Young female Small Emerald Damselfly - side view, Berghem, Netherlands

I'm happy with this observation as I had never seen the species before.

As a species native to Southern/Central Europe, it used to be very rare to find in Northwestern Europe yet over time has become less rare. It is now listed as "somewhat rare", the emerald least commonly found.

Striking about the species, as the name implies, is its small size. It really is tiny, typically only 3 cm, whereas most other emerald species are 4.5-5 cm in length.

This is an interesting moment in its life cycle. This individual is a freshly emerged female. It hasn't dried up yet, and the wings aren't hard enough to spread. Furthermore, it doesn't yet have its final imago colors, instead a beautiful palette of shiny greens.