Still on Red Alert!

With such a beautiful autumnal sunny day today with light winds and warm sunshine, I made a brief visit to a site near Reculver this afternoon to see what was on the wing. After a walk around I had seen a few Common Darter and Migrant Hawker and wondered if any Red veined Darter were still around so I made my way to a good area where I had seen some last weekend. I soon arrived in the area and started to check the reeds on the waters edge and was stunned to see 1 Red veined Darter take to the air but it soon crashed landed again nearby. I put a stick in the area where it had risen from as it looked like it had only just emerged and thought I would return after I had taken some photos of the darter. I spent a while grabbing a few images before returning to see if I could find the exuviae that I hoped it had emerged from. 

Red veined Darter (immature male)

I had a good look around and after much scanning, I found an exuviae which at the time, I thought was that of the Red veined Darter. Another look in the area revealed another exuviae which I collected after taking a few photos. I would have thought that with all the rain and wind, that any exuviae from Common and Ruddy Darters would have fallen or broken off the reeds. This made me feel that they were likely to be Red veined Darter exuviae but after getting home and checking a few photos out in books, it seems likely that they are Common or Ruddy Darter. Nonetheless, an education and I have now learnt a few features to look out for when I return over the weekend. Back to the session and moving on I found a second Red veined Darter nearby as well as 2 Willow Emerald Damselfly and after more photos being rattled off, I decided to call it a day and return home. Hopefully I shall give it a few hours over the weekend again, maybe this time just concentrating on trying to find the elusive Red veined Darter exuviae which I'm sure must be nearby somewhere. 

Red veined Darter (immature male)