Out of the water, into the air

Last summer we were delighted when our newly made pond brought in damselflies and dragonflies. One of the most engaging was the Broad-bodied Chaser. He had read the book which said “He regularly returns to the same perch after swift flights out across the water” as that is exactly what he did – adopting a horizontal twig on a hazel stump from which he did regular patrols round the pond.

His residency must have included a successful relationship as today a nymph crawled from the water, for some reason traversed a meter or so of grass, before choosing a stalk for its metamorphosis.

Very slowly its wings began to expand

In this vulnerable state the colour and shape of the wings blended with the surrounding grass stems

and from above, while its head was spectacular in colour and shape, it was also very similar to the surrounding Meadow Buttercup buds

It took about an hour and a half to prepare – no movement was apparent but its shape and colour were constantly changing

Eventually her (this is a female) wings parted slightly

before suddenly flicking open to full spread

Then it was off, leaving the empty exuvia still clinging to the grass