Shine on harvest moon

I spent some more time in the outer fringes of the area and found more than I expected, caught up with some late flowering plants and even found a few surprises in my usual haunts in this late summer - early autumn penumbra.  Clear sky on a Sunday evening allowed a wonderful view of the waxing harvest moon.

I arrived home from visiting my mother to see a wonderful moon above the chimney tops of Chesterton.  The sky was unusually clear so I unlocked my front door, grabbed my camera and was back out before the photo opportunity passed me by.  The moon flared brightly on my screen, but a bit of twiddling with exposure compensation soon had a reasonable picture in the viewfinder.  I took a few shots hoping one would be reasonably free from motion blur.  As it happened all the compensated shots were reasonable, though still a little overexposed.  I didn't think to go to full manual at the time, I am too used to having to snatch transient opportunities these days.  Fortunately post processing made a good job of dealing with what I had.

Waxing harvest moon, taken on an unusually clear evening 7th September 2014.  The moon, a 'super moon', was full on the 9th.

I finally caught up with a couple of late flowering plants.  There are few plants that come into bloom in August and I didn't see any of them.  As it happened some were there all the while and fortunately are still in bloom in early September.

The first of these late flowering plants was mint.  I had seen what I thought might be mint at the Visitor Centre.  A second visit proved that it was indeed mint, though I was unsure whether it was wild or part of a planting scheme.  A few days later I found more mint, this time at the bend in the Apedale Road.

It is perhaps not surprising that I had missed the plant before as I tend to hurry by this heavily littered area and anyway, everything there is covered in a thick layer of dust.  Taste and leaf shape identified the mint as Spearmint.

The Visitor Centre mint has slightly rounder leaves (pictured left), but made a better photograph.  I am going to start carrying a soft brush in my pack in the future I think, there have been a few times when I could have done with giving a plant a dusting.


The second of the late flowering plants was more of a surprise.  I often wonder that I have not seen heather in Apedale.  I assumed that conditions also suited other plants that can out compete heather.  I had even spent Sunday morning on Bosley Cloud just to see heather in bloom.  It was ironic then, that I found a small patch of heather (pictured left) in Miry Arena, on my doorstep as it were, that same afternoon.

I was lucky to see the heather at all, some idiot/s had dug a hole close by to build a cycle jump in the middle of the footpath.  It beggars belief that someone had lugged a spade there with the express purpose of damaging the environment and inconveniencing users of the footpath.  Unfortunately this is just one more example of damage and nuisance caused by those who insist on cycling where it is not permitted.


Another plant that I might have expected, but had not seen, is Devil's Bit Scabious.  This attractive flower is common in areas of nearby Bateswood in an environment that is mirrored by parts of Apedale.  I have now found quite a large patch of this plant growing along the track just opposite the entrance with the steps to Miry/Burgess' Wood.

The reason I had not noticed this plant here before, was that the colour is not dissimilar to that of some thistles and knapweed.  The patch I have found (pictured left) is some way back from the path and is behind a good growth of those latter two plants.  At first glance it just appears that the foreground is fading out.  Closer inspection reveals that there is an actual change in colour and plant type.


I was passing the entrance to Watermills Wood from the Apedale Road one evening when I caught a movement in the corner of my eye.  I had the camera raised and took a quick 'insurance' shot.  Exposure compensation was required and leaves and twigs confused the auto focus so I quickly switched to manual before making a second attempt.  My target ran along branches to the other side of the road, I managed to aim and refocus in time for a last shot.  The late low sun and the tree cover meant that my shutter speed was down to 1/25th of a second, rather below the 1/2000 recommended at the focal length I was using.  I was pretty pleased later to find that I had a usable picture of a rather cute squirrel.

A grey squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel).  Looks like a chestnut in its north and south, but I don't know of any thereabouts.

It is not only green plants that fruit in autumn, fungi is really starting to get going.  A lot of the fungi appears at the side of the path and unfortunately tends to get trampled rather quickly.  I managed to record a couple of specimens before they were broken up.  Meanwhile, in the middle layer, in the hedgerow above, hips on the dog rose glow as if red hot.

Left: Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus comatus) more shag than ink here, more ink than shag when I saw it the next day.  Right:  Common Yellow Russula (Russula ochroleuca),

Above: Hips on Rosa canina, a glowing red in the hedgerow.

