They're back!

I'm relieved to report that the Willow Emeralds are back at Finedon. I was beginning to give up hope, after so many other Counties have been seeing them for several weeks now. My concerns were that the flood on the pond in late spring, which submerged the Willows, had killed the eggs. However this seems not to be the case.

Within a few minutes of arriving, I spotted a male perched on a stick, but before I got a shot off, he launched himself at a female and they both crash-landed in the water in front of me. I got a shot to confirm ID, and went to get a rescue stick, only to find on my return that they had already escaped. Despite 1 hour searching, I couldn't locate them again. At least they survived. Of course, there's still plenty of time to find more.

Also present were ~20 ovipositing pairs of Common Darters, Ruddy Darters, Brown Hawkers, Emeralds and Migrant Hawkers including this mating pair. I also saw a few Blue-tailed Damselflies.

Female Common Darter

Aging male Emerald Damselfly

Male and female Willow Emeralds crash-landed in the pond. They survived, but weren't seen again.

Ovipositing Brown Hawker

Mating pair of Migrant Hawkers