Damsel (non-distressed)

On my river walk this morning, the air was alive with buzzing and humming (except for a colony of bees that seemed strangely silent – a bit weird, really). Inevitably, something took a bit out of my arm (local insect life has always been keen on rare Celtic blood down here!), but along with the stingers and biters were plenty of pretty butterflies and beautiful flashes of dragon and damselflies.

Sitting on the riverbank, I tried to focus on a particularly striking dragonfly, but as soon as l had it… it dashed off… again… and again…and again!

Patience and perseverance not being my strongest suit, I gave up on the dragonfly and then noticed this plainer damselfly perched quietly on an oleander leaf on the far bank. While not as glamorous as its flashier cousin, the damselfly was far more courteous and cooperative and sat gratifyingly still while I tried to keep my hand steady enough to zoom in on it from my spot across the water. The result can be seen above and while there are no rainbow colours or jewelled eyes to admire, I quite like my polite and obliging
non-distressed damsel!