Dragonfly Sex

Our pond has been barren for a few years, but this year has sprung into life. and the dragonflies were having a busy time there today.

I'd never really considered dragonfly sex before but it seems an eye-wateringly brutal affair with courtship involving the male grasping the female around the neck with his 'anal appendages'.  If you want to learn more click here.    My extra is another male that was hanging around probably hoping to take over..?

It was our camera club meeting tonight and we talked about photo stacking, a method of clarifying pictures available in Photoshop that I didn't realise was there.

The unexpected clarity of the insects in this picture is the opposite of photo stacking - and in this case is the result of sheer  luck!