laughing dragon

...another night of rain and a slow start, but the sun eventually put in an appearance.

After lunch, we went over to Studland, where we intended to walk out over the dunes, then back along the beach. Unfortunately, despite the sunny spells, it was not especially warm and the never ending wind was still whipping across the heath. Once again, there were no reptiles about but there were plenty of damselflies and dragonflies. The problem was that, every time one settled, a gust of wind almost immediately spooked it into flying off again.

I caught this female Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum laughing at me from here perch on the gorse. I am not sure whether she was amused by my attempts at photographing her friends or whether she was simply enjoying the exhilaration of riding the breeze.

Our plan to walk back along the beach evaporated when it started to rain again, the plus side of which was the opportunity to watch the tennis...