February DFO Meeting
** Invite any entomology people you know!
David Leatherman and the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Colorado
Monday, February 22, 2010, 7:30 PM
February finds David Allen Leatherman making a return visit to DFO’s
podium from his northern Front Range haunts of Ft. Collins and its environs.
Warning: David states, “No one prone to Nature addictions should attend,
because these creatures (the “odes”) can hook you.”
Before you say, “Where are the birds?”, remember David’s last amazing
presentation to DFO, in March of 2008, titled “Learning More About Birding
by Learning More About What Birds Eat.” On that evening he convincingly
illustrated for us that a broader understanding of the natural world and its
interrelationships will enable us to find more birds!
While in the field birding we have all observed dragonflies and
damselflies, the “odes” (Insect Order Odonata), patrolling the edges of steams
and ponds and “hawking” for insects over meadows or open fields. Dragonflies
and damselflies begin their lives in the water and emerge to become
skillful terrestrial predators; some consider them to be the insect equivalents
of
mountain lions and bobcats respectively. These insects have amazing
adaptations including compound eyes which contain as many as 30,000 lenses,
giving
these creatures a complete 360 degree view of the world around them. And
dragonflies “invented” jet propulsion as an escape maneuver over 300 million
years ago.
Many birders know that during the mating and egg laying process the
male dragonfly or damselfly will grasp the female by the neck and they will
fly in tandem. In 1934 Arthur Cleveland Bent documented an astounding event
in Ontario in which a huge dragonfly had grabbed a ruby-throated hummingbird
by the neck and was holding it on the ground until the human observers
intervened.
In "The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Colorado" David will try to tie
in as much bird information as possible, but essentially the presentation
will be about this group of "watchable" insects. He will discuss the names,
lore, and lives of the Order Odonata, and also survey the major groups
present in Colorado. Currently the unofficial state roster stands at 105-108
species, with a potential for 5 or so more. The talk will be accompanied by
David’s photographs.
David was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. While still in junior
high school his interest in birds was triggered by the sighting and
identification of a male Blackburnian Warbler, which is still his favorite
bird. He
earned a degree in biology from Marietta College, and a Master of Forestry
degree from Duke University. From 1974 to 2005 he was employed as a forest
entomologist with the Colorado State Forest Service with a primary focus on
the mountain pine beetle. He has been a longtime member of the Colorado Field
Ornithologists and is a former editor of the CFO Journal. He also served
as an adjunct faculty member in CSU's Bioagricultural Science and Pest
Management Department. He has a major interest in birds and their food habits,
and is an award winning wildlife photographer. He has seen well over 400 bird
species in Colorado and has played a significant part in three First State
Bird Records for Colorado: Slaty-backed Gull, Tropical Parula, and
Brown-crested Flycatcher. He also has collected numerous specimens for CSU’S
Gillette Museum of Anthropod Diversity and has contributed at least five
species of
insects new to science and dozens of new state records. He credits Roseate
Skimmers found in Fort Collins in 2007 and his friends Bill and Inez
Prather for his newfound interest in “odes.”
Join David for a most informative evening examining another
fascinating aspect of Colorado’s natural world.
For further information on “odes” see:
Bagging Big Bugs (1995) and also a Guide to Colorado Insects (2006),
both by Whitney Cranshaw and Boris Kondratieff of Colorado State University
Dragonflies through Binoculars (2000) by Sidney W. Dunkle
March 22, 2010
Ted Floyd, Bill Schmoker, and Nathan Pieplow --
Birding 2.0 -- Using Technology to Become a Better Birder
April 26, 2010
Nathan Pieplow -- Spring Migrant Refresher Course
on Calls and Songs
The Denver Field Ornithologists monthly meetings are held in Ricketson
Auditorium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in City Park. These
meetings are free and open to the public and occur on the 4th Monday of each
month August through April (except December). Park on the north side of the
Museum and walk around and enter through the Museum's west door. Plan to
arrive by 7:15 p.m.; DOORS OPEN BY 7:00 AND ARE LOCKED AT 7:30 P.M. If late,
you
can enter through the security/volunteer door, but this does create
problems for our hosts at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
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