Just when we thought we were done...A new county record!

A dull and dreary day (cloudy, windy, scattered showers, and cool) on June 30th didn't stop me from checking out a favorite dragonfly haunt. I went to Sherwood Park in Sumpter Township which is in southwestern Wayne County of Michigan. We've found many great species here in the past.

One of the first dragonflies flushed along the edge of the pond was a teneral pennant. The dark spots of the wings looked different so I swung my net. To my surprise, this was a new species for the county.... a female Banded Pennant (Celithemis fasciata) of the monomalaena form.

This is a species Nannothemis and I have hoped to find in recent years.

forewing:
hindwing:
Some of the other species present included:

Slender Bluets (Enallagma traviatum) - the only location we find them in the county

Swamp Spreadwings (Lestes vigilax) - - the only location we find them in the county

Halloween Pennant (Celithemis epinona)



Needless to say, I am flabbergasted to find another first county record on a poor weather day. Initially, I was confused about finding a teneral individual at a location where we'd never observed mature adults previously. Others have suggested that it may have been possible that it had been blown in by the weather (strong winds) in recent days. I'm hoping there is a population at the park.