I arrived at the Lower Salt River Recreation Area around 7:15 A.M., and I would ode until 3:30 P.M. The Salt River was full of odes from start to finish. A lot of this was because of the fact that the entire day was clear and sunny. The Salt River has a variety of different aquatic habitat sequences, which gave the place a good variety. My main target was Russet-tipped Clubtail, which favors sunny conditions and riverside vegetation. It sticks to vegetation and doesn't prefer to perch on rocks. I oded at three spots along the Lower Salt River Recreation Area: Coon Bluff Recreation Site, Blue Point Recreation Site, and Granite Reef Recreation Site.
At Coon Bluff from the get-go, Spot-winged Gliders were in abundance by the hundreds. They were literally everywhere! And at times, I would find numbers of them perched in the shady environment of riverside tamarisk trees.
Another ode in abundance was a more welcome, and exciting feat. Between Coon Bluff and Blue Point Recreation Sites, I probably had 25-30 White-belted Ringtails. I love this ode, and it was cool to see them in numbers that seemingly made it seem like they were "everywhere" too.
Finding a Blue-eyed Darner perched along the river was awesome.
My biggest find of the day came from a lifer ode. While searching for Russet-tipped Clubtails along the river and following advice from Justin Jones, Justin also made me aware of the possibility of another ode lifer, which was the Straw-colored Sylph. I had seen this ode in my guide several times and read that it is very distinctive at all times. Thankfully, Justin put the idea in my head about them because they like the habitat I was oding at, which consisted of rocky and sandy shallow stretches along the river. The Spot-winged Gliders were to thank too. At one point, I was finding them in the tamarisk trees every few feet along the river. Sometimes they would blend right into their surroundings, and it helped train my eye. And then, the next ode I found hang-perching seemed a little off. That's because it was a Straw-colored Sylph!
Justin and Caleb were amazed at the sighting that I had. The Sylph perched for a long time in the location where I found it at. At times, it would fly after it would spook from me. It would then fly back-and-fourth among the many Gliders, and it's skinny and narrow abdomen stood out easily. And then, it would return to it's perch.
Things got extra fun when I attempted to hand-catch the Straw-colored Sylph, and succeeded!
From the Straw-colored Sylph and on, things were a blast while oding at the Lower Salt River. 28 species were recorded for the day. Here is a gallery of what I encountered, come oding at the Salt River here:
Widow Skimmer (male)
Widow Skimmer (young male)
Dusky Dancer
White-belted Ringtail lookout...
Western Pondhawk
Common Whitetail (female)
Common Whitetail (female)
Western Pondhawk (young male)
Pacific Forktail
Flame Skimmer (female)
Dusky Dancer
Western Pondhawk (adult male)
Kiowa Dancer
Powdered Dancer
Arroyo Bluet
Spot-winged Glider
Familiar Bluets
Familiar Bluet
Dusky Dancer
Spot-winged Glider (female)
Spot-winged Glider (male)
Red-tailed Pennant (female)
Pale-faced Clubskimmer
Dusky Dancer (female)
Red-tailed Pennant (male)
Arroyo Bluet
Blue-ringed Dancer
Black Setwing
Powdered Dancers in tandem (with Dusky Dancers in background)
Dusky Dancers and Powdered Dancers in tandem (with more Powdered in foreground)
Powdered Dancer and American Rubyspot
Widow Skimmer (female)
Arroyo Bluets in tandem
Rambur's Forktail
Widow Skimmer male (same duode in next two photos)
Rambur's Forktail
Black Saddlebags
Mexican Amberwing
Blue Dasher
Rambur's Forktail hide-and-seek
Red Saddlebags (next three shots)
Wandering Glider
As it was getting to be that time that I was going to have to start heading home, I apparently had one good ode left in me. Russet-tipped Clubtail! It was the ode I was targeting the most when I came to the Lower Salt River, and it was the last species I added for the day. Yes, I hope to get a better view of one in the future, but for now, this is awesome. It wasn't as good of a lifer as the Straw-colored Sylph was, but it sure was fun to land. The Russet-tipped Clubtail stayed up higher in a tamarisk, and I tried to flush it to a lower perch, but it only increased the height of it's perch. What an awesome way to end the day.
I love the Clubtail family...
The Lower Salt River Recreation Area is a great place for oding, and is one I want to return to soon. Who knows what else is waiting to be discovered out there.
Full Species List for Salt River, July 27th, 2017:
American Rubyspot, Powdered Dancer, Blue-ringed Dancer, Dusky Dancer, Kiowa Dancer, Familiar Bluet, Arroyo Bluet, Pacific Forktail, Rambur's Forktail, Common Green Darner, Blue-eyed Darner, White-belted Ringtail, Russet-tipped Clubtail, Red-tailed Pennant, Pale-faced Clubskimmer, Black Setwing, Western Pondhawk, Widow Skimmer, Flame Skimmer, Straw-colored Sylph, Roseate Skimmer, Blue Dasher, Wandering Glider, Spot-winged Glider, Mexican Amberwing, Common Whitetail, Black Saddlebags, Red Saddlebags. (28 SPECIES)
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