Friday at the Flicks - Young Goldfinches + Hungry Hedgehog

Two young Goldfinches of different ages looking at the amount of red on their heads:



An evening gobbling just about every dried mealworm in sight:



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Invasion

Many will have noticed the emergence of Crane Flies (Daddy Long-legs). This year they are particularly numerous. There are scores of them hunting round the nettles on the edge of the cricket field. They are harmless to humans and pets though they can be a nuisance when they come indoors. Fortunately for us they only live about two weeks, just long enough to mate and lay eggs but are a good supply of food for many birds.

This one was resting on my kitchen window:



They have one pair of wings. Instead of the second pair they have a pair of halteres or rocker arms just behind the wings which vibrate and help to maintain balance when flying. They are the two club shaped bits with round 'weights' on the end:



As I opened the back door yesterday this green Shield Bug fell on the floor:



Photos taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050

When is it Butterfly Time?

When it's butterfly o'clock:





Bet you didn't know Red Admirals could tell the time!

Tuesday Twister - Guess What

One full virtual gold star for Wilma who recognised my summerhouse in last week's twisted picture. I think Adrian and TWG should share one. At least they recognised a shed / room like structure:

   


This week's twisted object is displayed slightly differently. I used the iOS app 'Video Album' which can make photos and or movies into a video collage. This was in the nature of an experiment as it's the first time I've used that app. There are three different twists to the same object.

Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Tuesday.
No prizes. Just for fun and a virtual gold star.

Hedgehog Visit Last Night

A hedgehog visit captured last night:



That time it was disturbed and scared off by Penny going outside but later it, or another, returned. After feasting on dried mealworms in the hedgehog house it went to sleep in there for a while before departing.

Autumn

Season of mists ......



...... and mellow fruitfulness



So starts John Keats poem "To Autumn" and that is just what it has been like here for the past few days. Thick cloud, mists with only occasional glimpses of the Sun.

Also spotted the usual start of Fall (Autumn):



The beginnings of next Spring's crop of catkins growing on my corkscrew hazel bush:



These are only 7mm long and will stay tightly closed until the return of warmth when they will grow and open to about 50 to 60mm long.

Friday at the Flicks - Homeward Bound

On our trip to Alford the other day I took videos of the journey both to and from. This is our return journey home. 4x speed using the usual Hyperlapse app on the iPod Touch5:



Soundtrack music was found on archive.com.
Not a bad recording considering it was made in 1926 and released on two 78rpm records.

This is how the iPod is mounted on the windscreen:



Surprisingly it does not interfere with driving vision or distract as it is showing exactly what I can already see through the windscreen - which still needs a good scrub!