On This Day

30th November 2019 it is







Could have been worse - 30th November 2017 it was

Night Visitor

Checking for any captures on the trail camera I see a fox made another visit to the back garden





I hope next door's chickens are well secured at night.

Harvestman

The Harvestman is an arachnid related to spiders and scorpions.

 

They are easily recognised by their small body and very long, thin legs.



There are about 25 species in the UK and over 6,650 species worldwide.
Unlike spiders they do not spin silk or produce venom.
Some are predators, catching small invertebrates with the hooks on the ends of their legs.
Others are omnivorous and will also eat fruit and fungi.

Monday Mystery

Last week's object was more difficult to identify than I imagined.



Kris did spot it might be showing the time.

In fact it was part of the face of a 'smart watch'



As well as showing date and time it records how many steps I have walked each day and works out the number of calories burned. A target can be set for walking. In my case an average of 4,000 steps a day. The 'bullseye' graphic shows how much of the target has been achieved as the day progresses. Another facility is to monitor how well one is sleeping. Following a recent update to the software it also continuously records heart rate. When connected to a smart phone it transfers the data and vibrates when the phone receives an email or message. With good eyesight messages can be read on the phone display.

This week there are three views of the new mystery object:



Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Not Just a Fly Trap

Checking my Venus Fly Trap I was surprised and pleased to find



it  also catches wasps.

I Might Have Known.....

.... the first bird I spotted using the suet ball feeder would be





a Magpie.

These were taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050 I bought in December 2012.  It's doing a grand job as the photo numbering reached 9999 and started again from 0001 a few days ago. That means it has taken over 10,000 shots. It is still using the original battery which automatically charges every time I plug the camera in the laptop to download the photos.

Rod, Pole or Perch

I wonder whether that title conjures up memories of using Imperial measures in maths lessons for those of a similar age to myself. Relax, no maths today though. I have seen what looks like a few beak marks in the top jar of the peanut feeder. Since I received the feeder I have had some doubts as to how easy it is for birds to actually get at the jars once they are inside the cage. To my mind it really needs a perch or two to make things easier for them. To that end I have installed a length of wood - one of several uses I find for spent rocket firework sticks found after Bonfire Night or New Year celebrations.



If that works I will install another perch near the bottom two jars.

For those not familiar with our old Imperial units of measurement there is a useful web page HERE which gives some insight into their origins. I wonder how many younger people know that the length of an adult cricket wicket is one chain. (1 chain = 22 yards = 4 rods)

On the weather front - I repaired the heater just in time
 

It is hovering around 0C this morning.

Monday Mystery

Been a busy morning. Into town first thing to have new lenses fitted in my glasses. Had a pot of tea and a toasted teacake in a nearby café to pass the half hour while they were fitted. Bought some tap washers as I have a dripping tap that needs seeing to. On arriving home I took Penny for her mid morning walk then stripped down a night storage heater and replaced a burned out heating element. Good job I keep spares. Now I'm busy trying to catch up with myself.

Last week's mystery photo

 

was correctly identified as a close shot of



my glasses (spectacles) by Ragged Robin, Kris, Adrian and Ellen. Well done and thanks to all who had a go.

I wonder how this one will go



It's a close view of what?
Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Enticement

Still no takers for the peanut butter feeder. Not a single beak mark.
It always takes time for birds to try out new feeders so I though I would add an enticement.



I've hung a fat ball feeder underneath as they are used to those.
As you can see the jars of peanut butter are well back from the front of the cage.
Even the long Magpie beak couldn't reach through far enough.

Not What I Expected

I spotted only one visitor to the new feeder yesterday.
I had expected it to be a House Sparrow or Blue Tit not ......



...... a Magpie.
It did its best to get its head through the bars but left empty beaked.
As far as I could tell it was the only visitor.
There were no beak marks in any of the jars of peanut butter.
Early days yet. It had only been up for a few hours.

The bird table has had lots of activity, mainly House Sparrows, Starlings and Blue Tits.
An occasional visitor is a Coal Tit.

 

As is usual at this time of year the Coal Tit will take black Sunflower seeds and hide them in the ground or in a crevice in a tree trunk. I have watched them do both in previous Winters.

New Feeder

Today I took delivery of a new bird feeder from C J Wildlife, where I purchase most of my bird food and feeders. Fast next day service with free carriage on all orders until the end of the year.



This one is designed to hold jars of peanut butter. This is specially made for birds and comes in several varieties.



Most peanut butter for human consumption is not usable as it contains added salt.

This feeder can hold three jars and has a guard to let smaller birds have a chance of feeding.
Here it is fitted to the end of my shed





Now I wait to see who will be the first to try it out. A few years ago I tried a single jar open feeder. The Starlings soon found it and the jar was empty in less than a week.

