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What a guess - one sweet out.

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#ds500 - Éire, a photo by duckinwales on Flickr.

Éire

A bronze sculpture by Jerome Connor (1874-1943), hidden away in Archbishop Ryan Park in Dublin.

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Release after a long day at work.

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Light and Dark

Despite having done a few pictures today, this is the first picture in the blog not taken on the day. I've still got 250 images to sort through from the wekend in Dublin, so I thought it would be okay to use something from that weekend.

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Swift(ish)

The rear deck of the “Jonathan Swift”, and a bright blue Irish Sea sky.

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Bornite
Copper Iron Sulfide Cu5FeS4

Not a great image, but I couldn't resist the colour of this beautiful mineral.

Taken at the Natural History Museum in Dublin.

"...a curiosity called "peacock ore". A favorite among children, the bornite chunks sold as peacock ore or alternatively peacock copper have a rich bouquet of colors. The colors are from an iridescent tarnish that forms on bornite upon exposure to air. The tarnish is made of assorted copper oxides or hydroxides that form a mere atoms thin layer over the bornite. The thickness of the layers is close to the wavelength of light. When light waves bounce between the bornite surface and the top of the tarnish layer they will leave with the wavelengths of various colors. This effect is the same as the rainbow effect that occurs with oil on water. In the case of bornite, the tarnish will have a purplish, violet or blue color. Because bornite is often intergrown with chalcopyrite which tarnishes to more greens and yellows, the peacock ore may have many colors ranging from purple to blue to green to yellow.
www.galleries.com/minerals/sulfides/bornite/bornite.htm

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Liffey this evening

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Llyffant Dafadennog - Toads spawning

I am so pleased with my underwater housing - this shot satisfied the expense for me. Pleased because this is also my first COFNOD entry : )

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Suburban Skyline

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'Toad'Pond at the Elwy Centre in St Asaph.

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Homework

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A Houseleek or Sempervivum, the central rosette is surrounded by lateral offsets (giving rise to the name "hen and chicks")

The name "Sempervivum" has its origin in the Latin Semper ("always") and vivus ("living"). Sempervivum are called "always living" because this perennial plant keeps its leaves in winter and is can tolerate extreme living conditions.

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The last couple of days have bee glorious - the sun has shone and the temperature risen. As it's the weekend, I took the opportunity to dip the underwater housing into the pond to see how the 'poles are getting along. (The preceeding frogspawn images were taken last weekend (6 days ago)).

Oxygen bubbles surround the eggs, and a crown of algae is starting to form, however the eggs themselves have turned clear as the cell differentiation progresses.

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Basil seedlings

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A Night at the Museum

A Night at the Museum

I had a fantastic evening at the Brambell Building, part of the University in Bangor. As a student many years ago I loved spending time in the Natural History museum, and loved having the opportunity to go back and see the re-vitalised collection. The evening was followed by a series of fascinating public lectures on the topic of sustainability.

"As part of the Bangor Science Festival, this evening of talks, drinks and canapés will give guests the opportunity to discover the treasures which form the University’s Natural History collection.

Bangor University’s Head of Biological Sciences, Professor George Turner, welcomed guests to the museum and it's fantastic collections of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects, which are unrivalled in the region.

There has been a recent programme of refurbishment, to make the displays more informative and attractive, and we now plan to open the museum for school visits. Over time, we plan to develop educational resources to support these visits. This event is aimed at increasing awareness of the collection, so that it might be developed to provide maximum benefit to local schools. There will be time for guests to explore the collections and ask questions.

Guests are then invited to join the public lectures on the topical issue of sustainability, which are led by Quentin Clark, Head of Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability at Waitrose, and Bangor University’s Professor Gareth Edwards-Jones and Professor Gary Carvalho."
www.bangor.ac.uk/bangorsciencefestival/events/event25.php.en

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Perlagonium cutting close up.

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If you're an insect and you see this view, it is likely to be the last thing you'll see. Looking down the specially modified 'pitcher' or leaf of the Sarracenia. The drops of narcotic nectar attract the insects, which fall to their doom and are prevented from climbing back out by the downward pointing hairs and slippery sides.

For detailed information on Sarracenia's, take a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarracenia - it makes fascinating reading.

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Ice coated frogspawn this morning.

