Monday Mystery

With last week's close view

 
 
there were several possibilities and Ragged Robin was the only person to go for the correct one



a metal bird feeding station. Well done RR.

Maybe you can see enough in this week's close up

 

to work out what it is.

If you would like to hazard a guess please leave it in the comments.
Any comments, and the answer, will be revealed next Monday.

More Bird Feeder Visitors

The soundtrack was recorded at a different time using a small wav / mp3 recorder
50p coin for scale.



Most of the bird sounds, including the clicking, were made by Starlings.

Monday Mystery

Last week's was difficult to identify



Until almost the last minute I though  I was going to win this one.
Well done to Ragged Robin who was correct in identifying



spores on moss stalks.  (spore capsules)
It is Swan-neck thyme moss, one of the most common - in my garden anyway.
You can read about how moss reproduces HERE.

Maybe this week's mystery close up


will be easier to identify.

If you would like to have a go please leave your guess in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

A Popped Pitcher

My pitcher plant is really taking off this year.
The new growths are about twice the size of last years.
The kitchen windowsill seems the ideal place for it.



A first use of the Mac app Tweak Color which enabled me to colour pop the plant and blur the background.

Churchyard Speckles

As we wound our way past the grave stones a flutter of brown landed nearby.





Lovely to see a couple of Speckled Wood butterflies about as I rarely see them in the garden.

Company

When the weather is nice enough for sitting in the garden you never know what will stop by.



This little weevil decided to see whether there was any tea left in the mug



Too late sunshine. I had drunk it all.

Monday Mystery

Last week's mystery



might well have been part of a chair or sofa but in fact it was



the lamp shade on one of my wall lights.

Hard luck but many thanks to all who had a go.

This week I have a b/w (greyscale) close up photo



of what?

If you would like to hazard a guess please leave it in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Hovering Again

Apart from our one walkabout we spent most of yesterday lounging in the garden. Saw a few blue butterflies flitting through but so far none stopped long enough for a photograph. There were several hover flies which spent all day hovering around the same section of the garden so I had another session trying to get flight shots.









Adrian was quite correct when he commented last time that head on shots seem impossible. Several times I tried moving in front of one but they always turned away.

This time I used the Canon 70-200 mm IS zoom lens on manual focus. Though the minimum focus distance is about 4 feet it doesn't change whatever zoom is used.  I fixed the aperture at f11 to get a reasonable depth of focus.  As well as missing the blue butterflies I also missed a really good sighting of a buzzard when the auto focus wouldn't lock on it.

Coping With a Lockdown Power Cut

Yesterday.
Shortly after we arrived home from our one daily walkabout I noticed my emergency lights had automatically switched themselves on. How would we cope in such a dire situation?



Plenty of Sunshine - tick
Blue sky from horizon to horizon - tick
Sunshade woken from Winter hibernation - tick
Likewise the sun lounger - tick
Step stool to rest weary feet on - tick
Portable radio playing Classic FM, quietly - tick
Mug of tea - tick
Main camera set up focussed on bird feeders and fitted with radio remote control - tick
Body relaxing in its natural position - tick

Not forgetting

Penny cooling off after a very warm walk.

Though it was heading towards 19C in the Sun there was a gentle, though cold, breeze blowing in from the coast.

Growing

Where my pond was full of frog spawn it is now full of



tadpoles swimming round showing off their feathery external gills.

Winding Down

Or should I say winding over?
Yesterday, having finally finished giving the lawn a short back and sides, I decided to change the 2m yagi beam for a more sensitive one. This is the mast once it has been tilted over:



The old beam can be seen still attached to the top of the mast and the replacement is leaning up against the mast. Time will tell whether it has been worth the effort.

 

As conditions for radio contact are changing rapidly it will take a few days, or maybe weeks, to judge whether it is an improvement.

Monday Mystery

I though I might have been on a winner last week with



How wrong could I be?

Yes Weaver of Grass, the Veg Artist, Ellen D and A Brit in Tennessee it was



a pasta spiral / twirl / corkscrew.

Spot on naming it as



Fusilli / Rotini pasta were Adrian, Kev Scott, Kris. Dave and Ragged Robin.

Well done and thanks to all who had a go.

For your next puzzler, this is part of




what?

If you would like to have a guess please leave it in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Bird Feeder Visitors

House Sparrow, Greenfinch and Goldfinch incoming



Greenfinch and Goldfinches



Great Tit



A bit of video



The first time I have had Greenfinch and Goldfinches visit for quite a while.
While I am pleased to see the Greenfinch they make me a bit apprehensive as they have often brought finch disease (Trichomonosis) which is fatal to all the visiting finches.

Shining Brightly

Thought I would have a go and see what the 70D with 500mm lens could pick out last night while the sky was relatively clear of clouds. Venus was shining really brightly soon after Sunset but I had a job to make out even a couple of stars with the naked eye. Fortunately the camera was more sensitive.

Slightly cropped view of Venus with the Pleiades constellation (Seven Sisters) nearby



A slightly longer shot showed many more stars which I had no chance viewing with the naked eye



It may be better to click on the photos to see larger versions on my Flickr account.

Hamming It Up

Ham (amateur) radio that is. After working on HF frequencies for the past couple of years I decided to return to using the VHF amateur bands. Specifically 2m (144MHz). Last week I tried using digital modes on my white stick (vertical) aerial which was reasonable for contacting other stations in England but was useless for contacting any stations on the continent. On Monday I decided to rescue one of 2m yagi aerials from the garage, wound the mast over, changed the stub mast and wired the yagi beam in place.

It can be seen at the top of the mast. I left the 6m halo (square) aerial in place.
The white vertical aerial can be seen in the background at the bottom of the photograph.



I also had to re-connect all the wiring for the rotator as the beam aerial needs to point in the direction I want to make contacts.

My simple set up



The rotator controller on the left. Above the radio is a power meter so I can see how much RF power the transmitter is sending to the aerial.

When I am using digital modes of transmission I use an internet program to see which amateur radio stations are receiving my transmissions. The transmitter is connected to the laptop via a control box.



Sunspot minimum is not the best of times for long distance contacts but I have made contacts in Germany, France, Holland, Belgium and the Isle of Mann.