Saturday Stretcher

I've spent a while thinking (hard work) about a new style of Guess What photos.
In the end I decided on something a bit different.
Objects rotated on a turntable while the camera, this time an iPod running the ScanCamera app, takes many thin strips. As the subject is continually rotating it tends to stretch and add different parts of the object during the few seconds it takes to build up the final photo.

Example, take a battery:




and let ScanCamera do its stuff.
Result:



Here is the first one for you to identify:



If you would like to have a guess then please leave it in the comments. It, along with a photo of the original object, will be revealed next Saturday.

Orchids

The medium size Cymbidium plant is nearly in full flower now:



Inside the new propagator an Oncidium twinkle is blooming:



That Oncidium is a miniature.
Here are both together for comparison:



There are two other miniatures producing buds at this time so more to look forward to along with the two large Cymbidium plants.

Badger Visitor Part 2 - Video

As the stills from the trail camera were time stamped I had a look at my 'security' camera recordings for the same period. Bingo:

Badger in the Garden?

The Floureon trail camera has been set up and running at the back end of the garden for ten days. 411 photos taken, many empty of any visible life, some of the four legged boss:

   

... quite a few of Wood Pigeons and occasionally Blackbirds:



Patiently reviewing all 400+ I spotted just 6 which had something different.
Far from clear but it looks to me as though a Badger has visited:
(At the top of the photo)





I never in my wildest dreams expected to see a badger in my garden
Time to start putting out some piles of peanuts at night to entice it closer to the camera?

A Brief Sighting

Yesterday on arriving back in the lane after our dawn walk-about we spotted an animal crossing the lane just past my garden. Hard to tell what it was as it appeared to bound like a wallaby but had a short white tail. At first I assumed it was most probably a stray dog. A few moments later another appeared crossing the lane in the opposite direction. Sandy brown in colour and about the same size as Penny. This time I was able to definitely identify it as a Muntjack Deer, probably a doe. Penny was fascinated but neither stayed in view more than a few seconds. Unfortunately the pocket camera was buried under a couple of warm layers of clothing so I wasn't able to get a photo this time. It would probably have been too dark anyway. I must try to find somewhere safe to rig up the trail camera and see if I can get some photos / video of them that way.

Next to Open

The blooms on my mid size Cymbidium are now opening:





Colour may deepen a bit when they are fully open.

Sound Test

Sometimes I want to record a bit of bird song. I have had a small recorder for some years and it works fairly well. The only problem is it uses an AAA battery. If I leave it in it is usually dead the next time I want to use it. Every time the battery is replaced it refuses to work until the date and time have been set which is a bit of a clat to set up. So, I decided to invest in a new one. This time with a built in rechargeable battery and a proper on / off switch:



Nice and small to stuff in a pocket but with easily accessible controls. It connects to a computer with a USB cable and then acts like a memory stick so it is easy to transfer the files.

As with all recorders with built in microphones holding it while recording usually introduces extra noises so for the following recording I set it down on a wheelie bin to record a Song Thrush. There was some wind noise which I reduced by processing the file in Audacity. I think this Thrush was still practicing its song as it was somewhat hesitant and didn't repeat very often.

Not sure how loud this will be on your computer so be warned as there is no volume control on the player:



If you are a glutton for punishment, when the file has finished playing just click the X which appears top right and you can play it again.