Downy

I went to Wiltshire today on an Odonata hunt, and while I failed to find any Hairy Dragonflies or Four-spotted Chasers at Lower Moor, I was gifted sightings of two Downy Emeralds (though one was sadly crippled, with deformed wings due to some kind of emergence misfortune), and also added Red-eyed and Common Blue Damselflies to my 2023 Odonata list. There were numerous other interesting insects about as well, making it a thoroughly successful visit, invertebrate-wise. Adding in the high quality of the cake at the Dragonfly Café, and the fact that I barely got rained on at all despite a threatening weather forecast, and even after subtracting an almost indescribably torrid journey down (though I did describe it, in detail and with steadily rising pitch and volume, to R when I got home), on balance I'm glad I took the chance this morning and made the trip.

I was on my second circuit of the reserve and had reached the boardwalk between the two lakes, when a woman with whom I'd been chatting a short while earlier called me over and pointed out this Downy Emerald, which had just emerged on one of the upright posts of a handrail. But for this act of kindness I might very well have missed spotting the dragon, which was hanging from its exuvia, teneral and with its soft wings still folded back, at about my waist height but towards the back of the boardwalk, in semi-shade. (It occurred to me that it was perfectly placed to have been spotted by a child, and I made a mental note to start training up the Boy Wonder as a dragon spotter at the first possible opportunity.)

Having already seen one tragically failed emergence, I was keen to see this dragon make a successful maiden flight, but in changeable weather and with the sun more in than out, the hardening of its wings and cuticle wasn't a quick process, and I ended up standing over my new friend for the next 90 minutes. During that time quite a few people walked past us, some of whom were interested enough in a fresh dragonfly to stop and chat, and others not. In the end there was one other person standing with me when the maiden flight occurred, and the two of us almost cheered as the Downy Emerald fluttered away into the nearby trees.

When talking about it at the time I confidently described this dragon as female, based on the rather straight profile of the abdomen, but once I was back at home and viewing my photos I began to doubt myself, and by the time I posted this little slow motion film of it exercising its wings prior to lifting off, I'd decided that it was in fact male, and described it as such. Over the past hour though, going through my books and a couple of key web sites, I've regained my confidence in the original identification: it's not always as easy as they assert to sex a Downy Emerald on the basis of its shape, especially when it's extremely fresh, but the anal appendages of a male Downy are fairy distinctive, and I'm convinced that these ones are female. So the film post (which I'd recommend viewing with the sound off) has now been edited. And finally, if you'd like to see how this dragon looked when she was teneral and almost colourless, and contrast that with this stage, I've added a second Facebook post that has photos from the beginning and the end of our 90-minute acquaintance.