Year of the Dragon

Dragonfly

May - Peter Chamberlin

A large dragonfly clings to a thick green reed above a pool. Its cockpit eyes are pale honey coloured, and its body has intricate spots and markings of greens with pairs of pale blue markings all down its abdomen
I believe this is a young male southern hawker dragonfly. I'm no expert though and their colours are different when they first emerge. We spotted this one in a reed pond at a camp site in Southern Scotland. It seemed to have just emerged from the water and possibly shed it's larval case the previous night. It wasn't active at all. I think it was still preparing for its first flight. What a stunning creature!
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