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Yay - the Frogspawn has arrived : D

The first serious chance to use my underwater housing, and the frogs kindly laid their eggs on a weekend - I'm sooo grateful! This year is exatly one week earlier than last year, although to my hands it doesn't seem any warmer.

Thanks to Kris for the title, and I'm pleased to announce a resumption of "The Tadpole Diaries"





Cleavage Stage 1 or 2

It's difficult to see now, but the zygote (fertilised egg) is going through the cleavage stage 1or 2 (next 4 - 8 - 16 cell stage and becoming a Morula - the start of differentiation)

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Disconnected - Wireless Router

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A breezy but beautiful night - so glad it's Friday : )

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Hidden

Coltsfoot flowers peek up between old boards at Brickfield Pond, Rhyl.

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A strand of Sphagnum Moss underwater.

My carniverous plants require a huge amount of water, in summer almost a pint a day per plant. I collect rainwater, but the pH is neutral, and algae quickly develop, turning the water green and slimy. The best way to avoid this is to have live Sphagnum Moss in the container. The moss takes up any spare calcium or magnesium, and releases Hydrogen ions, this acidifies the water quite dramaticaly, keeping it clear and preventing the growth of algae, fungi and bacteria (it was, and is still, used as a field dressing by troops) - all ideal for 'bog loving' plants.

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Coltsfoot - A ray of sunshine

A small yellow Coltsfoot flower, for me a sign that spring is here. Smaller (and prettier) than a Dandelion, the dainty Coltsfoot brings an early splash of yellow to acidic disturbed soils.

This one is growing next to the footpath at Brickfield Pond. The flower appears on a stem with no leaves, and in a month or so the leaves will appear after the flowers have gone.

It was a plant that I quicky learnt to recognise as a Forestry student, as it was a popular source of "emergency tobacco". The leaves can be dried and used in place of tobacco - and are today still used in many herbal cigarettes. Smoking Coltsfoot used to be a recognised method of treating Athma and Bronchial disorders as far back as Greek times (The latin name means 'Cough dispeller').

More info about its herbal uses and properties can be found at www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/coltsfoot.htm

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Seeking

I've always had a soft spot for these, ever since working in an estate greenhouse as a teenager. There were several thousand bulbs in 5 large Victorian greenhouses, and the nurseryman would tend to them first thing in the morning, at lunchtime, and then last thing in the evening.

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First picture with a new toy, a Canon WP DC34 Waterproof Case.

After my near disaster of the 6th February, I decided to treat myself to an underwater camera housing. It's certainly going to take a bit of getting used to, and you need to memorise the controls and use them with frozen hands (how anything can breed in water this cold is beyond me!) - but hopefully the new housing will open up a few new possibilities.

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A female Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) in the greenhouse.

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Watching

I know, not exactly Wildlife Photographer of the Year material, but to be honest I did feel quite priviledged to get this close to a wild corvoid. Certainly when he/she looked at me there was a definite recognition and intelligence behind the eyes.

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Glass Ceiling

Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) heads upwards towards a late ice ceiling.

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Inspiration

Another rushed picture this evening - a mad 13 hours at college and my brain is fried and it's dark and cold outside.

My art inspiration comes from many and varied sources, but one of them is my 'library'. This consists of an overflowing bookcase drowning in books.

My main source of inspiration is just being outside on walks (Mother Nature never fails to inspire/amaze). Other sources include Flickr (probably the second most important source) and Twitter, (then books), then objects in shops, then exhibitions, galleries, and the press.

The books include:

Wildlife in Peril - I collected the original partwork of Piero Cozzaglio's artwork when it was published in 1978 (I was eight) and I still have it to this day. I found his book in a charity shop last year for a £1. His artwork is so stunningly beautiful, and the book so moving it always makes me sad - thinking of the havon man wreaks on some stunning and fragile wildlife.

National Parks of America - A leaving present when working in a picture library - a wonderful book.

Angelika Sigl's Der Wolf - A book I worked on 20+ years ago!!

Intimations of Paradise - The second most expensive book I ever bought (and looking at the current price on Amazon I should have bought a dozen!!!) - wonderful.

Trees - I own three copies of this fabulous book, stuffed with dried leaves - one of my first 'serious' natural history guides, and still my most used - smells amazing (of dried Ironwood tree leaves)!!

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Spring seems to finally be on it's way, and a bright sunny St David's Day helped.