June 14, 2024 Butte County Odes

Joined by Mike Skram and new friend Wen (ode photographer) from China. Leading Wen around the county in search of odes, as every species was new for him.

Started around 9 AM at Horseshoe Lake, where we had:
American Rubyspot 1
Vivid Dancer 5+
Familiar Bluet 15+
Pacific Forktail 3
Common Green Darner 6-8. including a couple tandems
Blue-eyed Darner 1
Variegated Meadowhawk 1. still very few out anywhere
Blue Dasher 5+
Western Pondhawk 2
Common Whitetail 3
Widow Skimmer 2
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 20+
Flame Skimmer 4-5
Black Saddlebags 8-10
Spot-winged Glider 4-6

Made a quick stop down the park road at the "roundabout" swimming hole. Slow compared to normal (perhaps not warm enough yet), but still decently active. Here we had:
American Rubyspot 2
Emma's Dancer 3
Sooty Dancer 4-5
Vivid Dancer 5+
Western Forktail 1
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 2
Flame Skimmer 3-4
Red Rock Skimmer 2. usual spot
Pale-faced Clubskimmer 8-10. usual spot, most I have seen in the county
Black Saddlebags 2
Spot-winged Glider 15-20. first sizeable group of the year for us

From here we headed upslope, straight to Cherry Hill. Here we had:
Vivid Dancer 20+
Western Red Damsel 4
Black Petaltail 25+

From here we took the long way to Stirling City (via Garland Rd) and eventually made it to Merlo Park. Great activity here as usual. We had:
Vivid Dancer 10+
Boreal Bluet 4+
Northern/Boreal Bluet 30+
Pacific Forktail 20+
Western Forktail 10+
Common Green Darner 3
Blue-eyed Darner 2
Walker's Darner 1. early, our first in the county!
Grappletail 4
Pacific Spiketail 1
Blue Dasher 3
Western Pondhawk 1
Common Whitetail 2
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 12-15
Eight-spotted Skimmer 1. rare in the county, first record for the park!
Flame Skimmer 2
Black Saddlebags 2

Instead of visiting the mill pond in Stirling City, we parted ways with Wen and headed down into the valley.

First, we made a quick stop at the Dry Creek bridge on Wheelock Rd. Here we had:
American Rubyspot 1
Common Green Darner 1
Pacific Spiketail 1
Red-veined Meadowhawk 3. only part of the county where they are somewhat regular
Blue Dasher 2
Common Whitetail 1
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 1
Flame Skimmer 2
Spot-winged Glider 5-6

Finally we headed to Dry Creek east of Openshaw Rd. Historically, this has been the only spot in the county for Gray Sanddragon, but we still haven't found one here. Much more active than our visit last year. We had:
American Rubyspot 2
Sooty Dancer 2
Vivid Dancer 20+
Familiar Bluet 2
Common Green Darner 10-12
White-belted Ringtail 2
Western Pondhawk 20+
Blue Dasher 30+
Common Whitetail 6-8
Widow Skimmer 120+
Twelve-spotted Skimmer 50+
Eight-spotted Skimmer 1. rare in the county, surprised to find one so low
Pale-faced Clubskimmer 1. my first in the county away from Big Chico Creek
Black Saddlebags 20+
Spot-winged Glider 10+