Friday at the Flicks - More Microscopic Pond Life

 

One of the things I had wanted to add to the microscope was a mechanical stage. This holds the slide or dish and has thumb screws for easy fine movement to position the specimen. They tend to be expensive but I spotted a universal fitting one on eBay and managed to secure it at the start price of £14.99. It is well constructed and a snip at the price. It has pins which fit in holes in the microscope stage to hold it firmly in place. Unfortunately although they were correctly space the holes in my microscope were smaller. Not dismayed I used a different locking screw and fitted an extra locking nut to hold it firmly without the pins. It is a delight to use and makes it so much easier to position things accurately under the lens, especially with high magnification lenses.



I had read about a technique for using bits of cotton on a slide to restrict the range of movement of live microscopic life. I wondered if the same would happen with some algae gathered from the pond. Off I went and grabbed a thumbnail size piece from the pool at the top of the pond waterfall:





Here are a few short extracts from the video clips I took this morning.



I haven't got round to identifying anything as yet.


Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you, whatever its size.