About a month ago, I received two separate reports from reputable observers of a small dragonfly which was red in colour. The Orkney list of resident Odonata does not include any size of red dragonfly (although we do have Large Red Damselfly). These reports came from two different islands, which lessened but didn't totally discount the possibility that what was seen was the same insect. With only brief views and no photographs to go on, an identification could not be given. For context, at that time throughout the UK, there were various species of dispersive dragonfly being reported, some possibly of UK origin, many more likely to have been migrants from Europe or North Africa. One of these species was Red-veined Darter. Meanwhile, slightly closer to home across the Pentland Firth, Caithness and Sutherland (like much of the UK) do have a resident species of red dragonfly, the Common Darter, but none have ever been reported from Orkney. I chalked this experience up to "Gah!...
The past week or so has seen some fairly wild weather for Summer, with Storm Floris bringing winds gusting up to 75mph, followed by a few days of localised heavy downpours flattening any garden vegetation still standing and the spirits of every gardener. Some wildlife can cope with this sort of weather, some can't, so it was with some trepidation that, yesterday, we carried out August's monitoring survey of a nearby pond at a private site on the edge of town. Usually, and for no specific reason other than convenience, any site photographs are taken from the water's edge, effectively looking across the pond. I tend not to have the owner's property in the frame as a matter of privacy, so that you, dear reader, normally have a view of Brinkies Brae, the hill behind the site. For a change, and purely because after the survey we were looking for more insects in the lee of a tumbled-down wall, here's a different view, looking across the small plateau where the pond is sit...