Banded Pennant

I used my July 4th holiday to spend time looking for Banded Pennant and Painted Skimmer.  I was successful with one of the two.

I started early driving to Sherwood Lake in Sumpter Township.  It was one year to the day that I made my first visit to Sherwood Lake.  I was looking for Banded Pennants then, too, but instead found many Calico and Halloween pennants in addition to a lot of other nice dragonflies. Last year I visited later in the day - probably early afternoon, because I remember I went to Point Moo later in the afternoon.  

This year I found Banded Pennants (Celithemis fasciata) and nothing else.  I think the early morning start helped me for the Banded Pennants and hurt for everything else - which turned out to be okay.

Above and six below:  All of the same individual landed vertically on the grass at the edge of the lake.  This was the first of at least eight, and possibly as many as twelve seen.  As it turned out I was grateful for these photos, because all of the others landed horizontally in the short, weedy grass and they were much more difficult to photograph.

Above and below:  probably different individuals landed in the short grass.  The patterning on the wings is not as clear.  I saved only a few photos of the short-grass shots.

I was super happy to find these dragonflies; but I realized they were all the same.  One after the other - shiny-winged, dainty and wimpy fliers - I wondered if I was seeing newly emerged Banded Pennants.  I did not see a single adult.

I stayed for an hour at Sherwood Lake and then drove to nearby Crosswinds Marsh for a different story.