Friday at the Flicks (Busy Bees and Flirting Flies)

Once again my Lavender bushes are attracting scores of insects both day and night. During the day each of the three plants attracts at least twenty bumble bees of four types at any one time. White butterflies have started to visit and before long I expect more varieties will arrive. Late evening, as the numbers of bees diminish, their place is taken by dozens of moths.

A short video of just a few of the bees. (Taken with the Lumix TZ7)



Earlier in the week a couple of flies on the water lily leaves caught my attention. It was the first time I had ever noticed a fly moving sideways. Is this a case of an ardent admirer stalking its victim, a happy dancing fly showing off to its partner or part of a mating ritual? (Taken with the Panasonic DVD camcorder)


Whichever it was the smaller fly was very persistent as this activity went on for quite a long time.

Have a great weekend observing the antics of the wildlife around you.

Red Eyed Fly

Spotted this resting on a solar lantern in the garden today.



It appears to be either Eustalomyia or Anthomyia but which group and which particular member of the group has eluded me as there are so many with red eyes and black and white markings.

Sunset

Last night was the first time for quite a while that there has been a sunset where the clouds reflected the lovely oranges and reds as the Sun dipped below the horizon. This gave a photo opportunity and a chance to experiment. I used the Lumix TZ7 and tried several different settings. Also I was able to try out a plugin which gives HDR like effects on single photographs.

The first pair are looking towards the setting sun from my back garden.
First as taken by the camera:


Secondly the same file after processing:


This pair are looking to the South:
Again, as taken by the Lumix:


Once again the same file after processing:


I was astounded how much detail there was to be found in the deep shadows using the RE-Dynamizer HDR plugin. There are quite a few controls to tweak and these were just a first trial to see what it could do. RE-Dynamizer is not free but the trial version is fully working and just adds its name to the top and bottom of the picture when saved. It is a standard Adobe type file and should work with any program which can handle them. I use Paintshop Pro X2.

The Lumix does not have the facility to take RAW photos and it was obvious, especially on the second pair of photos, that it introduces some noise on JPGs. It will be interesting to see what it can do with RAW files.

Froglet

Finally got the mower out this afternoon. As I approached a largish clump of damp grass out jumped this little frog. Dashed in for the Lumix and managed to get a few photos before it hopped away.



It was only 30mm or so in size so I was lucky to notice it.


According to my weather station it rained on 10 days in July but the total was only 0.60 inches. I think it has only been the high humidity at nights which have given a little dampness to keep the grass from going brown and given some welcome damp shelter for the little frog, hopefully frogs.

Garden Snails and a Dragonfly

When Bobby went for his last look round his empire a couple of nights ago I spotted two brown garden snails crossing the concrete. The ground was perfectly dry so I was somewhat surprised they had chosen that route.Also they took no notice of us. In daylight hours they would have probably retreated into their shells but these two kept going and provided me with my first opportunity to take some photographs of garden snails.



Normally thrusting a camera within a couple of inches would make the snail withdraw its tentacles but this time I could clearly see the eyes on the end of those long stalks. In fact it was the length of the tentacles which had first caught my attention.



 I have never really taken much notice or interest in snails but on finding a great site ( snail-world.com ) was fascinated by the complexity of their anatomy.

Yesterday I notice one of the rare visits to my garden by a Common Darter Dragonfly which rested for a short while on some gravel long enough for me to take a few photographs.

Friday at the Flicks (Greenfinch, Hedgehog, Farming)

Since the outbreak of finch disease last Summer it has been something of a rarity to see a Greenfinch visit the feeders.



Over the past week the camera has only picked up one Hedgehog visiting the feeding area. There may have been a second one around during the first part of the video as the Hedgehog has obviously spotted something which may present danger. Unfortunately whatever it was didn't come in view.



The farm workers have been very busy this past week. Earlier in the week the grain was harvested and the bales of straw removed from the field. On Wednesday the field was ploughed and yesterday they were busy harrowing. You can see how dry the ground is by the dust being thrown up behind the tractor.



So far this month my weather station has recorded 0.59 of an inch of rain in total with 0.28 on the 12th and the rest as even smaller amounts spread over several days. I should think most of it evaporated in the warm weather before it could soak in to the ground.

Have a great weekend observing the world around you.

Open air Larder

Looking out of the kitchen window yesterday I couldn't help noticing that one spider had built its web in just the right place. There were so many small flies caught in it I could almost make out the shape of the web.



I think it will take it the rest of the week to wrap them all up and store them away for a rainy day.