Distaff side

A series of storms yesterday evening caused some flash flooding locally, and today we had to suffer the consequences: our wild garden was impassable in anything other than wellingtons, and the walk from the car park at Barton to the river bank was a quagmire. By the time I'd done a short river walk and returned to the car I was splattered in mud to mid-calf level, and as I was on my way to spend the afternoon with people I thought were very likely to notice this, and not consider it normal, I profoundly wished that I hadn't gone out wearing pale trousers. Hey-ho.

I'd especially wanted to photograph a female Banded Demoiselle today, as a companion to Sunday's male. Happily there were quite a few around, but they're all still fresh and nervous, and this was the only individual who was prepared to sit side-on, allowing me to capture a portrait that's in focus from stem to stern. The others all turned either face-on or tail-on, so as to present a smaller target to this unknown potential predator. Over the next couple of weeks I expect there to be an explosion in the number of Banded Demoiselles at this site, and when that happens they'll become less skittish and easier to photograph.