A Short Greeting

Feeling the Heat

Not really much to photograph outdoors these days. When it isn't raining it's foggy or thick mist. Even when I can't see any mist I can still feel the spots of moisture on my face and hands when I go for an amble round the village. To warm things up I took this shot indoors with the Seek thermal camera plugged in the iPhone. Can you work out what I was aiming at?



I will give the answer later in the week.

Eat, Argue and Bathe

You don't have to see them to know a flock of Starlings has arrived at the bird feeders. Between eating and bathing they seem to spend the rest of time maintaining the pecking order - very loudly.



Never a dull moment when they are about.

Nestbox Cleanout Time

An email from Simon King Wildlife reminded me it was time to check the bird nestboxes and clean out any old nests ready for the next seasons of Winter roosting and Spring nest building. I have two nestboxes fixed to the back wall of a shed. The first of these is a modern type of concrete mixture:



Once the two clips were turned and the front removed I could see that this box hadn't been used at all, empty apart from a dead bumblebee I brushed out.



The other box is a traditional wooden design:



The only creatures I had seen visiting it last Summer were bees so I carefully unscrewed the two front panels expecting to find some sort of hive or bumblebee nest. I was not expecting to see:



Interesting as the bottom layer of the nest was composed of twig like pieces from nearby fir trees. Not something I have seen before. Here it is once I had removed it from the nestbox:



It seems to be a finished nest as the top layer is moss but as it was little compacted in the centre I doubt that any eggs were laid let alone any chicks hatched. It wouldn't be the first time bees seem to have driven out a nesting bird.

Light Relief

Very occasionally, along with all the griping on social media, something pops up which gives me a well needed laugh.

Spotted this one a few days ago:

My son once asked me " Where does poo come from?" I gave him an explanation of the digestive system, how the upper and lower bowel works and the muscles used to force it out of you body. He looked a bit stunned and then quietly said " And Tigger? Where does he come from?"

Laughter is definitely the best medicine.

A Talky Walk

Went for a stroll to the end of the lane and round the cricket field. I went there two days ago and there was nothing of note to photograph. This time the adjoining field was populated by a large flock of sheep. Until I got too close many were lazing in the sunlight:



Several were watching me as I grew nearer:



There were many patches of fungi appearing, starting about the size of my little finger nail:



Some appeared to be fully grown at about 15mm across:



Recently I found that the local amateur radio repeater transmitter was back in operation. (The repeater receives a transmission and the re-transmits it. The idea being that amateurs can use a low power transmitter and the repeater re-broadcasts it at a higher power) Anyway, I had dug out one of my hand held transmitters from where I had stored them several years ago, charged the battery and took it with me to see whether I could make any contacts.



As I walked back from watching the sheep I made a couple of calls through the repeater and an amateur in Boston, Lincolnshire answered and we had a 10 to 15 minute conversation by radio. An activty I've missed for many years. There was a time I used to have radio chats every day when I walked Tramp, the dog I had then, first thing in the morning.

On the return journey I spotted the sunlight shining through the leaves of a Japanese maple bush. A photograph doesn't do justice to the beautiful red glow:





All in all a satisfying walk in brilliant sunlight, even with the cold breeze across the open field.

Ladybirds in November

On a nice sunny afternoon a few days ago I ambled round to the churchyard and rested on a sunlit bench to take in some much needed fresh air. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a ladybird running around on one of the arms of the bench:



Then another appeared, but a different variety:



Then to my astonishment a third variety arrived:



In fact I saw four different types of ladybird all rushing about on the same arm. Unfortunately it was too fast for me to take a clear photo. Obviously I wasn't the only life force taking advantage of a sunny, relatively warm corner of the churchyard.