Halloween Pennant in the spring

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Halloween Pennant in the spring

June 21, 2015 by Mike Powell

Yesterday, the last full day of spring, I spotted a Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina), one of my favorite dragonflies, at Huntley Meadows Park, a place where I had previously never seen one. It was an auspicious end to spring, even if it seems a bit strange to speak of spring and Halloween in the same posting.

As you can see, these dragonflies like to perch on the very top of the vegetation in the fields. That’s an advantage in isolating the subject, but the slightest breeze causes them to wave back and forth like a pennant.

I snapped away when I spotted the Halloween Pennants and have not yet gone through all of my images, but I am so excited that I can’t help but share a couple with you now. There may be a few more to come later.

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Patriotism, spring, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Celithemis eponina, halloween pennant, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on June 21, 2015 at 8:55 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Wonderful photographs!
on June 21, 2015 at 8:59 am | Reply Laura (PA Pict)

Incredible images. I think maybe that dragonfly knows you favour it and was posing for you. I’ve never seen such a dragonfly before in a photo let alone in life. Very cool.
on June 21, 2015 at 6:11 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

Very nice! Love the patterns on the wings!
- on June 21, 2015 at 8:08 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. The coloration and patterns make this dragonfly pretty special and easy to identify.
on June 21, 2015 at 9:55 pm | Reply krikitarts

What a beauty, Mike. I’ve not encountered this one before, and I find myself wishing that I’d made friends with you and Huntley Meadows before I left your area. I’m eager to see what else you were able to capture in your session!
on June 22, 2015 at 5:41 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Those are both excellent photos. I thought I saw one of these the other day but since I didn’t have my camera I can’t be sure. The wing markings were very similar.
- on June 22, 2015 at 7:40 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Allen. The only one that I know that has somewhat similar markings is the Calico Pennant, a species I have not yet seen.
on June 22, 2015 at 9:23 pm | Reply Ed

Excellent shots.. 🙂
- on June 23, 2015 at 5:11 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Ed.