Mouth of Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area - 4/8/07

Easter Sunday, I spent some time at Mouth of Cottonwood Creek Wildlife Area along the south edge of Shasta County, not far from the town of Anderson. It was the first outing of the year with camera in hand. Ode activity was not very good, but I managed to see young and teneral Eight-spotted Skimmers, Pacific Forktail, and Tule Bluet.

I recently purchased a monopod and was amazed, on this first outing of the year, to find how it helped steady the shots. I got the idea from Erland Nielsen and Paul Johnson, who both use monopods when photographing odes.

Teneral male Eight-Spotted Skimmer?

Pixel crop of above Eight-Spotted.

Side view.

Pixel crop.

Another pixel crop.

Male Pacific Forktail. These were common in the grassy fields.

Pacific Forktail - adult female, gynomorphic. I did not see any andromorphic females.

Pacific Forktail - adult female eating.

Best pose of the day - young female Pacific Forktail.

Female Tule Bluet. There were a few bluets, but most of the damsels seen were Pacific Forktails.