My patience was rewarded when I took up position near my favourite hawthorn one evening.  I had heard birds on my approach, I was hoping that if I waited quietly and patiently, birds that had departed on my arrival might be tempted to come back.  Sure enough, after a few minutes that was what happened.  First, Long Tailed Tits moved in and hopped and swung in the upper branches.  Later the long tails moved off en masse and Great Tits moved in, though the latter preferred less exposed branches.

Left: Long Tailed Tit perched high up on my favourite hawthorn.  Right: Great Tit perched in a not quite so conspicuous spot.

I was also lucky enough to see a Buzzard patrolling Miry Arena.  It was at some distance and flying high so there was no chance of a close up.  It did hang around for some time which gave me an opportunity to practise keeping a moving bird in frame.  This is hard enough any way at large magnifications, but is made even harder when the target temporarily disappears while the auto focus is ranging.  Of course, if you let the bird out of the field of view then the camera never will focus and it will be hard to find the target again.  At long focal lengths 'infinity' is considerably farther than a bird at a useful distance, so fixing focus won't do.  I have found that making focus default to infinity does help, this makes it much easier to find the target in the first place.  I am slowly learning to predict movement well enough to keep tracking a temporarily invisible target.

I also spent some time over at the large pool to the south east near Milehouse.  I was hoping to catch the herons I had seen there or, failing that, the coots that I had seen on my last visit.  I saw fishermen as I approached so knew there was no chance of seeing the herons this time.  There were a couple of moorhens but there was no sign of the coots.  I took up a position in the reeds on the Loomer Road side of the pool, a position that had been occupied by fishermen last time I came, and waited.  I was a surprised to see a variety of dragonfly, I didn't know there were any here at all.  I managed to get a few shots, I was pleased to get some of Common Darters ovipositing.  It is a shame that users of this pool seem to leave even more litter than users of the Springwood fishing pool.

Left: Common Darter (male) and right: A pair of Common Darters ovipositing.  I also saw a Brown Hawker, Common Hawker, Southern Hawker and a pair of Emerald Damselfly.  Quite a variety for an area that I did not know had dragonfly at all.


While activity may not be so colourful or obvious as it is in spring and early summer, there is still an awful lot going on in the world of nature.  Some change is gradual and almost unnoticeable, other change is more obvious as anyone who has seen the 'snowstorm' caused by wind catching willowherb seeds will testify.  Some plants will quite literally go out with a bang as their seed pods open like fire crackers, others will catch our eye with brilliant light effects.  I think I may have to update this blog more frequently than twice a month. 

Going out with a bang.  A veritable firework display where these thistle seeds catch the light.

A goodbye to August

Despite the fact that there are few if any plants coming into bloom in late August, a walk to the edges of the area revealed a few flowers still in bloom that I have not seen previously.  While the rate of change in nature is not so breathtaking as in May and June, maturing fruit guarantees that there is still plenty going on in the plant world.  Animal activity is very visible, even if the animals are not always seen.

Left - Haws adding colour to the hedgerows.

The Ragwort, Knapweed and others are ensuring that there is still plenty of colour in the ground layer.  It is in the bushes and trees, especially in the hedgerows, that new colour is most noticeable.

The Hawthorn is looking absolutely stunning with the red of the haws and the green of the leaves both present for the moment.  Haws on most trees are now a beautiful, ripe, bright or deep red.  

There are also berries on the Rowan.  Though this tree is not as common in Apedale as it is in the Moorlands, there are a few small trees in the planted areas and some larger ones by the road into the visitor centre.


 
It looks like a bumper year for blackberries, I do not remember ever having seen so much fruit.  There are plenty of berries ripe now and plenty more to come by the looks of things.   Although early signs suggested that the raspberries would do better this year, many of the plants seemed to die off before the fruit could ripen properly, as has happened in previous years.

Left - Immature hazelnuts still on the tree.  I love the complex curves of the husk (involucre) that surrounds the nut.

While there were plenty of hazelnuts in the hedgerow a while back, it seems that the squirrels are making it their business to ensure that none survive to maturity.

I photographed some immature nuts earlier in the month.  A week ago the number of nuts had been decimated, this weekend I saw nary a one!  The litter of shells and part eaten nuts beneath the hedgerow suggests that this is the work of squirrels.  There are also  many whole nuts discarded with the litter, this must be quite a bounty for small mammals unable to climb.

