2022 highlights of a wilder Italian life (part 2)
Being able to explore a natural world with different, unfamiliar species is a privilege. It was a thrill to visit Italy in …
A Violet Dropwing dragonfly stops by
We’ve gone for a walk around a volcano. Don’t worry, it’s been extinct for so long that its crater has become a …
Odonata
There’s a Keeled Skimmer Dragonfly, Orthetrum coerulescens, above this tiny stream in Rome. It’s a female and has the distinctive black line …
NA3? Over our dead bodies
When I’m in Devon I live right in the centre of town but close to some wonderful green spaces. Large areas of …
Black Tailed Skimmers
I can see a pair of dragonflies. They’re Black Tailed Skimmers, Orthetrum cancellatum, in tandem in beautiful weather. The male has that …
The dragonfly’s revenge on Madeira
Stepping outside the door of the place I’m staying in Madeira I’m met by a marvel. It’s 300 million years since insects …
Red-Veined Darter Dragonfly
It’s a glorious day here in Italy. I’ve climbed to the top of a hill and can see across the valley: There’s …
Insects by the pond
It’s blisteringly hot at the Abbazia San Giusto in Tuscania in Italy today. There’s not much wind and precious little shelter. Tucked …
Searching for Little Owls
We are up at 6am, politely yawning. Today is our most recent attempt to see Little Owls. As a child I helped …
Delicate wings at Fen Drayton Lakes
There’s a Broad-Bodied Chaser dragonfly rattling around me at RSPB Fen Drayton Lakes: There are plenty of damselflies on the reeds in …
A dash of Blue Dasher
There are plenty of dragonflies over the creek at the bottom of the garden here in Virginia. This one is a Blue …
Great Blue Skimmer – Libellula vibrans
There’s a Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Libellula vibrans, at the bottom of this Virginia garden. It’s a handsome beast: I creep a …
Common Whitetails and a Prince Baskettail
I love how decorative this Common Whitetail dragonfly is: It looks completely different against this background: And this is a Prince Baskettail …
The Very Hairy Dragonfly
I saw a Hairy Dragonfly, Brachytron pratense, last year, in May: Hairy Dragonfly Today I can see one in front of me: …
Four-Spotted Chasers
There are dozens of Four-Spotted Chasers over the ponds here: They are such entertaining dragonflies: I’ve seen them before, here at RSPB …
Southern Skimmer
There’s a female Southern Skimmer, Orthetrum brunneum, flying around us. It’s not a UK species; we’re in Italy. The males are a …
No need to chase
There are Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonflies in the old city of Matera. There’s one amongst the plants on a rooftop: Changing my …
The Lesser Emperor of Matera
We’re in Matera in the south of Italy. It’s one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, with palaeolithic caves on …
2017 highlights of a wilder Devon life
2017 was when I embarked upon my quest with gusto. Which quest? To find all the animals, plants and fungi I wrote …
Dragonfly on a post
I see a dragonfly on a post at RSPB Old Moor: And then I see another dragonfly on a post at RSPB …
An Uncommon Darter
Looking down from the top of the valley we can see the medieval hill town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio below. It’s …
Four-Spotted Chaser
I always found dragonflies difficult to identify. However, a quick check on Wikipedia for the Four-Spotted Chaser Dragonfly tells me that “The …
Four-Spotted Chasers
There’s something deeply alien about Dragonflies. These Four-Spotted Chasers have huge compound eyes just like a space helmet. And the translucent exoskeleton …
Chasing Broad-Bodied Chasers
There really is no point in chasing Broad-Bodied Chasers. That’s not because they are one of the commonest Dragonflies across Europe and …
Hairy Dragonfly
I was wondering what this hairy dragonfly was called: Then I found out it was called the Hairy Dragonfly. Some people are …
Chasing a Four-Spotted Chaser
I’m chasing a Four-Spotted Chaser dragonfly. They’re very active this morning in the Somerset marshes. It takes an age for me to …