Sunday 1st September 2024

Orchids begat general botany.

General botany begat butterflies.

Butterflies begat moths.

Moths begat dragonflies.

The thing about dragonflies. No, the thing about Damselflies, is that they all pretty much look the same.

Sure, some have red eyes. And some have white legs. Some black legs, some with spots on their wings and shapes on S2 or whatever.

Most are small. Most are small and blue.

Well, most of the males are small and blue. The females are small and mostly green.

Except the blue form females, which are blue.

Or the orange form.

And then freshly emerged, adult and over-old damsels will be different colours too. In both sexes.

So, for each species, at least six different colour forms, sometimes more.

Thanks to living here in Kent, I thought I had seen all the Damselfly species it was possible to see here. And then a couple of weeks back, a friend, Andrew, discovered another.

The Scarce Blue Tailed is, as its name suggests, scarce, and he discovered a few males in a survey at the new pools at Sandwich Bay.

I went last week to find them, but failed.

So today, seven days later, I went back. Armed with both the macro and big boy lens, and now in my mind, clear what I was looking for.

We drove to Sandwich Bay, got the last parking spot outside the observatory. While I walked to the new pools, Jools walked over the links to the Strand to go swimming.

A lady was at the pools, she had come from Eastbourne, and was out of luck so far.

So, combining our knowledge, we began to search together. At first with no luck. She went off to a different pool, and I studied stems of grass, when a damsel floated by and landed.

It had a mostly black tail, but with bright blue segments near the end. This was our target.

I called Polly over, and we both got shots. I switch from the big lens to the macro and got within six inches of the wee beastie.

Job done.

I spot a second, flying along the margin of the pool, and landing on a stem so that a lady from Leicestershire could see one, if at a distance.

Happy that I wouldn't see one closer than the first, I said my goodbyes and walked back to the road, then dodging traffic and lycra-clad cyclists, beck to the observatory for an ice creak and a can of pop while I waited for Jools to come back from the beach.

She came back after a back 20 minutes, revealing that she had gone into the water on a beach with no other swimmers to watch over her and be swept 200m down the beach, and getting back in a struggle.

Lesson leaned, she said.

Jools had a bag of Mini Cheddars, and after swapping news with John, our tour leader when we go to India, we go to the car and then home.

I make hash for lunch, dishing it up within the hour, and washing it down with beer or cider.

Which meant I slept through most of the Newcastle v Spurs game. I saw enough to think Spurs should have won by a hatful, though in the end they lost 2-1.

Wide awake then for the main event: Man Utd v Liverpool, two former giants of the game, both now in the shadow of Citeh, and Liverpool running out 3-0 winners, though it could and should have been ten.

Bacon butties for supper, some internetting for #wildflowerhour, then a shower and time for bed, as I had an early morning start on Monday with an audit.