Common Darter Dragonfly
Common Darter Dragonfly
(Sympetrum striolatum)
We'd just finished a family lunch and I was taking the dishes through to wash them. Looking up through the kitchen window as the water was running, I realised I was being 'watched'. Perched atop a hanging basket I'd taken down to work on was a Common Darter Dragonfly.
I only had my mobile phone with me, So while Moominmamma went in search of her digital camera, I rushed outside and started taking what pictures I could.
The dragonfly was not impressed. After a few head twists and what looked like the most disapproving expression, it suddenly flew straight at the back of the mobile phone and attached itself, beginning to crawl over the top.
Surprised, I took a step or two back while trying to slowly change the phone to the front camera - god alone knows what I thought I would get in the way of images !
Moominmamma was back by this point, but the sight of 6 foot man of a certain weight backing away from this tiny beast reduced her to tears of laughter.
Insulted, the dragonfly flew up onto my head, soaked up the sun for a few seconds, and then flew off.
My protestations that I was suffering from PTSD and needed to spend the afternoon resting on the internet rather than working in the garden were batted aside by my beloved wife who obviously knows me far too well :-)
Common Darter Dragonfly
Common Darter Dragonfly
(Sympetrum striolatum)
We'd just finished a family lunch and I was taking the dishes through to wash them. Looking up through the kitchen window as the water was running, I realised I was being 'watched'. Perched atop a hanging basket I'd taken down to work on was a Common Darter Dragonfly.
I only had my mobile phone with me, So while Moominmamma went in search of her digital camera, I rushed outside and started taking what pictures I could.
The dragonfly was not impressed. After a few head twists and what looked like the most disapproving expression, it suddenly flew straight at the back of the mobile phone and attached itself, beginning to crawl over the top.
Surprised, I took a step or two back while trying to slowly change the phone to the front camera - god alone knows what I thought I would get in the way of images !
Moominmamma was back by this point, but the sight of 6 foot man of a certain weight backing away from this tiny beast reduced her to tears of laughter.
Insulted, the dragonfly flew up onto my head, soaked up the sun for a few seconds, and then flew off.
My protestations that I was suffering from PTSD and needed to spend the afternoon resting on the internet rather than working in the garden were batted aside by my beloved wife who obviously knows me far too well :-)