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Near bird blind at old beaverpond in central part of Gus Engeling WMA

female

@greglasley @briangooding @jcabbott

A new species for the WMA, and a significant range extension to the NW of this rare Clubtail species. This is my first time seeing the species. It flew in to perch on a grass clump in tall reeds and grasses in an area with lots of feral hog trails. Unfortunately, all my photos are from a similar angle because I was trying to photograph through grass clumps without disturbing it.

This is definitely one of the larger TX clubtails! I first thought it was a Black-shouldered Spinyleg when it flew in, but quickly realized it was something I'd never seen before.

As a side note, I suspect that a large male clubtail that I saw flying low and briefly perching on sunny sticks just above the water and in a deeply shaded portion of Catfish Creek on the north end of the WMA may have been this species. I assumed it was a Black-shouldered Spinyleg at the time, but noticed that the thorax seemed very 'bright' for that species. Unfortunately, I was unable to photograph that individual.

Lots of photos, but it was such a cooperative subject in a nice spot. Found as the last light of the day was fading - it flew up the boardwalk and hunted around for a perch for a few seconds before settling down.

Can someone ID one of the trees, please?
This is Greg Lasley visiting a few months after the disastrous flood of July 2010 - the refuge was still closed but they let us in to sample the ode population.

Turquoise-tipped Darner
Rhionaeschna psilus
male
Austin, Travis Co., Texas
1 June 2005
small creek with no name in the Lost Creek subdivision off of Loop 360 in Austin.
30.27620
097.83164
the creek is 200 meters east of this loc.

FH's are tough birds in the DFW area. This winter has seen a small eruption into the area. There has been one FH at the location the last few days. Today there were two at this location. Alos saw another on the other side of town earlier. Three in one day is a good. day!

FH's are tough birds in the DFW area. This winter has seen a small eruption into the area. There has been one FH at the location the last few days. Today there were two at this location. Alos saw another on the other side of town earlier. Three in one day is a good. day!

This bird obviously jumped out to me as not your standard Wigeon. This is a plumage variation known as a "Storm" Wigeon. First one I have ever seen. @ecarpe didn't you post something about these once upon a time? @sambiology @brentano @gcwarbler

Serpent Ringtail
Erpetogomphus lampropeltis
male
Cienega Creek,
Big Bend Ranch State Park,
Presidio Co., Texas
22 August 2013

This is the subspecies E. lampropeltis natrix which is visually quite different (more green) from the nominate form in southern California which is quite gray overall.

This is a rare species in Texas, or at least rarely encountered in Texas. Five images posted.

The 'Beaver Ponds' in the Angelina National Forest.

Lifer!

One of two females seen flying in this area today. Both were hunting with brief flights away from tree trunks and then returning; much the same way that a Gray Petaltail does, but more frequently.

I had no idea this Darner would be so small. It seems that the body outline in Dragonflies of Texas (Abbott) is scaled incorrectly. This is a very small Darner!

Update: Following an email conversation with Mike Moore @mike_moore and John Abbott @jcabbott, both have confirmed that this is now the first record of G. antilope in TX. A second record came only a week later (link below), and confirms that this species does actually occur in TX. Previously, the closest observations to TX were in western Louisiana.

To summarize from the several sources John and Mike have provided, here are the primary differences for distinguishing between G. furcillata (Harlequin Darner) and G. antilope (Taper-tailed Darner), with the very informative links included at the bottom:

G. furcillata vs. G. antilope

• Females only: no sideways '7' on S2 vs. sideways '7' on S2 (clearly visible on this individual).
• Females only: amber beyond/distal to nodus rather than at or near nodus.
• Distal cells between veins M2 and Rs at end of hind wing form double cells for ~10 cells vs. ~2-3 cells.
• Usually 2-3 bridge veins in hindwing triangle vs. single bridge vein in hindwing triangle.
• No mid-dorsal orange spots on S2-3 vs. mid-dorsal orange spots on S2-3 and sometimes S4.
• Males only: downward curved appendages vs. straight appendages.

This just goes to show that you never know what you will find when you least expect it! :-)

Thanks very much, Mike and John, for all your help and patience. I really appreciate it!

@greglasley @briangooding @tdavenport @williamedwards @zvkemp @ericisley @gnat79 I'm guessing you all will find this interesting.

https://mcmoore.smugmug.com/Odonates/DelmarvaOdonates/Dragons/Darners/Tapertailed-Darner/i-MZgGjSw/A
https://mcmoore.smugmug.com/Odonates/DelmarvaOdonates/Dragons/Darners/Harlequin-Darner/i-9swnVLS/A
http://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/odes/a/accounts.php?id=56

The second TX record observed one week later on April 3, 2020:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41299234

Mighty hot and pretty windy, but Monahans blacklighting was still wonderful. I had about 3 stations set up in the sand dunes and quite a few really interesting critters showed up.

Still some work to do on ID's -- will spend more time on these after I upload.

I seem to have a knack for finding Badger's. I nearly stumbled over this fellow will participating in the X-mas bird count at Matador WMA. What was just as surprising was the decent sized Western Coachwhip the badger had found/dug up in late December..

On the way south to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for a nature center conference, I decided to do a little black-lighting at La Sal de Rey Wildlife Refuge. The mosquitoes were crazy intense, but after a bit, some more critters showed up.

I'm still working on the ID's of most of these observations. :)

On the way south to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for a nature center conference, I decided to do a little black-lighting at La Sal de Rey Wildlife Refuge. The mosquitoes were crazy intense, but after a bit, some more critters showed up.

I'm still working on the ID's of most of these observations. :)

On the way south to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for a nature center conference, I decided to do a little black-lighting at La Sal de Rey Wildlife Refuge. The mosquitoes were crazy intense, but after a bit, some more critters showed up.

I'm still working on the ID's of most of these observations. :)

On the way south to the Lower Rio Grande Valley for a nature center conference, I decided to do a little black-lighting at La Sal de Rey Wildlife Refuge. The mosquitoes were crazy intense, but after a bit, some more critters showed up.

I'm still working on the ID's of most of these observations. :)

I'm holding the intact shed skin of a Western Coachwhip which was resident (and frequentlly seen) under this ranch house in Coleman County. I'm 5' 8" (in boots) so the shed skin is something on the order of 6.5 ft long.
My (former) parents-in-law originally had some trepidation about the presence of the snake until I told them how good it was at catching mice and rats. Thereafter the snake became something of a "welcomed guest" or mascot.