I am rather partial to hazelnuts myself, unfortunately I will always be beaten to it by the squirrels as I have never developed a taste for eating the nuts while they are still green.


I have discovered rather a good number of sloes, these are in a very accessible place and I think there may be a good deal of competition for them later.  Elderberries are also reaching maturity, at least those in less shaded locations, though this common tree isn't particularly well represented in Apedale.

  

Left: Sloes, there are a few Blackthorns in the Sawmills path hedgerow. Right: Elderberries on the Apedale Road, looks like the birds have already been busy.


I showed a photograph of some smooth, blushing green, medium sized apples in the last post.  There are a variety of apples around so I thought I would show some of the russet apples this time (below).

Not all fruits are edible, one of my favourite plants is the very inedible and toxic Bittersweet or Woody Nightshade.  The fruits and flowers are often seen at the same time (see title image), there are still some tight flower buds so there is plenty more to come from this plant.

Left: Late rose on Rosa Rugosa

I thought I had seen the last rose on the Rosa Rugosa on the Apedale Road, so I was pleased to be greeted by a waft of scent when I went for my run on Sunday morning.  There on the opposite side of the road, among the ripe hips, was one new, dew jewelled bloom just beginning to open. I am sure that this really must be the last one of the year.




The animal kingdom

I was horrified to find that someone had thrown several cider cans into the pool in Miry Arena, when I visited on Saturday.  The cans are quite inaccessible and I don't know how they can be reached without wading in and disturbing the pool.   Other foul looking rubbish also dotted the arena.  The amount of litter about tends to be in inverse proportion to the distance from a public road, with the exception of Springwood pool which is always a disgrace,  so this was an unpleasant surprise.

Patience and perseverance paid off and I was lucky enough to get close to a Common Darter on two occasions .  In the second instance I managed, for the first time, to get close enough to a dragonfly to discern individual elements in the eyes.  As with all the images on these pages, you can click for a larger view.

Left: Common Darter on a bramble leaf at the edge of the arena.  Right: A close up of another Common Darter showing individual elements of the eye.


I also caught some tiny little bugs living among the reeds.  I have not managed to identify them yet.  I think their delicate pastel colours are exquisite.

Tiny little pastel coloured (unidentified) bugs low among the reeds in Miry Arena, one seems to be having a bit of trouble with rain drops.

While I am becoming a bit quicker with my camera, especially in getting the settings and exposure compensation sorted, I am still generally too slow for birds on the wing.  Recently the light has also been poor and so even where I managed to get a bird in frame, noise and motion blur have left me with nothing more than 'record' shots.  Two that 'got away' were a Heron and a Falcon, both seen over the main country park.

House Martins move fast and low and in most attempts at a photo I miss the subject completely.  I was deleting failures when I saw a small silhouette high in the sky in one of them.  I zoomed in on the area and was surprised to see the unmistakeable long tail of a swallow, the first I have 'seen' in the area.

Left: A Heron. Right: A Falcon, birds on the wing that were too quick for me to get more than a "this is what I saw" quality photograph.  Nice to have the reminder all the same.

An attempt to photograph Goldfinches turned out better than my attempts at birds in flight, even if (again) the subject turned out to be other than what I expected.

There is a particularly attractive Hawthorn with 'tortured' lichenous branches that are silhouetted against the sky.  Goldfinches will sometimes perch on the higher branches where they are visible from below.  I saw some little birds fly into the tree and so I waited in as unobtrusive a manner as possible.   The light was not in the 'best' place, so the birds were often silhouetted, however, at the right angle they did catch the low evening sun.  I could not make out details of the birds through the low definition electronic viewfinder, but I did not see the reds and yellows of the Goldfinch so I thought they must be juveniles.

It was not until I reviewed the images, magnified, on the camera's larger screen, that I saw that the beaks did not belong to finches.  I seem to have captured one of the warblers.  Technically the shots leave much to be desired, though I am pleased with the composition and lighting.  The character of the tree and the difficult but rewarding lighting have a lot of potential, I hope I can make the best of it in the time before the evening light is gone.

A beautiful little bird catching the low evening light high in the branches of a hawthorn of impeccable character.

Week to 10th August

This week was comparatively quiet, there seems to be something of a summer 'plateau'.  Didn't see much except rain on Sunday, Saturday I was delighted by Hawker Dragonfly in Miry and even at the top of Watermills Road.

