First Odonata And Ones A New One!

Its nice this weekend, 70 degrees or so and a nice breeze. And finally there are damselflies and dragonflies. The first damsel as usual is the Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) with its distinctive exclamation point ! shoulder stripes.

 

 

I wandered around some with my eye out for dragonflies too but didnt spot anything all day. And then late this afternoon I was in the kitchen  and looked out of the window and there was a familiar silhouette on the screen. But going outside it didnt turn out to be a familiar dragonfly. In fact it was entirely unfamilar and after perching on a planter to get the shot I had to post images at BugGuide to get an ID.

 

Not actually the very best of shots either with sun relected back off the glass and through the sceen, but good enought to get the ID.

 

 

 

Its a  Harlequin Darner (Gomphaeschna furcillata ) one of the  Gomphaeschna or Pygmy Darners. Its found up and down the East coast from Maine down to Florida. But its a first for my yard and thats always pleasing. Two new confirmed species last year, the Common and Prince Baskettails and now another to start 2013. Next target this year has to be to get more and better Saddlebags and Prince Baskettails.