Stillwater Creek and Upper Clear Creek, Shasta County, 8/3/06

Today, George Sappington and I went to upper Clear Creek near French Gulch and Stillwater Creek by Shasta College.

We saw five to ten Western River Cruisers along Clear Creek, only the second location for the species in Shasta County. I captured this individual to confirm the ID, so the picture is POSED. I damaged the dragonfly's right forewing during capture and ended up keeping it as a county voucher. Image is rotated ninety degrees to the right.

Same individual as above.

Pair of Gray Sanddragons in wheel along Stillwater Creek, just upstream of the Highway 299 bridge.

This and the following three pictures are of the same male Flame Skimmer which I photographed on Stillwater Creek. The sticks it is resting on are part of a dam some beavers began building a few days ago. I took the frontal shot first because that is how the insect was oriented when I first approached it. After a few minutes, it became very used to my presence, and I was able to obtain pictures from other perspectives.

The oblique perspective, perhaps my favorite. It shows the side and top features of the dragonfly at the same time.

A little different angle, catching octogonal highlights caused by reflections off of the water and the shape of my lense's apperture.

Lowering the camera and tilting it for a side shot can change a picture entirely. Note that the subject is on the same perch as before. The background is almost completely even because it is much further from the camera.

Female American Rubyspot - Clear Creek. The overexposed perch was hard to avoid. But the subject itself turned out nicely.

Male Sooty Dancer at Clear Creek (in mid-poop!).

Female dancer (California?) at Clear Creek.

Pair of California Dancers at Stillwater Creek - the female is clearly in focus, but the male is fuzzy (about the best one can do at this angle).