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Striped Saddlebags
On October 08, 2007 I finally had time to go and take a walk and photograph at one of my North Coast Odonata Survey Sites (LAG 007). Since I have been traveling out of state for work the last 3 years I have not been able to do my surveys on a routine basis. During this time away, a new mitigation site was developed in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP), actually I found out it was only last October that they planted the area and only flooded this area this spring after nearly 1/2 of the 80,000 plants died. This is the area where I first observed the Striped Saddlebags Tramea calverti (first for Cuyahoga Co. second record for Ohio?) and then later in the afternoon the Band-winged Dragonlet (first for Cuyahoga Co. and 5th for Ohio?). I photographed both but was not at all happy with my images. I went back the next afternoon and was able to get a few more shots of the Band-winged Dragonlet which is a very wary critter. After about an hour standing still like a tree I could not relocate it. There was a Phoebe feeding in the area so this may account for my not seeing it again even after moving away from that particular area for a few hours.
In the meantime I was able to observe at least 4 different individual Striped Saddlebags and photograph 2 of these. They were observed fending off an area of emerging phragmites from the hordes, and I mean hundreds of Wandering Gliders that had emerged from this site.
So what I am saying here folks is that we may have a breeding population of Striped Saddlebags right here in Northern Ohio!!!! Of course only continued surveying of the site will confirm this but at least for now they are here. With the weather permitting and so far it doesn’t look good maybe they will survive till the warmer weather comes around again. The last time I observed them was Tuesday October 09, 2007.
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