Nature – Page 2 – JustTheSam

Millipede

06. September 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Nature, Photography

I was digging the borders in the garden this afternoon, and amidst the stones, buried crazy paving pathway and weeds I found some interesting bugs. First up, a millipede, though I couldn't tell you what sort. My brief research suggests there are at least 50 UK species of millipede and they can be quite hard to tell apart. It was about 30mm long I'd say.

I got him side on from low down in this second shot, to see the little legs working away underneath in a wave like motion up the body. Millipedes have two pairs of legs per body section, easily seen here, whereas centipedes only have one pair per section. As always, click for bigger version. That's a gardening book in the background – we have a lot to learn!

House / Bath Spider: Tegenaria Duellica (AKA Tegenaria Gigantea)

02. September 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Nature, Photography

It's starting to get wet and wild outside as autumn replaces summer and that means it's time for big brown spiders in the bath. Here's one that Mrs C was delighted to find last night. Click for scarier, larger version!

A bit of research suggests this is an example of Tegenaria Duellica – i.e. Common House Spider in UK parlance. There seems to be a bit of confusion out there on the web (ho ho) as to the many close varieties of Tegenaria, but I think consensus is that Duellica and Gigantea are in fact the same thing, with Gigantea being the deprecated nomenclature.

This example is about 6cm across the legs, with perhaps a 16mm body. The long legs and slender body suggest it's a male, which makes sense as it's the males out roaming for a mate at this time of year, which is why we see so many of them all of a sudden.

Bats in Verulamium Park

28. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Culture, Nature

Last night we went down to Verulamium Park to watch bats. That's the big park in St Albans with river, lake, trees, Roman ruins etc. It was also a marvellous opportunity to refresh ourselves with the occasional ale from different pubs along the way, but that's by the by.

At half eight we emerged from the Fighting Cocks (a contender for Britain's oldest pub, though a weak one I think) and sure enough we were surrounded by swooping bats by the edge of the lake, emerging from the trees. It was pretty dark, but you could just about see them silhouetted against the dim sky. There were a fair few of them, and sometimes just passing by your face, apparently oblivious to our presence.

I took my camera, knowing that it was rather optimistic. I set to ISO 1600 (or 3200, or even higher at times) and f2.8 using a 105mm lens and quickly discovered that flash was an absolute necessity, not surprisingly. The on-camera flash (I don't have an external unit) allowed me to keep the shutter speed around 1/200s but still at super-high ISO. However I had to fix the focus manually at a distance about 4 yards ahead and aim extremely approximately with the camera away from my eye. It was quite impossible to see and track anything through the viewfinder, so it really was pot luck firing into the gloom as I saw one pass by. Most shots were of blank, black sky. A few included a small blob, blurry from both motion and incorrect focus. However I did luck out and get one shot that was head and shoulders above the rest. It's clearly a bat, though you can't say much more than that. You should have seen the rejects.

Speckled Wood Butterfly (as an iPhone Macro test)

23. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: iPhone, Nature, Photography

I happened across a Speckled Wood butterfly on our apple tree, that apparently didn't mind me shoving an iPhone about two inches from its delicate self. It was well into a sunny day so I didn't expect it to be so docile.

It also made for an interesting test of iPhone macro camera capability. The results in this picture are fair, though it has smeared the subtle feathery detail in the wing quite badly. I suppose that's to be expected from such a tiny sensor, with lots of anti-noise processing to compensate. The biggest difficulty I found was getting it to reliably focus on the point I was interested in, resulting in lots of shots of an in-focus leaf and a blurry butterfly. Theoretically you can tap the screen to indicate the point for focussing and metering, but I didn't find that to work particularly well. Worst of all it doesn't give any obvious positive or negative feedback on whether it thinks it has successfully locked on or not. I'd like it to flash a green square when it's got a good AF lock, and maybe a red disintegrating one if it has failed.

Note that this is a crop from the original. Click for higher res. Another major annoyance of the iPhone's Camera app is that when viewing the photos, it shows a low-res blurry version when zoomed in, leading you to think that the camera is significantly worse than it is, and making is very difficult to check focus. I really can't understand why they'd do this!

Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill

21. August 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Culture, Nature, Photography, Travel

A good few weeks back now, we visited Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill – a National Trust property near Cambridge. As usual no photos of the house (it's not allowed) so you'll have to take it on trust that it was an enchanting time-warp covering the last several centuries, with a warm, lived-in feeling.

The gardens were large and diverse, with natural woodland, formal gardens, meadows and everything in-between. There was a strong emphasis on nature, with many habitats set up to encourage wildlife. In one corner runs the river smothered in lily pads, to Lode Mill – an interesting building in its own right, but sadly the gear wasn't working when we were there. Moorhen chicks ran across the leafy surface of the river seldom touching the water and Banded Demoiselle damselflies glinted in the sun.

Onto the pictures! First, a rather fun door in the middle of the woods, followed by a Painted Lady butterfly at the edge of the dew pond.

A quick glance of the house itself, with the corner of a formal rose garden, then a nice carved post head – literally.

Finally, the approach to Lode Mill, which I absolutely loved, being a sumptuous watery green pathway.

Woodlouse Spider

18. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Nature, Photography

Look what Mrs C found in the bathroom today! A very large woodlouse spider – at least 25mm including legs, which seems to be as large as they come. I've seen smaller ones before, about half this size. Yes, this picture was taken through the side of the pint glass that I put over it! These slightly scary spiders have very large bitey things at the front (technical term chelicerae) and can give a nasty nip apparently, though are unlikely to.

Fly My Pretty

10. July 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Nature, Photography

Shaw’s Corner, at Ayot St Lawrence

09. July 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Nature, Photography, Travel

On a balmy summer's day (the day of the men's final at Wimbledon) we ventured back to Shaw's Corner for a stroll around its beautifully relaxed gardens. This is where playwright George Bernard Shaw lived for over 40 years. The house and gardens aren't huge, but I like their style – lazy, slow, ambling and pleasant. Lawns, shady paths, vibrant flowerbeds, meadowy orchards, languid trees, and all kept in a not-too-formal style that sees the stresses ooze out of me.

I only had my macro lens, so no sweeping panoramas – you'll have to take my word for it on the descriptions above, or visit the National Trust page I've linked to for that sort of thing.

This is a slightly frayed Comma butterfly, amidst the meadowy flowers and grasses.

Small Magpie Moth

28. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Nature, Photography

Here’s a close up shot of what I think is a Small Magpie Moth drying out its wings after recently emerging. Taken on a compact camera, with reasonable results. Below it is the earlier shot of it with wings still somewhat furled and slowly opening out, which is photographically rather poorer having not had any exposure compensation set.

Green-veined White Butterfly

10. June 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Nature, Photography

A very successful macro shot in the butterfly garden, if I do say so myself (and I do). This is a Green-veined White butterfly – apparently very common in the UK, but looking quite stunning with its wings folded. You can really see the mottled grey pattern on the surface of the eye.

JustTheSam