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

[Chris Hill]

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