Thanks and acknowledgments

A number of people have given us assistance and we would like to mention them here.
Karl Legler, Josh Rose, Aaron Brees and Robert Geerts graciously allowed us to use their photos of species that are uncommon in New Jersey or which we haven't photographed yet. 
Ann Johnson, an NJOS member, a professional web designer and the author of the Odonates of Iowa website, helped us with web structure and did many of the tricky little code things herself.  If you enjoy the site, much of the functionality was put together by her (and for free!); there is no way we could have done it ourselves.  Thanks, AJ!

Copyright information

The checklists and included material are © 2003 Jim Bangma and Allen Barlow.  Additional material may be the property of others as designated.  The printable lists (PDFs) may be printed and distributed in their entirety for personal use free of charge. 

Official disclaimer stuff

Neither us personally nor the NJ Odonata Survey accept any responsibility for mistakes that may have crept in at any level.  But if you find an error, let us know and we will fix it and then hurl accusations at each other.

Seriously, Allen has maintained the database and we regularly check and recheck for error.  But much of it had to be manipulated to fit the constraints of a web site and it is possible that errors may have crept in.  The maps were all drawn from the database and, while they have been checked at least once, they may have errors.  If you become aware of any mistakes, please let the webmaster know.  This is very much a work in progress and we hope to gradually improve it and remove any goofs.

Editorial Content

All of us at NJOS have had a hand in writing some parts of the narratives and the species accounts.  Range, distribution and ID information is based on our interpretation of the available data.  We have tried to err on the side of caution when an item was in question or in dispute.  In many cases, we admit that we simply don't know, or that nobody does.  In these cases we are more than willing to be proved wrong.  While all of the data and much of the information has been supplied by Allen Barlow, the final editorial cuts are by Jim Bangma and errors in wording and grammar and the like are his fault.  (Of course, he'll never admit it)  In some places where opinion is presented, if it is the opinion of the NJOS membership, it is credited as such.  Statements such as "the author feels" are attributable to Jim, and his fault when they are wrong.  In a few instances, NJOS members may disagree; in these cases, both sides of the disagreement are spelled out.

The Photographs

Where possible, photos are the work of NJOS members.  Since I own the web page, in most cases I have used, and prefer to use, my own photos.  When we don't have our own photos, we have used those of others; there is a bit about the photographers below, click here.  We are looking for photos of those species we are missing, and would gratefully review any submitted.  Unfortunately, we are not in a position to pay for photos.

We try to include dorsal and lateral shots of both sexes.  If several known variants occur, we try to show them.  Our standard photo is resized to a maximum of 400 by 400 pixels although in the case of some critters, especially darners and emeralds, we have gone with 250 x 500.  This size is designed to take up approximately 50% of an 800 x 600 monitor, big enough to show pertinent characters but still allowing room for data.  We may have to rethink this as finer resolution screens become the standard, but we are trying to design this for the majority of users.  Similarly, all photos are saved at a jpeg compression ratio that gives a file size of about 40k.  Since the vast majority of users still have dial-up, we hope this allows enough detail while providing reasonable download times.

Many of the photos are posed, many are not.  We haven't bothered to identify them as such since the primary purpose is identification, and even in art, everybody messes with nature to some degree.  All of the odes, however, were alive when photographed.  Both digital pictures, slides and negatives have been used, film is currently scanned in a Nikon Cool Scan 4000.  One or two pictures are from high resolution flatbed scans of prints.

Photos are cropped in Adobe Photoshop and if necessary, minor adjustments are made to the histogram and to overall brightness.  Occasionally, the sharpen filter is applied, never more than once.  In a few cases, backgrounds have been selectively blurred.   Efforts have been made to not alter the color balance more than is unavoidable in normal processing.  We have reviewed the photos on a variety of monitors; they are too bright on some, too dark on others, and just right on mine.  If they all look hopelessly dark, we suggest you start thinking about a monitor upgrade.

All the photos are marked with copyright information and remain the property of the photographer.  Our experience has been that most ode photographers are extremely helpful and generous people.  We ask you to please respect intellectual property rights and not divert these photos for illegal or unethical use.  If you do need photos for some sort of project, feel free to contact the photo owner or the webmaster, in most cases, higher resolution versions exist. 

The Photographers

We want to acknowledge the work of those people who have contributed photographs to NJOS, usually in exchange for good will.  Out of respect for them and spam prevention, we are not including email addresses, but if you need to contact one of them, drop us a note, and we'll pass it on.  The following people are listed is alphabetical order, but "Friends of NJOS" are first, members last.

Aaron Brees: A budding young ornithologist or a bird bum, depending on whether you talk to his Mom or his Dad.  In his first 2 weeks watching odes, Aaron added two new species to the Iowa state list.

Karl Legler: co-author of Color Guide to Common Dragonflies of Wisconsin, which, within its geographic scope, is one of the finest ID guides out there.  Karl is currently working on a new addition and we are eagerly waiting for it.

Josh Rose: a rare combination of professional ecologist and enthusiastic nature nut, Josh is trying to convert us to the music of Akire Bubar and the Asylum Street Spankers.  They're growing on me, Josh, now if you would just appreciate Warren Zevon.  Josh has a cool website with photographs, links, and some of his interests at http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/. 

Steve Walter: Great photographs, thanks, Steve!  (We are still negotiating what nasty things we can say, but check out more of Steve's work at http://www.hmana.org/mulberry/.) 

Robert Geerts, owner of Dragonflies of Germany, graciously offered the use of his Black Meadowhawk photo.

Allen Barlow: If NJOS had officers, Allen would be president.  Last fall he decided to dabble in bug photography.  If this is dabbling....

Sheryl Chacon: NJOS member and Passaic County expert, you have to be in the field with her to believe.  The lady catches skimmers in her bare hands, walks logs across streams and usually ends up dirtier than I do, but with more bugs.

Ann Johnson: Iowa bug guruette, author of www.iowaodes.com and NJOS member, Ann surfaces in NJ for a couple days every now and then and now has a NJ list longer than her Iowa list.

Oh, and I took the bad ones.

Thanks, and please enjoy the website,
Allen Barlow, Jim Bangma and the rest of the NJOS crew