Willow Emerald Damselflies Emerge

Its that time of the year when the nationally rare Willow Emerald Damselfly starts to emerge at a few sites in eastern England. I am very fortunate that about 5 minutes away, there are a few sites that hosts this rare damselfly and so with warm sunshine and light winds forecast, I called into Marshside after work for a look around. On arrival it was actually quite cloudy and more breezy than I had hoped but it was at least warm. I parked up near the hot spot, Little Grays Farm and took a walk along the dykes checking the reeds and grasses and then walked back along the hedge line where they often can be found. The good news was that after a search around, I managed to find 3 Willow Emerald Damselfly, all tenerals which included 2 males and 1 female. They had probably not emerged that long ago and i'm hoping to have a look for an exuviae of this species in my next few visits. With the sun in and out making photography a little tricky, I had to use a bit of in camera flash but I managed to take a few pleasing shots although I think there is plenty of room for improvement.

'Teneral' Willow Emerald Damselfly (female)

I find photographing this species quite tricky as their abdomen is so long but I will persevere and hopefully get the right angles to get the all important quality shots. The males didn't hang around long and soon flew high up into the trees on the other side of the road. I expect there are a few more up there maturing up but I hope on my return, that their numbers will steadily build up. I have a few other site in the area for this species so I'd better start checking these soon as well. A nice end to the day today, quality.

'Teneral' Willow Emerald Damselfly (female)