Balckbird, Sneak Thief

Male Blackbird acting nervously, or guiltily, as it sneaks in the Hedgehog feeding station to steal some food.



A similar thing happened last year with the old feeding station.

Monday Mystery

Last week's mystery close up



was quite difficult to work out as there was no indication of size. It was part of a large slotted spoon, useful for lifting cooked food items from a dish or saucepan, without picking up any of the liquid.



The manufacturer didn't give it a special name but Adrian's guess of skimmer appears to be correct. Thanks to all who had a go.

This week I have a close view of ...



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

Hedgehog Midnight Feast

Hedgehog visits to the garden are sporadic so I was really pleased to get some video capture of one using the Hedgehog House as a feeding station.



Food provided is a mixture of commercial Hedgehog food, dried mealworms and crushed unsalted peanuts.

Quackers

Woke up at 5 a.m.. Looked at the bedroom window and thought it was completely misted up. In fact the overnight fog was so thick I could just make out the murky shape of the hedge on the opposite side of the lane. Fortunately, once the Sun had risen, it soon started to burn off leaving all the cobwebs covered in dew drops:



By midday things had warmed up so I decided to motor across to the market town of Horncastle about 25 miles away. Always a nice journey across the switchback roads over the Lincolnshire Wolds. Having arrived on a non market day the main car park was nearly empty. I paid my £1 for up to two hours stay and set about filming the River Bain which flows through the town. Disappointingly there wasn't much variety in the water fowl.



This is always a popular place for young and old alike to feed the ducks. Most of the video clips were taken hand held and the sound is untouched from the original recordings.

Monday Mystery

Last Monday I showed:



which was part of



a battery operated pepper mill. One which automatically turns on when turned upside down. Congratulations to Kev and Ellen who correctly identified it.

I'm not sure whether anyone will work out what this is part of:



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

Ready for the Next Visit

I removed the camera I had in the top of the bird table as it was too close to the birds to give crisp pictures. It now has pride of place in the Hedgehog House where, hopefully, we will see a Hedgehog feeding.

The camera in the Hedgehog House. Even though it is wireless it still has a 12V power feed.



The view taken in by the camera:



Now wating for the next night time visitor. No visitors recorded last night.

New Hedgehog House

Last Summer I had bought another Hedgehog House to set up hoping it would be used for nesting or hibernation. Unfortunately it wasn't but was needed this year as a feeding station. I had used the old one for about thirteen years and was well and truly rotting away.

The new one (much of it is made from recycled materials):



Inside view shows the entrance tunnel and the food dish I put in there:



Last year I had a camera fixed to the block of wood on top of the tunnel. Next job is to get that set up again. Will the Hedgehog take to the new feeding station? I need not have worried! First visit was last night:



Short video:



Mostly from the main video camera with a short close view from the trail camera. The sudden bright light is the IR LEDs on the trail camera switching on. Food offered is bought Hedgehog food plus well crushed peanuts and dried mealworms. Outside the house is a dish of water. Never put out milk for Hedgehogs as their digestive system cannot cope with it.

Monday Mystery

Last Monday's mystery photo was:



which was part of:



a well weathered, and now rusty, metal ornamental deer. The blue rectangle on its back is a small solar panel. At night a colour changing LED illuminates the inside of the deer. Well done to Adrian and Ellen D. who guessed correctly. My thanks, as always, to everyone who has a go at guessing my little 'mysteries'

Your next puzzler - this is a view of



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

It's Hedgehog Season

Checking for any video captures from last night I spotted:



No sound recorded. Must now set up the Hedgehog feeding station ready for any more visits.

Still Investigating

A few mornings ago a Great Tit investigated the camera nestbox. An hour later these Blue Tits spent about four minutes checking it out.



Nothing more until this morning when a pair of Great Tits made a short visit. No sign of a 'nest box shuffle' from either species. That is when the female spreads her wings and shuffles round the bottom of the box as though checking it is the right size for nest building.

Frog Spawn a Plenty

A short video. There are lots of frogs and heaps of frog spawn in the overgrown garden pond.

Monday Mystery

Last Monday's close view was:



part of:



an ornamental LED garden lantern. There is a solar panel on the top. At night the glow from a single LED shows through the cut out sections. Not a bright light, just an illuminated ornament. Ellen D got it correct with Wilma also close. My thanks to all who had a go.

This time here is a small part



of a rather rusty ..... what? If you would like to have a guess please leave it in the comments. They will be revealed, together with the answer, next Monday.

Light Stacking

In the past I have taken macro photos using a technique called focus stacking where several shots are taken at different focus points. Those are added together in a focus stacking program. This time I though I would try something a bit different.

Orchid flowers on a window sill indoors taken while mainly lit from the back with daylight through the window:



The same set up but with added flash lighting from the camera:



The result when they are added together in Helicon Focus then tweaked a little in Affinity Photo:



Light Stacking? That's what I call it anyway. Photos taken with a Canon G5X, tripod mounted.

A Bit of Colour for a Grey World

A couple of colour popped blooms from the garden this morning to brighten up a grey world:





Taken with added flash to help the subject stand out. Subject colour popped and background blurred using the Mac Ap ColorStrokes.