The weather continues to feel atypical. Some cooler days now - my yard was in the 30's this morning. And a long dry spell for my area. Some warmer days next week, but continued dry. Odonata numbers are in decline, but I'm enjoying the afternoon swarms of migrating Darners out over meadow areas. Watch for Mosaic Darners - it would be good to see a Lance-tipped Darner - thank you laureldoc for the 9/9 observation of Lance-tipped. 2024 is now at our 5-year-average on species (135).

Widow Skimmer made it to 88 counties - thank you jessicalowery for the stop in Fayette County! The County Complete list is now Eastern Forktail, Common Whitetail, Eastern Pondhawk, Eastern Amberwing, Blue Dasher, Widow Skimmer, and Fragile Forktail. This measure helps indicate adequate survey.

As noted previously, next in line are:

• Violet Dancer - need observations in Brown, Clinton, Huron
• Common Green Darner - need observations in Adams, Marion, Ross, Tuscarawas, Washington

Observations are still arriving, and numbers are good. 2024 has a slight lead over 2023 in comparing both years through August. Recall that 2023 set new high numbers for 6 different months, so far in 2024, only April and May set new high numbers on observations. Through July, our 2024 year and individual months are now ahead of the 5-year-average. So, a bit hard to complain.

2024 has 15 days with more than 500 vetted observations. High days were May 31 and June 24, both with 732 observations. June 28, had 729. These three days are now at the top of all days in the survey.

Eastern Forktail has been the high count species for several months, that looks to continue. Blue Dasher and Eastern Pondhawk both had good runs in July and August, but daily numbers are starting to decline for them and Eastern Forktails keep turning up. If Eastern Forktail maintains the lead, it will be two years in a row. The prior years were Blue Dasher.

Autumn Meadowhawk numbers are increasing, but are still considerably behind recent years. Autumn Meadowhawk usually ends up in the top 10 for the year - currently at #34. Note also that Autumn Meadowhawk is the most observed species in September, October, and November. Several people have noted that Sympetrum seem hard to find so far this year.

We are currently at 114 new County Records. The leading species are Comet Darner (6), then Dragonhunter, Emerald Spreading, and Variegated Meadowhawk (all with 5). Morrow and Van Wert Counties both have 5 new species.

Ashtabula and Franklin Counties are the top in observations - at or near 2,300. Both had over 3,000 in 2023.

Summit County has an impressive 84 species this year (75 last year). The previous high number of species for a county in a year was Montgomery County in 2022 with 79 species. Way to go Summit Co observers - all 177 of you.

On the low end: Fayette County has 36 observations. Defiance, Vinton, and Gallia Counties have 21 species. Putnam County has a single observer.

Only a week left in the month! Weather is warm and sunny, dragonflies seem to be flying everywhere. Migration south is underway for Common Green Darners, Black Saddlebags, and Wandering Gliders. Watch 20-30 feet up as you drive or walk, predominant direction is south-westerly. Also watch for evening swarms in open meadow areas.

We have 6 species now reported in all 88 counties for 2024. These are Eastern Forktail, Common Whitetail, Eastern Pondhawk, Eastern Amberwing, Blue Dasher, and Fragile Forktail. We still need 1 county (Fayette) for Widow Skimmer.

Next in line would be Violet Dancer and Common Green Darner. While we have recent reports for these 2 species, we have never gotten them in all 88 counties in a season - so a new goal! It would be cool to add one or both of these. Here are the needed species/counties:

Violet Dancer - Brown, Clinton, Huron, Ottawa, Pickaway

Common Green Darner - Adams, Athens, Defiance, Marion, Perry, Ross, Tuscarawas, Washington

Dancer numbers will decline considerably in September - but we only need 5 more counties. Common Green Darner flight is one of the longest and they're easy to see - so this seems do-able. Even blurry photos can be good for an ID.

Our observation numbers for July and August are still behind the last couple years. As the season begins to wind down, please get any early season observations submitted.

We have had several reports on Smoky Rubyspot, so we are at 134 on the season, we still nee one more to hit the 5-year-average.

If we look at numbers by family, we are at or above 5-year-average for the season - through the month of July. As mentioned in the Aug 6 journal, there are some exceptions. At this point, the most noticeable - in the field and in the data - is Sympetrum. We know the Autumn Meadowhawk comes on strong in the fall months, but keep an eye out for this and other Meadowhawk species.

There is news.

Thanks to 8/5 observations from sallypsandpiper and rickbarricklow, Henry County now has over 1,000 observations. This was the last county to reach that goal. So, hurray and thanks!

