JESUS WOZ HERE. (14/08/16)

Far too many years ago when I was about three and a half feet tall we used to be dispatched to Sunday school. The curate used to tell us stories, he also had less desirable traits but solved the problem to everyone's satisfaction by gassing himself in the Parish Rooms. I can remember him recounting how the Donkey got the cross on it’s back………Jesus sat on it, he must have spun the yarn out a bit but that was the gist of it. Jesus was obviously here as well. Why he would want to ride on a spider I don't know.

Garden Cross Spider; Araneus diadematus.

This morning as it was slightly cooler and windless I decided to take the MP-E 65mm for a walk.

Stilt Legged Fly?

Whilst looking under leaves I found this tiny spider. It’s about 3mm long.

Erigone dentipalpis?

It is a little beauty whatever it is. I mislaid the next few insects I came across, they either fell from their perch or flew away which is a regular occurrence whilst I’m trying to get them in focus.

This one flew away after one shot but I noticed it had only flown from a Tansy flower head to a leaf a foot away. It’s a Mirid bug. I am reasonably sure it’s a Tarnished Plant Bug; Lugus rugulipennis.

Ichneumon Wasp?

That is all for today, enjoy the coming week. I’m hoping to get some video of a grand old diesel powered generator running tomorrow as a new injector arrived for it on Friday evening.

A QUANDARY. (13/08/16)

The weekend has dawned hot and sunny and the wind has blown away somewhere else.Yesterday I found a beautiful fungus but I can’t identify it with certainty.

It was this large and almost perfect specimen I found lurking behind a fallen pine. I am almost sure they are Velvet Roll Rims; Tapinella atrotomentosa. They used to be Paxillus sp. but just to add confusion they have been reclassified. The only doubt I have is that the gills don’t seem dark enough. I didn’t want to trash this older one to check and grovel as low as I could I failed to see the gills on it.

I do know what this is, it’s Rose Bay Willowherb or Fireweed.

Have a great weekend.

BIG ONE. (10/08/16)

Monday evening just as I was finishing tea a large tractor pulled into the yard. It had only come to fetch the dumper but it was impressive. It would have taken me all on to climb into the cab. I’d have needed some soothing music and a recuperative nap when I got there.

  It is smaller than the combine but still an impressive machine.

This morning I took a couple of flower pictures.

COMMON KNAPWEED

Thank you Keith

I now don’t need to guess which one. I used to think they were non prickly thistles but I am not that daft these days.

SELFHEAL.

I then wandered into the forest.

I decided to walk anti clockwise this morning and not twenty yards from the path I noticed this strange fungus. I’m not sure what it is as it seemed to be growing on a pine stump.

It is quite large at over a foot across and I think it is Chicken of the Woods; Laetiporus sulphureus.

It isn’t it’s Dyers Maizegill, Phaeolus schweinitzii. Many thanks Trevor.

I have seen this once before but I'm sure it was growing on Oak. This was a bit slimy so even if it is Chicken of the Woods I wouldn’t fancy eating it.

A LENS CHANGE. (08/08/16)

I fancied a change this morning so mounted the TS-E 24mm. This is a lens I ought to use more It focuses at a minimum of about half a foot, less with an extension tube and the aperture is from f3.5 to f22 shut right down. It is a really great lens. Before I get into today's pictures I thought I’d show you before and after versions of yesterdays landscape.
As shot but with white balance corrected and of course compressed for the web.
Run through NIK HDR one shot and dodged and burned. This isn’t an exact copy of yesterdays image as I deleted it by mistake and did it again.
On to todays pictures.

FOXGLOVE.

RAGWORT.

RASBERRIES.

These are abundant this year and I have been getting a handful or two most days for the last fortnight.

I am still deliberating I’ll update this post if I come to a conclusion. I popped these on a gatepost as the ground was too wet to lie on. The grass is there to prop them up.
I’ll leave you with a picture of a Garden or Cross Spider; Araneus diadematus. It has spent the morning weaving a web from my monitor to the side of an overhead cupboard. It was interesting as up until it had finished there was a big blob of silk in the centre and then in under a minute it was gone and she settled down to await a hapless fly.

