Toft Sunrise and Frosty Wood

Sometimes we just have to rejoice in the good things in life like having sheep to talk to and a great sunrise. Yesterday was a clear sunny day from dawn to dusk. I spent the morning in Hardwick Wood which looked magical with the frost and clear light; occasionally spooky and certainly our very large golden retriever was very apprehensive about the Muntjac deer barking and the Buzzards mewing very loudly in the wood.

Snowdrops in Toft Churchyard

We have just a few snowdrops sowing in Toft churchyard along with White Dead nettle while the mosses on the walls and gravestones are in full fruit. A few glimpses of the flocks of Fieldfares on my walk across the fields to Comberton and back.

Frosted Fungi on Stumps etc

From Friday's trip to Hardwick Wood - fungi covered in frost that were growing on rotten wood or tree trunks. All photostacks only quickly processed in Zerene stacker - need a bit more work before saving the final image in many cases.

Jelly, Curtain and Bracket Fungi From Sandy Bedfordshire

Beautiful sunlight for macro photography at Sandy RSPB grounds yesterday and a good selection of the small fungi and mosses to explore with a close-up filter on my Fuji 23mm compact camera. This combination is very sharp and at F16 gives sufficient detail in the subject plus some separation. Except on the Candlesnuff fungus, I didn't notice all the dew drops when taking the photos!! Neither did I spot the small beetle in the second image.

Hardwick Mosses and Fungi

When the canopy is bare, it is a great time to photograph the many fungi, lichens and mosses that flourish on the woodland floor. I was using a close up filter on a wide angle (23mm) lens to give background wherever possible