Emerging Damselflies

Most years I normally manage to find some emerging Large Red Damselflies in late April/early May at one of my local nature reserves. It started off being more luck than judgement but in the last 2-3 years I think I have developed a better understanding of exactly which part of the reserve they prefer to emerge in and when they are most likely to do it. Last week I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours trying to spot them shortly after they climb out of the water while trying to distinguish them from the exuvia (larval cases) of the damselflies that had already emerged. Once I had 'got my eye in' I did manage to find 2 or 3 of the still wet nymphs as they sat on a reed prior to their emergence as adult damselflies.

Here are a couple of images for starters, no doubt more will follow and also some video.

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In case anyone reading this is not familiar with Large Red Damselflies, here is an adult once its wings have hardened and its colours have developed (photographed in a previous year).