Affinity Photo Beta + Tawny Owl Nest Box

Affinity Photo Beta continues to be updated, very nearly every week. I had a little play with some of the built in filters to see how they worked. The one thing which keeps impressing me is the sheer speed at which this program works.

This is an example of using the Detect Edges filter with some added vignette.

A normal cropped version of the file I used:



A slightly larger crop with the above mentioned filters:



An interesting effect.


Nest Boxes

Unfortunately my nest boxes continue to have vacant possession.
One I have been keeping my eye on is the feed from Simon King's Tawny Owl box. Two eggs have been laid and one has hatched. The chick is only a few days old.

The video feed can be found by following THIS LINK

There is live video day and night as there is IR lighting. The female stays in the nest most of the time and the male brings food. At the time of writing it looks like there are three dead rats stored ready for a hungry mother and chick.

Friday at the Flicks - Hedgehog

Just a very short glimpse of my first Hedgehog sighting of 2015.
Lighting is a mix of two IR lamps and a white light lamp with IR movement sensor.
It doesn't seem to affect the animal when the white light comes on.



Fortunately I had been putting out crushed unsalted peanuts for a few nights as it was about time for sleepy eyes to be waking from the Winter hibernation. I haven't switched on the camera in the hedgehog house yet. Can't make my mind up which other camera to switch off to make room for it.

Walkies

A few days ago we took a stroll down one of the narrow village public footpaths. Not a lot to look at but a pleasant secluded walk with plenty of birdsong for me and lots of interesting smells for madam. It's one of my favourite routes but often nearly impassible in the Summer once the nettles have grown to cover the path.









I am fairly sure there was a time when this right of way went through someone's back garden. Once over the narrow concrete bridge over the ditch the path continues the far side of the road but this time does go through a property. I have never tried that part as there are two or three Alsations living there.

Measuring with the Microscope + Video Camera

I kept looking at the calibration slides for microscopes and finally decided to invest in one.



It has dots of various sizes and, most useful for me, in the centre is a circle which contains a cross 1 mm across with a scale marked every 1/10 mm and every 1/100 mm.

  

By taking snapshots of that with each objective lens I could work out the actual size of each shot.

Taking a piece of moss from a hanging basket:

  

Viewing it under my lowest magnification:



I now know from photographing the calibration slide that the photo is showing a 3.3mm view across with that objective lens.

Macro on Monday - Guess What

I thought last week's mystery photo would have been easier but my congratulations and the virtual Midmarsh Gold Star goes to Ragged Robin who said it was a stone plant. Also known as a living stone, Lithops.





Wilma did suggest stonecrop but when I looked that up it turned out to be a Sedum.

Hopefully this weeks cropped photo will be a bit easier to identify.
Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed next Monday along with the answer.
No prizes, just for fun and possibly a virtual Midmarsh Gold or Silver Star.

A Deer in the Churchyard

For a few days I could hear the sound of a chain saw coming from the area of the churchyard so we went walkabout in that direction. It looks as though some of the old trees shading the Church's East window had been trimmed to let more light through.

 

As we wandered through the churchyard a new item caught my eye:



Of course madam had to give it the once over:



Yes, it looks like a little wooden deer. What a lovely decoration to have next to the seat where people can rest after tending the graves:

 

 

At the other end of the seat there has also appeared a little wooden dog watching the deer:

 

In the past I have caught a fleeting glimpse of a real deer in the churchyard but had no chance to photograph it. Since then I have been on the lookout for another opportunity and now my wish has come true!

Friday at the Flicks - Sun and Frogs

 

During the partial eclipse I attempted to take some video shots. This is the result, speeded up 20 times or it would have been even more boring as the eclipse is a slow process. As the camera was fixed in position I had to keep repositioning it when the Sun started to disappear out of its view:



Some video of various frogs in the garden pond:



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.