There were some cracking dragonflies scooting around the pond at Lavernock Nature Reserve yesterday.

Both the male and the female Common darters posed very obligingly for me.

The male Emperor kept busy patrolling the pond and indulging in occasional rapid trysts with a female. Judging by his tattered wings, he’s notched up quite a few trysts in recent days / weeks. He only stopped once, and then very briefly, so this photo doesn’t really do him justice.

The female Emperor was then kept busy laying eggs at various spots all around the pond edges. A woman’s work is never done!

The star of the show was this gorgeous male Broad-bodied chaser. Apparently, this is very late in the season for them, and he was looking pristine, so perhaps he had only recently hatched. Whatever his story, he was a stunning sight.