Cowering from the wind

I can hardly believe the sheer number of common darters that the pond seems to have produced this year.  There were at least another 2 this morning. All this from a pond that is no more than 3m in diameter.  

You'd think that the neighbourhood bushes would be chocker blocker with the things, but I'm guessing that they have improved the variety of the local birdlife's diet, thank you very much.  There are a family of magpies in a neighbour's garden - parents and (I think) 4 offspring which we now see regularly.  They mainly seem to be going through the lawn looking for Yellowjackets, but I bet they are more than delighted to come across a freshly emerged common darter.

Today's newbie was hiding down amongst the iris leaves hardly having moved away from its exuvia, which sits upright and perky next to it.  There was a  reasonable measure of shelter from the blustery breeze lower down, and I almost fancy I can imagine the dragon wondering what on earth it had done in climbing out of the water.  Certainly at this stage it was in no hurry to start the great adventure of flight as its wings were still pretty soft.  As you can see from the crease in the top of its thorax, just below its left wing,  it has already suffered a bit of mishap when exiting from the exuvia.  (There's lots of nice eye detail if you go large).