ארכיון יומן של יולי 2015

יולי 1, 2015

Odonates and the North Texas Floods of 2015

Since the recent epic flooding of North Texas a lot of LLELA has been underwater. Many places are now standing in water that have not seen that in 5 or more years. I was hoping we'd see Dragonfly and Damselfly not present during the drought.

I've been more than surprised by the finds. We've added numerous first time observations and some that have not been seen since 2007. Prince Baskettail, Swamp Darner and Carolina Saddlebags have been observed and entered here.

Along our Cottonwood Trail last weekend I observed hundreds of nymph casings from newly emerged dragons and even got to observe a damselfly emerge. Numerous Common Green darners were observed filling and drying their wings before first flight. It was truly and awe inspiring experience.

This coming weekend Phil Plank and myself will be attempting to use video and time-lapse photography to capture the act of emergence. It's such and exciting prospect to capture the change from aquatic predator to the beautiful flying dragons we love.

If you get a chance to visit LLELA in the early morning hours don't miss the extraordinary experience of viewing dragons and damsels emergence.

הועלה ב-יולי 1, 2015 06:45 אחה"צ על ידי mchlfx mchlfx | 3 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

The Flower Mound Project

Think I've gotten the KML issues in order. I look to see more observations here and new members as we go forward promoting and advertising our efforts to document species at The Flower Mound.

הועלה ב-יולי 1, 2015 07:07 אחה"צ על ידי mchlfx mchlfx | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

יולי 9, 2015

LLELA: July iNat Social

Howdy, my fellow nature-loving iNaturalist friend :)

This month, two interesting factors have combined:

  1. Quite a few of you have expressed withdrawal symptoms since we haven't been meeting over summer, and
  2. LLELA is having a social fundraiser at the same restaurant where a few of our iNaturalist meetings have been.

When I attended the fundraiser event yesterday I noticed a lot of us were also iNaturalist enthusiasts, and of course all of us were nature enthusiasts. People were getting out their phones, sharing photos of bugs and birds’ nests, and even uploading to iNaturalist, so Mike Fox and I thought “Well this is practically an iNaturalist gathering anyway… Why not make it official?” So I’m letting you know about this informal gathering at Square One, and would love for you to join us!

Every Tuesday in July, Square One Café is giving 10% of food, $1 from each pint and $2 from each growler to LLELA. You can attend the restaurant any time from 9am-10pm, but lots of nature-loving people arrive after 5pm to enjoy each other’s company.

Tuesdays in July

Square One Café (http://squareonecafe.com)

5pm-10pm (come and go)

Enjoy good company, food and drinks while supporting ecosystem restoration and enjoying fellow nature enthusiasts

I certainly hope you’ll join us! I’ll be there next Tuesday.

Remember to let me know about other iNaturalist events (bioblitzes, meetings in other towns, etc.) and I’ll do my best to get the word out to our crew!

Happy iNat'ing,

Erin Taylor
Nature Programs Coordinator
Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area

הועלה ב-יולי 9, 2015 09:41 לפנה"צ על ידי mchlfx mchlfx | 3 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

יולי 20, 2015

LLELA iNaturalist Challenge

Now that the flood waters are slowly receding, the Eastern side of Bittern Marsh is accessible. I was out there Saturday and saw something pretty rare for LLELA. A Swift River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis) dragonfly! The last, and only, observation of this beautiful dragonfly was August 4th 2007. Lawrence Duhon submitted that photograph to me which I posted on iNaturalist for our LLELA Project.

I observed these in flight for over an hour but never had an opportunity to photograph one for an entry here. I’d like to challenge anyone hiking the Bittern Marsh Trail to get a photograph and observation entry to iNaturalist. This would be a great find since the only documented siting was back about the time LLELA last flooded.

I observed them at the North Eastern part of the marsh, right where you leave the forest and enter the open path. Geo coordinates are: Lat 33.063633, Lon -96.959764. Hint: Cruisers tend to hang from a branch or stalk rather than perch like we see with most other dragonfly.

Happy Dragon Hunting!

ps Don't forget to stop by Square One Café Tuesday evening for our iNat'r get together.

הועלה ב-יולי 20, 2015 04:43 אחה"צ על ידי mchlfx mchlfx | 3 תגובות | הוספת תגובה