Send me your street/wildlife/travel photos. It's a great time to take a few photos to show your appreciation for the Fourth of July Holidays. Thank you!Reader James McCormac from Ohio contributed today's photos (he also has a huge photo website and a blog). You can click on the photos to enlarge them.These are some pennant dragonflies. These photos were taken in June 2021 from a small pond located in Jackson County, Ohio. This is the home base of Ohio's only four-term governor James A. Rhodes. A male Calico Pennant (Celithemis Elisa) stands on an old rush stalk. The pond's water/light reflectionivity is responsible for the pure brown bokeh (background). The pennant is pointing its abdomen directly towards the sun by obelisking. This is done to reduce heat absorption during very hot days. It was in the 90s F early in the afternoon and the humidity seemed to be 100%. It was great for dragonfly activity, but not so much for humans.Many Banded Pennants (Celithemis fasciata) were found in this pond. The Banded Pennant, unlike the other common pennants in Ohio, Calico and Halloween, is more common in Ohio. It can be found in approximately 27 counties, mainly in southeastern Ohio. This pennant is teeing up on top of the prominent perches, as you can see. It can be difficult to get images because of the many pennants and other dragonflies. Once I had my focus, another dragon would fly by, and my subject would light up after it.A pair of Banded Pennants mate, creating more of their species. The Dragonfly mating process is quite rough. The male grabs the female and holds her behind the head using specialized claspers. It doesn't matter if it isn't broken, because the Odonata are still around over 300 million years and largely unchanged.The main reason I visited this pond was because of this unassuming, bluish-black little fellow. It is a Double-ringed Pennant, Celithemis verna. This was the first Ohio record of this species. In that year, seven males were counted. We counted around 20 males that day, so their presence here isn't just a coincidence of a few stray insects. The Double-ringed Pennant, a species found in the southeast U.S., is found mostly along the coast plains. It is possible that the Ohio location might be the closest to the interior. At least, it has an established population. As is the case with many other dragonfly or damselfly species, double-ringed penants could be gradually shifting their range northward.For completeness, I added this male Halloween Pennant (Celithemis penina) to the mix. This photo was taken a few years back at another location. Surprisingly, this species was not found anywhere that day. However, I can imagine that if I had visited other sites, I might have been able to find one. It is the fourth species of Ohio's Celithemis pennant.
