Yesterday while I was repairing some fence panels I noticed quite a few more seven spots in various nooks and crannies. I hadn't expected to see so many considering temperatures were down to -10C near the end of last year.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Ladybirds
A few days ago I got round to clearing up a pile of fallen leaves. I dumped them in the green wheelie bin for collection in March when the service restarts after the Winter break. The next time I went to use the bin I spotted this group of seven spot ladybirds inside the lid. They had been overwintering in the leaves.
Yesterday while I was repairing some fence panels I noticed quite a few more seven spots in various nooks and crannies. I hadn't expected to see so many considering temperatures were down to -10C near the end of last year.
Yesterday while I was repairing some fence panels I noticed quite a few more seven spots in various nooks and crannies. I hadn't expected to see so many considering temperatures were down to -10C near the end of last year.
Friday, 4 February 2011
Friday at the Flicks - Tree Sparrow, Preening Doves, Great Tit Nest Box
When the single Tree Sparrow appeared during the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch I was able to take this piece of video:
During the week I spotted this pair of Collared Doves preening each other - won't be long before they are breeding again.
Finally some short clips of occasions when both Great Tits are in the nest box. These visits occur most days and are very brief.
It ended up a bit on the breezy side last night. It was a good job I checked some of my older fence panels as one was bending alarmingly in the strong gusts and threatening to disintegrate at any time. Fortunately I was able to brace it against the wind and thankfully it is still there this morning though it needs some bodging (repair). Our winds didn't compare with those experienced in parts of Australia recently but still enough to bring some branches down in the village.
The maximum gusts in mph as recorded by my weather centre over the past 24 hours.
It was a pleasant surprise when I saw that the temperature was a very respectable 11C at 7 a.m.. Long may it stay that way.
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.
During the week I spotted this pair of Collared Doves preening each other - won't be long before they are breeding again.
Finally some short clips of occasions when both Great Tits are in the nest box. These visits occur most days and are very brief.
It ended up a bit on the breezy side last night. It was a good job I checked some of my older fence panels as one was bending alarmingly in the strong gusts and threatening to disintegrate at any time. Fortunately I was able to brace it against the wind and thankfully it is still there this morning though it needs some bodging (repair). Our winds didn't compare with those experienced in parts of Australia recently but still enough to bring some branches down in the village.
The maximum gusts in mph as recorded by my weather centre over the past 24 hours.
It was a pleasant surprise when I saw that the temperature was a very respectable 11C at 7 a.m.. Long may it stay that way.
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Heath Robinson and the Chinese Lantern
Oh oh I hear you say. Here we go again. Another technical post. Yep - another flash of inspiration, or something. The seed cases on my Chinese Lantern plant look fascinating now the orange outer coating has rotted away leaving just a skeleton surrounding the seed case. How best to present it?
First I tried a normal photo:
I also tried a series of focus stacked photos but the result was awful. While the outer casing was fine the stacking program had great difficulty resolving the red inner seed case. What would be better, to my way of thinking, would be a video but how to set about it. That's when the Heath Robinson in me came up with an idea. Find a way to turn the seed case and take a series of stills and then make them into a video.
I had recently acquired some stepper motors:
Normally a motor keeps going round when you apply a voltage. A stepper motor only turns a small distance each time you apply a voltage. The one I chose takes 48 steps to turn one revolution so I set up an Arduino 'computer' to control the steps and wait while I took each photo.
The seed case is being held on top of the motor with some pink Blu Tack.
Canon EOS 350D Canon EFS 18-55mm lens
f14 1/20sec ISO 200
Lighting - two 12V LED lamps.
Next - find a program to convert the still shots to a video. I had lost the program I previously used but a quick Google found the freeware program Images to Video HERE which has a simple interface and seems to do a great job. It only works with .jpg files but can make .wmv, .avi, .flv or .mov video files.
Once the video it made had been rotated in Corel Video Studio and repeated a few times the result was:
I think that occasionally it is interesting to be able to show and look right round an object.
First I tried a normal photo:
I also tried a series of focus stacked photos but the result was awful. While the outer casing was fine the stacking program had great difficulty resolving the red inner seed case. What would be better, to my way of thinking, would be a video but how to set about it. That's when the Heath Robinson in me came up with an idea. Find a way to turn the seed case and take a series of stills and then make them into a video.
I had recently acquired some stepper motors:
Normally a motor keeps going round when you apply a voltage. A stepper motor only turns a small distance each time you apply a voltage. The one I chose takes 48 steps to turn one revolution so I set up an Arduino 'computer' to control the steps and wait while I took each photo.
The seed case is being held on top of the motor with some pink Blu Tack.
Canon EOS 350D Canon EFS 18-55mm lens
f14 1/20sec ISO 200
Lighting - two 12V LED lamps.
Next - find a program to convert the still shots to a video. I had lost the program I previously used but a quick Google found the freeware program Images to Video HERE which has a simple interface and seems to do a great job. It only works with .jpg files but can make .wmv, .avi, .flv or .mov video files.
