It's back..... for one night only?

The Moon - almost full on 29th May 2007

Battersea Park Zoo 28.5.07

There was a friendly robin playing at the Zoo. Any rubbishness in the photo is definitely of my making and not of this sweet little robin. Margaret tells me it is a summer robin... I didn't know there was a difference! However she assures me that they are totally different breeds and don't mix at all. Our winter robins go North in the Summer and so on and so forth.

The Meerkats were all out playing in the sun, I should have been able to take a lovely shot but think I need a tripod to stop the shake.... Still a couple were not dreadful....

The butterfly garden was totally bereft of butterflies (Phew after yesterday!) but it was full of bees! This one was reasonably obliging.

The otters were also playing in the sun, they are in the next enclosure to the meerkats, and I was more taken with the meerkats. However the one photo I have of the otters I think is lovely

The Lemurs were in a cage, and almost impossible to photograph... This was the best I can do

This emu looks a little like one of Doctor Who's enemies, or so Jamie thinks anyhow. He wasn't in the best mood for being photographed, hence the beady stare!

London Butterfly House

It rained so hard today that I decided it was not possible to take any outdoor photos. On a whim I went to the London Butterfly House, where I discovered I am very bad at taking photos of butterflies. Here are a few of the Okish ones. The first few are of Owl butterflies, which have a wonderful blue colour when they are flying, however they fly very fast... catch my drift?

This is a Common Mime, and there is another later on.

A five year old informed me that this was a Giant Orange Tip, and who am I not to believe her. It looks a bit manky though, I think Giant Orange Tips are either a tad careless or very tasty

This is the Common Mime again. It sounds more swanky in Latin Chilasia clytia . I think thats better, it doesn't suit being called common at all.

Nicky tells me that this is called a Glasswing. Rather unhelpfully my five year old helpful friend (in a don't talk to strangers kind of way) had gone home at this point!

This looks a little like a Christmas swallowtail, although it wouldn't stop fluttering for long enough to check the list.. or to photograph him nicely!

and finally a Malachite, in flight...... oooooh that rhymes!

Wetlands in the rain 27 May 2007

I haven't seen this pretty duck before and can't work out what it is any ideas??? There might even be a prize!!

My old sparring partner, the Magpie Goose. He didn't chase me today, the lazy so and so didn't want to get wet!

He was desperately trying to catch a coot, but never succeeded!

These geese were guarding the main gate again today...

The coot at the entrance seems to behind all her peers, their babies are almost independent now but not only is this one feeding a tiddler, but her mate is still sitting on a nest! Sorry, no entry in my blog would be complete without my blue beaks! These really are my favourites. I hope there will be lots of them at Martin Mere, or it just won't be the same!

The Moon.. appeared very briefly 26/5/07

It really has rained all afternoon, quite heavily... but you know that I am dedicated. I felt that there may have been some satisfaction at the lack of moon photo tonight (specially from Up North... you know who you are!) and sure enough the sky cleared for a few minutes just after 10. And here you are the moon tonight. Only a few nights away now from being a full moon. You can clearly see the Crater Copernicus in the middle left ...... more rain expected tomorrow... enjoy!

The Moon 25 May 2007

It has been very cloudy tonight, so this photo is a triumph of patience over adversity. The moon is now only a week away from full moon and tonight I can see the Tycho crater for the first time. The view is expected to be totally obscured for the next few nights.... bet you're all terribly disappointed!

The moon 24 May 2007

I wasn't going to bother this evening.. have had about three gos all were pants. This is my very last shot of the evening before the cloud cover really took over! I am dedicating it to Aunty Jen, who insited I take the shot.. and post it. The shot is OK I think. You can clearly see Mare Crisium (The round blob at 2 o'clock) The Seas of Serenity and Tranquility.. (to the left of Mare Crisium) and lots of craters!! I think Apollo 11 landed somewhere near the Sea of Serenity.. can't quite see it though!

Waterlily

These beautiful waterlilies reside on the pond at the place where I work. There are also lots of dragonflies, which are extremely difficult to photograph!!!. The first photograph is by far my favourite!

The Moon (again) 23 May 2007

I thought I would take an image of the moon each evening (weather permitting) and see (a) how the moon is changing leading up to full moon in 9 days time and (b) to see if I get any better (ha!). I tried different settings tonight but think the settings I used last night worked the best. Don't worry I promise not to put pictures up EVERY night!

Chelsea Flower Show May 2007

I spent the day at Chelsea Flower Show today, and despite and initial hiccup (forgot my SD memory card, but luckily realised outside Peter Jones.. who sell them!!!). It was my first ever visit to the show and it was fun, although I was very hot and very squished by the crowds. I even managed to buy another bird feeder!!

The Daily Telegraph Garden had 'only' won a silver gilt medal, but to mind it was the best garden. It was the garden I most wanted to sit in, maybe even dabble my toes in the pond. The BBC were filming in here, which made it the busiest garden by far.. and they were only filming a flower!!!

This garden won a Gold Medal and was voted Best In Show by the RHS judges. I didn't really get it.. It was nicknamed 'Life on Mars' and was supposed to represent a garden that could be sustained on Mars, under a bubble of course. Not even a better photographer could have done this justice I am afraid!!

A wonderful water feature. I saw this photographed in the Daily Telegraph and it was a fab picture.. however I did need a bit of a step ladder to have done this justice. I hope you can see the effect I was trying to get!

A wonderful cottage garden with masses and masses of foxgloves. It made me quite want to live in the cottage, but I am sure I would have been outbid by everyone else who thought the same thing.. plus I remembered all the weeding!

Errrr sad to say yet another flower that I am totally ignorant of it's name.. never mind the Latin translation. However it does look lovely!

There were some lovely orchids around, but I liked these best. The common colour scheme this year was all shades of purple.. heading into pink.. hmmm thats not a sweeping generalisation at all

Lots of the show gardens had these flowers in, I don't know what they are called, but I thought they looked like Scottish Thistles with a colour change!!

People don't particularly dress up for Chelsea these days, mind you if these are the latest fashions then I'm glad I went in my jeans!

Guess who was visiting the show? I do hope the Doctor just likes flower shows and was not chasing aliens around.... now I think about it... Best in show might have been of interest to him.... ?

The moon's a balloon

I thought as it was such a clear night I would take a picture of the moon, it's not as easy as it looks. I have been reading a bit about it on the web and it seems that the moon is actually a sunny surface, so you don't need night settings. I tried one setting .. shutter speed 100 (I think that might mean 1/100 and aperture F16. The results are cropped obviously and not great... but OK enough for me to want to try again when we are nearer fuller moon! The first shot is exactly as taken apart from the cropping, the second has been enhanced.. how did you guess!??