Photo Collages - your thoughts?

Lizard Mosaic

I know there are very few lizards about in the UK at present (though I did read of some on Facebook some days ago), but I thought I would have a play around with my photo programmes, following advice from a Mac forum, to see what I could learn to do.

I don't think I have found the right solution yet, so would be interested to know what mosaic or collage programmes you favour. Options based around Picasa seem popular.

Five of the creatures in my collage are Common Lizards, photographed in the UK with a zoom lens. The remaining three, including the one at the bottom on the right, were seen in the Peloponnese five years ago, and I have not identified them. They may be Peloponnese wall lizards.

Lizards are a protected species here in Britain, along with other reptiles. They are included in the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.

A Blackbird and her bill

At this rate we are unlikely to have any 2016 summer bedding plants looking like this ...

Mrs Blackbird is taking a break from our coconut feeders and was spotted outside on the patio with a bill stuffed to the brim with the mossy liner from our upright planter.

Who can blame her - spring is in the air despite the chilly temperatures. 

Not quite Zebedee, but a Zebra Jumping Spider

I found myself having to look pretty hard to find something new in the garden today. It was bright and sunny but cool. I headed for the sheltered nooks and crannies, and it was not long before I detected the brisk movement of what I take to be a Zebra Spider (Salticus scenicus).

We have noticed these small striped jumping spiders in the garden before, usually in April or May, but this is a first for 2016. These spiders do not make webs because they jump on their prey, holding it down with strong jaws.  

NT Ickworth - lambs and moss

It was a delight to see the new lambs at NT Ickworth last weekend. 

They may not be 'wild' but they are certainly 'wonderful'!

The light may have been hazy,

but the bare branches of the tree

and the fresh green grass

are typical, if contradictory, indicators

of spring!

I was particularly struck

by this moss that lined the churchyard wall

in the Ickworth estate. 

I have included this close-up to show the fiery colours.  

I believe it is Wall Screw-Moss aka Tortula muralis.  

There is more about it here. 

I was intrigued by the thin strands of web in the photo above.
On my screen they show up much better if you click on the photo to enlarge.

And finally, do click the link here 

to take a look at Crafty Green Poet's photo

 of dew-drenched Capillary Thread Moss. 

Goldfinch Surprise

This was the scene outside our window this morning when a pair of Goldfinches came to peck the lavender. I am so glad that we had not cut off the dead seedheads! 

Double-decker Ladybirds

Double-decker quarters

We counted sixteen 7-spot ladybirds in our locality on Sunday. I shall be recording them on iRecord for the UK Ladybird Survey. 

Single berth!

Spring is in the air ...

More Frogspawn at Felixstowe

We went looking for spawn at Felixstowe over the weekend, and as you can see, it was still there. I am wondering what the difference is between the two clumps in the picture above. Please leave a comment if you can enlighten me. Is it just a matter of age? Incidentally, I have just joined iSpot so thank you to those who suggested that I might like to do this. It is taking me a little while to find my way around.

The photo below suggests to me that it will not be too long before we are past the spawning stage ...

My First Shieldbug of 2016 - perhaps

This is one of the first bugs I have seen in my garden this year. It was less than a centimetre long. The triangular marking makes me think it is something like a shieldbug or a stinkbug. It was small and narrow. I see that nymphs (in various instars) can often be more rounded in shape than adults. The size, however, might suggest a young insect, so I am rather confused. Do let me know if you can identify it.

On the 2016 insect front, we had a queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee quite a few weeks ago. Since then there have been one or two Ladybirds (no Harlequins here yet) and a couple of Bluebottle-type flies.

I am still waiting to see my first butterfly.

--------------------------------------------------

Update: 21 March 2016
Thanks to the kind people on iSpot, it seems this is not a Shield Bug but a Mirid, possibly European Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus rugulipennis).

Scavenger Hunt Photos

I so enjoyed the Scavenger Hunt entry on Amanda's blog that I thought I would have a go.

If you click this link to Greenthumb (Suzzie) you will find a list of words.

The idea is to match each one with one of your photos

taken during the month in question. 

I have had to use old photos 

this time.

Enjoy! 

*

Green

I have a feeling the Ladybird has found a Woodlouse hole! Taken at NT Sutton Hoo.

2

It takes two to Tango! You can read about Gorillas here.

Cool

 

We failed to see penguins, but we loved the Hebridean island of Gigha and its sign!

Somewhere you went

... Looking for dinosaurs on the island of Skye. New finds here.

Up

We took the cable car up to the Heights of Abraham, where we found these frogs.

Frame

View from the Hide, Gialova near Homer's 'sandy Pylos', Greece.

From a low angle

The mysterious Dozmary Pool in Cornwall, linked to Excalibur.

On the shelf

... to represent the Gondwanaland Shelf! Signpost in Marks Hall Arboretum, Essex.

Writing

Burns Cottage: perhaps not quite the red, red rose the poet had in mind!

Inside

Both are outside in the open air, of course; but which is on the inside of the fence?

Line

 

St Andrews seafront: a variation on 'three French hens'?

Shape

Somewhat skewed Teasel because I had to include the Ladybird!

I have undertaken this exercise as an experiment, using old photos. 

I hope to do it 'properly' next time, though whether I will find angles

 on all the March words I am not so sure! 

*

March comes in with a lion, feeling more like winter than spring

Winter and spring compete for the upper hand ...

... while the male Great Spotted Woodpecker and the tiny Blue bit share and share alike.

But will March go out like a lamb?

Tree Following - February and early March 2016

 Welcome to my Tree Following post for February and early March 2016. 

