Second dragonfly disappears

I haven't felt particularly well for a couple of days - no I'm not asking for sympathy, and no I haven't had swine flu! Just mentioning it because there is so much I would like to blog about at the moment but just I haven't felt motivated to do it. To be honest there is a well nigh inexhaustible supply of material I would like to write about / comment on all the time but lucky is the person who can keep up a large output on their blogs; in fact I think it is fair to say that blogs come and go quite regularly and of course people's circumstances readily change and one cannot be surprised if some folk cease blogging.

Anyway I'm much better now thank you! A quick update on the last post about the dragonflies. The second one to hatch out was still there and looking worryingly motionless the following morning but by lunchtime had disappeared. Hopefully then it had flown off and not fallen back into the pond (no sign of that) or been taken by a bird. I suppose that like most of nature there are huge variations - some dragonflies taking off in an hour or two after hatching whereas some like mine take more than 24 hours to make their maiden flight.

Thank goodness we are having a break from the rain now. For much of yesterday we endured the wet stuff. It's still breezy today and apart from the one lonesome red admiral the buddleia is not being visited by butterflies. However the bumble bees are at least taking advantage of it.

Dragonflies hatching and buddleia in bloom

This past week has certainly been an unsettled one weatherwise and the outlook for the next few days isn't particularly encouraging either. It's always the case I think that we tend to forget isolated good days and even the drier than average June with its mini heatwave now seems to be a distant memory. When we walked by the river this afternoon it was noticeable just how much its level has risen and our respective garden ponds are now nicely topped up as well.

Garden ponds. What a privilege to have one. Mine is very small and had been created, I think, by the previous owner. I had planted irises in mine a year or three back. They are glorious during their very short flowering period but one less prominent reason for my getting them was because of their tall stems and leaves which just happen to be a practical route for the dragonflies in the pond to emerge from the muddy depths and break out of their rather unappealing cases. So I was delighted early this morning to observe a couple of these fascinating creatures clutching the foliage of the irises and with their paper thin wings outstretched. I think in the past, maybe on drier warmer days, they have gained strength and taken to the wing quite soon after "hatching out". Our two today though were still on the irises when we came back from our walk in the late afternoon. Since then I have been repeatedly checking on them and it was 7.30 this evening before I noticed one of them had taken to the wing.

It is now 8.20 pm BST. Slight pause in the proceedings as I go out to the pond yet again to check on dragonfly number two. It is still there. Not looking very comfortable clasping its leaf or so it seems to me. I will check again early tomorrow morning.

The rain seems to have contributed to simply colossal growth this year. I don't think I've ever seen my white Shasta daisies (now out) and my golden rod (soon to come out) look so tall. More accurately regarding the golden rod there is a small stand of a smaller variety of this flower which comes earlier and is displaying its rich yellow but the more vigorous larger one is not quite there yet. I'm looking forward to seeing the bees and hoverflies that adore the 'rod'. Meanwhile my marjoram - like the golden rod it turns up all over the place - is keeping the bee population busy. As it so happens bees, particularly bumble bees, share the same enthusiasm as I have for certain flowers. If they want a change from the marjoram then my large buddleia is now fully out. Fortunately this bush has a relatively long flowering period and I hope it won't be too long before the butterflies start visiting it. Spotted a nice bright red admiral which lodged itself on my friend's shoulder. Let's hope for some decent weather before long and many many more butterflies!