This morning we went looking for grass snakes

... and we found one that was around a metre long, which was fantastic. My photos of the snake are not brilliant - a little too dark, though I got one or two good ones of a tail as s/he slithered quickly back into the dry stone wall. Though I did get a very nice photo of a dis-guarded skin.

I've also been wanting to go out and photograph damselflies for some time and we did this en-route. I have to confess that Merv (who uses my very first Panasonic bridge camera) was the star of the photography show today as he got a very nice photo of Common Blue Damsel Flies mating. There were quite a few Common Blues about down by the Sepentine at Stainborough and maybe only the one Red - at least I think it was the same one I kept seeing. I struggled through thistles and nettles to get into a suitable place on the banks of the pond whereas Merv stuck to the original spot at the top of the bank and was suitably rewarded. He clearly knew the best place to be!