Friends of the both the Salmon and Napanee River will team once again on Feb. 23 to host their second of their 2021 online Winter Speaker Series: Dragonflies and Damselflies: Guardians of our Wetlands and Creeks.
The free event will be hosted on Zoom at 7 p.m. with a YouTube link available after the presentation.
Dragonflies and damselflies are beautiful and truly fascinating creatures. From the Ebony Jewelwing to the Stygian Shadowdragon, these insects are not only an important part of the ecosystem, they are also exciting to watch. Colin Jones will present a photographic narrative on the dragonflies and damselflies of Ontario highlighting their intriguing life cycle, habitats, and approaches to their conservation. They play vital roles in terrestrial and aquatic habitats as predators feeding on a variety of mosquitoes and biting flies, and as prey for birds.
Those who watch the presentation will learn of the many citizen science initiatives they can engage in to report they own records of dragonflies and other insects.
Jones is a lifelong naturalist and the Provincial Arthropod Zoologist at the Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in Peterborough. He has studied Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) for 29 years, and is coordinator of the Ontario Odonata Atlas project as well as co-author of “A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Algonquin Provincial Park and Surrounding Area.”
To register ahead for the event, visit friendsofsalmonriver.ca and also see the entire speaker lineup there.