Black Darter

These pictures were taken beside a muddy little pond on the track between Achnaha and Plocaig, and they show a dragonfly called a black darter.  They're fairly common at this time of year - we'd seen them along the Ockle-Gortenfern track a couple of days previously - and very well-behaved when it comes to having their pictures taken.

The male is black and dark brown, and has the species' characteristic dark markings on his wings.  The colours in his eyes seem to vary - in the top picture they're black, while in this one they show some washed-out blue.

The female is yellow-brown with startling red eyes.  The local colour seems to vary from the picture on Chris Brooks' excellent site for dragon- and damselfly identification, here.