Here Be Dragons

Follow Dragonfly Detective Jonathan Batkin in this Quick Guide to New Mexico Dragonflies.

In this New Mexico magazine article, I gave Jonathan Batkin the unofficial title of Dragonfly Detective of Santa Fe County. He retired this year from his 24- year tenure as director of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe. Since the article’s publication, he has heard from many people who were surprised to find out that, in addition to his work with Native American art and culture at the museum, he is such an avid and accomplished odonatologist. His passion for both shines through. He has four documented first species sightings in New Mexico, which is no small feat. He was very generous with his time and expertise when I was working on this article.

The Pacific Spiketail photograph in the article is his, which he made with much excitement. He spent years trying to locate it in Santa Fe County, hiking hundreds of miles, falling into one river, puzzled by its absence. Driving home from what he considered his last gasp effort, he pulled off to the dam below Santa Cruz Lake. Having seen nothing and heading out, one flew right over his truck. Returning the next morning with a friend, they walked down the road and boom! “We flushed it, and then it actually perched right in front of us,” he recalls. “That is what is so exciting to me.”

In addition to Batkin and the dragonflies, we included in the New Mexico magazine article two pieces by Native American artists, Tony Abeyta and Watson Honanie. Tony’s painting, Dragonfly Constellation, is in the La Fonda art collection, and Watson’s magical Dragonfly Cuff is in the archives of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, both in Santa Fe. I will be posting many more beautiful Native dragonflies in blogs to come.

“Open your eyes,” dragonfly (butterfly, bird and more) expert Jonathan Batkin says, “It’s unbelievable what you can see out there if you do.”