Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

We had a great walk led by Andy Rabin and Mona Miller. Eighteen people of all ages came out to spot and help identify these beautiful insects. In total, we saw 17 species of butterflies, 13 species of dragonflies and 1species of damselflies.

The highlight of the butterflies was the large number of Juniper (aka Olive) Hairstreaks that we found throughout the wildflowers and grasses. The Red Cedars present at the Park serve as the host plant for the Juniper Hairstreak so this was an indication that we might see them but we certainly didn’t expect to see as many as we did.  It was a special treat to see this uncommon butterfly.

Many thanks to the kids on the walk – they all did a great job helping spot the dragonflies and butterflies so we could take a closer look.

Here’s a listing of the species seen today:

Butterflies: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, Juniper Hairstreak, Gray Hairstreak, Eastern-tailed Blue, Summer Azure, Pearl Crescent, American Lady, Common Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Little Wood Satyr, Silver-spotted Skipper, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Least Skipper, Fiery Skipper, Peck’s Skipper, Sachem.

Dragonflies: Prince Baskettail, Calico Pennant, Halloween Pennant, Common Pondhawk, Slaty Skimmer, Widow Skimmer, Common Whitetail, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Blue Dasher, Wandering Glider, Spot-winged Glider, Eastern Amberwing, Black Saddlebags.

Damselflies: Fragile Forktail.

…..and one box turtle trying to stay cool in the tall grasses.

We had a great day of hunting dragons and damsels across the fine Loudoun countryside! Seven people joined us as Andy Rabin and Kevin Munroe, both real experts in dragonflies and damselflies, took us out into the field.

We started the day at 10am at Bles Park then went to Claude Moore at noon and ended the day at Kephart Bridge Landing.

In total, we had 29 species!

Dragonflies: Common Green Darner, Swamp Darner, Unicorn Clubtail, Black-shouldered Spinyleg, Prince Basketail, Umber Shadowdragon, Calico Pennant, Halloween Pennant, Common Pondhawk,Spangled Skimmer, Slaty Skimmer, Widow Skimmer, Common Whitetail, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Blue Dasher, Spot-winger Glider, Eastern Amberwing, Autumn Meadowhawk, Black Saddlebags

Damselflies: American Rubyspot, Blue-fronted Dancer, Powdered Dancer, Blue-tipped Dancer, Dusky Dancer, Familiar Bluet, Stream Bluet, Citrine Forktail, Eastern Forktail, Southern Spreadwing

Throughout the day, we practiced our netting skills, used small containers to look at individuals that we caught, and practiced how to properly hold a dragonfly for identification and release them.  The colors and patterns of all the varied species were beautiful.

Many thanks to Andy and Kevin for sharing this with us.