Odonata Occasion

WESLACO - They may be more popular than ever, but the dragonflies are still dwarfed by the birds.

That's what local nature enthusiasts said about dragonfly-watching - an activity similar to birding that attracts thousands of people who scour area nature reserves to catch a glimpse of unique specimens in action.

The Rio Grande Valley is home to dozens of types of dragonflies - many of which will be around this weekend during the ninth annual Dragonfly Days.

"As recently as 10 or 20 years ago there was no such thing as dragonfly-watching," said Joshua Rose, a local dragonfly expert. "The only people interested in dragonflies 20 years ago were people with nets and killing jars."

But rather than killing the dragonflies and pinning them to a board, people nowadays are scoping out odonata - the animal order comprised of dragonflies and damselflies - just as they would with butterflies and birds.

"There are more people that seem to be catching dragonfly fever," said Rose, who works as a natural resource specialist at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission. "Most of them are people who have done this already with birds and butterflies and are adding dragonflies to their enthusiasm."

Dragonfly Days kicks off this afternoon and runs through Sunday. The festival is slated to feature seminars and speeches from dragonfly experts and field trips to area parks to see the colorful insects in action.

Rose leads weekly dragonfly walks at the park and plans to lead a seminar on the insects as part of this weekend's festival.

Exactly how much tourism money dragonflyers bring to the Valley's economy is tough to pin down, given that many enthusiasts also come to check out the area's diverse bird and butterfly populations, Rose said.

Officials at the Valley Nature Center estimate 200,000 nature enthusiasts visit the Valley every year, bringing with them about $125 million in tourism money.

Dragonfly Days was canceled the past two years, mainly because of the difficulty of organizing the event as large numbers of schoolchildren visited the nature center while on field trips just before the end of the school year, said Martin Hagne, executive director of the center.

"We couldn't handle that and all the other programming at once," he said.

This year, for the first time, the Valley Nature Center is teaming up with staff from Estero Llano Grande State Park and the World Birding Center there to put on the festival, hopefully ensuring it will return in the coming years, Hagne said.

 For more information on Dragonfly Days, contact the Valley Nature Center at (956) 969-2475. Pre-registration is required for the festival. Costs range from $9 to participate in an hourlong dragonfly seminar to $120 for all nine events scheduled throughout the weekend.