Frost Patterns (18th January)

We had a couple of very cold nights before I went to Brighton and these wonderful frost patterns developed on our unheated bedroom window. They made me feel like I am looking up on a snowy starry night in a northern forest!!

Brighton Sunrise

Very colourful sunrise yesterday morning - just enough cloud to give interest to the sky and some good pools to reflect it in. Several groups of swimmers braved the water while the air temperature was well below freezing

West Pier Sunset, Brighton

After a rather disrupted train journey due to flooding and landslips, I arrived in Brighton in time for a very beautiful sunset. The West Pier is the roosting choice for a very large number of seagulls and I was also surprised how many people were sitting on the beach watching the sunset. I have a couple of nights here - the legacy of a postponed lock-down booking. 

 

Local Walks

We have had some lovely sunny days this week though getting progressively colder. I took a walk  up to Hardwick Wood and was surprised to find quite a few toadstools still apparent. This evening a lovely sunset though Ted was impatient to move on.

 

Paxton Pits Work Party

15 Paxton Pits volunteers spent 3 hours clearing willows and brambles from an area valuable for its invertebrate banks -ridges of sand left from gravel workings in that area in previous years. The banks were found to have a very rich invertebrate population when surveyed a few years ago but have now become quite overgrown. As well as vertical banks we also found a valuable small pond and an area which perhaps we will avoid in surveys as warns of quicksands

 

UV Photography: Lichens and Spider

There are quite a few scientific studies on the UV-screening chemicals in lichen which absorb UV light and then emit it at a different wavelength. The interest varies from a pure research level to document the occurrence, to more practical application such as aids to ID of lichens and as possible help in the production of effective human UV sunscreens, important as our radiation levels increase. I photographed some of the lichens I collected locally and at Paxton Pits to monitor the variations in intensity and colours. I also photographed some spiders that were living in the lichens along with abundant Collembolids (too small for the lens I was using), This spider is a female Misumena vatia