Article in The Goldfinch

(Howard County Bird Club Newsletter)

September 2007 issue

A beautiful day dawned for the Howard County Dragonfly Count on June 16, 2007. It was mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 80’s and moderate humidity. The event, co-sponsored by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, attracted twenty-one participants. Participants came from Howard, Carroll, Montgomery, Prince Georges, Baltimore, and Frederick Counties.

Five groups of observers covered the entire county, which was divided into five territories or areas: 1-west county, 2-north, 3-central, 4-south, 5-east.

Although most of the participants were beginners at identifying odonates, their field skills honed by observing birds and butterflies were invaluable. So were their cameras;  in one area, five species of damselflies were added to the list after examining photos taken during the count!

A late afternoon tally rally at June Tveekrem’s house provided a festive end to the day.

Forty-four species of odonates were seen, comprising 1246 individuals.  The list of species and numbers is shown in the accompanying table.  The complete results are posted online at http://odes.southernspreadwing.com/count2007. The Lilypad Forktail sighting set a new early date by over a month. The Double-striped Bluet, Rapids Clubtail, Swift River Cruiser, and Banded Pennant were also nice finds.

Thank you to our group leaders: Bob Ringler (area 1), June Tveekrem (area 2), Sue Muller & Ken Clayton (co-leaders, area 3), Bob Solem (area 4), Jo Solem (area 5).

In addition to the group leaders, participants were: Pat Caro, Sue Earp, Wes Earp, Tom Feild, Denise Gibbs, Beth Johnson, Paul Koehler, Alice Kong and daughter, Grazina McClure, Mike McClure, Steve Noyes, Justine Schaeffer, Jim Wilkinson, and Bill Yeaman.

Next year’s dragonfly count will be in mid-to-late August.  We invite you to join us next summer!