Early Emeralds

Whilst at the pond at Nethergong over the weekend I was surprised to see a few early Emerald Damselfly in the long grasses which had obviously recently emerged from the pond. I also netted an Emerald Damselfly nymph which confirms that they are breeding in this pond, the first time I have seen them breeding in this area of the site. With the sun still hiding behind the trees but not long off shining on the grasses, I decided to set up the tripod and take a few images of the Emerald Damselfly. The damselfly was resting nicely on some Lavender and by the time I had the camera ready, the sun was just about shining on the area which showed off the damselfly nicely. I spent quite a while taking a number of images from different angles, hoping that it would not fly off but she seemed quite content resting. With a number of photos taken and with the sun warming up the area, she finally flew off over the water. It would seem that at this site, the Emerald Damselfly has emerged nearly 2 weeks earlier than normal and this makes me wonder whether the Willow Emerald Damselfly will also emerge earlier at this site. I normally expect to see my first during the second week of July so it will be interesting to see what happens next month.

 

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) - female