Coltsfoot inviting pollination As photographers, we all have different interests. Back in 2014 I began to think macro for flower photographs. Down on your knees, in close and what you see is quite unlike a walker's view. These are the reproductive parts of a flower of interest to pollinators.
Each day I watched the swelling coltsfoot buds until the sun shone strongly, the buds burst open, and the sun's warmth triggered a release of pollen for bees. At night, the flower closed-up again, but once the petals had unfurled they didn't go back quite so neatly.
Each day I watched the swelling coltsfoot buds until the sun shone strongly, the buds burst open, and the sun's warmth triggered a release of pollen for bees. At night, the flower closed-up again, but once the petals had unfurled they didn't go back quite so neatly.
This coltsfoot looks lovely. I found it on a kerb above the gutter on the bridge over the Kendal By-Pass. For a macro photograph I had to hunker down in the gutter. I had been collecting litter and had empty alcohol containers on the ground by my side. So the two car drivers who stopped to ask if all was well were particularly kind!
I love this image, the pattern and design. The petals look as if they're a basket wrap around golden eggs. If someone had shown me this picture with no clue of date or habitat I'm not sure I'd recognise the flower. This ins't how coltsfoot is shown in a flower guide. I took these images on 10th March 2015, so now is the season for coltsfoot.
Click on images to enlarge and read captions
I love this image, the pattern and design. The petals look as if they're a basket wrap around golden eggs. If someone had shown me this picture with no clue of date or habitat I'm not sure I'd recognise the flower. This ins't how coltsfoot is shown in a flower guide. I took these images on 10th March 2015, so now is the season for coltsfoot.
Click on images to enlarge and read captions
My next image if carline thistle, common on limestone grassland. I watched a bee pollinating the flower, remarking how colouring of flower and bee were similar. Carline thistle can be found in March, stubby, close to the ground, spiky and straw-coloured. To see more images of the thistle in bloom, being pollinated see
blog post 15 July 2018, Scout Scar in Gold Ochre. The archive will take you there.
blog post 15 July 2018, Scout Scar in Gold Ochre. The archive will take you there.
If you'd like to experiment with pattern and design in the natural world, no need to look far. Leaves and flowers in the garden make a good study. In January 2017 I was walking at Claife Heights with friends when I was struck by this oak leaf with an icy blade of grass. I took a couple of pictures quickly with a smartphone, and cropped them- that's all.
Skylark can be difficult to photograph. I include this male because he's beautiful. If you think of skylark as having an exquisite song but looking rather dull just look at the patterns of his plumage. Skylark are singing right now.
Skylark can be difficult to photograph. I include this male because he's beautiful. If you think of skylark as having an exquisite song but looking rather dull just look at the patterns of his plumage. Skylark are singing right now.
In autumn spiders' webs will be highlighted by raindrops or on a morning when there is dew. Their design is beautiful. Heather looks lovely in bloom and I like its rich colours in autumn and winter too. Look for spiders webs on the face of dry stone walls- there needs droplets of moisture to show up their design.
24 March 2020. Stay at Home
Sunday 22 March was like a Bank Holiday on Scout Scar. Camper van with tourists roadside, groups far larger than family groups not observing social-distancing. The day was still so you could hear bikers miles away, and the Kendal ByPass was busy. Apparently there was a mile long queue of people for the ascent of Snowdon! . Beaches packed with trippers.
Lots of folk were concerned at the flouting of Govenrment advice and sent pictures from their phones to our MP Tim Farron, highlighting the problem. There is cross- party support for restrictions resulting from a week-end of that graphically illustrated the public's failure to recognise the seriousness of the Covid 19 pandemic. So, harsh restrictions. From today, Stay at home.
I had written this blog before the announcement. You can have fun with a camera in your garden, from indoors looking out. I'm looking to photograph garden birds, you never know what will show. And as I have a vast archive of photographs I'll be going for a retrospective sometimes.
24 March 2020. Stay at Home
Sunday 22 March was like a Bank Holiday on Scout Scar. Camper van with tourists roadside, groups far larger than family groups not observing social-distancing. The day was still so you could hear bikers miles away, and the Kendal ByPass was busy. Apparently there was a mile long queue of people for the ascent of Snowdon! . Beaches packed with trippers.
Lots of folk were concerned at the flouting of Govenrment advice and sent pictures from their phones to our MP Tim Farron, highlighting the problem. There is cross- party support for restrictions resulting from a week-end of that graphically illustrated the public's failure to recognise the seriousness of the Covid 19 pandemic. So, harsh restrictions. From today, Stay at home.
I had written this blog before the announcement. You can have fun with a camera in your garden, from indoors looking out. I'm looking to photograph garden birds, you never know what will show. And as I have a vast archive of photographs I'll be going for a retrospective sometimes.
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