outdoor photography

Amanda's Pennant This morning a friend and I decided to head out to Lake Proctor Wilderness Area to do some birding and look for dragonflies. The habitat here seemed like it might be good for a Purple Skimmer, and we wanted to see if we could find any here.  Lake Proctor is pretty low right now, and really it amounts to several ponds, but the whole area is surrounded by pine trees, and parts of it appear to have a sandy bottom, and that's a good area for Purple Skimmer. We didn't see any, but we did see about the same number of odonata species as we saw bird species, about 20 each. Atlantic Bluet Seepage Dancer I'm pretty much a novice at dragonflies, and I don't think I've ever seen so many different species on one place. I saw 8 new species: Seepage Dancer, Atlantic Bluet, Lilypad Forktail, Comet Darner, Wandering Glider, Amanda's Pennant, Ornate Pennant, and Banded Pennant. Eastern Amberwing Little Blue Dragonlet (female) L...

Golden-winged Skimmer There's a wonderful little trail within the Little Big Econ State Forest. It's called the Jones East Trailhead on Snowhill Rd.  It's a wonderful little area worth more exploration.  I've only been here three times, but I've enjoyed it every time.  The area is a mixture of pine flatwoods with a hardwood hammock and bay swamp near the river.  There is lots of open space, especially near the parking area, so you'll be out in the sun a fair amount.  A trail map of the area can be seen here [ map ]. Here is a link to field reports from this location. Tarflower Trails There are several trails to explore, and while the area might seem small, the trails connect to other areas of the forest. You could walk all the way to the Barr St. trailhead off of SR-426 if you chose. Due west of the trailhead you can find a nice creek. If you walk northwest, you can make it to the Econ River. Below I've attached a map of one of my visits.  Duri...