White-legged Damselfly

While Ben was slaving over his Physics exam, I had a pleasant time wandering in the riverside meadows of Stamford. I'd taken the 300mm lens, hoping to photograph the kingfisher that I've seen there several times previously, but the meadows were packed with people, including lots of youths playing noisy ball games, so I suspect the kingfisher had flown somewhere quieter.

I headed west, away from the neatly mown grass and into a tall area of Meadow Foxtail and Cow Parsley, where I was delighted to spot several White-legged Damselflies. This is a fairly local species of unpolluted, slow-flowing rivers, often occurring with Banded Demoiselles which were also around. The immature females are creamy white (form lactea),  eventually becoming pale green with paired black marks on each segment of the abdomen. Both sexes have legs with an expanded white edge. This species has become more widespread in recent years, but this is the first time that I've ever seen one around Peterborough. Even better than a kingfisher!