As we near the end of August, I am seeing more and more reminders that Halloween is drawing near. Although we still have a couple of months before the 31st of October, store displays of candy and costumes and all other sorts of spooky merchandise have popped up everywhere.
Even when I was walking the trails of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge recently, I was reminded of the upcoming holiday when I spotted this Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) perched at the highest point of a patch of vegetation. Halloween Pennants have very distinctive markings on their wings that make then easy to identify. Unlike some other dragonfly species that perch on the ground and are therefore hard to spot amidst the fallen leaves, Halloween Pennants always seem to perch high above the ground and consequently are easy to spot. These perches often sway in the slightest of winds, causing the dragonflies to flutter in the wind, like pennants.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
That’s a beauty