T-L Photos/SHELLEY HANSON A GROUP of Canada geese swim across Captina Creek at the Powhatan Point Marina.

POWHATAN POINT — A recent short visit to the Powhatan Point Marina that lies along Captina Creek provided a captivating view of wildlife and different species of insects that live there.

Captina Creek is known to be a clean creek that allows for much biodiversity. It is famous for being home to the endangered hellbender salamander, too.

On a sunny afternoon just walking along the banks, one could see tiny fish darting about, at least two or three different kinds of dragonflies, and one of the most-entertaining beetles called a whirligig.

A cute duck, which appeared to be a mallard mix, was busy cleaning its feathers on the boat slip after a swim in the creek.

Across the creek on another bank, a gaggle of Canada geese were walking around and decided to swim back and forth from shore to shore during the visit.

There is no swimming allowed in the water at the marina, but there is a slip that people can use to get their boats in and out, along with several docks.

It was a hot sunny weekday so there weren’t any boaters or kayakers to be seen enjoying the creek, but the surrounding property is home to many large trees that provide a lot of shade.

A grandfather and grandson took advantage of the flat parking lots and shade trees to ride their bicycles under. A few people came and went in their vehicles, stopping for a while to eat their lunches and enjoy the views and breeze.

In the water near the edge, one could see brown and white dragonflies, called the common whitetail — flitting about.

Its scientific name is plathemis lydia, according to the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Dragonflies and Damselflies Ohio field guide.

“Male common whitetails are easily recognized by the white abdomen, black band in the middle of the wings, and the small white patch on the hindwings. Females are similar to some other skimmers, but look for spots at the base, the nodus (middle) and tips of the wings, and diagonal white or yellowish stripes along the abdomen.

Males often perch on the ground in a sunny spot near a lake or pond. At ponds they defend a territory up to 30 feet long and chase away other males. Females are more secretive, coming to the water to mate and lay eggs,” according to the field guide.

A small but bold damselfly, green-blue in color also was spotted on the water’s edge. It appeared to be a stream bluet, though, according to the field guide there are a few different kinds of bluets. Its long black body has bands of blue evenly spaced on it. Since it is so small it would be hard to miss if its wings weren’t so shiny and glittery in the sun. Its scientific name is enallagma exsulans.

The whirligig beetles were interesting to watch and live up to their name. They appeared to stay in a group, just their shells mostly visible above the water.

Tiny fish darted about in the shallow water close to the shore, too. They were so young and new their bodies appeared to be see-through.