Odonata Tensica

Either side of our Saturday jaunt to Stowe Gardens, our own garden at Tense Towers came up trumps with odes too, the warm weather certainly seeming to boost the amount of insects on the wing and moving around.

As well as the usual suspects at our small pond (Large Red, Blue-tailed and Common Blue damsels), for most of the day we were graced with the presence of a male Banded Demoiselle.

He probably arrived from the nearby canal, for we don't have any of the flowing water that this species prefers. This would explain why, mid afternoon, we had a brief visit from a female Banded Demoiselle, but she wasn't interested in either our pond or his charms.

SB earned some brownie points, if you'll pardon the pun, when she spotted a Brown Hawker patrolling the hedge line at the back of the garden. This was my first sighting of this species in 2013, though that's probably more to do with lack of effort on my part than any delay in their flight season.

In the evening, Our Lass and I were sat by the pond, enjoying a cool glass of something medicinal, when a movement to my right, near a Pyracantha bush, caught my attention. At first, I thought it was a late-flying bee, but when it flew into full view, it revealed itself as a male Broad-bodied Chaser. Though the light wasn't great and the dragonfly then roosted in deep shadow, I did manage a record shot, as we don't often see this species at Tense Towers.

Six species of odes on our small plot is grin-inducing on any day of the week!