I was attempting to photograph dragonflies in flight down at Black Pond on Esher Common in Surrey when I heard the clash of (what I thought were) two dragonflies pairing up. Shortly after I glimpsed an emperor flying away with something. Then out of the reeds flew this pair of common darters. The emperor must have attempted to take the female, and the body separated from the head. The male still went on oviposting as if nothing was wrong. This is the best of the photos I got.
