Millions of readers have acquired the secrets of success through The Magic of Thinking Big. Source Credit: Amazon.
One of the secrets of success when scouting good habitat for Tiger Spiketail (Cordulegaster erronea) is “the magic of thinking small,” as in small seep-fed streams in the forest.
What does the right habitat look like?
The following photos were taken during a Tiger hunt with Michael Powell along a small stream in the forest at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA. The photos are shown in sequence as we worked our way downstream from the headwaters. Mike and I have seen a single Tiger Spiketail patrolling this stream on two days during 2019: 01 July; and 06 August.
The first photo shows a seep in the forest at the headwaters of a small stream located along a segment of a marked trail in Prince William County, Virginia. Notice that skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) and interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) aren’t associated with this seep.
06 AUG 2019 | PNC. William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail habitat
The next photo is located a short distance downstream from the headwaters, looking back upstream. The stream channel is ~2-3 feet wide and no more than a few inches deep.
06 AUG 2019 | PNC. William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail habitat
A smaller “side seep” (upper-right) is a tributary of the same stream (foreground).
06 AUG 2019 | PNC. William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail habitat
The last photo shows the view looking downstream from a point just below the small side seep. Although the stream seems to disappear near the bright sunlit patch on the forest floor, in fact the stream flows over the first in a series of mini-“waterfalls” that get progressively higher going downstream.
06 AUG 2019 | PNC. William County, VA | Tiger Spiketail habitat
What time of day is best for Tiger hunting?
Based upon field observations by Kevin Munroe, Michael Boatwright, and Mike Powell and me, Tiger Spiketail seems to have two time periods of increased activity that might be site-dependent: 10 a.m. to 12 noon; and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mike Boatwright and I speculate increased activity might be associated with the time of day when a given site receives more sunlight. The Tiger at the site Mike Powell and I visited seems to be a “morning person.”
Do other odonates live in the same habitat?
Mike Powell photographed a Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) along the same stream on 10 July 2019. Now we know with reasonable certainty that Gray Petaltail and Tiger Spiketail can coexist in the same seep(s).
Mike also photographed a Twin-spotted Spiketail dragonfly (Cordulegaster maculata) on 16 April 2019 in a field near the mouth of the stream. Twin-spotted Spiketail larvae probably live in the stream itself, rather than the seeps that feed the stream.
Related Resource: Habitat for Tiger Spiketail dragonfly, featuring GoPro video showing another small stream where Tiger Spiketail has been observed in Northern Virginia.
Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: Cordulegaster erronea, forest seep, habitat specialist, odonate habitat, Tiger Spiketail dragonfly
walter sanford's photoblog 
August 9, 2019 at 5:43 am |
Thanks for all of the mentions, Walter. Your shots do a great job in documenting the habitat. The bigger challenge for us will be getting a shot of the elusive Tiger Spiketail itself, which will require a lot of luck and good timing.