On a different topic

I am going to assume that readers might enjoy a break from the Finland and Norway posts although, if I say so myself, the best is yet to come.  

I needed a break.  Yesterday I hauled myself on a three hour drive south to Urbana, Ohio to try to see Gray Petaltail (Tachopteryx thoreyi) at a really nice fen.  This was my second visit there - the first being mid-July last year - when I did not see the Gray Petaltail.  We hypothesized that mid-July was already too late to see them.  Going by Odonata of Ohio (pages 188-189), (incidentally, you can purchase the book many places for much less than $65) June seems to be their month.  "Gray Petaltails are specialists of wooded seeps and often frequent quite shady haunts.  It sometimes occurs around the margins of fens, ponds or forested glades ..." (page 189). 

Cedar Bog features a mile long boardwalk through precisely this kind of habitat.  No Gray Petattails.  I stayed about three hours and circled the boardwalk twice.  I found a couple of other things but, when compared with my first visit last July, there were few Odonata.  Cedar Bog also hosts other speciality odes. 

Here's what I saw and was happy to see them - only my second time ever, the first time also at Cedar Bog.

Female Elfin Skimmer (Nannothemis bella)

Male Elfin Skimmer

Elfin Skimmers are well named.  Elfin indeed.  They are so small - the female is possibly easier to see because of her color; but the male hides very well.  Last year I think my photos of the female Elfin were comparable to these.  My photos of the male Elfin this time are much better.  Both ♀︎ and ♂︎ are pretty jittery and, for me at least, this also makes for a difficult photo op. 

Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule)

This was overlooked - it was sort of hidden as you can see from my not great photo - until a park employee came by to point it out to us.  I think we were seeing the last bloom of the season.

Two Hackberry Emperors (Asterocampa celtis) on fox scat accompanied by a red-eyed fly in photo below. 

Many years ago I had a common hackberry tree (Celtis occidentalis) planted in my front yard just to see if I could attract this butterfly.  No luck in my yard, but super happy to see several of them yesterday.  Even if it hasn't yet attracted the Hackberry Emperor, my Celtis occidentalis is the tree that attracts many birds in both spring and fall migrations.

Hackberry Emperor perched in shadow on a tree trunk.

About five Prince Baskettail's (Epitheca princeps) were hawking insects over a fen meadow.

Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)

Cedar Bog attracts a variety of human visitors.  There were families walking the boardwalk - no bins, no camera - just visiting and looking.  It also attracts photographers and there were many present yesterday.  I got acquainted with a couple and they helped me find things.  That's who the 'us' is in the Lady Slipper anecdote.

Cedar Bog is surprisingly uncrowded - but it was hot yesterday so it may not have been a representative Saturday.  For me, coming from SE Michigan, it's also a challenging drive.  About half the drive is on I-75 South and the other half is on two lane highways through pleasing small towns and farmland.  While the drive along the rural roads may be pretty, it's still challenging.  That might be a good thing.  Otherwise, I could be tempted to become a more frequent visitor.