Could it settle down with a top or front view? Not a hope.

WORTH THE WAIT? (07/08/16)

It is a wild and windy morning but last nights rain has departed east so we enjoyed a relatively dry walk.      It looks dismal but as I write this the sun is shining so it may be a reasonable day.

As has become standard practice I checked the Stinkhorns and had a pleasant surprise.

This is the one I have been waiting for but it is still much the same. Not one foot away a perfect specimen has grown and I never realised it was there.

Was it worth the wait? Yes I think so they aren’t rare but as they only last such a short time they are quite exciting. Two more fungi today.

This is Slippery Jack; Suillus luteus. These are edible and I did try them last year but you ought to remove the orange slimy covering. They are not really worth the bother but I may pick, prepare and try drying some for popping in stews.

The last one has me baffled. It’s growing on a Beech tree and a fine specimen. I am almost sure it isn’t Beech Bracket.

That's all for today, enjoy your week.

SH 1 TE. (05/08/16)

I went out at dusk to check on the Stinkhorns and nothing was happening. This morning the oldest one had grown but minus it’s smelly end, Shite. There is still one more to fruit and I am so convinced it will be perfect that first thing tomorrow I’m away up there with LED lights and a tripod for a bit of video. If the last one fails I still have another site which isn’t showing signs of anything yet. I’m weird but I love taking pictures of tiny insects and fungi.

The Sycamore aphids were the highlight of this summer closely followed by the Lacewing. Not really a highlight but it’s something I’ll never forget was spending several hours trying to re-fit the bracing arm under the combine, two of us tried it every which way and every other way for hours; it wasn’t in jacking distance of lining up, it only had two end plates and was a straight bit of square tube. I woke up, went down presented it and all the seven holes were aligned perfectly with the new axle and the combine chassis. That is akin to feeding folk fishes and bread. I did wonder if I should try water walking but after a seconds deliberation decided one was enough. The trouble that bastard caused. I know it was only this week but I’m still happy with the shots of the lacewing.

         A headless Stinkhorn

          The last chance at this site.

That’s about it for today I spent the morning helping to sort the brush buster deck out. It hit a big rock the other day and discombobulated itself. The spinner is away for some serious attention and brush busting will resume drektly….Drektly is a lovely South West of England expression which means as soon as he, she, me, it can be arsed. We got the combine out of the shed and after all the gearbox and other refurbishments it seems fine bar a bit of a TIG welded patch on the discharge auger elbow; no more than a couple of hours work and while the TIG welder and gas are here we can do some bits on the new grain dryers auger tubes.

I am gearing up for a harvest video. I like my Adrian's Images Logo thingy running as an Alpha Channel and will keep it but keep it shorter. It’s the one with an ‘A’ and an ‘I’ that split, spin around and subtly refract the background image…Oxford level compositing.  I’ll have to do it again as I know it is saved but where. Not only where but what as.  Quicker to do it again. I may even do it better as practise is everything with image adulteration.

Have a good weekend. Sorry about the formatting it’s gone all belly up and I have to guess. Formatting now fine but still guess work.

GREW SOME. (04/08/16)

It is a wonderful morning the sun is shining and there is a pleasant fresh breeze. The Stinkhorn has grown but then something has broken it. All week I’ve been waiting then it ends in tragedy.
First here is a picture of East Lomond looking grand in the early light.






                 Now for some snaps of the upset.

This is the original one which has done very well to last a week.
              This is the stump of the new one.

This is the smelly bit but it didn’t smell too bad at all. There are still two to go so all is not lost.
    I’ll have a stroll later and see what has happened to this one.
I have noticed a white mould covering several fungi and have never seen it before nor can I find anything about it.

Very strange, it is dry to the touch and doesn’t smell. This is the normal mould that appears on rotting fungi and horse muck .
                      Spinellus fusiger I think it’s called.
I’ll leave you with a perfect specimen.

