I may be over thinking this. I check my oil every week and its probably more habit but the fleet gets a once over. Anyway when checking the oil I'm always in a quandary on how much oil is on the stick, as the oil "clings" to the orange plastic mouldings on the stick. So it is ambiguous on where the level is, as opposed to a traditional stick with no additional obstacles just giving a clear indication. Conscious of not overfilling it but then again I like to keep the oil around the max.

Steve. 2006 2.7 TDV6 HSE in Cairns Blue.

A photo might be helpful - there are several flavours of dipstick out there... 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

You don't need to keep them near max.

Maximum is maximum and sometimes a level after service.

Try looking at the wire between the blobs and put a bit of while tissue on and see if oil wicks up.