Rook at the Birdfeeders

A hurried bit of video taken in the gloom this morning when a Rook visited the birdfeeders.



At least it didn't try to unhook the feeder.

Spotty Sun

This morning was the first time for days the Sun shone for more than a few minutes. I think yesterday it managed about fifteen seconds. I finally had the chance to photograph the latest large Sun Spot.



There are other spots but the sky wasn't completely free of thin cloud so only one other showed on the photos. Even the largest one may look insignificant compared to the size of the Sun but, as one internet site described it, large enough to swallow the Earth without a ripple. Size is not necessarily important for activity to occur which affect us. A smaller spot very recently emitted enough radiation to disrupt some radio communications for a while.

As always I used a special Solar filter on the lens to cut down the light intensity and protect the camera.

Monday Mystery

Last Monday I showed:



All those cheerful looking berries are on a self seeded plant which has been allowed to grow on.



I am pretty sure it is a catoneaster. They seem to seed all over the place. My thanks to all who had a guess.

I am absolutely sure what this infra red photograph of the new mystery object is.



If you would like to make a guess please leave it in the comments. They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Rook

It has been some time since I last saw a Rook visit the bird feeders. This morning one was trying to look innocent when he saw me watching as it attempted to get near the suet ball feeder.

Stymied by the Weather

One of those non photographic days. While out for our morning walk the Sun was clear of cloud. Great I thought. I wanted to photo the latest large Sunspot. The new Solar cycle seems to be gathering pace as there are three new Sunspots facing the Earth at the moment. By the time we reached home the Sun was nowhere to be seen, sulking behind thick clouds. Teatime I kept an eye on the West for any sign of a colourful Sunset. Nope, none, zilch. Just grey sky. On our final walkabout, just as the gloom of night was decending, I could see a clear Moon. That will have to do I thought. I think you can guess what happened next. Yes. By the time we reached home the Moon had decided to go all shy and hid behind thick cloud.

Another Sunset

Yesterday we went out early enough in the evening to catch the Sunset over the fields. As usual I took lots of photos. These are about the best of the bunch. I tried a few different setting on the Canon G5X. First a normal single shot:



I didn't realise I had chosen the HDR setting for the next one so it was surprisingly good considering the camera was hand held while it took the three shots which are mixed to make the final HDR photo.



Both photos are cropped to remove some of the less interesting foreground.

Turneresque Sunset

J. M. W. Turner is one of my favourite painters. He recorded many magnificient Sunsets in the 1800s. When we went walkabout yesterday evening the bold reds and oranges of the Sunset brought Turner's works to mind. Looking back to the West as we set off:



About half way down the lane I looked back again:



I was annoyed as I had forgotten to take a camera with me so I had to use the iPhone 6S and the Camera+2 app. Photos are cropped slightly to reduce the amount of dark foreground and the overhead telephone cables were 'inpainted' out using Affinity Photo.