Dragonfly's Lair - First Visit (4/16/12)

Last week we visited Dragonfly's Lair, just a hop, skip and a jump from our house.  It was built through community effort and the organization Trees, Water and People about 8 years ago.  You can read more about it here.

This was technically our second visit.  We first came here three years ago, when we attended an aquatic insect class with our homeschool group.  We used field microscopes and looked at several water samples, counting all of the different life forms we could find.  The more you find, the healthier the aquatic ecosystem.  We enjoyed using the microscopes so much, that we bought one as a Christmas gift to the entire family.

We take it with us on every outing - it is very lightweight and portable.  You can order all sorts of extras to suit your needs.  Here is the model we own.  I highly recommend it!

Unfortunately, this outing yielded disappointing results.  Jordan took about six different water samples from different locations around the edge of the pond, and could not find any aquatic insects.  That is not to say there isn't any there, but judging from the visual survey of the pond, it did not look very healthy.  Yet - it must hold at least some degree of sustainability, because this couple was watching us the entire time...

A. Platyrhynchos

I still can't understand what is going on with my camera, because I tried to zoom in, and this was the best I could do.  I was only standing about thirty feet away!  Certainly I can turn out a better picture of Mallards, but for now this will have to do.

There is an interpretive trail with ample signage that identifies all of the local plants they installed years ago.  There also used to be a large deck unit, with a walkway that crossed over the entire marsh/pond, but it is gone now.  I searched around on the internet to look for any stories about it, but there doesn't appear to be any.  We were sorely disappointed about that too - that was one of the best features of the area.  You can get an idea of what it was like by clicking on the link I posted at the beginning.

We were able to see some good examples of blooms on native plant life...

Common Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana vars. demissa & melanocarpa)

Golden Currant (Ribes aureum )

We will make the effort to return in a couple on months to see if things have improved.  I might even call the city's outdoor education office to see if they still offer the class (and ferret out the reason why the walkway was removed).  The funny thing - after we got home, I realized that one of our shrubs out in front of our house looks exactly like the one above.  Ha!  At least now I know what to call it!