After a two-year hiatus since I spotted my first Sable Clubtail dragonfly (Stenogomphurus rogersi) during June 2018, it was a pleasure see an old friend again!
The first photo is the “record shot” for this individual, that is, “get a shot, any shot.” It is literally the first shot I took as soon as I spotted the Sable male. As you can see, he was looking in my direction so I was unable to sneak up on him. That proved to be problematic.
13 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Sable Clubtail (male)
I tried to move slowly into position for a lateral view of the dragonfly.
13 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Sable Clubtail (male)
The last photo is almost as far as I moved before Mr. Sable flew away — five shots and it was game over, man!
13 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Sable Clubtail (male)
Later the same day I was fortunate to photograph a more cooperative male that will be featured in a follow-up post.
Rare to Uncommon
Sable Clubtail has a limited range and is classified as a rare to uncommon species of odonate. The following map shows all official records for Sable Clubtail in the United States of America.
DSA Distribution Viewer | Sable Clubtail
Source Credit: Abbott, J.C. 2006-2018. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at http://www.odonatacentral.org. (Accessed: June 11, 2018).
Key: blue dots = Dot Map Project; green dots = Accepted records; yellow dots = Pending records.
As you would expect, there are few official records for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and fewer records for Northern Virginia.
The Backstory
A short segment of a small stream that flows through a park in Northern Virginia seems to provide ideal habitat for Sable. By the end of Summer 2018, the stream had been degraded significantly by siltation as a result of runoff from dirt that was dumped uphill from the stream.
The following year, the stream channel was almost completely choked by vegetation that I assume flourished in the nutrient-rich sediment that had flowed into the stream. Net result: One and only one Sable Clubtail dragonfly was observed by several spotters who visited the stream site during 2019.
That’s the bad news. The good news is I saw at least three Sable Clubtails when I visited the stream site on Saturday, 13 June 2020. That’s not as many individuals as I saw in 2018, but the species seems to have rebounded a little from the damage done to its habitat.
As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” Let’s hope!
Related Resources
- Off-season homework pays dividends
- Field marks for identification of S. rogersi
- Stenogomphurus rogersi exuvia
Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: exuvia, Family Gomphidae (Clubtails), male, Sable Clubtail dragonfly, Stenogomphurus rogersi
walter sanford's photoblog 
June 30, 2020 at 9:27 pm |
Congratulations on finding the species at all! Nice follow-up to confirm its continuing presence.
At least he allowed a couple of photographs!
(“Photo first. Identify later!”)
July 1, 2020 at 6:18 am |
[…] the Sable Clubtails, be sure to check out Walter’s posting from last Friday entitled “Sable Clubtail dragonfly (Male No. 1).” The posting includes Walter’s photos, range maps for the species, and fascinating […]
June 4, 2021 at 5:47 am |
[…] When a dragonfly population is so small and localized, there is always a fear that they could be wiped out by extreme weather conditions or by a change in their habitat. At this specific location, the stream habitat has been compromised somewhat by increased silt and higher levels of vegetation as a result of some imprudent dumping of dirt and the resulting runoff. (For additional information about the damage to the stream and some of the back story of Walter’s re-discovery of the species, check out his June 2020 posting entitled Sable Clubtail dragonfly (Male, No. 1).) […]