Shingletown Shasta County, 7/9/06

It is a three minute drive from our house to the center of Shingletown, where there is a meadow. On the east side of the meadow near the forest is a small spring which runs a few hundred feet in a roadside ditch until it reaches Ash Creek. I spent about an hour there today and saw several species of odes, a few butterflies, and a moth. It must be one of the few places where Grappletail and Hoary Skimmer occur together. I suspect they both breed in different reaches of the stream, though I suppose the Grappletail may only breed in Ash Creek. I saw them both this day, as well as five or ten young Widow Skimmers and a few dancers, presumed to be Vivid. The most interesting find was not a dragonfly but a very colorful moth. Its wings were an iridescent bluish black, except for the wing tips, which were white. The head was bright orange and the upper part of the thorax orange and blue-black. I captured several photographs of this beautiful moth, two of which are shown below. I will try photographing this species again later this week in hopes of a better pose.

Male Grappletail on dead daisy.

Same one as above and below.

One last time.

A large fritillary.

A very cool moth. Saw about a dozen of these but don't know what they are.

Another view.