Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America (Butterflies Through Binoculars)

I should have been clued in by this book's title, but I was still disappointed when I realized that damselflies were not included in the guide. Since one of my entomological challenges is distinguishing damselflies from their generally larger and faster-flying odonate cousins, it would have been nice to have both in one book.Whining aside, "Dragonflies through Binoculars" contains a good, well-organized collection of photographs and descriptions of living dragonflies, with 47 plates in full color, plus information on all 307 species found in North America. These ancient insects are enameled in heraldic designs of stripes, checks, and diagonals as though they were about to fly off to an aerial jousting match---which is probably just what they will do as soon as you have your binoculars trained on them. I even saw one dragonfly with a miniature death's-head emblazoned on its thorax.If you think I'm the only romantic concerning these fascinating Paleozoic-era hunters, tell me why they have been christened with such outlandish names as 'Ebony Boghaunter' or 'Stygian Shadowdragon.'This book is more concerned with the current ecology of the dragonfly, rather than its 300-million year history. The author also gives advice such as what kind of binoculars to purchase, which clubs or societies to join, and how to photograph these elusive darters in their natural surroundings---there are no hints of kill bottles in this book!Buy a copy of this book and see if dragonfly watching doesn't become your newest, most enjoyable hobby.

Very good color plates with corresponding maps.

Dragonflies through Binoculars, was my first book on Dragonflies. As an avid birder I became interested in the fascinating insects of the order odinata. I tried to use this book in the field but had little success. Sidney Dunkle's text is clearly written, his explanations are well done, and the pictures are good quality. What is the problem? I finally figured it out. The pictures are too small and the book is written at a level well above that of a novice.As field guides go there are two schools of thought, Photos and art. When it comes to birds many beginning birders prefer photos because they have a hard time translating the semi abstraction of an illustration to what they are seeing in life. Dragonflies through binoculars is based upon beautiful photographs of the Dragonfly species represented. The problem with photographs is they can only show what the camera sees. The disadvantage is the human eye is far more sensitive than a camera. As a result photographs can leave a lot to be desired. On the other hand art can go beyond what the camera shows and show detail a photograph misses.As I have gained experience with Dragonflies I have managed to identify a few species using this guide. I was very pleased when I managed to correctly identify the common skimmer Dot-tailed Whiteface using this guide. As I spend more time in the field I really wish the photos were much larger and that more descriptive text would be devoted to each species. In the end I abandoned this guide in favor of The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio, by Larry Rosche. Published by The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The Stoke's Beginners Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies, has also proven useful. For me Dragonflies through Binoculars has become a bookshelf reference rather than a Field Guide.If you are interested in Dragonflies this book is essential. However from my perspective I would rather pay twice as much and get a book where the beautiful photos could be viewed in all their glory.

This Dragonfly guide has everything and anything you need or want to know about them. Similar to the bird books that are out there, this informative guide gives you color photos so you can match up the dragonflies that you have seen then get the information about their habitat, where they usually are found and when as well as other stuff that pertains to them. I got this at the end of the season for us up north here but this will be in my backpack when I go out taking photographs next year along with my bird book. I highly recommend this if you are an insect lover or just love to traverse the edges of lakes, ponds, rivers or fields and would like to know what you have found on your hike.

First, when the author says Dragonflies, he means just dragonflies. Damselflies are not covered in this book. Second, the title includes "through binoculars" and seems to promise special help those using binoculars. There's really nothing for binocular users -- save a paragraph recommending what general type of binoculars to buy. The plates are just pictures and not especially good ones. No graphic hints are provided to make ID easier. I live in Nevada (the West) and Paulson's Dragonflies and Demselflies of the West is far better. Best of all for field ID in Nevada is Manolis' Dragonflies and Damselflies of California, supplemented by a printed checklist for Nevada from Odanata Central.

This a great dragonfly guide.The text section deals with all the usual field guide information, and is clearly presented and rich in content.The photo section is separate, along with the distribution maps, which could make the book a little slower to use in the field, although it does have the advantage that you can see a lot of similar species photographed on one page, rather than having to flick bewteen several adjacent pages.Excellent value for money. The butterfly books in the series are also equally good.

Brilliant used for research

Since this is a field guide to dragonflies for the whole of North America, we marked the plates of the species that are living in our area, the north shore of Georgian Bay. This will ease the identification process. The book's dragonflies' groupings in spring, summer and fall species are of help.For years we saw dragonflies on our walks. Then, becoming more sophisticated, we knew about Darners, Meadowhawks, and Skimmers. The next step, with the help of this guide, seems to be more difficult and time consuming than we believed it could be: now we want to identify every dragonfly we encounter.One should carry this field guide on outdoor trips when looking for dragonflies, carry the book until one has become familiar with these species.Much can be said about the separation of text from the plates. One has to get used to flip pages. I prefer photo and text together like in many bird and flower guides, but for a quicker initial identification check having the plates together may have a benefit.

Pictures were not of great quality and most of them had the shot at one angle.