The annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage

One of my favorite spring wildflowers, the Pink Lady's-slipper, makes an appearance during the annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage. Its a beautiful orchid.

It's always a good time to think ahead to spring. Please consider joining us for the next annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage, the first weekend after Memorial Day, in Allegany State Park, New York. It seems like 48 hours of nearly-nonstop field trips and programs, but they're spread over three days with breaks to eat and sleep. There are early-morning bird walks and bird-banding demonstrations, mid-morning walks and trips, afternoon walks, (or a choice of two all-day trips on Saturday if you prefer), evening walks (beaver and salamanders in the past), evening tent programs with a speaker on Friday and Saturday, followed by after-program frogs, insects and owling. Friday has afternoon and evening walks and events, while Sunday has the morning portion. If I'm not making much sense, just check out their schedule. The new Program Descriptions list was just finalized, and there's a nature walk for every taste, from birds to geology, wildflowers to trees, fields to forests, insects to herps, a bog slog and even specialized programs on photography, dragonflies, bats and beavers. For die-hard birders, there are birding trips from early morning to late into the night plus live birds-of-prey.

Allegany State Park is between Jamestown and Olean in southwestern New York State, next to the Pennsylvania border.

For more on the Pink Lady's-slipper, see my Adirondack blog post. Corrections, questions and suggestions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There is a separate community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist.

Eastern Pondhawks

female Eastern Pondhawk with eggs emerging below the tail
all photos © Dave Spier

Eastern Pondhawks -- © Dave Spier

One of the more common July dragonflies in the eastern U.S. is the Eastern, or Common, Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis). It likes to hang around ponds with vegetation (such as lily pads and cattails), slow streams and even lakes, or sometimes nearby in fields, roadsides or sunny, open spots. Low plants give them a hunting vantage for their voracious appetites. Dragonflies generally eat smaller insects such as mosquitoes (YES!), but in turn can become prey for birds including Purple Martins and bluebirds.

Female pondhawks are an attractive bright green with three dark, somewhat-rectangular spots down the top of the abdomen (S4-S6) and a mostly-dark tail with white tips (cerci). Juvenile males are nearly identical, then mature into entirely pruinose-blue bodies while maintaining the green face and white cerci.

adult male Eastern Pondhawk -- © Dave Spier

Males defend small territories over shallow water where the females lay their eggs while hovering just above the water. In the opening photo above (taken several years ago at the Montezuma Audubon Center when I was helping with the NYS Odonate survey), you might notice the eggs emerging from under the tail. She will repeatedly dip the tip in the water just enough to release the eggs. After hatching, young dragonflies (called naiads) spend several years growing and hunting on the pond bottom before emerging and transforming into winged adults.

Corrections, comments and questions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com   Now you also can connect with me on Facebook. There are several Dave Spier's, so look for the Gaillardia flower at the top of my time-line, or see more of my photos on a new page, Dave Spier (photographic naturalist).



adult male Eastern Pondhawk -- © Dave Spier

adult female Eastern Pondhawk -- © Dave Spier

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