Black Darter

This is the smallest dragonfly we have in Britain and is the only black darter too.

Drove today to track it down in Shropshire and although I'd been keeping an eye on the weather, hoping for a lovely sunny day, I just knew going from pond to pond that there would be little flying. Grey, over cast high on the moor, drizzly too and I was getting nothing but wet feet and knees! 

However because it was chilly I finally found some hunkering down, clinging to the reeds. I spotted the females first as they are bright yellow very much like the common darter in a way - as seen in Extra. It wasn't for some time that I came nose to nose with a couple of males who were expertly camouflaged down near the floor sheltering in the shallows of the pond vegetation. Not easy to spot the black on black. 

A first for me!!