I am starting to notice disappearances as much as appearances.  The Four spotted and Broad bodied Chaser dragonfly have now gone, the Damselfly are still around, but are fewer.  The high spot of this week was seeing and capturing an image of a Migrant Hawker, a new spot for me.  These insects are gracious enough to settle every now and again this makes the would be photographer's life a little easier.

Migrant Hawker - Smaller and less restless than Common and Southern Hawkers.  The full length shot is here.

The beautifully coloured large Hawkers, however, mocked me in their usual way, I think they look forward to our Saturday sessions.  They hunt in a predictable circuit, hovering in a way suggesting you might photograph them on the wing.  After a couple of months, I still do not have a usable shot.

They seem to know just how long it takes a camera to focus and abort their hover moments before.  When you get wise, pre focus and wait, they change their circuit.  Then, when they fail to appear and you finally give up and lower your camera, a beautiful great insect is hovering right in front of your face.  You wonder just how long they were there while you were staring into a viewfinder oblivious of them just above the lens.

The birds

I am having no better luck with the birds than I am with the larger Hawkers.  A buzzard relocated, past the reach of my lens, when I spotted it and the Goldfinches seem keener to perch on unphotogenic TV aerials on the Apedale Road than they do on the tree tops.  Magpies that hardly seem bothered to get out of one's way on the pavement won't come closer than twenty metres in the open.  All the same, I am lucky enough to see all these birds, to start to become familiar with their calls and to begin to learn where to find them during my walks in the valley.

Habitat

Red eyed Damselfly, a recent visitor to Apedale, ovipositing among the lilies in Springwood Pool, July 2014.

I visited Springwood Pool and saw that the lilies, where the Red eyed Damselfly breed, were being dragged up and removed.  Apparently this is to 'clear the pegs' for fishing.  I admit to knowing nothing about the sustainable management of pools for fishing.  My subjective reaction is that it is a bit of a shame to destroy one creature's habitat for the convenience of man's hobbies.

Photos of the Red eyed Damselfly at Springwood Pool are here .  The start of the whole dragon and damselfly album is here.

Fruiting plants

Though around for a while, many fruits can be seen to be reaching maturity now.  I find the Guelder Rose, rose hips and the Apple to be particularly attractive.  The apples pictured below, from the country park near Watermills Wood are quite as large as a small dessert apple.  Others, including those in the hedgerow on the Apedale Road are much smaller.

Guelder Rose berries (left) look a lot like redcurrant, but are mildly toxic. Apple (right), I have not picked any of these so do not know what type they are.

Flowering plants

I like photographing plants, while they can bounce around in the breeze somewhat, they do usually attempt to stay fairly still while you focus.  Some straggly plants can be a challenge to frame, but on the whole vegetation is reasonably cooperative.

Teasel flowering in the verge and on the mound at the top of Watermills Road.

The number of new flowers opening are fewer in late summer.  That is not to say that there are fewer flowers around.  The Ragwort is really lighting the place up at the moment and much of the vetch, Tormentil and 'eggs and bacon' are still flowering.  Though covered in hips, there is still the odd flower on the rose and the delightful perfume is still on the air.

One new flower I spotted is Teasel at the top of Watermills Road, also found near the visitor centre.  Easily overlooked, the flowers are of a lovely subtle purple colour.  Their quirky flowering pattern reminds me a little of a monk's tonsure.

I note that kissing must be in season, as the gorse is in bloom. 

Rubbish

Fly tipping and litter has always been a big problem in Apedale.  I reported tipping here and in Church Walk Chesterton, to environmental health recently.  I was pleased to note that the biggest pile of rubbish at the bottom of Apedale Rd. has now been removed.  Various smaller sites, including the one in Watermills Wood remain.

It is somewhat disheartening, when returning from a litter pick, to see more litter than you can carry dumped here or there.  This happens often,  some users of Springwood Pool, especially, are in the  habit of bagging rubbish then tying it to the barrier or dumping it behind a rock when they leave.  Five or more bags can often be seen.  While it is not possible to keep pace with the litter in popular areas, it is gratifying that the more remote area in Miry and Burgess' Wood that I cleared a month or so ago, is still almost litter free.  Sometimes it is better to dwell on whatever you can achieve.