Friday, August 15, 2014,

This is a female Seaside Dragonlet. I sound almost knowledgeable, don’t I? Hah! It’s all smoke and mirrors dear reader. I was able to recognize this as a type of dragonfly but I was at a loss from there despite the fact that I have four field guides that cover both dragonflies and damselflies. It was mostly a case of where to start. Honest. I didn’t know where to begin. These amazing bugs are all too similar to each other so I decided that passing the buck was my best option. Luckily, I have friends in the know. I sent this pic out to several of my friends at Four Harbors Audubon Society. While this is obviously not a bird, the folks at Audubon are not just about birds. They see the bigger picture. What’s more is that my friends have friends. You see, I know people who know people.  🙂   Sue K., my boss at Four Harbors Audubon, forwarded this pic to Annette from the Eastern Long Island Audubon Society. As fortune would have it, Annette is not just an expert on birds, but she’s also an expert at both Damselflies and Dragonflies. Annette has been a trained a trained surveyor for the New York Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey since 2005, and she was able to identify this critter for me. How cool is that? I take a pic of a insect I don’t know anything about and my birder friends put me in touch with those in the know and make me look informed at the same time. Life is good. JK