per 2' x 2' x 2' of
> aerial space all the way up to Wandering Glider flight height. The
> procession was fully in progress when I arrived at about 6:30 and
> continued after biting flies made me leave at 7:15. Anyone care to do
> the math on that? ;)
>
> Sharon L. Brown
> http://SLBrownPhoto.com
>
>
>
> ********************************************************************** 
> **
> Christopher E. Hill
> Biology Department
> Coastal Carolina University
> Conway, SC 29528-1954
> chill AT coastal.edu
> http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm
>
>
>
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************************************************************************
Christopher E. Hill
Biology Department
Coastal Carolina University
Conway, SC 29528-1954
chill AT coastal.edu
http://ww2.coastal.edu/chill/chill.htm