Dragonfly Days Festival Celebrates 10th Anniversary in May

Dragonfly Days Festival

When: May 21 – 24, 2009

Where: Weslaco, Texas and the surrounding area.

Like fairies hovering overhead, the dance of dainty dragonflies in the skies of South Texas have captured the hearts and imaginations of Weslaco residents. Sharing the area with over 100 varieties of the winged wonders, the city’s first homage to the interesting insects in 1999 has since become an an annual ode to “oding”– the hobby of hunting dragonflies and damselflies.

Sponsored by the Estero Llano Grande State Park World Birding Center site and the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco, amateurs inquisitive about insects can sign up for the Beginner’s Odonata Workshop trip, which offers an overview of the dragonflies living in the Weslaco and Mercedes area, while entomology enthusiasts and newbies alike can book trips into the upper valley, mid valley and lower valley to delve in-depth into the world of the dragonfly.

Seminars and socials give attendees a chance to gain insight into the insect realm and mingle with like-minded lovers of dragonflies.

Visitors attending the Dragonfly Days Festival can stay at the event’s host hotel, the Holiday Inn Express in Weslaco. When reserving a room, request the festival rate, using the code DFD.

For more information regarding the Dragonfly Days Festival or the Dragonfly Family Nature Day, a child-oriented event at the Valley Nature Center on May 16, 2009:

• visit www.valleynaturecenter.org

Caption: A male gray-waisted skimmer rests at the McAllen Nature Center.

By-line/Copyright: Joshua Rose, Ph.D., © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department