Not that I need an excuse...

I really don't need much of an excuse to go out of doors, in fact it is only really the responsibilities of family and work that keep me in, that and the basic needs of eating and sleeping, but these can easily be done outdoors.

Despite this I have signed myself up, not that it is binding, for the Wildlife Trusts 30 Days Wild initiative intended to get people out and about and more in touch with nature. I'm a bit late to the party having signed up today, which is the first day of the initiative as it runs through June. If 'going wild' could roll over I'd be a day up as I spent a few hours yesterday on my first dragon shooting trip of the year (that's Dragonfly photography by the way, not actual dragon shooting).

An Azure Damselfly Perches in the sun during a brief, less windy spell.

I went to one of my local patches where I have photographed dragonflies before and while Damselflies were very much present the breezy weather was far from ideal for photographing them. By far the easiest way to photograph damselflies is while perched, often on vegetation surrounding the water source where they are often found. On days like yesterday, when that vegetation is never stationary it's not a great start. Despite this I managed to take a few photo's although more as record shots than anything award winning. There were at least 4 different species of Damselfly in residence, Large Red, Blue Tailed, Common Blue and Azure. I've seen various species of Dragonfly there in the past including Southern and Brown Hawkers but none yesterday; it is still relatively early in the season though so I'll be back before too long.

This time a mating pair of Azure Damselflies perch on the stem

of a Horsetail in the boggy margin of a pond.

Going forward into my 30 Wild Days I've got some exciting plans, not least among them a local Badger sett which has had signs of recent and significant activity. I want to stake it out one evening while the days are nice and long to see if I can see the occupants, especially if there are young in there. I'll keep this blog and my Facebook page updated regularly throughout June so you can see what I've been getting up to. Now I need to go and do something wild today so I can tick it off.

Richard

A pair of Large Red Damselflies perch in tandem while the female lays eggs into the water.