2023 June 4

    Jeff Gaskin writes:  Today I decided to go to Swan Lake.  I saw four species including a Mourning Cloak (still in good condition), 1 Cabbage White, 6 Western Tiger Swallowtails and 8 Lorquin’s Admirals. That’s pretty good considering I only covered half of the lake’s trail.  Of the dragonflies, I saw a few Blue-eyed and California Darners, 1 Common Green Darner, 9 Blue Dashers, 3 Cardinal Meadowhawks, 2 Western Pondhawks, and a few Eight-spotted Skimmers.

Marie O’Shaughnessy writes:  I found this lovely Cardinal Meadowhawk at one of the ponds in Outerbridge Park today.   Butterflies seen here today were, 5 Cabbage Whites, 4 Western Tiger Swallowtails, 1 Lorquin’s Admiral.   Dr Rob Cannings, in his book Dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon, writes:  “Males…return again and again to a favorite twig…, perching with wings cocked downward, scarlet abdomen glowing in the Sun.”   Marie’s Cardinal appears to have read the book conscientiously.

 Cardinal Meadowhawk Sympetrum illotum (Odo.:  Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

Cardinal Meadowhawk Sympetrum illotum (Odo.:  Libellulidae)
Marie O’Shaughnessy

The VNHS held its monthly Butterfly Walk today. We hope to post a report on it, with perhaps some photographs, tomorrow morning.