A Green Medley

I like to find heart shapes in nature, I think they make good subjects for photography so spotting this shrub growing under the shadow of a yew tree was a stroke of luck. Well not so much luck I suppose, in a botanical garden there are so many plants that there are bound to be several with heart shaped leaves. I had to take a few shots to get the lighting just right but I think it works quite well.

 This second image is very different. I had paused to rest for a few minutes on a bench in the sun. It was obviously a very old bench and when I looked at the wooden slats that I was sat on I realised that there was a lot of life in the moss and lichens that were growing in abundance. 

Lichens are really amazing organisms some varieties are among the oldest living things; did you know 6 - 8% of the earths surface is covered with lichen of one sort or another? Also did you know that lichen can grow inside rock, and they can exist in the most extreme conditions? I guess these must be pretty hardy varieties given the number of butts that must have sat on them over the years, including mine :) .

Heart of Stone

As always I am looking out for hearts in nature and this warm coloured pebble on the beach at Milford on Sea caught my eye. The sea spray in the air was a real nuisance in that I had to continually clean my lens but it added a freshness and shine to the pebbles.

Love Is In The Air

If you have followed my blog at all you will know that recently I have been on a fantastic roadtrip around much of Europe with my son and we had the most amazing time. I also took a huge number of photos some of which I have enjoyed sharing with you and many more that I will post in future. In recent days however I have mixed things up by posting pictures from a photo shoot on Skomer and others from a night shoot in the Lake District.

I didn't post anything last night because I was actually out again, spending another night up in the Lake District. I visited Aira Force, a spot I had never been to before and somewhere I will definitely return top. Given the prolonged dry spell the cascades and waterfall were somewhat depleted and I am told that after a good rainfall they are really impressive so while I will eventually get round to sharing some of the pictures I took I will also be back for what hopefully will be even more stunning images.

After my visit I headed off to Keswick for a spot of tea and driving along the A66 past Troutbeck I spotted this stunning view so I pulled over in a couple of spots to shoot what I think are iconic images of the West Lakeland Fells.

After eating my tea and having a wander along the shore of Derwent Water and up to Friars Crag I stopped off at another of my favourite spots, the stone circle at Castlerigg. I had expected it to be quiet there however with the Blood Moon and full Lunar eclipse the place was actually heaving with local families out to see this phenomenon. Unfortunately it was far too cloudy to get even the slightest glimpse of the moon however, the night delivered another spectacle in the form of a thunderstorm over towards Mungrisdale and this provided a fantastic light show lighting up the clouds with colourful flashes for at least an hour.  There wasn't a drop of rain up at the circle so it was lovely to seat against one of the stones and take in the show. At one point a cloud passed above and as I always like to photograph hearts in nature I wasn't going to miss this shot.

Raindrops On Tulips

Canon 100mm f /1:2.8

ISO 100  f/11  1/30 sec

ISO 100  f/3.5  1/800 sec

ISO 100  f/3.5   1/800 sec

I know the line from the song is "Raindrops on Roses..." but there were no roses to see but these beautiful tulips will more than make up for that.

These flowers certainly make it onto my list of favourite things.

Native Beauty

canon 100mm 1: 2.8 ISO 200 f/3.5 1/320sec

canon 100mm 1: 2.8 ISO 200 f/3.5 1/320

canon 100mm 1:2.8 ISO 200 f/5.0 1/200sec

Here are a few more shots from Ness Botanic Gardens. As I said yesterday there wasn't a great deal of colour in the beds but there was plenty to find if you looked around. Yesterdays Crocuses were scattered beneath the trees on the lawns near the visitors centre where the grass was cut fairly short.

These beautiful Primroses were lower down in the gardens and in slightly longer grass a little way off the path. They could have easily been missed so I am glad that I spotted them because they are real gems in the garden.

They are native plants and fairly widespread and they are a welcome sign that spring is well on the way. I love the delicate pale yellow heart shaped petals with the vibrant centre and the crinkly green leaves.  

Barnacle Heart

Regular visitors to my blog will know that I have a thing for hearts in nature and whenever they appear I am sure to photograph them. Of course then they end up here in the hope that others will see them and appreciate them just as much as me.

Here are some links to a few previous posts on this theme (Pebble , Beetle , Fern ) and as you can see they turn up in some unexpected places.

Today's heart is a small colony of barnacles clinging to the rocks at the base of a cliff exposed by the retreating tide. It is an unusual sight and although perhaps not the most stunning photo it is interesting nonetheless.

Bloody-nosed Beetle

This little creature took me a little by surprise as it crossed my path down the hillside on Saturday. It was so cold that initially I didn't want to stop to change the lenses on my camera but as I looked a little more closely I realised that it would be worth the time and effort. So with my 100mm Macro lens I got down to bugs eye level and captured a few shots.

I have done a bit of research to identify what species this is and I discovered that it is a Bloody-nosed Beetle. They are found across the UK usually between April and September so it has emerged quite early which is a real surprise given how cold it has been recently.

It gets its name from the mechanism it uses to deter predators, apparently if you breathe on them the beetle releases a bright red liquid from its mouth, the liquid is an irritant so if a mammal tries to eat it the beetle "bleeds" in the mouth making it an unappetising meal.

They eat leaves, favouring Lady's Bedstraw and they do not fly. Although it looks as though it has wing casings the two segments of the hard shell are actually fused together.

I think they are quite handsome and I like the bobbly antennae and the other feature that I really like is the segmented legs/feet which I will add to my collection of natures' hearts. You could say that the beetle wears its heart on its sleeve (obviously not literally but you can see what I mean).

Green Heart

Now that Valentine's Day is behind us here is one of nature's hearts without any sentimentality.

I love it.