BY THE edge of Tillicoultry lies a wonderful wild pond, and when the sun shines, it suddenly bursts into life with common blue damselflies and four-spotted chaser dragonflies flitting low over the water's surface.

This is a place to sit in dreamy contemplation at the wonderful aura nature can create, for the common blue damselfly is as brilliant as the azure hue of the sky in the heavens above.

They are like sapphire gems, dazzling sparkles of cobalt that lift the spirits in a remarkable way.

The erratic movements of the common blues contrasted with the much more purposeful and direct flight of four-spotted chaser dragonflies, which were also abundant by the pond.

The flight of the four-spotted chaser is all very precise and angular – forward, hover, sharp left, straight up, hard right and then back down again; the large eyes scanning the air for small flies to hunt down.

Their two-paired wing arrangement of the four-spotted chaser ensures amazing agility, and they can manoeuvre like an attack helicopter by flying sideways and even backwards, as well as being capable of sudden forward surges of speed.

It is this superlative aerial ability that makes dragonflies such deadly winged predators. Damselflies, too, are hunters of small insects.

The reason for such frenetic activity by damselflies and dragonflies at this Tillicoultry pond was because the mating period was in full swing.

Once mated the female damselfly or dragonfly lays her eggs in the water or on adjacent aquatic vegetation, which hatch into six-legged carnivorous larvae (nymphs) that lurk on the bed of a pond or loch.

They are voracious predators that seek out a wide range of invertebrate and other prey such as tadpoles and small fish.

Then, after a couple of years or more, the nymph crawls out of the water onto the stem of plant and from its larval skin emerges a vibrant adult winged insect. It is like the unfurling of a sparkling jewel.

The contrast in lifestyle and difference in appearance between the larval and winged stage could hardly be greater, which is part of their appeal.

Dragonflies and damselflies have been described as 'birdwatchers' insects' because their size and colour make them stand-out from the crowd, and they are easy to watch through binoculars.

With their long pencil thin bodies and multi-coloured hues, these wonderful creatures rival butterflies for their beauty and elegance.

As I retreated from the pond margin to head for home, a large bird spiralled in the sky above.

It was an osprey following the course of the nearby River Devon, its eyes carefully scanning the water below in search of trout. It flew over the Sterling retail complex and disappeared, making its way down river towards Alva and Menstrie.