2023 July 8

   We hear from Jeff Gaskin and Kirsten Mills about the numerous dragonflies and butterflies they have been seeing and (Kirsten) photographing:

Jeff writes:
Yesterday, July 7, Kirsten and I were at MacIntyre reservoir and saw a Painted Lady as well as 7 species of dragonflies.  They included a female Variegated Meadowhawk, 4 or 5 Cardinal Meadowhawks, 5 or 6 Western Pondhawks, a Paddle-tailed Darner, some Blue-eyed Darners, a Common Green Darner, and 15 Eight-spotted Skimmers.

Today, July 8, at Swan Lake, I saw 2 Satyr Commas on the trail from the parking lot to the Tuesday Pond.  Also, I had a total of 39 Lorquin’s Admirals, and 9 Western Tiger Swallowtails along the trail around Swan Lake.

Dragonflies seen today, at Swan Lake included the following:   one Black Saddlebags at the south end of the floating boardwalk, a Cardinal Meadowhawk, 2 Eight-spotted Skimmers, lots of Blue Dashers, and a few Blue-eyed Darners.

Kirsten writes:
Jeff Gaskin and I went to MacIntyre Reservoir and the Wallace Road bulb fields yesterday. We saw Blue-eyed Darner, Common Green Darner, Western Pondhawk, Eight-spotted Skimmer, Cardinal Meadowhawk and Variegated Meadowhawk. We also saw Pacific Forktail and Tule Bluets.

Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum  (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Tule Bluet Enallagma carunculatum  (Odo.: Coenagrionidae)  Kirsten Mills

Common Green Darner Anax junius  (Odo.: Aeshnidae)
Kirsten Mills

Cardinal Meadowhawk  Sympetrum illotum (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Cardinal Meadowhawk  Sympetrum illotum (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Variegated Meadowhawk  Sympetrum corruptum
(Odo.: Libellulidae)
Kirsten Mills

Eight-spotted Skimmer Libellula forensis (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Western Pondhawk  Erythemis collocata (Odo.: Libellulidae)  Kirsten Mills

Jeremy Tatum writes:  The moth below was reared from a caterpillar from Spectacle Lake.  At first glance I thought the adult moth closely resembled Eupithecia annulata.  I am grateful to Libby Avis, who pointed out that it is also a good fit for E. graefii, and that its foodplant (Salal) also suggests E. graefii, which is usually recorded on Ericaceae.

Probably Eupithecia graefii  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum

Probably Eupithecia graefii  (Lep.: Geometridae)  Jeremy Tatum