2003
Meeting of The Dragonfly Society of the Americas - Williams, California,
with post trips to the Owens Valley - Page 1
A few photos and notes on the meeting by Roy Beckemeyer
Last updated 12 July 2003
Thanks to Kathy and Dave Biggs, Tim Manolis, and Andy Rehn,
hosts and tour guides for the meeting. See Kathy's web pages on the
meeting at: DSACALIFORNIA
Photos taken by Roy J. Beckemeyer unless otherwise noted.
Material ©2003 by Roy J. Beckemeyer. Do not use or copy without
permission.
A
highlight of the trip was the wonderful opportunity to see up close and personal
views of the Petaluridae: Tanypteryx hageni, one of the two North
American species in the family (the other being the eastern Tachopteryx thoreyi).
We got to see live larvae (none of my photos of them turned
out), and I collected a couple of exuviae. Here is one of them (left).
Right: A pair of Black Petaltails in copula. They
were very cooperative as well, posing for pictures for Rosser Garrison, Sid
Dunkle, and me for many minutes before being netted by Rosser. There were
hundreds of Tanypteryx individuals flying around in the vicinity of
this campground and the couple of seepage areas that constituted their larval
habitat. This was the experience of a lifetime for folks like me who have
seen very few petalurids in life at all, and it made me wish that I had the
opportunity to spend an entire summer up here just watching and documenting the
goings-on.
Left: A handsome male T. hageni (Black Petaltail)
resting on a rock. Note the abdominal appendages and wingtips are pressed
flat against the rock - an odd way of perching.
On a cold morning during the post trip, a few of us went up
where it was even colder, leaving the 4000 foot elevation Owens Valley floor for
the 10,000 foot heights where the Bristlecone Pines grow. Great birding
that morning - Pygmy Nuthatch, Pinyon Jays,, Williamson's Sapsucker, Red
Crossbills, and others.
Stalwart dragonfly bird enthusiasts, from
left, Ailsa and Nick Donnelly of Binghamton, NY, and Bob Behrstock, of CA
(formerly TX).
Earlier, during the meeting proper, we all worked over the area
around Williams and Chico, up north of Sacramento. Here are a series of
shots from a day at Bear Creek, west of Williams.
Right: Dennis Paulson (WA), still the DSA President when this
photo was taken, may have been looking for exuviae or damselflies to photograph
here.
Left: Jim Johnson (WA) watching for those pesky Giant Darners (Anax
walsinghami). They look like airliners passing by, but are not to be
caught easily here. I have taken them in New Mexico on a couple of
occasions, but struck out in California.
Right: You can always count on Ken Tennessen (AL) to be out
looking for nymphs and exuviae. Here he (right in the picture) and Steve
Valley (OR) are discussing the state of benthic affairs.
A cooperative Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata) male
perched for this photo at Bear Creek.
Left: A Brewer's Sparrow with a mouthful of katydid for its
kids (at least its not feeding them dragonflies). Photo taken in the
morning of the day I was driving back across the mountains to Sacramento.
This is below the visitor's center at Mono Lake. Got fairly good pictures
of Green-tailed Towhee and Spotted Towhee as well. Nice spot.
At the county park on Mono Lake, there were lots of Argia
alberta (Paiute Dancers) flying around. Here (Right) is a male perching in the
warm morning sunlight.
Left: A female Paiute Dancer at the county park at Mono Lake.
Left:
The Emerald Spreadwing, Lestes dryas (a teneral male). Bob
Behrstock and the Biggs had told me about a spot up in the mountains where this
species was emerging from a small sedge pond. They were still doing so on
the day I passed back over on the way to Sacramento.