Thanks yet again this week to Phil Smith for sending me another set of superb insect shots - this time of female Banded Demoiselles, gorgeous dragonflies which have been steadily increasing in our area for the last few years.
"In case you run short of rare birds, I thought I would draw your attention to these beauties which can be seen quite easily on Downholland Brook and other local waterways". says Phil.
"The metallic blue males are normally highlighted but I think the females are equally spectacular, fully meriting the species name splendens!"
He's not wrong you know (although it is never nice to run short of rare birds), and another advantage of these Demoiselles is that because they like vegetation filled ditches, you can watch 'em on blowy days like today, when any sane dragon is sheltering in cover.
Fairly quiet on the coast today, although a few Swifts were hunting low and close and Skylarks were still singing away in the southern dunes.
An evening high tide of meagre proportions produced little, apart from a handful of Gannets, a single Manxie and a moody sky.
Earlier both Common Toad and Natterjack near Weld Road, but tadpoles of the latter have fared badly again this year in the evaporated scrapes of the Queen's Jubilee Nature Trail.
We'll need more rain than tonight's downpours to improve that situation.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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Hi John, Early morning... A Fox among the cattle on Crossens Inner. It ended up chasing a Hare which easily outran it. The Fox then made its way towards the sewage works. Mike.
Banded Demoiselle at Rufford on Friday....trying to cross in the middle of the road. Retrieved from bumper on arriving home...even nicer in the hand.