Hoppers

 

A few more macro images from my walk on the heath in the New Forest.

It was a hot, sunny day and the air was filled with the buzzing sound of bees gathering nectar or pollen from the heather and gorse so I paused from time to time to try and capture some images of the industrious bees. But while I was trying to follow the bees at work I was also drawn to the sound of the grasshoppers all around. 

It was quite frustrating trying to spot them though, they were pretty small, and with their clever colouring I found it almost impossible to spot them, in fact I needed the assistance of my son who was on the trip with me.

If you zoom in you will see that they have really interesting eyes, you can also see the incredibly powerful legs they use to get out of the way of predators. I think they are pretty cool.

An Interlude

For the past few days I have been sharing lots of pictures of some incredibly beautiful birds of prey and so it might seem strange that today I have posted two pictures of rusting metal.

The point is though that beauty is subjective and can be found in different places and in different things. 

While I am drawn to nature for inspiration and I find great joy in photographing wildlife (yesterday's falcon is a perfect example, it gives me goosebumps every time I look at it) I also find pleasure in strange places. This piece of agricultural salvage is a good example. It is a beet cutter, for chopping beets etc as fodder for cattle, sheep and other animals and hidden away in an overgrown corner I liked the way it caught the limited light and added a real contrast to the sleek elegance of the birds all around it.

I shot in black and white because it fits the subject really well and I think these are really good images.

Looking for The Green Knight

The pictures for today's post are of Lud's Church in Staffordshire.

Having walked along the Roaches and across a very boggy area of moorland my daughter and I followed a woodland path through an area known as the Black Forest above the village of Gradbach. We were looking for Lud's Church but almost walked past as the path we were on passes the entrance but it would have been easy to miss as it was a cleft in the rock.

Although from today's selection it may appear quite small it is actually an immense cleft up to 15 metres high in places, and over 100 metres long but just a couple of metres wide (even less in places) which was caused by a landslip.

There are many legends associated with this wonderful place, it is said that Robin Hood had used it and the Lollards (followers of John Wycliffe) who were considered heretics used this as a place of worship in the 15th Century and that is where the name originates from.

The title of this blog post however relates to stories that it was this church that was the model for the "Green Chapel" in the medieval poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight".

I had seen Lud's Church featured in a TV show and determined that I would have to visit. It took some effort getting there but I have to say that it was well worth it as I am sure you will agree.

Frosted Fungus

I tried to identify this cute little fungus but all I could find was "Tiny Umbrella Fungus" 

It was really tiny and was hidden away in a crack in a tree. I have seen similar fungi before but usually in groups of different size and usually they are bigger than this particular specimen. The first image is slightly larger than life size while the second picture is greatly enlarged. It shows the surface which at first appeared smooth actually has a frost like coating. It would have been easy to miss this so I am glad I didn't and that I got to share it...