With a title like that, this could be a very short blogpost, as it's not currently the weather for adult dragons and damsels, neither here in Orkney and certainly not in Northern Italy. However, against the odds, I shall attempt to segue some summery fluttering with a snowy scene in the mountains of Cortina.
Currently, we're watching the GB curling team (ok, it's Scottish really) take on Czechia in their third game of the Mixed Doubles. I know that the Winter Olympics haven't officially opened yet, but such is the nature of a large round-robin competition, things have started early.
Whilst we're more used to seeing Jen Dodds and Bruce Mouat in Scotland's colours, rather than the red, white and blue of Great Britain, curling is very much a sport synonymous with the area further north than Hadrian's Wall.
In times past, curling was an outdoor sport with over 2500 sites recognised in Scotland, either natural lochs or specially-constructed ponds. Nowadays, with a warming world, and a more regulated sport, the game has moved indoors. However, some of those old ponds which fell into disuse were subsequently the ideal habitat for dragonflies and damselflies.
In the last decade or so, I have been fortunate enough to visit a few of these water bodies in Perthshire, so here's a couple of reposts of damselfly photos.
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| Tucked away in Glen Lyon, Keltneyburn Nature Reserve preserves an old curling pond (Bing Maps) |
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| Large Red Damselflies |
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| Above Logierait, between the Rivers Tummel and Tay (Bing Maps) |
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| Northern Damselfly |
But I'm getting ahead of myself, it's still very much Winter. Patience, Nahal, patience.
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