Once the video it made had been rotated in Corel Video Studio and repeated a few times the result was:
I think that occasionally it is interesting to be able to show and look right round an object.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Scavenger Hunt January 2011
I was fascinated by something which caught my eye on Glo's blog Porcelain Rose. Glo had found a idea / challenge on Kathy's blog Postcards From the P.P.. It was a photographic scavenger hunt with a list of twelve things to photograph.
They were, in the order they are shown in the video below:
A Stained Glass Window
A Library - our visiting library van
A Goldfish
Something reflective (not a mirror) - my garden pond
Front Door
Bubbles
A Tombstone over 100 years old - this one is dated 1893
Playground Equipment - at the village school
Something out of Place - my pet hate, cars on the public footpath
Nature - Chinese Lantern Plant seed case
Yarn
Abandoned Building - in my case this is the old Methodist School
All the subject were found in my own village.
I wonder what will be in the list for February.
Here you can find blogs which have taken part:
They were, in the order they are shown in the video below:
A Stained Glass Window
A Library - our visiting library van
A Goldfish
Something reflective (not a mirror) - my garden pond
Front Door
Bubbles
A Tombstone over 100 years old - this one is dated 1893
Playground Equipment - at the village school
Something out of Place - my pet hate, cars on the public footpath
Nature - Chinese Lantern Plant seed case
Yarn
Abandoned Building - in my case this is the old Methodist School
All the subject were found in my own village.
I wonder what will be in the list for February.
Here you can find blogs which have taken part:
Monday, 31 January 2011
Macro on Monday - Guess What + Nest Box Update
No fooling people last Monday with Adrian, Jan, Keith, Frank, Glo and Wilma each deserving a gold star for the correct identification of an apple pip / seed. What surprised me was how hairy it looked close up.
Let's see how well you folk get on with this week's puzzle picture.
Clue: No use putting the chip pan on..
No prizes. Just for fun.
NEST BOX UPDATE
The Great Tit continues to use the box as a roost every night. Several visits are made during the day and occasionally her partner joins her inside for very brief periods. Things are definitely looking up for it being a nesting site in the Spring.
A snapshot from the video camera in the roof of the box.
Let's see how well you folk get on with this week's puzzle picture.
Clue: No use putting the chip pan on..
No prizes. Just for fun.
NEST BOX UPDATE
The Great Tit continues to use the box as a roost every night. Several visits are made during the day and occasionally her partner joins her inside for very brief periods. Things are definitely looking up for it being a nesting site in the Spring.
A snapshot from the video camera in the roof of the box.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (UK)
This weekend is the time for the annual January RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. The idea being to spend an hour observing and counting the birds which visit your garden or local park. Full information HERE on the RSPB web site.
This time I decided to undertake my garden bird count earlier in the day. Usually I count them somewhere between mid morning and mid afternoon. Today I chose a start time of 8.30 a.m. The aim is to count the maximum number of each species which actually land in the garden (ground, feeders, bird table, etc.) at any one time .
Results:
Three times while I was watching all the birds vanished in the blink of an eyelid so I guessed there was a raptor about. On the third occasion I saw it swoop low over the lawn and land on the fruit cage - unfortunately it didn't stay long enough to get it in focus with the camcorder. For the first time here it was a male Sparrowhawk. I usually see a female.
This time I decided to undertake my garden bird count earlier in the day. Usually I count them somewhere between mid morning and mid afternoon. Today I chose a start time of 8.30 a.m. The aim is to count the maximum number of each species which actually land in the garden (ground, feeders, bird table, etc.) at any one time .
Results:
Balackbird 18
Starling 6
Chaffinch 5
Rook 3
House Sparrow 2
Wood Pigeon 2
Tree Sparrow 1
Goldfinch 1
Blue Tit 1
Great Tit 1
Dunnock 1
Collared Dove 1
Jackdaw 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Three times while I was watching all the birds vanished in the blink of an eyelid so I guessed there was a raptor about. On the third occasion I saw it swoop low over the lawn and land on the fruit cage - unfortunately it didn't stay long enough to get it in focus with the camcorder. For the first time here it was a male Sparrowhawk. I usually see a female.
Friday, 28 January 2011
Friday at the Flicks - Amorous Wood Pigeon, Pair of Stock Doves
There hardly seems to be any time of year when the Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves don't think about breeding.
On cold days recently there has often been a solitary Stock Dove and very occasionally a pair visiting the garden.
RSPB BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you and don't forget that this weekend is RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch time in the UK. Can you spare an hour any time over the weekend to count the bird visitors to your garden or other area? If so visit the RSPB web site for details.
On cold days recently there has often been a solitary Stock Dove and very occasionally a pair visiting the garden.
RSPB BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you and don't forget that this weekend is RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch time in the UK. Can you spare an hour any time over the weekend to count the bird visitors to your garden or other area? If so visit the RSPB web site for details.
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