Dragon flies spend most of their lives under water as 'nymphs' for 2 years or more, ferociously hunting tadpoles, water fleas and even small fish. Their lives as adult flying insects will only last a few weeks.
Photo: Mary Leathwood
Here you can see the adult has climbed out of the pond up a flag iris leaf and just pulled itself out of its old skin (exuvia), which is is the brown lump still sitting on the leaf. This process can last up to three hours because the insect has to let each bit dry before going on to the next stage.
Like Mary, you'll be lucky to see this happening but you may find the exuvia attached to a plant stem or leaf in a pond.
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