Underneath the ice, something stirred...

Having started the week with white-stuff a'plenty.....

...it was nice to see a thaw revealing some greenery again as the week went on. The snow is great and very pretty but this is 'England's Green and Pleasant Land' and our 'greenness' is what makes Kent  special.

By Wednesday, the countryside was looking like this..... 

As the thaw took hold things began to melt quite fast-at the bottom of the garden (or 'yard' if you're in the U.S.) there's an old butlers sink that doubles as a little pond. It's not much, but holds just enough water to encourage a few extra bugs and insects into the garden.

I lifted a slab of ice that covered the entire water surface from the sink and I guess was around 40mm thick to discover underneath a few bits of debris that had I suppose been in the water, but had now become stuck to the ice.

Amongst these I was very surprised to find something moving. I grabbed my camera and once I got the macro on this tiny, dark object, I could see that it was a damselfly nymph...

I hadn't realised that there were damselflies in the pond until now but even more amazing was that this little one survived the ice.

The other thing I spotted was this tiny creature...

I am fairly sure this is a water flea (Daphnia?) I wouldn't want to attempt a closer identity than this because, for instance, if it is Daphnia, this genus alone contains 150 species.

My first flying insect of the year appeared on the window one morning after heavy rain. I think it's a midge of some kind?

Having found the damselfly nymph I decided to check out the water barrel in another corner of the garden. This is a good spot for finding springtails and I wondered how they had survived. They ought to have done well as they can cope with very low temperatures.

I was expecting to find the usual globular springtails, but actually only spotted this one which I think is probably Vertagopus arboreus...

Vertagopus arboreus?

Out in the field I have struggled to find much of interest through the recent bad weather but there are signs of spring now and just today I saw a number of green leaf buds on trees.

I was also really pleased when I spotted this wild daffodil close to opening already...

It seemed to me that there must be a connection between finding this first daffodil of the year on the very day that would have been the birthday of a good friend I lost a year ago, called 'Daph'.

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On one recent outing, I did come across these little eggs... 

I thought maybe these were snail eggs at first. I was basing it mainly on their resemblance (although obviously smaller) to my African Land Snails. The other thought was possibly slug? I dismissed that idea because I have found slug eggs before and they have always been transparent.

Having had my curiosity aroused I decided to take a few home to observe. I didn't have long to wait because a few days later I was wishing that I hadn't dismissed slugs so quickly...

O.K. so my initial guess at an identity proved to be wrong but I now think that perhaps slug eggs are transparent until they are close to hatching when the colour of the slug becomes visible. If that's a load of falafel, then I would like to submit to the court that my second guess was right!

Of the few evergreen trees I noticed that there seem to be a large number of Holly that have been affected by the holly leaf miner...

The story of the little leaf miner is quite complicated but I've added a small diagram below showing the basics, then I'll add a link to a full explanation at the bottom of this blog post should you want to explore it further.

Ah, you see...I may be getting older but I'm not getting senile yet! If I add the link here, you'll be off to read that instead of completing my blog entry won't you.

In the same woods as I found the holly, I saw this very strange tree. I have added a version of this to my flickr page but it's one that I've added a sort of HDR effect to, this one is the original...

It looks a bit gruesome don't you think? As if it's been mortally wounded.

By way of compensation, I'll end this update with a 'pretty in pink' photo! This is a horned tree hopper that I photographed last summer in amongst the pink willow-herb flowers...

That's it then, until the next update.....

Link to the leaf miner life cycle in full

I think the cold may have affected my brain?

As January continues to be pretty bleak and even today there is more snow in the forecast, macro photography,especially involving invertebrates is just not worth the risk of damaging the camera.

Instead I have taken to using the little Lumix point and shoot for a while. The photos will probably not be a match for the DSLR but it makes for a good substitute until things improve.

CLICK ANY PHOTO TO VIEW ON BLACK

I said in my introduction that January has been 'pretty bleak' and that sums it up quite well-it is both of those things.

As well as the compulsory snow pictures I have also been keeping an eye out for any wildlife that might be braving the weather...

This little robin was flitting around in one of my favourite woods today and settled just long enough for a quick snap.

A grey squirrel that was climbing a small tree right beside one of the footpaths decided that,as there were no other nearby trees to escape to, the best form of defense would be to freeze in one position and hope that it wouldn't be noticed.

Each time I held the camera up to get a photo, it immediately scurried round the other side of the tree. I'd then move to the side where it was and back it would go to the previous side! Eventually I was quick enough to get this shot before it disappeared once more.

Meantime, the lane that leads to the woodland mentioned above was looking very pretty again today...

Back in the woodland and right at the base of one of the trees beside the pond featured in the second photo in this update, I found what appears to be a fallen wasps nest? I imagine it had been higher up inside this hollow trunk at one time.

