The beholder's eye

By uniqueandlovely

Emerald damselfly

I decided to go somewhere new today, to see if I could get any late summer dragons. With this in mind my husband and I set off to RSPB Pulborough Brooks a local reserve with wetlands and ponds.
When we arrived, the helpful guy on the desk told me the best place for dragons was the dark mysterious 'acid pond' out on the heathland. We wandered down the path, to this pond which was green with duckweed and nearly dried out!
There were indeed dragons there, a whole heap of Southern hawkers, common darters, and best of all Emerald damselflies. The only problem was, the pond was fenced off.....and all the dragons and damsels were the wrong side of the fence! Unperterbed by this I had this amazing idea to just climb over the fence, and voila! walk on the dried up pond and snap away to my heart's content. As I climbed over the fence from the elevated path I was aware the drop from the fence was a lot longer on the other side .... but did I care........ I got lots of shots, then decided to climb back...all I can say is, I am so glad my husband was around... he had to literally ' haul' me back over head first.....I have never felt such an idiot, well not in a while!!
So...Today's blip is a male Emerald damselfly Lestes sponsa.
Emerald damselflies are locally common throughout the UK and may be found in pondside rushes and reeds behind fences!. The male is emerald green with a blue pruinescence on segments 1,2,9&10 developed as it matures. They always rest with their wings at about 45degrees to the body unlike other damselflies.
I have blipped the slight crop, to make the most of the stunning blue eyes.
Enjoy!

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