Blue-tailed male Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

This is as close as I can get with the identification, but I am not totally convinced, as I see slight differences to published photographs.

What a splendid day, clear skies at the crack of dawn and continuing throughout the day. I could not wait to get to the woods, but forced myself to wait and give the critters a chance to warm up.

I was hoping for a male scorpion fly to go with yesterday's blip. Still hoping for a red tailed queen bee, came close but not impressive enough to make blip. Any butterflies would have been nice, but I just couldn't nail them. I trailed a small blue all over the woods, but just could not get a shot in. after the blip session I went for a beer, sat in the beer garden and the damned thing parked next to me in the bushes. I am sure I heard it laughing at me.

I captured the damsel early in the session and I knew it was not going to be surpassed. I am glad that I stayed though, as the highlight of the session was meeting Paul an entomologist, bug house team leader at the world museum in Liverpool. It was his day off and he and his girlfriend were doing a spot of bird watching. We had an interesting chat, I got his card and gave Paul a link to my journal.

A lady that I see just about every day said that she had a patch of garden that she wanted to plant for butterflies. I am no good at plants, so do you have any suggestions that I can pass on?

Today's Indonesian differences discussion is prams. I Indonesia, mothers carry their babies in a sarong or shawl, tied over one shoulder, prams are a very rare sight, although there are a few. There are two main reasons for not using a pram: firstly, the sidewalks are so bad that a pram would be a major inconvenience. The second reason is cost, a pram would represent the best part of a month's salary for an average Indonesian family and there are far more pressing demands for that money.

I am running out of difference ideas now, so I will not be posting them daily, just when I think of one. Hope you enjoyed the series.

Dave