Busy Day for Dragons

[scrumpy]

Nearly five hours from climbing out of the water to flying away - much longer than the damsels.
I suspect this is a female Emperor - but since it's a few days before they colour-up proper, it's a job to tell.

[lcpete]

Thats a wonderful shot well found not seen any emporer's yet this year
Pete

[johnkermit1]

oh my...what a great shot with the shedded skins, and a beautiful green one..awesome

[GaryT]

Great find and capture.

[alliec]

Stunning shot scrumpy, would love to find something like this.

[skylab]

Great find and a super shot.

[scrumpy]

Thanks all for the comments. Some say great/nice find. Not really, you just need a garden pond and the time to wait for them to emerge.
To watch the grotesque larvae climb an iris stem, split the abdomen and struggle out, then fly away as a beautiful dragonfly in about five hours is truly amazing.
The empty "cases" are called exuviae.
Thanks for looking.

[racketman]

good capture, just the sort of shot I am hoping to get this summer.

[LindaB]

Wonderful shot, great colours too.

I couldnt agree more about watching this - its one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed, truly spectacular.

Certainly looks like a female emperor to me - beautiful :-)

Linda

[spidermanrbryce2006]

wow great shots!

[dpastern]

Lovely shot, I'm jealous!!! This is something that I haven't seen, but would love to (forget about getting images, just seeing it would be grand!).

Dave

[LordV]

Excellent capture- beautiful colours on the DF