My thinking was 1,000 observations in a county would get us to 60 species. Almost. We are making progress on all counties with 60 species, but we're not there yet. I'm not sure what the observation goal should be to reach 60 species. We started the year with 16 counties below the 60 goal, now just 11. Those 11, in order of greatest need: Noble, Belmont, Hardin, Allen, Auglaize, Brown, Seneca, Henry, Marion, Monroe, Meigs. Only 3 of our targets have not had new County records this year - Hardin, Monroe, and Meigs. If you're curious, check the county pages on OOS web -

https://www.ohioodonatasociety.org/county-species-lists

Observations are still coming in for earlier months, but April and May were very good compared to past years and gave us a big head start. June was also good, but below 2022 and 2023. July was not bad, but starting mid-July, the numbers are averaging nearly 200/day lower than last year. August is following the same lower trend. It's been pretty hot, maybe we're worn out? Maybe other distractions? Dragons in flight seem pretty good.

No movement on County Complete - at this point only Eastern Forktail has all 88 counties. 5 species only need just one more county:

Common Whitetail - Putnam - now complete
Eastern Pondhawk - Putnam - now complete
Eastern Amberwing - Crawford
Widow Skimmer - Fayette
Blue Dasher - Putnam - now complete

Fragile Forktail needs 3 counties - Defiance, Paulding, Putnam - now complete

So, some attention needed in the NW.

Our season species total is now 133 - thanks for the additions of Laura's Clubtail (tuckerc), Black-tipped Darner (laureldoc), and Green-striped Darner (tuckerc). We'll need at least 2 more - most likely after July would be Smoky Rubyspot, Lance-tipped, Striped Saddlebags. Or some other rarity making an appearance (Furtive Forktail, Mottled Darner, Cherry-faced Meadowhawk).

Of our 133 species, 45 species are below their 5 year average. 20+ species have no chance, or a very remote chance, of meeting the 5 year average - flight season is past, or later season numbers are limited. A few that are surprising - Band-winged Meadowhawk (21%), Blue-faced Meadowhawk (11%), Paiute Dancer (34%), Citrine Forktail (37%). The lower numbers for Paiute Dancer and Band-winged Meadowhawk are related to the habitat loss at CJ Brown Spillway.

On the plus side, 69 species are now over their 5 year average, with 10-15 others likely to reach their 5 year average.

The newest issue of the OOS Dragon Flyer newsletter is now on the web site. The link for all the available newsletters is

https://www.ohioodonatasociety.org/dragonflyer-newsletters

Warm days and lots of Odonata in flight. Good days to be dragon hunting.

We started the season with 25 counties having fewer than 1,000 observations. At this point we're down to 1! Henry County is the last. I'll see if I can fix that this weekend. We've also made progress on getting county species diversity to 60. We started with 16 counties at less than 60. That count is now 11 - and working.

Currently we are just over at 25,000 observations and 130 species. These numbers are ahead of 2023. At this point 2023 had just under 24,000 observation and 126 species.

April and May both have new high numbers by considerable margins. We're still receiving June data, but behind 2022 and 2023. We have 10 days yet in July, and are considerably behind the last couple years for July.

Top counties include the usual - Summit, Lucas, Montgomery, Ashtabula, Franklin. On the low end are Putnam, Vinton, Paulding, Fayette, Clinton, and Wyandot - all with fewer than 50 observations.

Most reported species are Eastern Forktail, Fragile Forktail, and Common Whitetail. Eastern Forktail has now been observed in all 88 counties. Common Whitetail and Eastern Pondhawk just need observations in Putnam Co to have all 88.

So far there are 82 new county records. Comet Darner, Variegated Meadowhawk, and Emerald Spreadwing have all been documented in 5 new counties.

Special mentions on species go to tuckerc for Brush-tipped Emerald, and dhochadel for Golden-winged Skimmer. These are both rarities in recent years.

Our 5-year numbers on species/year is 135-140. We'll need at least 5 more - hopefully Black-tipped Darner, Green-striped Darner, Laura's Clubtail, Smoky Rubyspot, Striped Saddlebags.

Many dragons in the air, over 1,700 observations last week from over 200 people. 76 species recorded. We're past the peak diversity of the previous week (88 species), but still pretty cool.

Even cooler is the response to the request for Columbiana Co observations - 180 observations arrived (thanks mmp133 and tuckerc). Columbiana now well over the 1,000 observation goal. Let's try this again - counties that now need the most help in observations are are Mercer, Hardin, Auglaize, and Van Wert.

There was a question related to the low species counties and what the most likely targets are. This info is on the OOS web, but more specifically for the lowest counties:

Noble - 51 - Wandering Glider, Banded Pennant, Carolina Saddlebags, Dragonhunter, Citrine Forktail, Shadow Darner

Belmont - 55 - Spangled Skimmer, Shadow Darner, Comet Darner, Dragonhunter, Stream Cruiser, Banded Pennant

Hardin - 55 - Swamp Spreadwing, Elegant Spreadwing, Swift River Cruiser, Emerald Spreadwing, Spot-winged Glider

Marion - 56 - Lancet Clubtail, Shadow Darner, Ashy Clubtail, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Comet Darner

The number is the current documented species for the county. Almost all of these are still "in flight" or coming in. Any would be new County Records. Go get 'em!

