Macro on Monday - Guess What

Aha. Caught you all out last week. I love to chop up some chives to sprinkle on a chunk of cheese and last week's close up was of a chives flower.

   

This week for an experiment instead of giving a clue I have taken three photos, through the microscope, of different parts of the same object. The parts are not to scale. Each is the result of stacking between 20 and 30 focus stacked shots.

Guess what:


 Good luck. No prizes, just for fun.

I must start putting my glasses on to read the time on my bedside radio. Shot out of bed this morning only to find it was 5.15 a.m. and not my usual 6.15 a.m.. It was beautifully deserted on our earlier than usual walkabout. I did get one surprise on our return. It has been quite a while since I saw a Heron in the garden pond. As I glanced out of the kitchen window it took me by surprise when one took off. I had forgotten just how big they are.

Hungry Juvenile Jackdaw

I'm here Ma and I'm hungry:





Oh well. If you won't feed me I'll see what this tastes like::





Photos were enhanced using the ReDynaMix plugin.

Friday at the Flicks - Juvenile Jackdaws, Red Admiral

Just a bit wet here last night. Raging thunderstorm with 0.61 inches (15.5mm) of rain recorded in half an hour. Not a lot by some standards but a great deal for this part of the country. It was so intense that the even the satellite TV signal was lost.

Every morning for the past few days the air has been filled with the squawking of hungry juvenile Jackdaws. They are old enough to feed themselves and if they pester the adults they get chased away. As always Jackdaws are very wary and fly away if they see the slightest human movement so part of this video was filmed through the kitchen window and the remainder captured automatically by the Hedgehog camera.



Visits by butterflies are still something of a rarity this year. I have seen a few whites and the occasional brown flutter through the garden but this Red Admiral has been the only one to stay for a short while.



 Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Median Wasp

At this time of year there are always wasps visiting the pond to drink but yesterday was the first time I had noticed this particular variety. A Median Wasp  -  Dolichovespula media. Common to much of Europe this is a relatively new species to Britain having appeared in the 1980s



Not the best of views but it wouldn't cooperate, always coming back to the same lily leaf and always facing the same way. For a good view showing the markings and shape hover over the thumbnail on this page on Garden Safari.

Macro on Monday - Guess What

Congratulations and virtual Gold Stars to Adrian, Wilma and Keith for identifying the close shot of a tea bag, Sydney would have been proud of you. (For those who remember the Tetley Tea Folk)

   

I couldn't make my mind up what to use today but finally decided on this.

Guess what:


Clue: Love it with a chunk of cheese, though not this part.

No prizes. Just for fun.

On Wings of Reflection

On our afternoon walkabout down a narrow footpath I spotted a Southern Hawker which obligingly landed on a nearby stalk for a while. The colours were blown out in the direct sunlight but on viewing the photo I could see the nearby green vegetation reflected on, or maybe refracted through, its normally transparent wings.

Friday at the Flicks - Moorhen, Rainy Weather

I don't see the Moorhen every day as sometimes it arrives while I'm still in the land of nod and leaves before we get up. On the whole I am pleased it doesn't stay all day. Since it arrived and decided water lily flowers were delicious I am lacking some colour in the pond.

Here an early morning visit:


The Moorhen may be smaller that a fat waddling Wood Pigeon but it is the only bird I have see attack one and drive it away from food.

Here the Moorhen went walkabout on the frame that supports the feeders and even spent a short while on the wires above. Unfortunately I missed recording it walk along the wires:


Finally another time when a Wood Pigeon took advantage of a rain storm to have a thorough shower. At one stage the rain was so heavy I thought it would knock the pigeon over.

Have a great weekend obsering the wildlife around you.