Damsel

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) , Gait Barrows NNR, Lancashire

Yesterday was the Large Emerald moth in scarey or amusing close-up, depending on how you feel about these things. Today's the turn of the Emerald Damselfly, a more dainty creature.

This one is in typical pose with its wings part open, it's a female (the males are metallic green on top and underside of the abdomen). I'm showing the whole insect rather than a ultra close-up, to show off the subtle beauty of its colours. This is a widely distributed damselfly in Britain that prefers to breed in water bodies with dense emergent vegetation. This was not far from Haweswater, a small tarn at one end of the Gait Barrows National Nature Reserve.

The weather forecast wasn't too good today, so I took the precaution of an early visit to Gait Barrows to secure my blip.

And now it's the weekend.