Spotless

Sunspots are very rare while the Sun is in solar minimum for activity. There was a small, short lived one about eight days ago which scientists worked out was part of the next Solar cycle.

Yesterday there was a transit of the tiny planet Mercury across the visible surface of the Sun. I have found it easy photographing Sun spots but shooting this event was far more difficult. First I tried the Canon M5 with the 400mm zoom lens. No problem photographing the Sun, with a proper solar filter to protect the camera, but Mercury didn't show at all well. In the end I swapped the camera body for my trusty Canon 70D. It has an annoying 'fault' where successive auto exposure shots may vary wildly .  As it happened the very last shot I took captured the tiny black dot of Mercury as it moved between us and the Sun.



It can be seen about a fifth of the way across at mid height in this cropped photo.
The Sun is about 1,391,000 Km (864,327 miles) in diameter
Mercury is about 4,879 Km ( 3,032 miles) in diameter, 38% the size of the Earth.

There won't be another chance until 2032.

Monday Mystery

Last week's mystery object was more difficult as there was nothing to give an idea of scale.



I can quite see the possibility of it being a horn of some sort, but, in fact it is only one inch long.
Kris was correct. Well done. It is a claw, one of Penny's dew claws. I don't know whether all breeds of dog shed them. Penny does occasionally and so did Bobby the Lurcher. Only the second one I have found in the seven years she has been with me.  Look closely and you will see the bottom end of the old claw is hollowed out. This is where the new claw was growing, partly inside the old one.

Thank you to all who had a go at guessing.

Here we go with a new close view

 

of what?

Please leave your guess in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

St. James' Church spire, Louth

On Friday's video I pointed out how the spire of St. James' Church, Louth, towers above the town.

 

As I have mentioned before, Louth is in a valley. The tower and spire of the church were made tall enough to be seen from surrounding villages.

Not for the first time we went for a walk down one of the old farm tracks in the village. From the entrance to a field it is possible to see the Lincolnshire Wolds and the spire of St. James' Church. After all the recent rain the atmosphere and viewing were clearer than I have seen on previous attempts.

A wide view


It is possible to make out the spire but by zooming in you can see just how far the tower and spire rise out of the valley about four miles away from my village..



Also viewable from the edge of the village is one of Europes tallest masts.

Belmont TV mast


Built on high ground it stands 1154 ft (351.74m) above the ground.
The mast is about 10 miles away from me.

Wet, Wet, Wet

The rain arrived about 5.30 a.m. on Thursday and didn't stop for 24 hours. My weather station recorded a total of 52.8m mm of rain, a bit over 2 inches.

Thursday
 

Friday morning
 
 
As far as I can gather the average for the whole month of November here is about 70mm. It was not the sort of day I would choose to travel to town voluntarily but I had an optician appointment. In fact I had two appoints booked for yesterday.  The other being at the local medical practice.

As always I videoed my car journeys. This is a few clips from the visit to Louth.
It is by way of an experiment. I used a Mac app called VideoSpeak to add some comments.
Not my voice but one chosen from dozens available in the app.



In the app you play the video, stop it where you want a comment and type it in.
Then choose a voice which will speak the typed words.

Music soundtrack is Riders of Rhythm Force. A track given away many years ago on a PC Home magazine cover CD.

All Fall Down

Autumn colours on trees last for such a sort time.
One day of strongish winds and most fall to the ground.

Monday Mystery

Last Monday I showed



Congratulations to Ragged Robin and Kris who correctly identified it as part of



an orchid flower. In this case it was a phalaenopsis orchid.
My thanks to all who made a guess.

I wonder if anyone will be able to identify this week's mystery object



Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Airborne

I was so pleased with the ease with which I could control the simple drone I've already invested in a slightly more sophisticated model. The LE-IDEA IDEA10 WiFi FPV Drone uses GPS to maintain its position in the air and has a built in wide angle view camera for photos and video.



As the arms and propellers fold up it fits very neatly in the carry case provided



Today I had my first test flight with it.

short video


still photo


The controller has the facility to hold a mobile phone which can be used to see what the camera sees and to control the flight. Something to try another time when I have had more practice. The drone has three flight speeds. Its slow speed is somewhat faster that that of the simple drone I bought.

There is a pre flight routine which has to be gone through to check and align the gyro and gps which takes a minute or two.

Spilt Patterns

Colourful patterns shown in spilt oil or petrol on the wet road surface:











The only colourful part of a really dreary day weather-wise.
It was raining when we woke up and it is still raining as I write this.
Not heavy downpours. Just fine drizzle which is just as effective at soaking the unwary walker.