Capillary Thread-moss
One of the commonest British mosses. Possibly one of the most beautiful. It’s the translucent caps on the ends of the sporangia that pulls in the punters.
Capillary Thread-moss, Bryum capillare.
Shepherd’s Purse
Shepherd’s Purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris. Nikon D5200 EL Nikkor 50mm N f4 1/250 ISO 100
I also shot some fancy pants focus stacks of this, but I prefer this simple, somewhat abstract image.
Cactus
What can I say? Life continues to be photographically challenging. Bit miffed not to have perfect symmetry down the central spine in this shot, but it was actually curved not straight so that wasn’t possible without Photoshop furtling.
Cactus. Sony DSC-HX20V f3.5 5.8mm 1/30 ISO 800
Oak Bush-cricket
Said to be a completely arboreal species (but this one was happy on the ground). It is the only UK bush-cricket which is largely carnivorous, eating a range of other insects. Quite nocturnal so rarely seen – but probably not that rare.
Oak Bush-cricket, Meconema thalassinum. Nikon D5200 Tokina 100mm f16 1/250 ISO 100
Meet the Ancestors
One branch of my family lies buried in this churchyard. Abandoned many years ago, the church of St Peter The Poor Fisherman clings stubbornly to the coast, continuing to defy the joint efforts of the sea and the Church Preservation Society to undermine it.
Full fathom five thy father lies
Of his bones are coral made
Those are pearls that were his eyes
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Nikon D5200 Tamron 17-50mm f3.3 17mm 1/45 ISO 800
So common
Common Green Grasshopper, Omocestus viridulus. Nikon D5200 Tokina 100mm f16 1/90 ISO 200
It’s common, it’s green, it’s a grasshopper. What else do you need to know? That I have fond memories of grasshoppers on long summer afternoons from my childhood. And that they’re not so common any more.
Meadow Foxtail
Meadow Foxtail – Alopecurus pratensis. Nikon D5200 Tokina 100mm f8 1/125 ISO 200
Restful?
Where’s me weevil?
Green Dock Beetle – Gastrophysa viridula.
I’ve seen some lovely images of Red Dock Weevils (Apion frumentarium) recently, so went looking for them but I didn’t find any. Instead, I found lots of Green Dock Beetles. It’s the mating season (for Green Dock Beetles – what you get up to in your spare time is your own business). The females get so full of eggs that the wing cases don’t preserve their modesty:
If you want to find some for yourself, look gently (so they don’t drop off) on the underside of Broad Leaved Dock leaves. Sadly they were all too frisky for any focus stacks so you’ll have to make do with snapshots.
AJC Photography 