Exuvia

One thing I have yet to witness or photograph is the emergence of a dragonfly.  This find represents yet another near miss.  It is an exuvia of a hawker dragonfly - the shed exoskeleton of the larva - and comes from either a southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea) or a common hawker (Aeshna juncea).  Despite looking it up in the charts I can't be sure which it is and both species are found in this pond.  The second photo shows clearly the split in the back of the thorax from which the dragonfly emerged.  One of these days I'll strike lucky and see that happening.