Paxton Insects and Fungi

The Hornets are still busy at their nest in an old tree trunk at Paxton. I took one or two close-ups but decided discretion was the better option on a warm day when they were very active. It was UK Fungus Day yesterday (World Fungus week from 4th) and Hunts Fungi Group led our Annual survey of Rory's wood area and listed 40 different species - some were collected to check their ID. 

Mini Garden Invertebrates

An interest in invertebrates can be a serious impediment to any gardening activity. I started to cut down some of the dead plants in the garden but decided to shake them to dislodge any creatures before putting in the green waste bins - a mistake as an hour later I was still photogaphing the abundant spider, snail and other mini-life - some 10 species of spiders alone!!

Toadstool Time at Paxton

The rain earlier this week has produced a good crop of fungi at Paxton Pits. Here are a few including resident flies and the very strange Green Lacewing larva covered in debris

Botanic Gardens 2

The weather was very variable on Monday and this was reflected in the 'colours' that the Full Spectrum camera recorded in the open and under the trees. My favourite ones were those taken under foliage such as the first image and those inside a Gunnera plant.

Full-spectrum photography at Cambridge Botanic Gardens

Most full-spectrum digital cameras can detect some ultraviolet, all of the visible and much of the near infrared spectrum (350 nm to 1000 nm). However, the longer infrared waves are recorded the strongest and remove much of the visible light in the blue and green areas in a full spectrum photograph. Here are some examples from a day in the Cambridge Botanic Gardens yesterday. Interested how the Greenbottle's metallic colours recorded so strongly despite the background information above!. The first image, taken with a lot of green foliage overhead cutting out some of the shorter wavelengths, reminded me of trips to northern Scandinavia and the views as our small plane came into land!!

CRUFC versus Ealing

 As Chris was away for yesterday's match, I went along to photograph CRUFC's match against Ealing, a fully professional team. The result was as expected (17-52) but Cambridge managed three tries and fought hard.