Author Archives: JDO

Rain stopped play at the AOG today, which may have come as something of a relief to R, because it allowed him to receive a modicum of his wife’s attention on his birthday. The overnight storms having – apparently – … Continued

AOG Day 12 A late entrant and surprise medallist in this year’s Games was this lovely fresh female Southern Hawker, A. Cyanea, who arrived too late to be eligible for either of the two major events for female dragonflies: Oviposition, … Continued

AOG Day 11 The semi-finals of the Nectar Plunge (Bees, Male, 1cm or less) took place at the Patio Pond this afternoon. The venue was popular with the competitors, as a slight breeze blowing across the water surface provided some … Continued

AOG Day 10 The crowd heard her before they saw her: the unmistakeable rustling sound of the wings of a large dragonfly. Already on the edges of their seats in anticipation of the Dragonfly Oviposition (Hawkers) final, they gasped and … Continued

AOG Day 9 The Hoverfly Copulation Competition concluded this afternoon, with what was surely an inevitable win for H. Hybridus, the hoverfly affectionately known to his team-mates in Team Eristalini as Alpha Male. Here you can see the unparalleled poise … Continued

AOG, Day 8 The heats of the 100cm Speed Feed (Bees, Female) took place this morning at a new venue for the Games: a clump of hemp agrimony by the Wildlife Pond, which has come into flower at just the … Continued

AOG Day 7 Your dedicated reporter has spent much of this week covering a piscine crisis which threatened to completely destroy a key venue of this year’s Alternative Olympic Games, but is happy to report that following the placement of … Continued

R and I went to Croome this morning, where the dragon-fest I was anticipating failed to happen, but where we had a very pleasant walk nonetheless. This Ruddy Darter was basking on the gravel path near the house, and having … Continued

I had simultaneous wind rage and pond rage today, which isn’t a good combination: at one point my brain felt as though it was about to boil out of my ears. After breakfast I took the net lent by our … Continued

Operation Find the Fish began after breakfast today, when I carefully removed all the plants from the wildlife pond. I hadn’t expected this to be easy, but it was actually a bit of a nightmare, because the more fragile ones … Continued