This is something I have been looking forward to for ages. This morning I saw the first dragonflies to emerge from the pond in my meadow. The pond was dug in early 2022 so this is its fourth season. In 2023 and 2024 it produced large red damselflies and azure damselflies. Also in 2023 I saw, separately, male and female broad-bodied chasers perched beside the pond. I hoped, but wasn't sure, that they had found each other and that I might see dragonflies emerge this year (the nymphs take two years to reach maturity). Early last year I partially drained it to deepen one end and while doing so I found several chaser nymphs so things were looking promising.
I have been checking the pond each morning for the last few days. I noticed large red damselflies two days ago and azure damselflies yesterday. This morning I spotted a dragonfly nymph at 07.30, low down on a stem but accessible to a camera.
At 09.00 it climbed a bit higher and gave me a better view so I settled down to watch. Despite the sunny forecast it was a cloudy morning and the light was poor so I used flash for most of the photos. The nymph began to split along the back of the thorax at 09.25.
Then the dragonfly heaved out its head, thorax and most of the abdomen and hung upside down of several minutes.
At 10.02 it suddenly swung forward, the legs grasped the exuvia and the rest of the abdomen came free.
Then began the slow process of expanding the wings and abdomen. I could confirm by this stage it was a female broad-bodied chaser. It was interesting to see how rapidly the colours were changing as well.
At 12.13 the wings suddenly clicked open.
Ten minutes later I was surprised to see the wings closed again.
By 12.47 the wings were reopened and stayed that way.
The dragonfly climbed to the top of the plant and flew off at 13.10, three and three-quarter hours after the whole process began.
While she was still expanding her wings the dragonfly shifted position and as I moved to get a better view I noticed another one only about six inches behind her but more hidden in the vegetation and a bit behind in the process of eclosion.
After the female had gone I switched attention to the second dragonfly and could see it was a male broad-bodied chaser.
Eventually it also climbed higher before flying so I could get a better view.
While I had been watching these two a third newly emerged chaser, another female, flew into the grass at the far side of the pond and, after fluttering for a few moments, flew up into the trees. Broad-bodied chasers are rather like London buses - you wait ages for one and then three come along all at once.
The female will remain yellow but will become broader and darker with age. The male's abdomen will quickly become royal blue and then turn pale powdery blue as he reaches maturity. Newly emerged dragonflies fly away from the water and spend a few days hunting, feeding and gaining strength and maturity. The males return to hold a territory and the females come back to the water to mate and lay eggs. I'll be keeping an eye out for them. And don't worry, there will be more otter news here soon!