Surprise Demoiselle

Yet another hunt for rare orchids around some local limewoods came to nought. However, there's always the possibility of the unexpected and bumping into this banded demoiselle at a forest pool was a pleasant surprise.

banded demoiselle

banded demoiselle

banded demoiselle

They normally like slow flowing rivers, so what it was doing here, I know not.

banded demoiselle

Less suprising were the large red damselflies which are now appearing.

large red damselfly

I knew a common lizard liked basking in this spot, so I spent some time slowly creeping into position. At one point, several young were basking with her.

common lizard

common lizard

These long-horn beetles looked quite exotic on the umbelifer flower heads

long horn beetle

long horn beetle