New this morning

I'd started to think that we might have seen the last of any common darters emerging from our pond this year.  Most mornings I nip out in the morning to check for any new ones, but I haven't seen any for a while now.  But mid-morning I disturbed a freshly emerged adult that I hadn't spotted earlier on. I've looked for the exuvia but I haven't managed to find it.

Fortunately the newly disturbed adult fluttered off weakly only to settle on a nearby bush to dry out, so I was able to get this shot, and the extra.  I've gone for the top down shot as the main, its not a shot that I would normally choose but I like the details of the way that the head attaches to the body, which is nicely visible.

Later on we were joined by Janet and Mark for lunch, after which we went for a local walk.  Much to my surprise we disturbed a kingfisher - the first local kingfisher that I've seen for over a year.  We were busy photographing a migrant hawker when we were overflown by a hobby.  Needless to say, neither of us got a shot of the hobby!