A surprise visitor

This morning Cathy noticed that the squirrels were busy at the bird feeder again.  I had topped up the feeder with sun flower hearts only yesterday and this morning one of the little devils was hanging off the feeder by its tail, eating the sun flower seeds.  So I popped out with molybdenum grease and gave the pole a good coating - its a thick dark grey gloopy grease and I am hoping it will deter the little wretches.  We shall see!

So, there I was, with both hands covered in the stuff, when I noticed a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye over the pond.  It was this very pretty female common hawker.  We rarely get dragonflies visiting, so this is quite a special sighting for me.  You can imagine the panic as I raced back inside, degreased and cleaned my hands (being careful not to get the greasy stuff on any surfaces in the process), raced to the study, grabbed the Nikon, changed the lens, grabbed the flash and sneaked up to the pond to see if she was still there.  Fortunately she was, and from the signs may have been laying eggs.  I certainly hope so.  Anyway, here she is, smiling for the camera.