Something New

I suppose it's only human to be constantly on the lookout for something that is new and exciting rather than glorying in the beauty of what is normally all around us. So I can't help it when visiting a place like Loch Unes in the middle of Ferry Woods on a warm, sunny morning to be disappointed when....

....the 'only' damselflies present seemed to be the 'usual' emeralds, and the 'only' darters....

....the 'usual', boring old black darters. Both are, of course, utterly beautiful, wonderful creatures of a family dating back over 300 million years.

I was reminded of a sense of wonder only when, by sheer luck, I caught the 'only' other dragonfly on the wing that day....

....this lean, mean hunting machine, a male common hawker - not 'common' at all when captured in flight - patrolling the lochan in a hunt for a female.

It's inevitable, this far north, with our short, cool summers and preponderance of grey days, that the number of dragon- and damselfly species resident here is likely to be limited. So far I've 'only' found two hawker, three darter, one chaser and three, maybe four, damselfly species and, according to my dragonfly book, should only expect to find one more....

....the golden ringed dragonfly - this one was photographed on Ardnamurchan. Quite why we have missed this very spectacular beast is a bit of a mystery.