New Year Flower Recording

The BSBI (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland) run a New Year Plant hunt which I completed for Toft today, recording 16 species in flower.

Rainbow Clouds and Birds at Our Feeders

Rainbow clouds have been visible for several evenings recently. They are known as “nacreous” (or polar stratospheric) clouds and are very unusual in Britain. Nacreous clouds typically form in the winter polar stratosphere, a layer of our atmosphere around 15,000 to 25,000m in altitude. The stratosphere is generally very dry and so cloud formation is rare, but it seems as though recent storms may have driven moisture high into the atmosphere and the very low temperature turns any moisture in the air into ice crystals. On the down side, these clouds enhance the breakdown of the Earth’s ozone layer, as the ice crystals in the clouds encourage a chemical reaction between the ozone layer and gases such as chlorine and bromine (giving the colours). 

Nearer home lovely to see a flock of 10 Long-tailed tits in the garden plus the usual feeder species squabbling for possession.

Lichens Toft Wood

I 'upgraded' my android phone recently  (courtesy of eBay) as my previous one only had 32GB memory which was proving difficult to run the ID apps that are so useful for naturalists these days. Although still a 2019 model, this one has more memory and a much better camera so tried it out on some lichens in our local wood - the first four images including the first image which is two related species Lecidella elaeochroma and Lecanora chlarotera that are common on the ash tree trunks. Certainly the close up mode will be very useful for small specimens such as the minute Collembolids in a piece of rotten wood. The last four images are from the Lumix full-spectrum camera. The Hazel catkins are beginning to flower while the wood itself still looks very autumnal. 

ps. those who know Phil will be glad to hear he now has my old phone and so is officially 'Smart' .

Happy Christmas 2023

With all good wishes for Christmas and the New Year

Paxton Winter Water Birds

Thursday morning was dull with showers but it brightened in the afternoon so I took my camera out to see what wildfowl are around - pleased to see Goldeneye, Shoveller and Little Grebe. It was very windy so the water was choppy.

CCC London Trip: Wide-angle Architecture

Monday morning, after the colourful sunrise, was a very grey day - not usually the best for photographing architecture but I was surprised how much colour was present in the buildings along by City Hall - no colour has been added or changed just the saturation/vibrance increased. The images in Southwark Cathedral have the complementary yellow hue from the lighting and are photomerges of 4 images in the two wider views.