Finally wonderful, Pt 2

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). The bloodroots are almost two weeks late this year, due to cold weather.



I haven't tackled moss identification yet. This is a common one here.



Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata). Most of them are still not open yet.



First damselfly of the season. They are frustratingly difficult to identify.



Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis). You know it's a late spring, when the hepatica aren't open til after mid-March. I've found them blooming in January and February, most years.



The beavers are out in force and at it again.

Yesterday was decidedly not wonderful (got colder, rained all day). And snow flurries this morning! I think the wonderful is due to return tomorrow, though.

Snake doctors

Dragonflies are tough. I can't make this one exactly fit any of the pictures on BugGuide or Giff Beaton's site. I think it's one of the Libellula species but I'm not even sure of that.

Possibly a Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta). (!)
Or Bar-winged Skimmer (Libellula axilena).
Or Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans).
Or I'm just fixated on Skimmers and it's not actually one of those. None of them look quite right.



I think this one is a female Common Whitetail (Plathemis lydia).

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WikiThings I learned while trying to ID these dragonflies (sometimes called Snake Doctors here in the south):

The fossil record shows a Permian-period dragonfly with a whopping wingspan of almost 30 inches (76 cm).

The largest modern-day dragonfly has a wingspan of 7.5 inches (19 cm), and the smallest reaches only .75 inch (20 mm).

They are the world's fastest insects.

They have nearly a 360° range of vision.

Libellula was also the name of some prototype aircraft with odd wing designs.

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If anyone knows what the first one is, please leave a comment or email me.

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Update:
Nuthatch has given me a positive ID: female Slaty Skimmer. And a new word: pruinose! (Having a whitish, waxy, powdery covering or bloom on the surface.) Thanks Nuthatch.

Recent visitors

Red phase American Toad, Bufo americanus, in the garden.


Please stay and eat some bugs.


A nice webpage that includes info on how to differentiate similar species by cranial ridge patterns.


Cool red dragonfly: Carolina Saddlebags, Tramea carolina. Thanks again Giff Beaton.


A turtle I haven't identified yet. But now I see why they call it a turtleneck.


She was in a hurry to get somewhere.


Unwelcome visitor. One of the neighbor's cows, again. Tremendous painintherearus.

Rumpelstiltskin's handiwork

Eastern amberwing (Perithemis tenera) male.

Friday Ark.

Dragonflies

A green dragonfly seemed fascinated by a scrap of paper on the deck:


A slightly more aerial view of him:


I was creeping closer and closer, when a cat decided she needed to see what was going on, and kind of ruined the moment.

I think this is a Clubtail dragonfly (Gomphidae), but there are several greenish ones that look almost exactly alike to me.

This one was easier:


Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa). We see these all the time.

In looking up the dragonflies, I found a nice web site with lots of good nature pictures. The emphasis is on Georgia wildlife.

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For your biweekly bird fix, visit the new I and the Bird!

Silhouettes

Dragonfly on a wire.



Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos).

More from Sunday stroll

The two types of native hydrangeas were growing side by side.


Oakleaf hyrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)


Smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), with Flower long-horn beetles (Typocerus velutina)

Every Smooth hydrangea I saw a had pair of those doing that.


Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are the favorite flower of my sister-in-law, who was kind enough to wait with me while the guys disappeared into the distance up ahead. (As I mentioned yesterday, they don't understand that you can't take pictures while walking.)


My sharp-eyed nephew, on leave from the Army, spotted this damselfly. It looks a bit like a female Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta), but I'm not sure since it's so nondescript. This is the only photo I managed before it scooted away.


While looking up the latin name of Fragrant Sumac (it's Rhus aromatica), I was surprised to find so many references to the stinkiness of the crushed leaves. I find that the young leaves have a very pleasant scent!


Ladies tresses (Spiranthes sp.), a member of the orchid family. Unfortunately these are leaning over after my brother-in-law stepped on them. (I think we need to supervise him more closely on future walks.)


When we got back we spied an Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) in the yard.


I wonder if this is the one who ate my lettuce.


I also got a shot of an Indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea), but not very close, hence the blurry quality.

While trying to figure out which bugs were on the hydrangeas, I came across this very helpful page: Insect Visitors of Illinois Wildflowers. A great way to jump-start bug identifications, even if you don't live in Illinois.

Damsels & Dragons

Basically, dragonflies rest with their wings open, and damselflies rest with their wings closed. (Unless they're spread-winged damselflies, in which case the wings are partially open.)


Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly (Calopteryx maculata).


Immature male White-tailed Skimmer (Plathemis lydia).


His close-up.

Thanks BugGuide.net and Gloria Mundi Press for the ID help.