Good morning out and about...Photo heavy..

[JonnyP]

What a lovely day.....Great weather, so I had a trip to the wildlife reserve...
Tried my first yew berry....Very sweet, but with the consistancy of glue. I made sure the seed did not go in my mouth, I don't want to die yet.....

Still plenty of dragonflies around, one even landed on my shoulder, which was nice....

Saw a male greater spotted woodpecker....

He went straight for the feeder...

You can tell its a male by the red band on its neck, the females don't have this.
Infact a female turned up as well and they both flew off together..
Also saw a sparrowhawk go for a kill, but it missed, and so did I with the camera...
I did get a treecreeper though...

Loads and loads of fungi about, saw stinkhorns, jews ear....erm, thats all I could identify, this one was strange looking....

Its always worth spending some time looking up oak trees, there is always something going on in them. I saw blue tits, great tits, tree creepers, a nuthatch, gold crests and long tailed tits.....

I was only out for about 2 hours, but its all there to be seen, if your quiet enough...

 

[stovie]

Dead Mans' Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) by the looks of it Jon.

Cool pics, as always....short toed treecreeper? or long toed

 

[JonnyP]

Dead Mans' Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) by the looks of it Jon.

Cool pics, as always....3 toed treecreeper? or 5

Cheers for that Rich.....I remember someone there saying they had seen some dead mans fingers, good name....
I reckon the treecreeper was the eurasian one certhia familiaris.....???

 

[Too Much Kit To Carry]

Wonderful pictures Jon - looks like you had a wonderful couple of hour out and about.

Let's hope this lovely weather lasts just a bit longer

Phil.

 

[Ahjno]

Looks like an alien crashed into a hedge to me though ...

Uuuurr GRMBL ... Body check 1, 2, 3, ..., 11 arms - yep still got them all ...
Bugger, crashed again ... Sunday really isn't my day of the week .. @&%#& I'll stay in bed next week!


Great pics Jon, thanks for sharing!

 

[British Red]

Great pictures as always Jon. Had a bit of a bimble round myself today, lovely weather as you said. The fungi round our way are truly outstanding at the moment - well worth a look if you are in the area

Red

 

[JonnyP]

Cheers guys.....

 

[Aaron]

I keep seeing your pictures on the boards John and am always impressed by how good they are: what camera do you use?

P.S. Arent they just dog turds

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

ooo yew berries, I want to try one but I dare'nt, dont want to die young.

1 gram of leaves, or 3-5 seeds, per kilogram of bodyweight is fatal to human being. - off some plant site.

 

[leon-b]

sounds like you had a great morning
leon

 

[JonnyP]

I keep seeing your pictures on the boards John and am always impressed by how good they are: what camera do you use?

P.S. Arent they just dog turds

Cheers Aaron...I use a sony H1, has a 12 times optical zoom. Helps me get closer to the action. best thing is though, it has anti shake in it, this really helps on the longer distance or poor light shots. The panasonic fz30 (soon to be replaced by the fz50, so bargains to be had maybe) has all this too, but is a better camera. I am no camera buff, I still just point and shoot and hope, with it. I havent got a clue on metering, iso's and what speed and appature I should use....

 

[JonnyP]

ooo yew berries, I want to try one but I dare'nt, dont want to die young.

1 gram of leaves, or 3-5 seeds, per kilogram of bodyweight is fatal to human being. - off some plant site.

Lol....I thought you could die on just one seed ?? But the fruit is safe. It amazes me.....It wasn't a bad taste either, I just didn't like the texture of it in my mouth, bit like raw egg....

 

[JonnyP]

sounds like you had a great morning
leon

I did thanks Leon, it was one of those days that make you glad to be alive, but I always enjoy a walk round the reserve, feels like my backyard now and I need to go and check on everything, if you know what I mean.....