On Tuesday I was happy to see that there are still lots of dragonflies at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. We still have at least several months before the dragonfly season will be over, but already I am noticing some changes in dragonfly demographics. Some of the dragonflies that I saw in great numbers in July, like Needham’s Skimmers for example, are now much less common.
When I visited the small pond at the refuge, I was delighted to spot some Calico Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis elisa), among the most colorful and prominently marked dragonflies in our area. The first two images show mature male Calico Pennants and highlight really well their wonderful wing markings and the beautiful red patterns on their abdomens.
Female and immature male Calico Pennants have yellow and black markings on their bodies, so when I first saw the dragonfly in the third image, I assumed it was a Calico Pennant. When I looked more closely at the image on my computer screen, however, I realized that the markings on the front wings of this dragonfly are shaped more like bands than spots. This means that the dragonfly is most likely a Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina).
Pennant dragonflies, including the Calico and Halloween Pennants, love to perch at the very tip of vegetation. When even the slightest wind begins to blow, the dragonflies flap about, like pennants, especially when the vegetation is as flimsy as the one in the final photo.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful jewels
Thanks, Tricia. I love the idea of thinking of dragonflies as jewels. 🙂
I’m rarely certain when it comes to dragonflies, but I’m certain your last photo shows a Halloween Pennant. It’s one of our most common. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Calico Pennant.
I see Calico Pennants at only a single location, so I don’t know how common they are. I have seen Halloween Pennants, on the other hand, at multiple locations. Two things initially fooled me. First, I was searching in a location where I had previously seen Calico Pennants, so my mind was predisposed to toward them. Secondly, most of the time the wings of the Halloween Pennants that I see have more of an amber tinge to the wings and are not quite as clear as the wings of “my” dragonfly. Thanks for the confirmation on the Halloween Pennant. 🙂
I’ve not seen a Halloween Pennant so envy yours. Calico and Banded are the two I have seen. Nice shots, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. Banded is the one of the three that I see least often. I guess it all depends on where you live and where you look. 🙂
That pretty much sums up most of what we see. 🙂
Nice series of dragonfly images Mike! Enjoyed seeing them!
I started out to comment on how clean and crisp the third image is, I looked closely since you mentioned it was a different kind. Of course I had to look at the others, and all are really impressive. I assume you used the 180 prime… that makes them even more so. 👏👏👏
Actually, Ted, I took all three shows with my Tamron 18-400mm zoom lens. I am pretty happy with the kind of results that I got with that lens during my road trip and used it this week at my normal wildlife refuge. It allowed me to shot subjects ranging from eagles to dragonflies. 🙂
WOW, you make that lens work very well and of course skill wins every time. 😃😃