HMANA is partnering again in 2021 for the ninth year with the Migratory Dragonfly Partnership to understand dragonfly migration better.

The Migratory Dragonfly Partnership (MDP) is a pioneering citizen science-based study of dragonfly migration in North America launched by US Forest Service International Programs and is chaired and coordinated by the Xerces Society. This nonprofit organization protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Regular monitoring and centralized reporting among participants across the US, Canada, and Mexico will help answer some of the many questions surrounding dragonfly migration and provide the information needed to create cross-border conservation programs to protect and sustain the phenomenon.

We are looking for watch site coordinators to participate in this critical citizen-science project but if you should participate or how much you’d like to be involved is up to you. A hawk watch may designate a special counter just for dragonflies or use current hawk watchers to collect the data. Either can work! Counts are timed for as many minutes as you can cover— one, five, ten, for each hour or whenever you can. Estimates of migrant numbers are also accepted (e.g., 500 plus, less than 10, etc.) You may find you don’t have time for dragonfly watching at all, which is fine, too.

If you are interested in taking part in dragonfly monitoring, please contact HMANA monitoring site coordinator Julie Brown. We will sign you up and add the necessary data entry fields to your HawkCount account.