You’ll recall that, when I published A tale of two darters five days ago, I wrote ‘Now I need to find one of the blood-red male Ruddy darters, as they look quite stunning in the photos I’ve seen. Watch this space!’ Well …

Seeing these two males was a totally unexpected and absolutely wonderful surprise during my last wander around the nature reserve at Radipole on my final day in Weymouth. And they really are as blood-red as their ‘ruddy’ name implies. Simply sublime!