I saw my first definite Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator) at the beginning of June (I had fleeting glimpses of likely candidates at the end of May but couldn’t be sure) but, as they spend the majority of their time patrolling their chosen territory, it took 25 more days to get a decent photo.

For most of the 20 minutes I spent yesterday alongside the River Ely at Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park this particular dragon was also constantly flying along and back, along and back over the same piece of water close to the water’s edge but, then, just as I’d decided to head homewards, it veered in over the patch of scrub and wildflowers behind me and disappeared.

I had watched, hoping it would settle somewhere, and I was lucky. Not only had it perched somewhere reasonably accessible but it also stayed put as I slowly, carefully, silently approached, and these images are the happy result. I did have to chuckle when I looked at the photos later and noticed the little colony of aphids on a stalk very close to the dragon’s head. If it had settled just a little to the left, it could have eaten lunch while it rested.