I was excited to spot some Banded Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis fasciata) yesterday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. It has been a few years since I last saw them at this location, the only local spot where I had reliably seen them in the past, and I was afraid that they were gone forever.
Like so many dragonflies that I see, adult male Banded Pennants are blue, but the distinctive pattern on their wings make them easy to distinguish from the others. However, they are small in size—about 1.3 inches (34 mm) in length—and perch in vegetation right at the edge of the water, so you have to look carefully to spot them. Most of the time Banded Pennants, like other pennant dragonflies, perch on the very tip of grasses and other stalks of vegetation, where they are easily blown about and flap like pennants in the slightest breeze, which can make them a challenge to photograph.
The third image shows the pose in which I photograph pennant dragonflies most frequently. I was delighted, therefore, when one Banded Pennant chose a more photogenic perch and I was able to capture the colorful first image.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Stunning photos! It is a delight to see how these lovely creature “pose” fortuitously for your camera. 🙂
Thanks, Suzette. There is a fair amount of watching and waiting involved once I have spotted a subject. I try to be calm and deliberate in my movements so as not to scare away the dragonfly, but I am frantically trying to figure out how to get a shot quickly. It’s like the proverbial duck who appears to be calm on the surface of the water, but is kicking its feet like crazy to propel itself forward.
Haha, love the imagery of the duck🦆. Nicely said. Have a great day Mike. Thank you – Your posts always bring me a smile.
In that last photo, it looks like he’s poking something with a stick.
I seem to recall that ushers in colonial churches used a long stick like that to poke parishioners who fell asleep during the sermon. 🙂
Haha – you’re right 😊
Awesome capture Mike, you have the patience of a saint.
Thanks, Louis. I am not sure that I am ready for canonization, but I do tend to be more patient and persistent than most of the people whom I know. Later in the day after I captured these images, I tried to photograph a patrolling dragonfly. That’s when patience is really required, because it is tough to photograph a dragonfly while it is flying.
So wonderful to see your spectacular photos, Mike, and that first one is especially great with all the colors. I liked hearing about your process of spotting and photographing, and also the pennant-flying name sake.
Thanks, Jet. I may well end up getting that first shot blown up and hang it on the wall. It is always a challenge to get an interesting or impactful shot that stands out when a dragonfly is perched–bird photographers have the same problem. The colorful leaves and berries make this shot much more interesting than it would otherwise be.
Seeing the dragonfly perched on the colourful leaves helps to showcase the patterns on its wings with those black shapes and the areas of transparency. That’s a really cool shot.
Thanks, Laura. I was so excited when I spotted the dragonfly perched there and am happy that I managed to capture it so well.
Beautiful photos, Mike
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
What a beauty this is !
Such a nice set of photos, Mike. Love the mix of colours and textures of the first image and the clarity of the pennants on the next two. Beautiful work.
Thanks, Chris. My artistic side likes the colorful photo, but the other two definitely show off the details of the dragonfly better by isolating it. Fortunately I don’t have to choose–I can include them all in the posting. 🙂
Nice photos Mike! In my crazy imagination the last one looks like a winged pole vaulter 😀
Thanks, Liz. I can definitely see the pole vaulter in the last image and actually thought of that analogy when I decided to crop it the way that I did.
Very nice series of images Mike! Enjoyed seeing them!
It was especially gratifying capturing images of the Banded Pennants, since it had been so long since I had last seen any of them.