Sun and dragonfly!

Today we saw the sun! After a seemingly long period of very dreary weather it was so welcome. First thing, Pete and I went the garden centre to take advantage of their end-of-season- sale to buy a few plants to brighten up an under-performing bed. For once we had them all planted within a couple of hours of bringing them home!

In the afternoon I went for another wander round Swaddywell to gather materials for some more paper making. My first batch, done on Thursday, was made from a mix of old bank statements, seeds of wood small-reed and lapsang souchong tea and was surprisingly beautiful. Today I gathered seeds of blue fleabane, dewberries and some saw-sedge, as well as a pot of iron-rich clay. Lots of experimentation to come!

The sunshine brought out the insects again, making it feel a lot less like autumn. Small tortoiseshells and red admirals were enjoying the profusion of marjoram and common fleabane, and almost outnumbered the whites. The last rather tattered gatekeepers and meadow browns were still hanging on, and I caught a brief flash of an immaculate male brimstone.

The main dragonflies on the wing were migrant hawkers and common darter, both of which were hunting in sheltered areas. This aged female common darter perched on a convenient blackberry bush and was chewing up the remains of her last capture, which might be why she was reluctant to fly away when I approached gently with the macro lens. She was still enjoying her meal when I moved on.