Bent

I seem to have managed to pick up some kind of virus - I know not from where, because the Boy Wonder seemed entirely healthy at the weekend, and I hardly ever speak to anyone else unless they happen to have wings. It's pretty mild and non-specific, but it still cost me half a night's sleep last night, and left me utterly wiped out today. If we should happen to meet during the next few days I'd advise you to give me a wide berth. 

What with not managing to force myself upright till late morning, and then being unfit to do much more than totter around (and complain, obviously), I realised that it wouldn't be a good idea to go road tripping today. On the other hand, I couldn't see many subjects in the garden, where insect numbers seem to be crashing, so I decided to make the short drive to Cleeve Prior, in search of Odonata. 

The Community Orchard was very quiet, but a couple of Brown Hawkers and a few Small Red-eyed Damselflies were nice records for the site, bringing the number of species I've found there over the past two summers to seventeen. Cleeve Prior Mill was busier, with plenty of Banded Demoiselles and a couple of Scarce Chasers still flitting about, but the best find of the day there was this female Southern Hawker. When I first spotted her she was hunting up and down the open ride behind the tall bankside vegetation and was moving fairly fast, but she seemed to be holding herself oddly, making me wonder if she had a problem. It was only when she landed that I could see her crumpled hindwings and damaged fifth abdominal segment - almost certainly the result of a difficult emergence. Dragonflies seem to fly surprisingly well with wings as crushed as this, but the abdominal deformity looks more serious, and even if it's not life-limiting, it may prevent her from breeding.

Now to the results of this week's Tiny Tuesday challenge. There were fewer entries than usual this week, so thank you to everyone who did take part. In no particular order, this week's hearts go to:

ninniex 

billthecat 

Gasman 

davidc 

Miranda1008

And - again in no particular order, I'd like to give Honourable Mentions to:

suejay50 

DawnP 

dbifulco 

Hanulli 

stujphoto 

kwdiane

I hope that you'll come out to play again next week, when the tag will be TT530. And if you haven't entered the challenge before, why not give it a go? There's no theme, and better still no entry fee - I'd just like to see a close-up image of something small that you find interesting, and if it's one of my favourites of the week I'll give it a heart.