These tree posts form part of a wider project initiated by Lucy Corrander from the Loose and Leafy blog and continued by Pat at The Squirrelbasket. 

I am based in Suffolk, UK, where I have been keeping an eye on an Acer negundo (aka a Box-leaf Maple) and watching a Silver birch, B. pendula. I really enjoy following the Silver Birch, but have not found the Acer negundo such a rewarding tree to follow. I shall keep the Silver Birch but am swapping the Maple for a small Cherry sapling for my second tree.

You will find the other Tree Follower links by clicking the Mr Linky link here (or here) ... so do take the chance to have a look at these new posts!

The Silver birch is awash with catkins (see photo above), but I am still waiting for the first bits of greenery to break through. It has been a mild winter here with a reasonable amount of rain, so it should not be long now. I have seen small shoots of green on the Hawthorns in my area.

No sign of any green yet ...

The small Cherry, Prunus avium Sylvia, has two 'trunks' at present. These are really 'thin stems', and I have a feeling I should probably remove the newer one. The original trunk (which is more like a twig) has some fine buds on it, which I will keep an eye on over the next four weeks. This little tree began life with us in a pot, but we planted it in the garden last year, and it seems to have weathered the winter.

Prunus avium Sylvia ... bursting buds to watch

This is an odd-numbered month, so I will keep the update on my total tally of species seen around the Silver Birch or Cherry for April. I will, however, give a list of species seen since my last TF post:

• Robin (and another Robin) - busy collecting leaves under the Silver Birch
• Blue tits, a large cluster, often feeding on the fat-balls
• Great tits, again a good number of these
• Long-tailed tits, always in a small group, chittering as they fly
• Dunnocks, a pair under the Silver Birch
• Wren, in the undergrowth around the Silver Birch
• Starlings, every so often
• Blackbird, around the tree, rather than on it
• Magpies, quite a few
• Wood pigeons, the usual suspects 
• Carrion Crows, noisy ones at dusk!
• Great Spotted Woodpecker - a male and a female
• Grey Heron, flying quite low over the Silver Birch
• Sparrowhawk, which perched on the fence
• Goldfinches, a charm. These birds come and go
• Chaffinch, along the fence from the Cherry

We have had a couple of icy mornings this last month and one or two rather beautiful spells of stormy light at dusk. During yesterday's stormy sunset I noticed the fall of light on some tree trunks in the distance, way beyond my garden boundary (see photo below). I had seen the trees many times but had not realised until then that some of them were also Silver Birch.

Speaking of which, I also discovered that Silver Birch (Betula pendula) trees were encroaching on a nearby SSSI with sandy soil, noted for its population of Silver-studded Blue butterflies (Plebejus argus - which sometimes appears in print as Plebeius argus). These butterflies - and I would love to see one - need a spread of heather, meaning that an increase in the amount of Silver Birch trees in this particular context is apparently not good news. 

Sadly I have no new mammal sightings to report. The Grey Squirrel continues to visit the Silver Birch, in its attempt to carry off the coconut and berry feeders before the birds have a look in! I have now seen my first (active) 7-spot Ladybirds of the season, but they were not in the vicinity of either of my Tree Following trees.

And finally, a little more about the small Cherry. It flowered for the first time the year before last when it was in a pot. It seemed to be growing very slowly and we thought it was probably pot-bound, so we planted it next to the Acer negundo. It has certainly grown significantly and survived the winter, but we hope to have the chance to ask a garden expert about it soon. I would love to think that there will be more blossom this year!  


 MY PREVIOUS TREE FOLLOWING POST

• January 2016 to February 2016
• December 2015 to January 2016
• November to December 2015
• October to November 2015
• September to October 2015
• August to September 2015
• July to August 2015
• June to July 2015
• May to June 2015
• April to May 2015
• March to April 2015
• February to March 2015
• January to February 2015
• November to December 2014
• October to November 2014
• September to October 2014
• August to September 2014
• July to August 2014 
• June to July 2014
• May to June 2014 
• April to May 2014
• March to April 2014
• February to March 2014

More 7-spot Ladybirds ...

Having seen first one and then two 7-spot Ladybirds yesterday, I saw a group of three this morning, only to discover seconds later as the shrub parted that there were in fact four.

I have logged these with the UK Ladybird Survey, placing my records on the iRecord site.

STOP PRESS: My thanks to Amanda for this link. Don't miss it!

And do take a look at Amanda's beautiful blog, too!

My First (active) Ladybirds of 2016

Whoops: looks as though a little decorating would be in order!

I had begun to wonder when I would find my first Ladybird of 2016 so was particularly pleased to discover two on the door frame of my house. I had noticed one of them (unless it was a third) just below on a bush as I left for an afternoon appointment. On my return I got my camera and at first it seemed as though the Ladybird had gone ... but then I noticed not one, but two.

As before, I shall log them on the UK Ladybird Survey. They are both native 7-spots. I hope the weather will not turn too cold overnight as there are some chilly conditions forecast for some areas.

I have been looking through my Ladybird photos for unusual ones. I plan to post (or re-post) some of these in due course. Some of these insects are very colourful as you can see from the cover of this book about Ladybirds. I treated myself to a copy last year.  

Yesterday's Visitors ... Woodpecker and Long-tailed tit

I rather like this photo, showing that the Long-tailed tit's body

 is not much larger than the Great Spotted Woodpecker's head!

I don't think the Long-tailed tit would have continued to feed

if the male Woodpecker had arrived,

but these two seemed compatible eating companions.

This photo (above) shows the lack of red on the nape of the neck, 

indicating that this is a female. 

Look at the size of the claw on the Silver Birch trunk!

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!