Wet and White

The usual result after 30mm, so far, of rain since it started last night:



During the afternoon I had spotted a flash of white on this Collared Dove. At first it seemed to be at the end of one tail feather and I wondered whether it had been perched under a Wood Pigeon:



After a good long look I think it is actually a white feather:





Not sure whether it had had the other tail feathers plucked or maybe it was in the process of moulting.

Friday at the Flicks - Bird Table Visitors

Enjoying the remains of a suet cake:



Starling, a pair of Great Tits and a Robin.

It shouldn't be too long before the first youngsters arrive. Recently I have noticed a male Blackbird with a beak full of Sunflower hearts and a female Blackbird collecting spiders from the lawn.

Spotted at Dusk

Spotted in more ways than one:



 It was very nearly 8 p.m. when I spotted this spotty Song Thrush hunting round the back garden.



On occasion I have noticed a pair under the seed feeders but it has always been too dark for photography.

Wordless Wednesday - Garden Pond Tadpoles

Monday Mystery - Guess What

Well, I've done it again. I though last week's mystery photo would be relatively easy, especially for computer operators though maybe not for laptop users. It was a close view of a computer mouse - easy now you can see the whole thing:

   


Right, let us see how you get on with this object photographed on a walkabout yesterday which I processed as a tiny planet to disguise it.
Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.
No prizes except maybe a virtual Midmarsh Gold or Silver Star.

Some You Win, Some You Lose

I tried converting about 500 of the time lapse still photos of the apple to video. Unfortunately the lighting is very variable. I'm not sure yet what the cause is but am working towards having external power to one of my Speedlight type flash guns to see whether that will give better results. The Speedlights do have a socket for an external power input but it only charges the lighting circuit. They still needs batteries in place to power the electronics. The only way to have everything powered externally is to route the voltage through the battery compartment. Theoretically an easy task by making a couple of dummy batteries to carry the wiring to the bottom of the compartment. Another job for the Round Tuit pile.

On a brighter note it is 13 years since I had a major cancer op. I don't think I will ever forget the night before the op. Although I went through all the extensive pre op preparations there was no certainty it would go ahead the next day unless a bed space could be guaranteed in the intensive care ward as I would have to spend three days there before being returned to the normal ward. Since then I have had regular check-ups at the local hospital. Last Thursday was the latest. It was really great to told I was being discharged from their care as after 13 years being clear it was very unlikely to return.

For about a fortnight I have been receiving bounce emails when I comment on other blogs. This seems to be a change in the way Gmail and Yahoo pass mail to each other. Originally I signed up to Blogger with a Yahoo address so I have changed that to a Gmail one hoping that things will revert back to normal. The comments I made were published OK but it stopped people receiving a copy by Gmail if that was the way they kept a track on comments being made.

Friday at the Flicks - Blackbird Singing at Dusk

As mentioned yesterday this was the first time I tried out a more effective wind shield and even on the couple of occasions when the breeze turned blustery it was hardly picked up by the microphone. Unfortunately no shield can cut out the sound of traffic and local lawn mowers.




I have yet to see how it behaves in stronger windy conditions.