THE ART OF SITTING...BY THE POND

Pond -April 2006

Ahh...the pond...of Prairie Pond Woods.  To appreciate this tranquil, yet active, hidden spot, a little history is in order. 

When we first bought the property in April of 2006, the pond was a lovely, albeit strange, shade of turquoise...much like you would see off the coast of Bermuda. You could see straight to the bottom. Nothing lived or grew in it, except thousands of whirly-gig beetles...pretty creepy really. It just had no life.  

The pH was 3.86 due to the shale, clay and sandstone bedrock through which the water seeped up.  So, the following fall we threw agricultural lime into the pond to sweeten the water...and hopefully attract new life...which it did in the form of amphibians, herons, ducks, vegetation, damselflies and dragonflies.

                                                                     

Now, you can relax by the pond in the spring...and you'll probably hear the invigorating chorus of frogs...or you can enjoy watching mist as it rises in the morning hours...or take photos of the myriad of dragon and damselflies species flitting about as they defend their territories.

 

Yep...all those little metallic turquoise lines are damselflies!

I TOOK A WALK TODAY...

...and stumbled upon a few beautiful creatures along the Refresher Course.  Did you know that Adams County is one of the most biologically diverse counties in the state? It shows in just a short walk around Prairie Pond Woods!

Little Wood Satyr

 Common Whitetail

 Female Calico Pennant

 

Great Spangled Frittalary

 

Great Spangled Frittilary gathering minerals from scat

 

 Underside wings of the Great Spangled Frittilary

 

 Woodland Snail of some sort

 Skimming Bluet

Hobomok Skipper (best guess)

POETRY IN MOTION

Neighbor’s Garden

I came to pick up the vacation paper
And suddenly, I am on a safari.


Morning breezes usher out the haze-
Open stage for all winged creatures,
Black vulture and hummingbird,
Monarchs with Viceroy twin.

All around me, movement, like random,
diving leaves after an early autumn frost.
Lost among the coneflowers, Pearl Crescents
rise like a wave as the wind stirs.

A dragonfly charges me, defending new prey.
How odd to see the tables turned on a yellow jacket.

There are no fragrances this late in summer,
just the heavy smell of heat rising.
Sounds of August music ebb and flow,
With background static of cicadas.


But there is no shortage of color-

Gliding,

Fluttering,
Soaring,

Basking,
Launching,

and Landing-
I’d go deaf if I could hear their wings beat.

Cindy Steffen

August, 2002

GRAY PETALTAIL DRAGONFLY

As I was approaching a nest box that I knew had chickadee eggs in it, this large dragonfly flew past my face and landed right underneath the box. I had been trying to photograph the juvenile phoebe that had JUST fledged, so fortunately I had my camera with me.  

My first guess after looking at a field guide was a gray petaltail (Tachopteryx thoreyi) but I had some doubts due to the patterning.  After posting it on Facebook, Adams Co. naturalist, John Howard confirmed the best guess.  My confusion about the patterning is due to this being a teneral dragonfly, meaning it had recently emerged from its shell or exuvia.  This is a first species for me at Prairie Pond Woods!

Gray Petaltails are rather uncommon, found in only 18 out of 88 Ohio counties, as their preferred habitats are seeps found in woodlands.  No more than 50 feet from where it landed is a spring source, or seep, at the edge of both the woods and the prairie. Perfect habitat, I'd say.  And there is plenty of mud and leaf litter there for the larvae, which  don't require total submersion in water like most larvae. I just planted some swamp milkweed, iris versicolor, marsh marigold and lobelia down there, so I'll be keeping my eye on the area.  I hope to see this beautiful dragonfly in its mature coloration soon.