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For the first time ever, I spent two and a half days out with my camera last week and took virtually NO plant photos! Instead, it was wings, wings and more wings. And, of course, I have a new obsession….

I arrived at Allen Acres a few miles south of Cravens, La., last Thursday afternoon at about 4 p.m. At 5 p.m., I started the dragonfly count with my first hour and a half to two-hour walk in the natural areas and gardens that surround the Bed & Breakfast and the Allen home.

On that very first circuit of the property, I focused totally on dragonflies. Thereafter, I found myself unable to resist the butterflies and other winged critters, and began to photograph whatever perched near me, without losing my focus on dragonflies. These other winged critters included numerous robber flies, a few bees and wasps, and, of course, the plentiful butterflies.

If I saw a dragonfly while out with Dr. Allen checking his moth sheets or just walking between the house and B&B, I made note of them as well. The results are gratifying! I documented nine species of dragonfly, both male and female of six of the species. Several of the species had not been observed at Allen Acres before. A few were new to me, too, like the Common Sanddragon above.

Saturday I was joined at Allen Acres by a lot of folks there to help with a butterfly count lead by Craig Marks, who has just published a wonderful guide, “Butterflies of Louisiana.” Of course, I continued to count dragonflies as well.

I spoke with Craig about coming to Northeast Louisiana to do a butterfly count with Master Naturalists and he is eager to come. We just have to come up with a good place to do it! So be thinking about that and we’ll talk about it at our 3rd Quarter meeting, now on the events calendar. More on that later!

I’m still processing photos, but if you want to see more dragonflies, plus the many other critters I documented, go to iNaturalist and search for Allen Acres BioBlitz 2018. More to come!

This is National Moth Week and for the third or fourth year running–can’t remember for sure–Charles Allen is running a week-long BioBlitz at Allen Acres, located a few miles south of Cravens, La. on Hwy 399.

The week’s events started last Saturday with a fungi inventory lead by experts David and Pat Lewis. It’s been a bit dry, but as Charles says, the Lewises could “find mushrooms in a desert.”

Of course, the week long event really began at 5:30 a.m. last Saturday when Charles checked his numerous mothing sheets to see what the night had brought. Last I heard, Charles had identified over 700 species of moths at Allen Acres, faithfully checking his sheets most evenings and early mornings.

This coming Saturday, Craig Marks will conduct a butterfly count, first at Allen Acres, then at a couple sites in the Kisatchie National Forest. Craig does this every year and can use lots of help. I will take my copy of his new book along to get signed.

I am heading to Allen Acres Thursday and will be there through Saturday late afternoon. In addition to mothing, plant identifying and helping count butterflies, I will count dragonflies and damsel flies, recording species and numbers to the best of my limited ability, until I leave some time late Saturday afternoon.

Yes, it’s hot. So we will take plenty of breaks indoors, keep hydrated, and have a blast, I’m sure!

BTW, Allen Acres includes a lovely B&B at a reasonable price and Susan Allen’s meals are beyond delicious. Lunch and dinner are just $10 a pop. And if you prefer, you can camp on the grounds for a very modest price. Check it out here.

The month of July is going to be a bit of a blur. I will be out of town several times for a few days each, plus other aspects of my life are being particularly demanding right now. So this post consists of a few things you might need to know, the first of which is, you won’t be hearing much from me for the next few weeks!

Certification: Prof. Gerry Click is a geologist at LaTech and is excited to do a workshop for us. No details yet, but it will be scheduled in the fall after school resumes.

The PayPal link for the August 4 Ecosystems & Restoration Ecology workshop with Dr. Joydeep Bhattacharjee is ready. Click on the Certification tab at the top of the page. Dr. Joydeep is out of the country right now, so I can’t give details on that one yet either, but go ahead and get registered.

The species list for our Aquatic Life workshop is in process, but this is an especially hard one! Roselie has provided a list of birds she saw and heard while we are out on the lake. I know a few of the things we saw with the microscopes, but not nearly all.

For example, the above really cool-looking red-eyed beetle: What is it called? Those who participated, please go through your notes and send me a list of what you were able to identify–even if it was not a very specific identification.

3rd Quarter Meeting: I have not had time to work on this much yet. It might have to be in August rather than July, since July has turned into a whirlwind for me.

T-shirt: I really, really hope someone will step up to the plate and take on the t-shirt project. We need someone to figure out the best place to get them made and take on ordering, inventory control, sales and so forth. I thought the idea of making a collage of drawings was interesting, but I’m thinking we need to start simpler.

Fall Celebration: Don’t forget that FoBB’s Fall Celebration is Oct. 13 and we will be there. I hope to have some displays of certification interpretive projects. Let me know if you’re thinking about doing that. And, yes, I do remember promising a blog post with some guidelines, but don’t wait for me to start thinking and planning! 🙂

Stay cool and have a fun July.