Buzzing Ivy by Moretaine Manor

I knew there was only a slim chance of windsurfing activity at Brogborough as there had been a big event over the weekend on the South Coast, so I put minimal camera gear onto my bike, so that the journey might at least serve as exercise, and any way I could check out signs of insect activity lakeside, then choose a different location thereafter. On arrival there was no action, so spotting that some of the windsurfing wetsuits had blown from the line, I did my bit and rehung them on the line to give them a chance to dry. Before cycling back, I cycled past the club area and headed to Lidlington, where a single pink rose swayed in the breeze with an ichneumon wasp resting on it, there were also a few what I took to be red wild roses, and a short distance away a tree laden with crab apples.

I took a few shots here, one of which was a giant concrete Lego Brick; an increasingly frequent sight in this neck of the woods due to the nefarious parking of itinerant travellers’ vehicles who seem to delight in wrecking any available green space that they can find before the authorities can muster the paperwork to evict them. I then returned to take a wander close by Moretaine Manor, which is now a hotel.

At the entrance is a large ivy bush, and it was alive to the silent activity of late pollinators, so my journey was undoubtedly not wasted. I put the Canon 7D and 100mm Macro to use capturing them and was there for a reasonable time before cycling back to create another gallery of images. The majority of the pollinators appeared to prefer the shade to the sunlit side of the bush, which meant having to operate at 1000 to 1600 ISO making it difficult to freeze them when in flight, and I am certain that if I were not there with a camera they’d have been in the warmth of the sunny side! I am convinced that all wildlife is fully aware of photographers’ kit, as when I take a long lens to a kingfisher spot, they perch close by me knowing that I cannot focus so close, or they sit on a branch at a reasonable distance from me, but shielded by a thicket of intervening branches and leaves.

But my trip did provide both exercise and some images, so it was an hour well-spent, and provided me with some card imagery as well as fresh air, now I need a piece of kit called Printer Potty ordered from the Internet to arrive so that I can put my printer back together, as it is taking up valuable space in the kitchen, stripped right back to its chassis! For anyone facing an overflowing ink reservoir on their printer, I cannot recommend the man selling this item, enough; he is absolutely charming, exceedingly helpful, and the product receives excellent reviews.

ABC – Autumn Bedfordshire Colours!

Why do free time slots occur when the sun is hiding? I had earlier seen some splendid autumn colours along the A421 in late afternoon sunshine, but when free to get out and try to capture the panoply of autumn hues, the sun was behind clouds. But to fail to record them at all seemed a poor option, so I headed out to see whether with a long lens I might be able to see some of that regardless, but the geography made that impossible, so I sought out areas that were more accessible from the countryside nearer me. And initially much closer – within the reach of the 90mm Tamron Macro!

Leaves, acorns, brambles, late roses, and puzzling holes in the verges – I am left wondering which small animals were responsible for these thinly disguised entrances, marked from the dying grasses. I found red leaves on roadside trees, and in a field, rows of cultivated bushes. Later, I even found some late roses and holly with berries; definitely greeting card fodder.

Strangely, also a small area of hedgerow literally teeming with energetic wasps of seemingly different ages to judge from the span of sizes, and they were intent on a very specific seed structure; that of ivy, which resemble a tiny World War II mine at normal viewing distance, but when close, resemble small green flowers on extending stems, obviously supplying an inviting taste to wasps. I had never seen such a number, other than when seeing a cluster of rotting windfall apples.

Altogether a fruitful time for the dying colours of Autumn. The American term: Fall, only describes the results of the action of the wind on the dying leaves from the trees, the English term: Autumn, describes so much more; the range of colours, the russets against the fading green, and the pale yellows with blotchy specks of black, the last warm winds that signal the end of summer and the rains that will herald the cold of the coming Winter.

I hope the gallery of pictures has captured something of an English Autumn, not simply the carpet of fallen leaves.

Windy Wednesday in the Walled Garden

I had had too much grief in front of the computer; I needed to get out, so even though I knew it would be rather late, and it was both dull and very windy, I took myself off to the Walled Garden at Luton Hoo.These winds were the precursor to autumn, or as the Americans would say Fall. I prefer autumn to the the more prosaic description to just the single aspect of the dropping of leaves. Autumn evokes the colours of the season, and today despite the inclement weather still had the colour of late summer flowers, and the leaves have yet to fall.

My patience was somewhat tried as some shots took several minutes of waiting for the lull in the wind, and nothing could be grabbed as I had little margin of error due to the low light level. And at the best of times patience is not really my strong suit, and these last few weeks have not been the best of times. I persevered, and the end result is more colourful than I had expected. Many of the volunteers had already finished, but there were still several hardy perennials determined not to be defeated by the weather, and they had obviously worked hard clearing the weeds and thinning out the plants and flowers that had past their best.

The handcart is nearing completion, and the next in line for refurbishment, now that most replacement parts have arrived, is the Drag Saw. It is hoped the handcart will be ready in time for the Pumpkin and Apple Gala Day, and certainly the Apples and Pears are the best I have seen, having suffered less from the ravages of wasps and the like.

Luton Hoo Visit 26-7-11

Wednesdays are volunteer days at the Walled Garden Project at Luton Hoo, and the morning started very grey and cloudy, so I worked in the morning and only went over there once the sun was shining, because I had heard that a humming bird hawkmoth had been seen in the gardens a fortnight back, and I knew they needed bright sunshine to appear.

However, I was to be disappointed, there was no sign of it. I was told that I should take a look in at the Cactus house as there was a splendid flowering of no less than five heads from one. The gardeners tending this had never witnessed such a display in over thirty years of working with cacti. The blooms last for no longer than a couple of days, so I was indeed honoured and lucky that it should occur on a Wednesday.

I was also delighted to see large numbers of hoverflies who were equally excited, which gave me further chances of capturing them in flight amidst such colour. It was not just in the greenhouses that they abounded, there was a profusion in the garden as well, so I did not miss the opportunities. There were many bees, but few honeybees, and there were also several wasps. A few cabbage white butterflies could be seen, but only one Peacock that I could see.

Walled Garden's Summer Coming to a Close

After my trip to the Garden this Wednesday, I had another meeting of the Design Network Association to attend, which gave little time to get a gallery of the images up, so I concentrated on the easy shots of the Bee Feeding.

Now I have had more time to work on the more general shots, here they are, and after bemoaning the fact I had failed to find any dragonflies, Chris, another volunteer with a far keener eye suddenly spotted one among the laurels.

We then walked around to the Dairy and found some more. I was really grateful to have such an observant spotter, so this gallery should really be called 'Chris' Selection!'

Without a doubt there is always something different to find in the Walled Garden; this time it was berries, chestnuts, rotting vegetables and fruit with butterflies and wasps.