Jewels of the Wetlands

Children get up close to one of the ordonates at Manchester Cedar Swamp. © Gail Coffey/TNC.

An Ebony Jewelwing fluttered around us as we walked through the woods at our Manchester Cedar Swamp Preserve. The damselfly’s deep black wings and emerald body shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the trees.  Tom Young, our field trip leader and odonate expert, quickly swung his net and caught the damselfly.  He held him by his slender wings so the young children could get a closer look and touch his spiny legs. We looked up and saw 6 more flying and landing on birch leaves just above our heads. Tom pointed out the white patches on the wings of the female ebony jewelwings which distinguish them from the males.  

We continued our walk quite excited to have seen these lovely creatures in the woods far from their stream habitat.  Our next destination was the powerline that crosses and abuts our Manchester Cedar Swamp Preserve.  There were a diversity of dragonflies in the dense shrubs and isolated wetland areas under the powerlines.  Some participants brought nets and tried to catch the elusive darners, spiketails and skimmers that darted back and forth across the shrubs catching insects. Tom caught a Harlequin Darner, one of the smallest darners, and showed us its green spotted abdomen and how its mouthparts function. The dragonfly’s jaw and lower lip are like a netted cage which they use to rapidly snag prey on the wing.

The last part of our walk took us along the preserve’s Rhododendron Loop Trail to a small marsh where pond dragonflies and damselflies flew back and forth among the sedges, rushes and aquatic plants.  There were several Common Whitetails and Twelve Spotted Skimmers which we tried to catch while slowly sinking in the sphagnum moss around the edge of the pond.  We were not successful, but everyone enjoyed watching these colorful insects’ aeronautical breeding and eating displays. 

We will hold another dragonfly and damselfly walk this August 2009 at our Lubberland Creek Preserve in Newmarket, NH so please check our field trip web page.

Gail Coffey is the New Hampshire Chapter's Foundation & Corporate Relations Manager as well as an avid outdoorswoman.