There is progress on County Complete. This is another success - a week ago Clinton Co had the most needed species with 6 - smwhite went to Clinton and got all 6! Next in line is Marion with 5, and Knox and Putnam, both at 3. Still waiting on an Eastern Forktail in Adams. We're down to just Putnam for Common Whitetail. We should have our first County Complete real-soon-now.

Current list:

Eastern Forktail - Adams

Common Whitetail - Putnam

Fragile Forktail - Defiance, Marion, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky

Eastern Amberwing - Crawford, Marion, Pike, Scioto

Blue Dasher - Hancock, Knox, Marion, Putnam, Van Wert, Vinton

Eastern Pondhawk - Columbiana, Huron, Knox, Marion, Putnam

Widow Skimmer - Columbiana, Erie, Fayette, Knox, Marion, Pike, Sandusky

Big picture - approaching 23,000 research grade observations for the season. 128 species. These numbers are both ahead of our record-setting 2023 season. For 2023, Mar 1 - Jul 14 was 20,902/123. Species we had in 2023 that we've missed (so far) include Stygian Shadowdragon, Northern Spreadwing, Chalk-fronted Corporal, Boreal Bluet, River Bluet. We're likely past flight on these.

Black-tipped Darner, Green-striped Darner, and Smoky Rubyspot seem likely to turn up somewhere.

Still hopeful for sightings of Gilded River Cruiser, Lance-tipped Darner, Laura's Clubtail, and Striped Saddlebags. We'll need all of these and/or some rarities to match our 5-year average.

The data suggests 60 species are possible in every Ohio County. Most counties that have over 60 species have over 1,000 observations. So our goal was to get enough observations to push every county to a cumulative 1,000. We started the year with 25 counties short of the 1,000 mark. We're down to 9 counties. These counties and their current totals:

Columbiana - 856
Mercer - 905
Auglaize - 917
Hardin - 918
Van Wert - 943
Highland - 951
Henry - 970
Allen - 989
Fulton - 996

You can see, 3 of these are very close. Several others probably only need a day or two. All are in range if we can get someone to spend some time in Columbiana Co.

We've down well with eastern counties and DSA meeting attendees, providing the needed observations for Noble, Belmont, Monroe, Meigs, Gallia, Morgan.

We also started the year with 16 counties short of the 60 species. With new county records, we've moved Fayette, Huron, Mercer and Putnam to 60. 12 counties still need species:

Noble - 51
Belmont - 55
Hardin - 55
Marion - 56
Allen - 57
Brown - 57
Auglaize - 57
Seneca - 57
Henry - 58
Monroe - 58
Meigs - 59
Van Wert - 59

60 species per county will likely still be a goal for 2025. Picking up 1 or 2 species seems do-able. 3 to 9 will require time and effort.

You can check the county pages on the OOS web site at https://www.ohioodonatasociety.org/county-species-lists - this has a clickable map. Click on the county you have in mind, then scroll down to see the Target Species table. The default view is sorted by species seen in nearby counties - but you can click on the headers to sort.

County Complete - once again looking for those species that we document in every county in a season. These species are numerous and have been found everywhere. In recent years we've had 7 species in every county - Blue Dasher, Eastern Forktail, Eastern Pondhawk, Fragile Forktail, Common Whitetail, Eastern Amberwing, and Widow Skimmer.

For 2024, we're really close on a couple, and getting closer on our others. Here's the species list and needed counties:

Eastern Forktail - Adams

Common Whitetail - Clinton, Putnam

Fragile Forktail - Clinton, Defiance, Marion, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky

Eastern Amberwing - Adams, Clinton, Crawford, Knox, Marion, Pike, Scioto

Blue Dasher - Clinton, Columbiana, Hancock, Knox, Marion, Putnam, Van Wert, Vinton

Eastern Pondhawk - Clinton, Columbiana, Hancock, Hardin, Huron, Knox, Marion, Putnam, Vinton

Widow Skimmer - Athens, Clinton, Columbiana, Erie, Fayette, Huron, Knox, Marion, Pike, Richland, Sandusky, Wood

Most references are for Clinton Co (6) - likely sites include stops around Cowan Lake.

Just behind is Marion Co (5) - Killdeer Plains and Big Island would be targets.

Next up would be Knox Co (4) - check Knox Lake or Apple Valley Lake sites.

Happy Hunting.

