Waiting For Spring

 

I was changing the PIR lamp on my summer house and what should I spy right up under the overhanging roof?  A chrysalis in a well sheltered spot waiting for the return of longer daylight hours and warmer weather next Spring:



I had just taken delivery of a couple of tiny (38mm, 1.5in) LED flash / flood lights I spotted advertised at a reduced price on AliExpress. It has taken a month for them to arrive from China. I used one as a hand held flood light for this photo instead of the harsh built in Nikon camera flash. At £3.95 each, postage free, they were worth the wait:

   

They plug in the speaker socket of a smart phone and are said to work as flash lights with iOS and Android phones but I haven't downloaded the software to try that yet. Alternatively they can be used separately and switched on at three different levels of brightness manually. Ideal pocket lights for close work. Each has a built in battery which is rechargeable through USB ports.

Also waiting for Spring:



I turfed out some dying Summer bedding plants and this old planter now contains about 100 spring bulbs, a mixture of dwarf narcissus, crocus and dwarf iris bulbs. It should make a colourful show which I will be able to admire from the kitchen window.

The Spoilers

A rasping bird call caught my attention. There it was, a Magpie, helping itself to an apple:



It was not alone. Nearby was a Jackdaw with the same intention:





In fact, not one but two Jackdaws:



It wouldn't be so bad if they concentrated on one apple but they have a habit of taking a few pecks at each and end up ruining a lot of the crop.

Monday Mystery - Guess What

A good start to the new style mystery photos. Virtual Midmarsh Gold Stars and my congratulations to the ladybird spotters: Wilma, Adrian, Roy and Ragged Robin.

   

Here is another creature for you to spot among the pretty patterns.
Guess What:


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

Rainbows in a Web

 


One tea time  I noticed something flickering through the corner of the kitchen window. Part of a spider's web was catching the rays of the setting Autumn Sun and each sticky spot on the web was refracting the Sunlight:

       

The effect was difficult to capture with still shots as the web moved in a gentle breeze.
Here is a bit of video slowed down to half speed.

Take care if you are sensitive to flickering images



Royalty free music can be found on the Purple Planet site.

A Local Visitor Returns

With the exception of last Winter I have usually seen a few Tree Sparrows join the House Sparrows at the feeders. I had begun to worry as to what had happened to them. Therefore I was delighted recently to see one join the other sparrows at the seed feeder.

The Tree Sparrow is easily recognised by its brown head and the white cheeks with a large black spot:





Here the Tree Sparrows are usually seen down a lane with tall uncut hedges and trees but as the weather gets colder and natural food scarcer they often move to join the House Sparrows at bird feeders:





So far I think there is just one but I hope a few more may join the group for the Winter.

Friday at the Flicks - Starlings and Elderberries

Autumn is not only the season of mists, and we have had lots of those recently, but also the season of mellow fruitfulness. One of the plants which has done well this year is the overgrown Elder in next door's garden. That was full of elderberries ..... until the Starlings came visiting:



After a couple of days all that was left were bare stalks.

Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

A Bleak Autumn View

This time of year the local landscape can look very plain and bare. Summer crops have been harvested, the land ploughed and harrowed. All is ready for the Spring crops:



In the distance I see there is yet another wind generator farm nearing completion:



Though, in principle, I approve of some of the ideas for generating 'clean' electricity which are being introduced I do object to the increased costs, especially the sneaky hidden ones. Wind power is more expensive to generate than the traditional methods so costs us more. On top of that are the subsidies paid to the developers and on top of that the money they are paid to turn off the generators when too much power is generated. Those payments were originally fixed at a higher rate than they get for generating power. Such is the way with governments who are ruled by (in the pay of?) big business and, after all, it's not their money. It's the taxes those of us who can't hide our wealth in off shore tax havens have to pay.