Friday 7/8: Today was the first day of field trips. I was one of the first arrivals at the parking lot, but it didn’t take long for a big crowd to develop. We eventually headed out and I joined Dave and Shelley. As is usual on these field trips, I didn’t spend a lot of time with the camera.
Our first stop was Parvin Lake. It was still pretty overcast, so after being entertained by a hummingbird by the bathrooms, it took quite a bit of effort to find any odes. After a lot of sweeping of vegetation, I came up with a single forktail. We followed the road out to the further edge of the lake and it started to brighten up a bit and a few things were flying. But the main highlight was a cat that appeared to live at the research station which decided that Steve’s net was the perfect spot for a nap (unfortunately no picture).
Working back, we found a few Enallagma, all apparently Boreal Bluets, along with some Coenagrion (Taiga Bluet) and a few Leucorrhinia (Whitefaces). Some of the group peeled off here and after some confusion about who remained, we moved on to another site (one of the various Lost Lakes).
The sun was out here but it was rather windy. Lots of meadowhawks and Spotted Spreadwings were around but not a whole lot else. Boris (who organized the meeting and might be the most enthusiastic person I’ve met) pulled up a young Tiger Salamander.
We moved on to another wetland just up the road, where there were lots of Aeshnas flying (apparently mostly to all Variable Darner) and hundreds of whitefaces. Clouds were rolling in, so we ended the trip and headed back to Fort Collins.
Back in Fort Collins, I moved to my new hotel (apparently I can’t calculate how many days properly). It was the Residence Inn by Marriott and I had a gigantic suite with a full kitchen (for several dollars less than the main conference hotel). After getting settled in here, I headed back to see about dinner. I didn’t see anyone around and wasn’t able to reach Dave by phone, so I just walked down the main street and ended up at a noodle place. The Thai chicken was a bit spicier than I expected but was fairly good. On the way back I ran into Shelley, who commented that the main group had gone to a place that was unbelievably noisy, so I didn’t feel too bad about missing out. Back to the hotel for an early night as I had plans before the indoor meeting.