ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Thursday, 22 January 2015

HAIR ICE. (22/01/15)

We have had a grand wander through the woods. The weather is still fine, the wind is getting up a bit and the temperature is a nippy –4oC.

There was lots of Hair Ice to admire. I’ll not apologise for posting more pictures as it is not often I see things I’ve never seen before and since I first saw it on Monday I’ve not seen it since. It must require an ideal temperature to grow.

_MG_2459

_MG_2460

_MG_2468

_MG_2469     The individual filaments vary from 25mm in length to about three or four times that, it’s difficult to tell exactly as they always seem to curl up a bit. I have a dozen or more pictures from this morning but will spare you the rest.

Whilst rooting around in the leaf litter I looked up and noticed this growing on an old tree stump.

_MG_2462   It is a very large Many Zoned Polypore. I don’t think it is green, well it is but I think the green is some sort of tiny moss or lichen growing on it. I didn’t have my little plastic box with me but have marked it’s location and if I remember I’ll get a bit and have a closer look. I really ought to have done the same with the Hair Ice and popped it under the microscope. I am not really with it at the moment.

I have quite a few comments to catch up on and will get round to it but I have a couple of dozen images to edit for print and I must sort out my Actions thingy in CS6. I don’t know what half of them are and some don’t even work. There must be thirty or so and it means I can’t find the ones I want easily. I’ll also have to check a couple of sets of batteries as the ring flash died on me this morning. It could have been the cold but it wasn’t that cold. I know it is not very green but I buy Maplin AA batteries in packs of fifty or a hundred. Catch them when they are on special offer and they are less than ten pence each and last far longer than Duracell.

It looks as if the weather is going to turn warm and wet for a few days. Mrs Sparrow Hawk has been back this morning. What a clatter, she must have hit the feeders at fifty miles an hour, the peanuts are all over the floor as are the fat balls. She got another Chaffinch; she is starting to treat the place like the butchers or poulterers. So much for moving everything around. I wouldn’t mind too much if she would pose for a picture. I assume she’s a she as it has orange colour where the beak meets her feathers.

If I don’t post tomorrow have a great weekend.

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43 comments:

  1. The Herald22 January 2015 at 14:06

    I'm glad that you managed to find some more Hair Ice Adrian... and you also captured another set of super shots of it too. It's amazing stuff to see, isn't nature wonderful?
    Yep!..Many Zoned Polypore or Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor)...much prettier when it's younger.

    Have a good weekend and I hope that date goes well!!...[;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN22 January 2015 at 14:25

      Trevor, it is amazing stuff and thanks for telling me what to look up and read about.
      This morning was wind free and about -4/5C it has to grow in shade. -2C and nothing happens. It does it on Birch and Beech twigs that are just starting to loose their bark. I bet if you soaked a suitable stick in rain water and set the freezer low it would do it.

      This is a monster it's individual bits are several inches in diameter The fungus is about a yard across.

      The date will have to wait she is only coming for a memory stick full of snaps. I'll treat her to a pie and a pint as she is lovely to look at.

      Delete
  2. Joanne Noragon22 January 2015 at 14:19

    That sounds exactly how the hawks hit the squirrel nests, then back peddle with their prey. Or is it reverse. Astounding they can reverse out so quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Author R. Mac Wheeler22 January 2015 at 15:02

    hope the weather improves. Hugs to Mol and Alf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:05

      R. Mac., I enjoy cool dry weather. It has warmed up this morning and is drizzling. Too dark to tell how hard.

      Delete
  4. Mersad22 January 2015 at 17:15

    Absolutely love the ice macros! Fantastic!

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    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:06

      I do Mersad. I waas thrilled they did it again.

      Delete
  5. Frances Garrood22 January 2015 at 17:22

    That hair ice is stunning. I'm glad you've left your somewhat risqué topics of yesterday. There's just so much I can cope with in this cold weather(actually, could the cold be part of the problem, Adrian?).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:08

      The ice is beautiful.
      Could we forget about my little problem?

      Delete
  6. Margaret Birding For Pleasure22 January 2015 at 17:43

    I am so glad you found more Hair Ice. Your images of it are facsinating and very beautiful

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:10

      Margaret, I'll have to see if it will do it in a freezer.

      Delete
  7. Bas.22 January 2015 at 18:05

    Adriaan what this is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hilary22 January 2015 at 18:34

    These images are lovely. Fascinating finds, Adrien.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:12

      Hilary, whilst reading about it on Google I noticed it does appear in Canada. It is wort looking for.

