A damsel, but not one in distress
READER Robert Kilgour was quick off the mark with his phone camera when he spotted a beautiful example of wildlife near Lochgilphead.
While walking his springer spaniel, Bonnie, in the fields next to Kilmory Castle Estate over the past few weeks, Robert has often spotted mercuri- al damselflies floating on the breeze. After some strictly amateur online detective work, the Advertiser believes the species snapped by Robert is a male azure damselfly – though there are a number of species with a similar appearance.
According to the wildlifetrusts.org website, the azure dam- selfly is a ‘small blue damselfly which is very common around most water bodies and can also be found away from breeding sites in grassland and woodland. It is on the wing from the end of May through to August’.
They describe its UK range ‘widespread, but absent from northern Scotland’.