Dragonflies and butterflies and a frogg

This summer I didn't spend much time on our sailboat, partly due to the weather, partly to my health issues. So in absence of snorkelling photos I'm posting some photos of pretty creatures from my garden.

We never use any chemical fertilisers or weed or bug killers in our garden, and it is paying off, our garden is very popular with creatures of all kinds.

We've seen Broad-bodied Chasers or Modre ploščce (Libellula depressa) often in last years. This one is a female, males have blue tail and black upper part.

But both have very delicate wings with amber pattern that looks like stained glass (vitraž).

This beauty feeding on Chives or Drobnjak (Allium schoenoprasum) is a Small Tortoiseshell or Mali koprivar (Algais utricae).

Couldn't resist a photo of bees in blossom of Welsh onion or Stoletnem luku (Alium fistulosum).

These guys are also frequent guests in our garden, the Azure Damselflies or Travniški škratci (Coenagrion puella). Here is a mating couple...

...and this a male in bright colours.

This could be the same dragonfly as above, this time I caught it in Juneberry or Šmarni hrušici (Amelanchier), what caught my eye was sparkling of her wings in afternoon sun.

There are several kinds of bees and wasps and even hornets in our garden. This one sitting in a blossom of Californian poppy or Kalifornijskega zlatega maka (Eschscholzia californica) is a Marmalade Hoverfly or Navadna zimska trepetavka (Episyrphus balteatus).

It is really pretty up close.

And once more the Small Tortoiseshell or Mali koprivar (Algais utricae) with bright blue rim on its wings.

This fellow is a bit less colourful, it is Meadow brown or navadni lešnikar (Maniola jurtina).

And this was my best sighting - the Ruddy Darter or Krvavordeči kamenjak (Sympetrum sanguineum). It doesn't come to my garden very often.

Look at those beautiful shimmering wings!

I was seeing these guys often, but they are always flying and never sit down and wait for me to take a good photo, so I was lucky that this one got caught under our porch roof and couldn't find its way out. It is Blue hawker or Zelenomodra deva (Aeshna cyanea). After I took couple of photos I gently picked it up in my hand and let it go among bushes.

There are also non-flying creatures here - this is an European Tree frog or Zelena rega (Hyla arborea), my favourite frog. Beside being so cute she is also eating lots of mosquitoes every day, which is great community service in mosquitoes plagued years like this one.

I'm planning another week of sailing at the end of September. I keep my fingers crossed the weather holds and the water is still warm enough for some great snorkelling.