By Ian Naisbitt

Our Crest is a 12 Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly.

“Twelve-spotted Skimmers are fast and agile. If given time to count, one would see a total of twelve brown-black spots on all four wings of the male – three on each one. Between these black spots sit eight bright white spots that may even appear light blue. White smudges also appear next to the body. The female and immature males have the twelve brown-black spots, but not the white ones, so it is still acceptable to call them all twelve-spotted. Males have a powdery blue abdomen or ‘tail’. The female tail is mostly black with a long yellow stripe on each side. Adults feed on small flying insects.
Like other skimmers, the Twelve-spotted Skimmer is usually found near sources of water. Females lay eggs in ponds, lakes, or slow-moving streams and rivers where they hatch into naiads/ nymphs. The young naiads look more like crustaceans than dragonflies and spend this early life stage underwater. After feeding and growing, nymphs eventually crawl out of the water and molt into winged adults.
This species is common across all three countries on the North American continent. They are active mostly in the summer and are fast fliers. Look for these large, robust skimmers near the water’s edge by lagoons, creeks, ponds, and lakes.”
~Insect Identification.org

In the past, our Little River Enhancement Group participated in Little River Watershed Tours once a year. Our group would visit the sites where volunteers cleaned up the river or planted trees. We checked how much garbage accumulated over the past year at the cleanup sites and estimated the success rate of the trees we planted at other sites.

We also looked for potential sites that could use our help. While at Weston Park in Tecumseh, we hiked around the drain that flowed through the park and we were pleasantly zoomed by a swarm of dragonflies. It was quite an impressive moment for us. Later when our members were brainstorming names for our group and logos, this special moment came to mind. We approached Susan Thompson, graphic artist at the Windsor Star, and asked her to design our logo. We requested from her to draw a crest with a dragonfly in it. Susan asked which one and we said you decide.

Now you know the whole story.