Red veined darter (young, female) : Sympetrum fonscolombii

[ladylouise62]

I was a little surprised when this turned up in my garden as I am not near water, although not so far that they couldn't fly over here. I have plumped for this ID but I am not 100% sure. Apparently the young ones and females can have little red and it does have the yellow spots on the wings and yellow patches beneath the back wings... but it was the closest I could find.

She wasn't hard to miss as I don't normally get such chunky things in the garden and she was very accomodating and sat there long enough for me to go and grab my camera and take loads of piccies... including these close-ups, so you're getting all angles!

[Chocky]

That is a cracker.
Well done Excellent capture.

[rolf]

Great photos, they never stay still for long enough when i see them.

[ladylouise62]

They don't for me either, but since it's so far from water I suspect that it was very tired