Hmm..looking at it again,could it be bees?

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Changing tack for a second-here's something to consider...

Which path to choose?

Sometimes in life we get offered a choice of paths to choose and it's so easy to get it wrong isn't it. Should I choose the familiar safe,comfortable path that means I'll remain in my comfort zone? Or should I go for the one that I have never walked before and might offer excitement and even danger before I reach my destination?

Personally,I have been offered a choice of paths several times in my life and always opted for the safe, familiar one. The result of that is,I now have regrets and  'what might have been' moments. Isn't it better to walk the unknown path with all it's promise of what you may discover than continue to trudge the familiar path,knowing what's around every corner?

Wow! What happened there? I forgot for a moment this is a nature blog; I thought I was back in the psychiatrists chair!

Anyhooo...

Speaking of chairs,or at least benches-here's a sad,lonely and cold bench that is longing for a nice warm bum to come sit on it! Apologies, I just don't know what's gotten into me of late, I think my mojo has backfired? At least I didn't have the courage to follow the sentence about the 'bum' with what went through my mind!

Ahem...

I'm not sure what happened with this shot. I took it around the same time as t'others but it seems to have some very strange colour effects going on. I kinda liked it for all that and so decided to include it anyway.

Everyone seems to be photographing snowmen and so I thought that was a bit sexist and I should have a snow-woman instead!

I kind of like this one and actually had quite a conversation with her and she didn't interrupt me once!

Note: All complaints regarding this statement should be directed to Mrs Mary Whitehouse c/o Highgate Cemetery, London.

Well, I've never forgiven her for her stand against the permissive society!

Back in the real world-Herbie the terrier has been lovin' the snow and has gone from asking to be carried everywhere because of the amount of saturated ground, to running around until his feet, that he seems to have forgotten are sore, are so clogged with snow and ice that he's on the way to turning into a walking ice-sculpture.

I'll take my leave of you now and go sit down in a quiet corner until my brain stops giving me a hard time and encouraging me to spout all this nonsense!

Until the next time then...

"I've got a pocketful of bees".....

Having spent sometime now suffering the indignity not to say inconvenience of the dreaded 'man-flu' that culminated in being woken one night by the sound of my own voice calling out "I've got a pocketful of bees"  (yes, I was asleep but had dreamt I had a pocket full of live bees!),I was so pleased when today at last I felt the urge to pick up the camera again.

My enforced sabbatical, probably not the best choice of descriptive word actually, as I believe a true sabbatical lasted in excess of 2 months and even I couldn't claim my suffering was of those dimensions but it did keep me away from the real world for a while and long enough for Lennon's terrific 'Watching The Wheels' to keep running around my head-alongside that is, the little guy with the lump-hammer trying to blast his was out of my skull.

Yesterday when I rose from yet another fitful night's sleep (you don't think I'm laying this flu thing on a little too thick do you?........ Oh good)- my other half said to me " You're still coughing quite badly" "I know" I said, "I've been practising all night too".

I'm rambling already-perhaps I'm still delirious? Nurse! Nurse!....

Ah! I remember now, photography.....

What I was thinking of impressing on you was that in terms of insects and bugs to photograph, I didn't really miss out. The weather has been so poor of late in this part of the world that subjects would have been next to impossible to find anyway.
And so, (finally, he's arrived at the point of the blog entry?),to ease myself back in with nothing more stressful than a stationary target, I decided on taking a few photos of the ice that had formed in our back garden.

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO VIEW LARGER & ON BLACK

(These do seem to show more detail against the black background)

These shots were all taken of the ice that formed on our bird-bath. I used a diffused flash as the light is still quite poor at this time of year. It's amazing just what patterns and formations there are. I could look at these for ages and pick out different things each time.

The ice pictured above is just something that formed on the very edge of a plant pot.

This last image is a closer view of an ice block

After an hour or so in the garden taking these photographs, I began to realise that it wasn't quite as mild as I had assumed from my chair in our cosy living room and probably the best course of action would be to 'leg-it' back to that very same chair!

By then my camera hand was f-f-f-f-freezin' cold,so much so that I made myself a hot coffee and then spilled it in my lap- but actually enjoyed the sensation. Yes, it has been a cold February in Kent, so much so that when our electricity bill arrived this morning it had a letter of condolence attached to it.

Freezing temperatures, a dose of the flu (did I mention that already?),a dearth of inverts to photograph, that has to be winter's last efforts to depress me right? From now on things are set to change-I can feel it in my water, although, thinking about it further, it may not be change I can feel in my water? It could be 'Lem-sip'?

No, that's winter's last hoorah! I'm sure of it.

Until the next time then...

