Looking Up

I always seem to be looking at and photographing trees from a distance.  For a change today I decided to stand under them and point the camera up to the sky. I used the Nikon S9050 on its widest view. Some I couldn't get really close to as there were ditches in the way. No telling until I got home exactly how they would turn out as it wasn't possible to see the LCD screen while taking the shots.

Maybe I should call them a Squirrel's Eye View:

Colour shots:















B/W shots (taken by accident as the awkward way of holding the camera in one hand meant I kept catching the menu change by accident):

Great Tits Inspect Nestbox

For the third year running a pair of Great Tits have been inspecting the nestbox:



Maybe we will be lucky enough to see another brood later in the year.

There is a Blue Sky

A couple of really nice looking days with blue sky and white clouds. Yesterday the wind dropped enough to enjoy a walk for once in spite of a 6C temperature.  We took a couple of public footpaths we haven't used for a while. In the afternoon we had to wait in one narrow lane while the council were repairing potholes in the road so I watched the activity in what looked to be a home made beehive. Plenty of activity in spite of the low temperature.





Walking down one of our usual tracks I could admire the blue sky while madam enjoyed all the interesting odours.





That was the only time I felt cold as the breeze was blowing straight down the lane.

Home, a cup of char and then out with the mower to give the grass its first trim of the year. Not too low a cut as the mornings are still frosty.

Blue sky again today but the wind was stronger giving the feeling of being more than a bit cold.  Looking at the local news for this area the local weatherman says that for central England,  March was the coldest since 1892 - yes eighteen ninety two. Central England has the world's oldest temperature data set, dating back to 1659. Things are supposed to be looking up next week. Should have warmer temps nearer the seasonal average, but changeable weather - that means rain. Total rainfall measured here for February was 32mm and for March 38mm and the lawn has only just dried out.

A Furry Bird?

Just recently one of the early morning visitors has been a grey squirrel which manages to fit in the smallest of gaps to steal the bird seed:

Macro on Monday - Guess What

Penny says well done to TexWisGirl, Adrian, Wilma and ImaBurdie for recognising her favourite dry food mix. She decided to award each person one of her own gold stars this time:



 

Baxters Complete - Duck & Rabbit with Country Vegetables

On to the new puzzle photo:
Guess What:

iPhone4 with macro lens

You may need a bit of a clue as this is a small part of the complete object:
Helps to prevent an embarrassing drop.

No prizes - just for fun.

Coldest UK Easter Recorded

According to a tweet from Weatherquest it is officially the coldest Easter ever recorded as the temperature in Braemar fell to -13C last night. Temperature map can be found at:

pic.twitter.com/kBuWELZuvX

First thing this morning my local temperature fell to -3.5C though once the Sun came out it soon rose above freezing.

My recordings for March 2011 - 2013 show:
(Red for temperature in degrees Celsius, blue for apparent temperature taking into account wind chill)

2011

2012

2013

 Hedgehog(s) were in and out of the hedgehog house last night. Following a tip form Jan I changed the dog food to a chicken flavour variety and it was all gone by this morning. No sighting of a cat.

Hedgehog 1 Cat 0

So far so good. Last night a hedgehog entered the hedgehog house to eat some of the food I had placed in there. It looked to be a bit of a squeeze but it managed OK. As far as I can tell there were two different hedgehogs visiting early last night though only one entered the house. One thing I had forgotten - hedgehogs and plastic saucers don't mix. They always end up tipping the water out. Now replaced with a heavier water bowl.




I'm glad they came early as it kept snowing on and off though there is only a thin layer this morning. One long range weather forecast I read yesterday said that we can expect these low temperatures for another 15 to 20 days! At the time of writing (7 a.m.) we are getting a heavy snowfall. Looks as though someone needs to write a new song - I'm Dreaming of a White Easter.

When I checked the overnight video recording I could see that the cat had tried several times to get in the house but failed every time. So far it looks as though the simple modification to the entrance has done the trick.

Checking the contents of the house, the hog had eaten the crushed, unsalted peanuts and dried mealworms but not the dog food.