      Delete
  9. Douglas Mcfarlane22 January 2015 at 21:20

    Now the sprawk knows the birds are around it'll keep coming, given the weather and location it's probably an easy target hopefully you'll get an image. The hair frost is amazing, what causes it to form like that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:15

      Douglas, it is here and away in the blink of an eye. Kestrels will often stay to eat their catch but this just zooms off.

      Delete
    2. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 08:22

      Douglas, I'm not sure but it grows from it's base from pores in the twig or branch. Google has a couple of articles on it.

      Delete
  10. FOREST SNAPPER22 January 2015 at 21:26

    Thats a great set of photos,taken well.

    peter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:16

      Peter, the ring flash does all the work. I rarely bother with macros without it.

      Delete
  11. Midmarsh John22 January 2015 at 22:08

    The Hair Ice is fascinating. Makes good pattern photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:18

      John, I'll probably never see it again. I did try back lighting it but it doesn't work as well.

      Delete
  12. timoebasilico22 January 2015 at 22:37

    I Never seen somethings like this ice before

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:19

      Laura, neither had I until this week. It is great.

      Delete
  13. Red22 January 2015 at 23:26

    The hair ice photos are awesome but the idea of hair ice is intriguing. I will have to see what I can find on it. Maybe I have hair ice here.. Very few people have seen the sparrow hawk in action although it is a little falcon. They are incredibly swift.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 06:23

      Red, if you Google it there are a few articles on it try this one HAIR ICE

      The best place to see them is a falconry centres.

      Delete
  14. Glo23 January 2015 at 01:32

    Amazing photos of the hair ice ~ thanks so much for sharing them... fantastic :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Em Parkinson23 January 2015 at 11:02

    Hi Adrian, Joanne Noragon mentioned you and your frost flowers (as they're known round here) as I published one too yesterday. This morning the frost is very hard and the field where I keep my pony is covered in them; lots of dead Beech twigs lying around which they seem to favour. Are yours on Beech? Best wishes, Em.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 11:30

      Em, I just visited your post. Some grand landscapes and pictures generally. I still have seventeen images to edit for print today but will have a good look at your Blog. It looks excellent.
      Most of these are on Beech but a few are on Silver Birch. It doesn't seem to favour Pine or Willow.

      Delete
  16. Yorkshire Pudding23 January 2015 at 11:05

    The hair ice pictures are amazing. I guess the air must be quite still to allow the filaments to grow?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 11:32

      YP, most of it grows in very cold leaf litter so it is sheltered. Sometimes it seems to be a bit clumpy and that is usually where it is more exposed.

      Delete
  17. Jordi López Pérez23 January 2015 at 11:27

    Estas son mejores que las anteriores, Adrian. Unos primeros planos fantasticos, me gustan!!!
    Un abrazo y buen fin de senana.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 11:34

      Jordi, éstos se iluminan mejor creo. Usé un flash de anillo.

      Delete
  18. DawnTreader23 January 2015 at 18:06

    Oh, so it WAS ice. You're confusing me ;) ...

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    Replies
    1. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 18:22

      Monica. yes ice. It confused me. On Beech twigs it's triggered by carbondyoxide released from fungi but having Googled it I don't think folk are sure. It's worth looking at little sticks for. Birch twigs do it.

      Delete
    2. DawnTreader23 January 2015 at 18:50

      My first thought was it looks like rime frost but only in certain spots? I suppose it might have to do with humidity affected by the fungi? Anyway it's beautifully weird, isn't it - keep looking :)

      Delete
    3. ADRIAN23 January 2015 at 19:29

      Monica. It is weird. It just does it from time to time. You keep looking as well.

      Delete
  19. ImaBurdie24 January 2015 at 05:02

    I wish I had read up on your current travels approx 1.5 weeks ago. Have you been to Parrot Island in Oban?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN25 January 2015 at 06:51

      ImaBurdie, I have been to Kerrera but I didn't visit this time and have never been to The Parrot sanctuary.

      Delete
  20. Graham Edwards24 January 2015 at 13:43

    Hair ice is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things I have seen on one of your photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ADRIAN25 January 2015 at 06:53

      Graham, I was really chuffed that it did it again. I tried to get a stick to produce it in Donald's freezer but no luck so far.

      Delete

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