Emergent

When I first saw this emergent female Large Red Damselfly this morning I was terribly worried about her, because the stem she'd chosen for support was in contact with the wooden surround of the patio pond - and worse still, when I got the macro and looked at her closely, she was holding on to the edge by the claws of both her middle legs. A couple of seasons ago I saw an emergent damselfly fall foul of the ants that constantly patrol the pond, and I'm still slightly haunted by the memory of them dragging the poor creature onto the surround, before dismembering it and carrying away the pieces to their nest. If you check out my second photo, which also helps to make sense of the main image, you'll see how vulnerable a position she was in.

I reminded myself that she'd already gone through the most dangerous phase of her eclosure, when her cuticle was still completely soft, and her legs weren't strong enough to bear her weight, without being killed and eaten, but I still kept a close watch on her for the next ten minutes. At this point she stepped carefully off the stem onto the pond surround, and walked slowly up and over the edge until she was resting on the seat. Just a few seconds later she made a successful maiden flight up into the surrounding shrubs, and disappeared from view.

I'm aware that my attention, and the huge 'eye' of my macro lens, will have caused her far more stress than any thought she might have had about the ants, but even if she didn't realise it I think I can fairly claim to have been the most benign of the spectators at her debut.