Dragonflies/damselflies & things Faribault

ON Saturday, we woke up early and drove down to the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. Kurt Mead, Minnesota Odonata Survey Project was giving a workshop. It was lovely, we met his family. There were only eight of us. A small but dedicated group. The day was hot and humid, a perfect August Summer's day. The air was alive with the hum of insects, bird's called in the trees, and a lovely breeze kept the sweat down to a trickle along my back. We checked out two place. One was along the Straight river just before it pours into the Cannon river. We did this in the morning. After lunch, we went out to the swampy land West of the nature center. It was there I caught the Rice County record - a Band-winged Meadowhawk. YOO HOO!!!!! I also caught a Twelve Spotted Skimmer on the fly. Lucky me!

After the workshop, I visited the graves of Dick, Deloris, and Ann on the hill and spent a few moments in contemplation.

Dragonflies & damselflies things

On Sunday, I went up to St. John's Abbey with my friend Laurel to attend a seminar and field work on dragonflies and damselflies. It was really good. Kurt Mead, the Odonata Survey Project, i.e. dragonfly & damselfly project gave a really good introduction to these invertebrates. We had some classroom work and then we went out onto the field and swung our nets to catch damselflies and dragonflies. When we returned home, we went online and ordered a net and other things so we can do more surveying. In fact, we will be surveying the rest of this month and into next month until the frost comes. The coolest name for a dragonfly - Stygian Shadow Dragonfly. It sounds like the name of a superhero.