Immature

I had some medication to collect in Stratford this afternoon, and one or two things to buy, and I set off after lunch expecting the trip to take maybe an hour and a half. I thought I might even have time to do some more gardening when I got back home. It didn't work out that way though, due to circumstances entirely beyond my control, and it was pushing on towards dinner time when I finally completed my errands and set off back.

By now the fact that I hadn't yet taken a photo was causing me some stress, but I thought there was a decent chance I'd get one at Barton, so I swung round through Welford on Avon and headed for the Heart of England Forest car park. It was too windy for dragons, and in fact there were very few inverts of any kind out on the river bank, so I headed across the meadow to the feeder stream, where I had much better luck. A whole clutch of fresh Beautiful Demoiselles has emerged there, which surprised me given that we're now at the end of June - but of course, I was more than happy to see them. His unique colouring identifies this individual as an immature male. Over the next week or so his eyes and wings will darken and his wing veins will turn blue, so his eyes will look almost black, while his wings will appear brown-black with an iridescent blue sheen.