Last week I celebrated my tenth anniversary of life in Wales with a lovely long walk around the local areas I’ve come to know so well. And, almost as if Nature was gifting me an anniversary present, this gorgeous creature flitted up from the grass next to the path in front of me, before settling again very near to me. I knew immediately, from the half blue eyes, that this was something special.

This is a Red-veined darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii). As you can see, it’s neither red, nor does it have red veins in its wings. The dragonfly is named for the colouring of a mature male but this golden beauty is an immature dragonfly, which you can tell from the black collar across the front of its thorax. I think it’s a male but my photos don’t show enough detail to be sure.

Red-veined darters are migrants from southern Europe. They are reasonably common in southern Britain but the numbers vary from year to year, presumably depending on conditions in Europe and on the weather conditions – warm southerlies or sou’easterlies would help them fly our way. I saw three in 2019, and, when I was comparing notes with one of my birding friends who also likes dragonflies, he agreed that, for some reason, that had been a bumper year for them. Neither of us has seen one locally in the six years since them, until now. I am, of course, hoping for more, especially as I’ve yet to see a strikingly vibrant male Red-veined darter.