Damsels and Dragons Walk on June 25

On Tuesday June 25th the Blue Ridge Naturalist Network hosted its first walk featuring dragonflies and damselflies at Charles D. Owen Park in Swannanoa.  Blessed with a beautiful early summer day under partly cloudy skies we had a total of 27 people participating.  Our walk leaders were local dragonfly and butterfly enthusiasts Gail Lankford and Vin Stanton.  We began by touring the perimeter of one of the small lakes at the park and soon began seeing interesting damselflies and dragonflies.  The damselflies were especially tricky to spot given their small size, but gradually we calibrated ourselves and began to notice them all around the lake.  A special treat just before lunch was spotting a Harvester butterfly along the lakeshore.

After lunch in a pavillion at the park, we set out again around the second lake.  An Eastern Kingbird nest with three small chicks soon provided entertainment.   Then one small group peeled off on the Swannanoa River trail to the Warren Wilson farm fields while the other continued around the lake.  Later the remaining participants reunited near the Warren Wilson College dormitories.  A now drained swimming hole yielded views of the Spangled Skimmer dragonfly, and we later found a Tiger Spiketail dragonfly along the small creek feeding that pond.  

Our totals for the day as recorded by Gail and Vin were 15 species of dragonflies, 8 species of damselfies, and 17 species of butterflies.  Since nobody saw all of them as the group was large and sometimes separated, there is a list provided by Gail and Vin attached here for your records.  For those who would like to learn more about these creatures, Gail has also provided the following resource list: 

The Dragonflies and Damselflies of NChttp://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/odes/a/accounts.php

Butterflies of NC: Their Distribution and Abundancehttp://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/nbnc/a/accounts.php?acctID=134

These websites have checklists, photos, flight periods, maps of occurrence, host plants, etc,  and are very easy to search by species and county

Books:
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia and Southeast by Giff Beaton

Damselflies of the Northeast by Ed Lam

Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies by Nikula, Sones, and Stokes – A Stokes Nature Guide

Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East – A Princeton Field Guide 

Butterflies through Binoculars, The East by Jeffrey Glassberg

A Swift Guide to Butterflies of North America by Jeffrey Glassberg

Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America – Kenn Kaufman

Butterflies of the East Coast by Rick Cech and Guy Tudor

Finally, we have attached some photos from the event, one showing the participants, and some close-ups courtesy of Jim Poling.  All in all it proved to be a very enjoyable outing where the participants learned alot about these small creatures that often escape our notice.  

Dragons & Damsels Walk 
Charles D. Owen Park
June 25, 2019

Dragonflies – Owen Park –  11

Slaty Skimmer
Great Blue Skimmer
Widow Skimmer
Banded Pennant
Blue Dasher
E. Amberwing
E. Pondhawk
Prince Baskettail
Lancet Clubtail
Black Saddlebags
Carolina Saddlebags

Dragonflies – Warren Wilson – 4

Dragonhunter (along river)
Common Whitetail
Spangled Skimmer
Tiger Spiketail

Damselflies – Owen Park – 6

Ebony Jewelwing
Eastern Forktail
Fragile Forktail
Variable Dancer
Slender Bluet
Skimming Bluet

Damselflies – Warren Wilson – 2

Blue-fronted Dancer
Azure Bluet

Butterflies – Owen Park – 12

E. Tiger Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur
Summer Azure
Eastern Tailed Blue
Pearl Crescent
Viceroy
Harvester
C. Buckeye
Carolina Satyr
Least Skipper
Dun Skipper

Warren Wilson Butterflies – 5

Hackberry Emperor
Cloudless Sulphur
Gray Hairstreak
Wild Indigo Duskywing
Appalachian Brown