Cruising past the 21,000 mark for the year. Wow. 126 species, over 1,000 contributors. Challenging to keep up. Currently at 3,493 research grade observations for the last 10 days of June. This is very close to last year's high mark, and with a better species diversity.

Successful completion of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas meeting in Marietta last weekend. Good socialization, a bit exhausting. We had small but enthusiastic pre and post field trips. All good.

Given our meeting proximity in SE Ohio counties, we pushed all the needy local counties (Monroe, Noble, Belmont, Guernsey, Meigs, Morgan) past the 1,000 observation mark. Also a number of new County Records, helping boost those numbers.

The last 10 days of June are typically our high point for observations and diversity, so while observations remain high, diversity begins to decline. There are still things to see.

Our 5-year average on species/year is 135ish. We're at 126 currently. For some, we're now past - Boreal Bluet, Chalk-fronted Corporal, Northern Spreadwing. A couple others, pretty slim history - River Bluet, Rambur's Forktail. Thing seen last year, but not yet this year:

Black-tipped Darner
Elusive Clubtail
Gilded River Cruiser
Green-striped Darner
Laura's Clubtail
Shadow Darner
Smoky Rubyspot
Stygian Shadowdragon

We'll need most of these to be in the zone. Some can be expected, others will need a bit of luck. Past that, we'll be hoping for Striped Saddlebags.

Headed for a big weekend to finish the month. DSA meeting in Marietta.

We now have over 17,000 observations for the year. While June 2024 isn't yet at the high mark set last year (11,487 last year, just over 8,000 this year), we are ahead of 2023 at this point year to year. And we still have a few June days.

120 species have been observed. Glad to get Riffle Snaketail, Common Sanddragon, and Golden-winged Skimmer - those are a few we missed last year. 3 species are now reported in 80 or more counties (Eastern Forktail/85, Common Whitetail/83, and Fragile Forktail/80). We only need Eastern Forktail observations from Adams, Brown and Trumbull counties to be complete.

39 species have new county records in 42 counties, for a running total of 66 new county records. Leaders are Spatterdock Darner, Variegated Meadowhawk, Emerald Spreadwing, and Comet Darner - all with 4 new counties. Lawrence, Medina, Mercer, Seneca, and Van Wert all have 3 new species.

We started the year with 25 counties below 1,000 total observations. That count is now 14, and 5 counties are now very near the mark. So making progress. close ones are Noble/998, Allen/989, Brown/988, Guernsey/988, and Belmont/982. We've also moved 4 counties to 60 species - Fayette, Huron, Mercer, and Putnam. Noble is still on the low end at 51 species.

Nearly Summer on the calendar, certainly summer looking at the temperatures.

And we're rolling with Odonata observations. Now over 15,000 for the 2024 season. Over 600 research grade contributors. This highlights a good effort by our naturalist community.

We are at 115 species - not bad. Surprising numbers on some of the Clubtails. Splendid, Handssome, Cobra, Dusky, Plains, and Rusty Snaketails are all having really good seasons.

Early fliers that we have missed so far are Marsh Bluet, Chalk-fronted Corporal, Boreal Bluet, Northern Spreadwing, Frosted Whiteface, American Emerald, and Riffle Snaketail - no surprises here as these are never reported in big numbers, and several seem to be on the decline. We had a few Four-spotted Skimmer that survived the Ohio summer (2023) and winter. We were hoping for more, but nice to have a few.

37 species have new county records in 40 counties, for a running total of 61 new county records. This is a good number, behind the glory years of 2018-2019, but the low-hanging fruit is mostly gone! Leaders are Spatterdock Darner and Variegated Meadowhawk, both with 4 new counties. Lawrence, Medina, Mercer, and Seneca all have 3 new species.

The early season (warm weather) has produced 40+ new early flight dates. I'll have to start looking at late flight dates as we transition to departures.

It's also time to start the "County Complete" reporting. I was surprised to see that Eastern Forktail only needs 2024 observations in Adams, Brown, Trumbull, and Washington to have records in all 88 Ohio Counties. Fragile Forktail and Common Whitetail are next in line. Fragile Forktail is the current leader in number of observations, followed closely by Eastern Forktail, then a gap to Common Whitetail. Blue Dasher and Eastern Pondhawk are gaining as we get into the heart of their flight.

May 31, 2024 is now our top day of observations - ever! 730 research grade observations have been entered to the project for that day, representing 63 species from 60 observers. This edges out July 14, 2023 (727, 56, 62). Pretty amazing, and maybe more to come.

We now have June observations in all counties except Belmont, Huron, Monroe, Noble, and Washington. (note - we now have Huron observations). These are also some of the low counties for the year. Maybe we can fix some of that with the upcoming DSA meeting in Marietta - I hope to see you there!