Dragonfly taking off

Looks like an emperor to me. An obvious problem is the blue abdomen, as emperor females are supposed to be green. So either it's a gay male or a variation In my opinion, it can't be anything else but an emperor with that bright green thorax. Super shots by the way, especially 1 and 3.

Lesser Emperor female has blue abdomen. I like the dramatic pose in #1.
If this is a correct ID it is worth reporting as it is a rare migrant albeit sightings are increasing. A breeding female would be very good news.

http://www.dragonflyso​c.org.uk/

female egg laying in photo from their site:

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Great captures Too bad #1 isn't sharp

@Omri, I disagree. Sometimes blur can be very effective. No 1 has a great sense of movement and the insect's head is sharp.

WRT identification, I've just checked my field guide by Steve Brooks: "During warm weather, the upper surface of the (emperor) female's abdomen may become blue."
So if it was very warm during your photo-shoot then that's perhaps the answer.

Hi,I'm new here
Biko,these shots are amazing!If they were bigger,the first one would go straight to my desktop as a wallpaper

Wonderful series esp #1- has a great sense of power/motion
Brian V.

Thanks for feedback and help identifying that it is an Emperor

eccles thanks, it had been very hot for a couple of weeks so it looks like that is the reason.

Great capture on the first shot here!