2015 1st Ode Springtime Darner

We spent much of the morning and early afternoon at a funeral for a wonderful friend of my mom's—a dear woman we grew up with and who was a rock solid support for my mother and us during mom's last year on earth. When we got home, I went out for a restorative and reflective walk to the nearby Bell Cedar refuge, and as I trekked through the overgrown field area, I noticed a familiar flash of sunshine on wings: the first dragonfly of 2015! I tracked the odonate with my eyes and saw that it had landed in the vertical pose characteristic of the Darner group. Aeshnids, as the family is more properly known, are mostly late summer and early fall insects, but a few species fly early. The small size, the colorful abdomen, and the jaunty racing stripes on the thorax made this one easy to identify: appropriately enough, it was a male Springtime Darner. Basiaeschna janata is a definite ode to spring.