The Great Pondhawk, Erythemis vesiculosa is rather commonly encountered in Northern Mexico, but in the US is largely limited to Texas and Oklahoma (Paulson 2009). Only a handful of individuals have ever been observed in Arizona and the status of the species in the state is unclear. On 12 June 2010 I observed a male Great Pondhawk along one of the artificial ponds of the Rio Salado Wetland Restoration Project in Phoenix, Maricopa. This individual was well observed and photographed before flying off – and was then not relocated either that day or on June 15.

One female Striped Saddlebags, Tramea darwini, another Arizona rare species, was also present at Rio Salado on 12 June 2010 - in this case along the mostly dry bed of the Salt River. As for the above Great Pondhawk, no Striped Saddlebags was observed at that location three days later.