detours will now become commonplace

The University of Wisconsin Arboretum is a few blocks away from Chez Canoelover.  When I need a fix of outside, it’s a little more convenient than driving an hour or two to get really out of town.  It’s hardly wilderness, but it lacks the sterility of a city park so you can find plants and animals you normally wouldn’t find.

I went to the Arb on the way to work.  I have to drive past it, and sometimes the pull of the Arb causes me to take a quick detour that sometimes turns into an hour of sauntering through the woods and prairies.  In the Winter it pulls me in for a quick snowshoe. In the Spring, ephemerals and songbirds.  In Summer, wildlife and wildflowers.  In Autumn, everything.

Of course, I was hoping for some odonates.

I was not disppointed.  Here’s a 4-spotted Skimmer, a.k.a. Libellula quadrimaculata. I love the quadrimaculata part…so practical.  But it makes me wonder why we’re called Homo sapien. Maybe we should be called Homo ovis.

But I digress. Shocking.

A Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia) is also known as Libellula lydia.  They are common, but they’re lovely, and I dig Skimmers in general.

Here’s a P. lydia that isn’t white.  That’s because it’s a juvenile female.  This one took me for a little ride until I figured out that it couldn’t be a 12-spotted Skimmer because of the body coloration.  Kurt Mead’s little Dragonfly book is an awesome resource and helped out considerably in the ID process.

An other L. quadrimaculata.  They were golden in the sun, and I had one shot where the wings were glistening like gold spun into fine thread.  Sadly, it was out of focus.

I saw a few other species of Bluets and a few Sympetra but this was a surprise.  Sitting on a dark grey log, easy pickings or a crow or a Kestrel was this little tree frog.  I think I saved him by placing him on a green, moss colored log.

Yes, he peed on me.

And in the parking lot, this one was drinking dew from between the gravel. Not an ode, but glorious nonetheless. No idea what it is, besides it’s probably in the Brushfoot family.  Thought it was an immature Mourning Cloak.  Not even close, and too small.  I know absolutely nothing about butterflies except I like Red Admirals.

Then yesterday I found a dozen lovely Gomphus fraternus, Midland Clubtails.

They’re supposed to be fairly uncommon.  Yesterday they were not.  One followed us on the water for nearly 15 minutes.  Not sure why, but he did.  Any insights into a dragonfly following a canoe are appreciated.

I learn a lot of things walking around taking pictures.  Mostly, I learn to see things other folks are too busy to see.  When I was taking that pic of the L. quadrimaculata a couple of runners nearly stepped on her, despite the fact that I was holding a camera pointed in her direction just a few meters away.  They never even noticed.  I’m making a bumper sticker that says “Start Seeing Odonates.”

I also learned that my new lens is not nearly as sharp as my 80-200 ED.  Not even close.  But I’m still glad I got it, I just need to make sure I have the Big Guns before I head out for nature pics again.

So here’s a raise of the glass to one of the lost arts, noticing stuff.

Respectfully submitted,

Canoelover