My wish for a nice day for our neighbours’ son’s wedding was at least partly realised, I’m happy to say: this morning was overcast and showery, but the weather began to clear at lunch time, and at about 2 o’clock the sun suddenly came out and the temperature (and humidity) soared. R and I were in Stratford at the time, and by the time we got back to the car I was melting – so I went from hoping that the wedding party were going to manage some outdoor photos, to hoping that they weren’t wearing too many clothes.
Back at home I went for a walk with the macro, and was happy to see that the Azure Damselflies are still emerging. This female may have achieved her final adult colouring – though according to the books she should be either green or blue, rather than a bit of both – but there were plenty of other individuals of both sexes working the hedgerow this afternoon which were clearly not fully mature. They were very nervy though – as would I be, if my instinct told me that absolutely anything that was bigger than me could be expected to try to eat me – and although they drift about quite slowly when they’re just browsing, when they feel threatened they can move at high speed, so I only managed record shots of them.
I’m not quite sure what this one was eating (I generally find it better not to enquire too closely), but the fact that she was occupied helped me to get quite close. I hope that this image doesn’t gross you out too much; if it does, you might want to not look at this one, which features grossness at both ends simultaneously.