Postscript: The news of my work in print that I spoke of a couple of entries ago has now become a reality and I shall be contributing an article with photos to a local free paper 4 weekly from now on.
I'll try and post a copy of each one as it appears on the 'Published Articles' page of this blog. I have already added the one for Feb.

The days are getting longer...

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, I've meant to add to it of course but events have conspired to keep me away from the P.C. However, here we are,January 16 already and mid-way through what must be, thus far, one of the quietest winter's in a long while?


Last year at this stage for instance we had already endured around 6 weeks of pretty harsh weather with very cold temperatures. This photo was taken around the same time last winter.

It has only been over the last couple of days that we have seen anything like a hard frost, today provided us with a hoar frost, only the second of the year.

If I understand it correctly, I think a hoar frost is when tiny ice crystals form on vegetation or any object that has been chilled to below freezing.The formation of hoar frost is similar to dew, with the exception that in a hoar frost the temperature of the object it forms on is below 0 deg.

Click on any picture for a larger view

Hoar frost on branches

Hoar frost on one side of a grass stem

It does make for some fantastic images though and really does transform ordinary objects into something of beauty. Here's another example, a bramble stem that I probably would never bother to photograph ordinarily but...

And so what of the winter wildlife I hear you cry!   I do hear you crying that don't I? My hearing's not what it was when I was a 'knee-high to a grasshopper-whipper snapper' I use the term 'whipper snapper' advisedly as I believe it refers to a 'young, impertinent person' and I was certainly (and some would say, remain) that.

Anyhow, I'm wandering from the path again, you wanted to know about the wildlife?

Those who know me well will tell those that don't, that invertebrates are what 'float my boat'. You will tell me when you get fed up with these constant clichés by the way, won't you? Or shall we 'cross that bridge when we get to it'? After all 'what goes around...O.K. I'll stop now.

Actually, he who hesitates is lost....and so I'll start again. As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself- my main passion is for insects and bugs but having spent quite a bit of time at a friend's house of late and observing the wonderful array of wildlife she has visit the garden (including a Kestrel on one particular day) I have become quite fond of one particular critter that turns up on a regular basis to raid the bird tables.Here is the culprit in question.....

Sciurus carolinensis

Yes, it's the Grey Squirrel that so many folks have a real disliking for. The line I hear quoted most often being "They're nothing more than tree rats". Then of course there is the much greater issue of these nasty beasts causing the demise of our native 'Reds', in truth, the whole question of the definition of 'native' is a 'can of worms' (apologies, I just can't seem to help myself).

After all is said and done! (cliché number 7) how many folks can say with any certainty that they are a true native of the U.K.? But do we insist on culling those that we deem to be interlopers? What then of the poxvirus? Answer: There seems to be no proven link from Greys to Reds, in fact the virus once affected the greys as it now affects the reds, a few survived it and developed a resistance to it; there's no reason to think other than the same could well happen to our red population.

The truth that is undeniable is that conservationists have been encouraging the planting of native deciduous species of tree at the expense of conifers and that just happens to suit the grey population rather than the red.

I'll get off my soapbox now and introduce you all to my new friend who you got a glimpse of in the photo above. What that photo doesn't show though is why I feel for this particular creature.

Yes, blind in one eye and yet still managing to survive (so far) this little grey also seem to have damage to the mouth area, with an odd looking front tooth.

Otherwise, it seems to be healthy enough and certainly displayed just how agile he/she is.

Click on this photo for a little animation

Old ' One-eye

Herbie the terrier knew one-eye was there
 & one-eye knew that Herbie was there...

In my own garden I've been conducting a few collembola searches having already turned up one unusual species. It was whilst I was engaged in this satisfying, but ridiculous looking. hobby that I came across two large caterpillars on the underside of a geranium leaf.

A little research together with the knowledge of the plant they were feeding on soon revealed them to be the larva of the Angle shades moth.

Phologophora meticulosa

These are one of the species that over-winter as larvae but even so, it was quite a surprise to find a couple feeding within a couple of hours of a really hard frost having cleared.

I've included this larger view as I haven't been able to fathom just what this one is eating. It does look like an insect to me and I know that some caterpillars will sometimes eat insects but with this being a natural light only shot, the detail is just not good enough to be sure, unless you can enlighten me?

The weather has been such that I have recently been spending some time in the garden clearing up and even cutting the grass. On inspection of the compost bin for likely subjects the only thing of interest I spotted seemed to be an earlier instar of the same species of caterpillar.Much smaller and of course a variation in markings but I can only assume they are the same.

I'll leave you for now with another shot of the frost from just yesterday morning at around 7.30am. I hope to be back here again very soon and should have some exciting news by then about some of my work in print along with what I hope will be another set of interesting wildlife finds and photos, the days are already getting longer and sunset is now at 4.30pm.

Until the next time then.....(keep your pecker up!)