Cryptic

Looking at this photo, you might think that you'd be able to spot a pair of Black Darters very easily, but I can assure you, that's not the case. Certainly if you're a tall person with quite elderly eyes. This is the UK's smallest dragonfly - its overall length and wingspan both being somewhere in the vicinity of 3cm - and its mature colouring and markings allow it to blend in almost perfectly with the vegetation in the moorland habitats it favours. Which is a good thing for the dragon, obviously, given that it's small enough to be eaten by bigger dragonflies as well as by birds, and it shares territory with some large and voracious species such as the Golden-ringed Dragonfly and the Common Hawker.

I find that the best way to spot Black Darters is to stand still and scan the area with a slightly unfocused gaze, waiting for them to move - though this was a far from foolproof method up on the Long Mynd this morning, because they're a similar size to the Emerald Damselflies, and not much bigger than some of the crane flies, that were thronging around the Pole Cottage pool, so on numerous occasions I found myself stalking the wrong subject. The other way of finding them is to barge past their perch and put them to flight - accidentally, of course: I despise people who deliberately disturb wildlife just so they can get a photo - and then carefully watch where they come down again; and that's what happened here. Having photographed a few males around the edge of the pool, I was looking for females further away among the heather, and almost stepped on this pair, who were copulating on a tussock of grass. Luckily they only flew a few metres, and because I was using the long lens I was able to get my shots from far enough away not to disturb them again.

As well as the Black Darters I saw a couple of Common Hawkers today, though they were hard to catch on camera and I only managed a few heavily-cropped record shots. Still, they made the trip to Shropshire doubly worthwhile, taking my Odonata count for the year to 29 species, which is the most I've ever recorded. I'm grumpy with myself for having missed the Norfolk Hawkers at the beginning of the summer, but you can only do what you can do, and I just didn't find the time to take a trip to Cambridgeshire during their flight season. Next year, with luck, I'll manage to push my count still higher.

A pair of the country's smallest dragonflies prompt me to remind you that tomorrow is Tiny Tuesday. There's no theme - please just post a close-up photo of some small thing, tagging your post TT432, and I'll choose my favourites on Thursday or Friday. I've been playing this challenge for eight years now, ever since WalkingWombat first came up with the idea of "MayMacroMayhem", and I never tire of seeing the little details that close-up photography can reveal. You don't need a macro lens to take part though - any camera that will get you close to the subject is just fine. I'm looking forward to seeing your photos!