Joann Merritt's Essays

Septemberfest Midnat Style
September, 2007

The clouds on Friday September 6th didn’t squelch the Merritt’s enthusiasm at Crawford’s Ranch, their effect on us was quite the opposite. Our spirits were upped a few notches because these clouds were composed of birds, butterflies and flying insects.

The morning was spent exuberantly identifying 14 species of odonates and 23 species of butterflies. I didn’t keep a bird list, but as we arrived, there were black and white clouds of Black-necked Stilts and White-faced Ibis who were prompted by an extra loud boom from the adjacent Gun Club to rise up en masse to greet us. Three hours later upon reaching the north shore of Soda Lake we were awed by the sight of a Black Swan majestically afloat in the water. Half a dozen Black Terns put on a graceful exhibition as they flew low and occasionally curtsied while crisscrossing the lake which was liberally dotted with black Coots. I never knew black was such a fun color!

Adding to the wonderful blackness of the morning were the abundant Black Saddlebags and 4-Spotted Pennant dragonflies. Innumerable black and orange patterned Bordered Patch butterflies nectared on the small blooms of the almost endless patches of frog fruit. In response to this years heavy rains, these native plants had lived up to the “frog” in their name by leapfrogging down the roadsides and into the pastures. The Bordered Patches easily outnumbered all the butterflies, dragonflies and birds combined. My estimate would be 2000 individuals, but according to Ted Jones (former Midnat, now deceased) we should double our estimate for a more accurate count. Nah!! There surely couldn’t have been that many!

Saturday I received a call from Sybil who was at Soda Lake celebrating Septemberfest and having as wonderful a time as I had the day before. That afternoon was too hot for me to be able to join her - if only I could regulate my body temperature like dragonflies do! According to field guides the methods odonates use to cool off are to perch in the shade, dunk in the water or obelisk. Obelisking is where the dragonflies appear to be doing handstands on the tips of twigs. Hmmm, perhaps I should just stick to my own method of avoiding the heat by wearing a hat and a light colored long sleeved shirt as well as drinking plenty of water.

Weekend festivities concluded Sunday afternoon with Allen, Sybil and the Merritts touring the grounds one last time. During the three days, we identified 34 species of butterflies and 15 species of odonates. There were perhaps a hundred 4-Spotted Pennants and a dozen Halloween Pennants so our Midnat Team should easily win the Pennant Race for 2007.

Both the Septemberfest at Crawford’s Ranch and Rock the Desert at Crawford’s Ridge are my kinds of Festivals!