I am not sure but think this is The Blusher, Amanita rubescens. If not then it’s something else.

SLOW. (03/08/16)

The stinkhorn eggs are doing absolutely nothing and we had a heavy thunderstorm  last night. I’ll check again tomorrow. I did find a few fungi this morning but the slugs had beaten me to most of them. I am also slow as every year I have to relearn the names of fungi I learnt the year before.
The mowers are out again and the new grain bin lid is fastened onto the combine. I’ll collect a couple of handfuls of grass from the deck when it returns and with a bit of luck there will be some stunning insects to snap.
Just a couple of pictures from today and one from a while ago.

This is Sulphur Tuft and this area is blessed with them, they are attractive but unfortunately not edible. I did pick a big bag of wild raspberries yesterday and then forgot to get any yogurt whilst out shopping; they were fine with a Weetabix and milk. I even had a little bonus protein as I noticed a couple of Mirid bugs in the bag but only found one whilst eating them.
These I found this morning and I think it is Honey Fungus. These are edible but not very tasty. I am not sure enough of the identification to bother trying them.

                                         HONEY FUNGUS?

This one is one of those that go slimy when wet but I doubt it is Porcelain  fungus as they grow on trees and under branches in clumps. I have had a quick look but am so far non the wiser. I’m slow to special needs today.

I did think this ‘whatever’ was perfect but notice the slugs beat me to it’s stalk.
I am going to have sticky chicken with cauliflower, spring cabbage and brown rice for tea. Not often I make this much effort unless I have visitors and not usually then. I generally get a whole chicken as it is fractionally cheaper to either roast it in winter or joint and fillet it in summer. Then I realised chicken breasts already done are about a pound each and I usually end up giving half a whole chicken to the dogs. Sorry dogs I got a packet of breasts yesterday so only two small mouthfuls for you.
Where is the mower it ought to be back? I bet he has stopped for a chat and the insects are escaping. Ho Hum.

A GOOD START. (02/08/16)

It was a bad start as after hiking my weary bones to the Stinkhorns there was no change at all so I came back and decided to do some hoeing.
I had just propped the hoe against the van whilst awaiting inspiration and summoning the mental and physical resilience to bend my back into some serious de-weeding when I noticed an insect I’ve been trying to get a picture of all summer.

I took some shots at various magnifications and as it was still dozy transferred it to a leaf. They are very difficult to get a focused shot of as they have a high frequency tremble, a bit like moths, the flash can’t freeze it at the settings I tried. I did switch from ETTL or auto strobe mode to 1/8th power to try and still the little devil but with little improvement. Naughty fly. It got bored and flew away before I could drop the flash to it’s fastest or weakest and up the ISO. Silly camera. It could be my fault but I doubt it.

Self doubt is just silly Dithery was a success to some and he never doubts the wisdom of giving knighthoods to plonkers and hairdressers. He never had an iota of doubt nor a smidgen of sense. Nor had he been shot at, run a country or done anything else useful. He employed mates to think for him which we paid for. Even his wife cost £60K a year for haircuts and advice on jumper colours. Why do we pay for these fuckwits. There are maybe 10% of folk who are special needs. Why are they ruling the country?
Anyway on to the snaps. It is a Green Lacewing and could be one of half a dozen but I am going to guess it’s Chrysoperla carnea. The Carnea bit refers to their carnivorous diet of aphids but all lacewings are carnivorous, beautiful little beasts and useful to gardeners.






That’s all, I’m a happy camper today. Middling happy, had I realised the possibilities of the head on shot with the wings behind I would have taken many more from this aspect. I would prefer them to have one pair of wings but short of drastic surgery it's not something I can do much about. The last shot does emphasise how little depth of field I have at 3X on the camera sensor. It also shows how dirty my van is and what steady hands I have. It is going to rain later so hopefully a bit of wet will inspire action from the fungi and wash some crap off the camper.