Striped Meadowhawk

At the Darlin Creek Preserve south of Olympia on 11 August 2020, Erika and I saw a half dozen Striped Meadowhawks. This individual is a female, quite yellow unlike her scarlet mate. An older female’s abdomen may become bright red. This dragonfly is found across much of the western United States up into southwestern Canada. It is very common in the Pacific Northwest. We have seen many this July, including in Erika’s garden. In late July I photographed a bright male near our home.

Common Wood-Nymph

On 9 August 2020, Erika and I happened upon several Common Wood-Nymphs. These butterflies flitted nervously among the shrubs and fallen timber on the side of the logging Road that runs along Kennedy Flats in Mason County, just west of Olympia. Common Wood-Nymphs are found across almost all of the United States and they spill into southern Canada.We found them in Minnesota, too. Across their wide range, populations tend to be quite variable, resulting in a confusing taxonomy. They are absent from northwestern Washington, except immediately around Puget Sound. Generally, however, the species avoids areas with excessive rainfall (Pyle 2002), 

Spotted Spreadwing

These imaged are of Spotted Spreadwings in our yard on 28 July and 3 August 2020. Spreadwings are damselflies that don’t completely fold their wings behind their backs. Spreadwings, at least for me, are exceptionally difficult to identify. They are told by the jagged brown stripe along their sides above their white undersides The bottom of the thorax has an often hard to see black spot. As they mature, males’ eyes turn blue and the abdomen develops a blue pruinosity. According to Dennis Paulson, an authority on damselflies and dragonflies, Spotteds are the most common spreadwings in western Washington. Nymphs tolerate a wide range of lake types, from ones that dry out in the summer to large ones full of predatory fish. 

 

Barred Owl

Trying to keep our requisite 6-feet of social distance from another couple in the Darlin Creek Preserve south of Olympia on 6 August 2020, Erika and I noticed that they appeared to be gazing up into the foliage. “Look at the owl we found!” they explained. Clearly a Barred Owl. I suspect this bird is immature. The  owl appeared to be small and the sides of its neck looked white and downy. The facial disc was also oddly colored—I do not recall ever seeing an adult Barred Owl with such a gray, smudgy face. As for the eyes, Barred Owl eyes are always dark.

Bald Eagle

On 21 July 2020, at the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, Erika and I came upon a first-year Bald Eagle standing on the ground near a flock of Canada Geese. We thought it odd that the geese felt safe to sleep with the eagle so near. Perhaps the waterfowl depended on the one goose obviously awake. 

Bald Eagles are an "opportunistic forager.” Usually eagles are found near water and in most locations they prefer eating fish. Birds and mammals are often eaten as carrion—already dead. They are known to eat garbage at dumps. The list of what a Bald Eagle will eat is long and varied. The list includes fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans and birds, including ducks and geese, gulls, and Great Blue Herons (Buehler 2020). 

California Scrub-Jay

Erika was driving on 29 July 2020 on a dragonfly search. She applied the breaks and commented, “That was a strange bird—perhaps a shrike—we should back up and take a look!” It took our seeing an adult California Scrub-Jay flying away for us to realize our bird was a juvenile of the same species. Juvenile-plumaged birds look quite different from the adults. For one thing, a breast band is not evident. We did not notice the blue in the wing, which would have allowed us to identify the bird more quickly. This bird is in First Basic Plumage, which is present mostly from May through July. California Scrub-Jays inhabit the United States western coastal states south through all of Baja California.

European Garden Spider

Eruopean Garden Spider is probably a poor name for this arachnid that I photographed along the garden fence on 4 August 2020. The species is holarctic—ranging across all of Europe and from southern Canada to Mexico. Araneus diadematus goes by a few other names, including Diadem Spider and Crowned Orb Weaver.

I ran and fetched my phone camera, and the Android assistant, without hesitation, identified the spider. Color is said to be variable, but all have mottled white marks forming crosses on their dorsal abdomens. So I went back for my big camera and took a photo of the back, crosses and all. This individual is probably a female, since males are even smaller and may not be responsible for making webs. Occasionally the female eats her suitor after mating. Only if provoked will European Garden Spiders bite humans. The venom causes swelling and itches for a couple of days (Wikipedia).

American Bittern

Last year our seeing an American Bittern at the Nisqually wildlife refuge took us some effort. This year we’ve got two records, including this bird, on 30 July 2020, that flew across the marsh and landed next to a small, wet open space. Erika took careful note of the landing location, and we easily found the bittern. We were not that close to this bird, which has, nevertheless, assumed an alarm stance—its feathers compressed, its bill pointed upward and body stretched vertically.

Woodland Skipper

I photographed this Woodland Skipper in our yard on 31 July 2020. Skippers all look the same to me, so I submitted this image to Butterflies and Moths, which verified my initial and very tentative identification. Woodland Skippers are common and widespread from southwestern Canada south to southern California and east to western North Dakota, Colorado, and Arizona. Although often the most common orange skipper in its range, especially from mid-summer through fall, this is my first encounter with one.

Western Pondhawk

On 12 July 2020 and again on 24 July, we found Western Pondhawks in our yard. The top image is of a female, the bottom is a male. Our property really is not prime dragonfly habitat, being about a mile from three or four ponds from which a dragonfly might emerge. Both the Western Pondhawk and its Eastern counterpart usually prefer wetlands. Surprisingly few dragonflies inhabit our surrounding woods, so I suppose the open area around our house must attract traveling pondhawks. Dragonflies are renown for their ability to disperse and colonize. A long term project for me is to build a few shallow ponds in hopes of attracting breeding Odonata. In any case, young male Western Pondhawks look like the female. The males slowly acquire their blue color as they age, although often green can remain visible on their thorax.