May 24th, 2006
windblown world
On Monday, we hiked one of our favourite trails (The Point Trail at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park) to look for invertebrate activity. Today’s post is the first of two parts with the rest to follow tomorrow.
The afternoon was cool with a few showers just before we set out on the trail. Winds were brisk along the shores of Big Rideau Lake, especially around Murphy’s Point. Last week, I posted some observations on insect behaviour on a windy day here at the farm. Monday, we saw much more dramatic evidence of this type of activity while hiking the north side section of the trail. Just off the tip of the point, in an area where the trail passes through older Beech trees surrounded by numerous small Beech saplings, we began to find Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) dragonflies clinging to the branches, twigs and leaves of the saplings which were being buffeted by the winds. With just a minimal amount of searching, we found one, two or even three dragonflies sheltered within each sapling (see above and below — click on images to see larger views).
We counted upwards of 15 dragonflies, but in all likelihood, there were far more in the vicinity as we just checked the saplings that grow beside the trail. That section of forest is dotted with dozens more trees, and I have no doubt that most of them were also sheltering a dragonfly or two. Common Baskettails are known to fly and hunt in swarms, so it’s not so unusual to find quite a number in one location. What was of interest to us was that the dragonflies were all clinging to the south side of each bush and some were getting a pretty wild ride in the more open patches where the winds were strongest.
Also found on a bush was a large Crane Fly (Family Tipulidae). Its legs were fanned out to grip the edges of a leaf. Crane Flies tend to be quite shy and generally move off when observed. However, this one must have decided that it would take its chances with me rather than risk being blown away in the powerful breeze.
Tags: Common Baskettail, Epitheca cynosura, Crane Fly, Tipula