I almost fell into the pond on Wednesday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge when I leaned over the edge of a steep bank after detecting some movement. Fortunately I did not lose my balance and managed to get a shot of this male Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita), my first damselfly of this season.
Fragile Forktails are almost always the first damselflies in my area to emerge and are surprisingly easy to identify—they have broken shoulder stripes that look like exclamation points. Although they are easy to identify, you have to find them first and their diminutive size (0.83 to 1.14 inches (21 to 29mm) in length) makes them quite difficult to spot.
Damselflies and dragonflies belong to the Odonata order of flying insects. Damselflies generally are more slender, have eyes placed apart, and perch with their wings folded together along their bodies when at rest. Dragonflies tend to be bulkier, have large compound eyes that touch each other, and usually perch with their wings extended when at rest.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Terrific first damsel of the year, Mike! Very nice photograph.
Happy to hear you didn’t fall into the pond. That would have frightened the damsel. 🙂
Thanks, Wally. I think that I tend to get my feet wet at least a few times each year, sometimes on purpose, but usually unintentionally. I go alone to some pretty remote locations, so I try to be super careful not to get hurt (I can handle getting wet).