Bobbydazzlers

Let's have a break from the interesting but largely small and brown world of mid-July moths. The sun blazed yesterday and the butterflies were out. So was this glittering creature (above) which I tentatively identify as an Emerald Damselfly (No - see comments; it's the even better-sounding Banded Demoiselle). Nearby, a big blue hawker dragonfly was also whirring about, but too skittishly for me to get a picture. This applied generally, I suspect because of the wind, and even the humdrum Meadow Browns were too hard to capture. Every time one finally decided to settle and I crept up with the camera, off it went again. In the process, however, I managed to find these relatively calm visitors below: a Ringlet and a Large Skipper, both with the delicate white fringe which makes recently-hatched butterflies especially lovely. To be fair to the moths, both of these are brown, as indeed is the Meadow Brown (and the female Emerald Damselfly - brownish, anyway). But it will not be long before the Vanessids are here, the glorious Red Admirals, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells which are all that a butterfly (or moth) should be.