Spoonbill and Friend

Posted on October 19, 2017 by winderjssc

I love to take short video clips. I have many of them and they can be viewed with perfect clarity on my desktop computer screen. They even look good when they are first uploaded to posts on my blog and viewed from the admin side in the Media folder. However, once they are actually inserted into the post, they become too pixelated to view. This is very disappointing. I have contacted WordPress on a couple of occasions and it does not seem to be anything to do with their software. I have even tried posting them on You Tube and the same thing happens. I have concluded that it is something to do with my latest camera. I have experimented with conversions to other file formats without success. I think it is something to do with the specific way this particular camera captures videos – I mostly use the zoom to get fine detail. This is confirmed by the fact that the short clip shown here of a spoonbill and accompanying egret, taken with an earlier camera in Cairns 2011 seems OK.

October in Kew Gardens 3

Posted on October 18, 2017 by winderjssc

The final in a series of three posts celebrating the wonderful sculptures among the autumn colours at Kew Gardens in London, England.

October in Kew Gardens 2

Posted on October 17, 2017 by winderjssc

More pictures from Kew Gardens with their beautiful autumn colours and exciting open-air sculpture and art exhibition this October.

October in Kew Gardens 1

Posted on October 16, 2017 by winderjssc

I had a lovely day out at Kew Gardens in London this weekend. It was especially good because there was an exhibition of sculpture and art in the open air setting as well as indoor locations. I thought you might like to see some of the pictures I took showing the artwork among the wonderful autumn colours.

A Dismal Autumn Day in Charlton Down

Posted on October 11, 2017 by winderjssc

Looking up into the branches of an old beech tree

View across the meadow of dried grasses and seed heads to the countryside beyond

Dead leaf still attached to the tree viewed from underside

Countryside view of newly sown arable fields with hedge boundaries on a dull autumn day

Looking up into the canopy of a large beech tree

Dead leaf upside down lying on green ivy

Leaves changing colour on a young oak tree in autumn

Rural view in the English countryside with arable fields in autumn

A barn on the crest of a hill under an overcast sky with newly sown field below

Farming landscape in the Dorset countryside with arable field, barn, and hedgerow

Detail of leaf pattern of changing colour in an autumnal oak leaf

Rural landscape with arable fields in autumn and buildings on the crest of the hill.

Everyone likes crisp autumn days with sun shining and vibrant colours of changing leaves and ripening fruits everywhere. Often it is just not like that. Damp and muggy. Dull overcast skies. Dead, diseased, and dying reminders of the passage of time. It can be difficult to find something to brighten the scene, lighten the mood, a reason to be cheerful. It was like that yesterday as I walked around the village with my camera. This is what I recorded before completing my circuit, feeling better for the exercise and fresh air regardless of the dull and dismal day.

Shallow Water Tidal Ripple Patterns 8-10

Posted on October 9, 2017 by winderjssc

Shallow Water Tidal Ripple Patterns 8-10 Photographs of natural patterns created by reflected sunlight on the crests of minor ripples in clear shallow seawater lapping with the incoming tide around the island of Burry Holms at the tip of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales. Here shown in negative format to highlight the intricacies of the natural designs.

The Beach Below The Spittles 2

Posted on October 7, 2017 by winderjssc

After the beach boulders and scattered rusty metal debris, there is sequence of flat rock platforms exposed by the retreating water. They are riddled with holes made by the boring bivalves known as piddocks, some burrows just have empty shells in them but others are still occupied by the living molluscs that squirt water a foot or more into the air at frequent intervals. A velvet swimming crab mooches around the edges of the platforms, and sand tube and mud tube dwelling worms abound on all the surfaces.