Dragonfly Society of America - Northeast Meeting

One of the great things about our naturalist hobby is the wonderful people we meet as we pursues the wild creatures that peak our interest. This past week (July 31 to August 2nd) The Dragonfly Society of America - Northeast Meeting was held in Southeastern New Hampshire hosted my New Hampshire Audubon's Senior Scientist Pam Hunt. Friday morning field trips we curtailed by Thunderstorms the seemingly usual rain events of this wet and cold summer... Saturday broke with bright sunshine and about 60 dragonfly enthusiasts gathered at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn New Hampshire. Hal White presented an engaging talk on the lesser known female entomologists who pioneered the study of Odonata in the Northeast. And our fearless leaders outlined potential sites to be visited during the day.

Now a little about the dragonflies. Pam was interested in filling the species lists for all New Hampshire towns so the group had a very useful purpose for the weekend. Pam was not disappointed in the outcome as the group scattered to the selected haunts. In all of these gatherings individuals are always hoping to discover new species for their personal life list and this event was very successful in that regard for myself. I was able to add 2 species to my New England list which is a pretty good accomplishment...

One new Species for me was the Scarlet Bluet (Enallagma pictum) found at Norton Pond in Raymond NH. Several pairs were seen ovipositing in the lily pad covered pond edge. Another of my favorite damselflies the Lilypad Forktail (Ischnura kellicotti) were observed perched on the abundant lilypads.

A fine picnic BBQ was organized Saturday Evening at the Kingston State Park and most organizations would have called it an evening but the crepuscular habits of many of the Darners and Emeralds found the net toting enthusiasts gathered at a local dog park in Kingston. The abundant mosquito's provided plenty of food for the dragonflies while we kept the mosquitoes well fed as well. Almost immediately after exiting the truck I needed my second life bug of the day a female Coppery Emerald (Somatochlora georgiana) This individual was donated to Ed Lam and may grace the pages of his Petersen Field Guide to Dragonflies which should hit the shelves in 2011...

So my thanks go out to Pam Hunt, Brian Pfiefer, Nick Donnelly, Nancy Rideout and all the members of the DSA who made this event another to remember.