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Hi all, Too much good living on all the sweet corn and boilies that the carp fisherpeople have thrown in? cheers Darrel

Hi all, In Stockholm briefly, the weather is "interesting". Cheers Darrel

Hi all, St. Michaels Church, next to Saracens Head (mentioned in Pickwick Papers)? I was in Bath in passing today, but I never stop in town. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Definitely <"Duckweed Envy">. Looking at the Duckweed (Lemna spp., it maybe L. minor), in the third image, it looks like they may have been a bit heavy handed with the fertiliser. The second photo (the one with the Azolla) looks like it might be <"Landoltia (Spirodela) punctata">...

Hi all, You can get digital microscopes more cheaply, but the advantage of the eye piece camera and optical microscope is in terms of longevity and being able to swap microscopes etc. cheers Darrel

Hi all, They are pretty useful, my suggestion would a low power binocular dissecting microscope and an HDMI (or USB) eye-piece camera <"Microscopy Imaging">. I usually deal with <"Brunel Microscopes Ltd"> who may well have some second hand microscopes available <"Stereomicroscopes">. cheers...

Hi all, It has been great, although a wet spring has encouraged the mosquitoes. Back to the UK today. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, South of Fiskardo, looking South- West. The coastal rock (middle right) is at "Jerusalem Beach". Cheers Darrel

South of Bath. I'm on Cephalonia. This was the view from Mt. Ainos. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Today's offering. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Prunus padus "Watereri" Looks like a "Bath Stone" building behind the tree, so Bristol? cheers Darrel

Hi all, That is the one, <"Laburnum x watereri "Vossii">. When I was a kid they were really common, but they've fallen out of favour, partially due to various stories about the risk to children of their poisonous seeds (the <"seeds are poisonous">). cheers Darrel

Laburnum, definitely not Cassia. Shape of the flower. Laburnum has a <"pea shaped"> flower, in Cassia the petals are much more open. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It won't be Cassia fistula, just because it isn't hardy in the UK. It was more likely to be a "Laburnum" (probably <"Laburnum ×watereri 'Vossii'>). They look really similar and are flowering now. I'm guessing they probably don't. I really like Ceanothus, but they are difficult to...

Hi all, There is also <"Thames Head"> at Coates, but I've never been there when it has been a spring, it has always been dry. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Fantastic, <"karst springs"> always look great. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Ginkgo's are just great. I remember <"this one from 2020">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think so. I think both S. striolatum (Common Darter) and S. vulgatum have yellow striped legs, but I've never seen S. vulgatum (Vagrant Darter), it isn't native to the UK. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is definitely S. sanguineum, he has <"has all black legs">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think that one is either the "Meadow Grasshopper" (Chorthippus paralellus) or "Lesser Marsh Grasshopper" (Chorthippus albomarginatus), but you need to see the markings on the back of the thorax. Parys Mountain gets a <"mention elsewhere"> in this thread. Probably the <"strangest...

Hi all, ......... and a few recent moths, "Green Carpet", "Pink-barred Sallow", "Frosted Orange" and "Centre-barred Sallow". cheers Darrel

Hi all, Oak Bush-cricket, I get a few of these (and Speckled Bush-crickets) in the moth trap or on the security lights, but I've never seen one otherwise cheers Darrel

Hi all, This is a less fantastic photo, but we have some Hares that live on the campus and they are less wary than normal. This was one catching some rays outside the lab. this evening. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That is a fantastic photo, I think they are <"Migrant Hawkers">, but I've never actually seen a Common Hawker, they aren't very common in S. Britain. cheers Darrel

Hi all, In the unlikely event of people wanting more moth photos, there are plenty more on my <"iNaturalist account">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, A few moths, all from the BSU Newton Park campus over the last couple of days. Buff Arches (Habrosyne pyritoides) Drinker (Euthrix potatoria) and a relatively recent arrival from the continent, the European Corn-borer (Ostrinia nubilalis)* * I won't tell Priti Patel cheers...

Hi all, I had one of these the other day in the moth trap, a different one from @mort's and apparently this one is <"Nicrophorus vespillo">, because it has curved tibia. I also had some-one look at @mort 's photo and apparently I gave you the wrong ID and it is <"Nicrophorus investigator">...

Hi all, Nice. I can identify some of the plants and insects. The little Longhorn moth is Nemophora degeerella, the Stonecrop is "English Stonecrop "Sedum anglicum, the caterpillar is a "Drinker", I can't tell you which Lamprey it is. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, The only reason I know is that I belong to a FB group <"Moth Trap Intruders UK">, which has been really useful and I've got ID's for Beetles and Caddis etc. which I just used to ignore. Last week I was in Pembrokeshire and I went to Skomer. I've never been before, but the Puffins...

Hi all, Did you give it a sniff? They smell "interesting". They aren't actually that uncommon in moth traps, that is the only place where I've seen any carrion beetle. The most common ones are the (all black) Nicrophorus humator and Necrodes littoralis, but you get the black and orange...

Hi all, Sargassum muticum, plenty of it in Pembrokeshire as well. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Datura sanguinea, bizarre. Humming-bird pollinated, so I'm not sure it will spread any further. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, I was in the Lakes a few days ago (during the warm weather). This was the Pasture Beck valley, looking S.E towards Threshthwaite Cove. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Nice, that is a "Migrant Hawker" (I just had a thought that the name could be misconstrued, so nobody tell Priti Patel about this thread), despite it's name a common resident in S. England now. cheers Darrel

Hi all, <"Yes it does">, a very widespread (originally African?) species that is a "pest" of Citrus orchards. The plant it is on looks like <"Asclepias curassavica">, so I'd guess it is in a Butterfly House, rather than the wild. They are easy to rear, so they may be released at weddings etc...

Hi all, The Pike (Esox lucius) is a great photo. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Another view of Skiddaw (with the clouds) this time from Binsey. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Not for the last 40 years. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, The loop up to Skiddaw doesn't add a lot, but the walk around Ullock Pike, Longside and Carl Side and back down via Dodd was a good walk. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Ullock Pike, looking towards Skiddaw. Not every-one was fully engaged with the scenery. Cheers Darrel

Hi all, Kangaroo Apple (Solanum laciniatum), I think may have a seen a <"Guernsey based one"> before? cheers Darrel

Hi all, This is the Carymoor picture from 2021, not quite the same, or anything like as flowery, but some of the plots are showing promise. cheers Darrel

Hi all, We have had a long term study of <"green hay strewing"> as a meadow establishment method on the old landfill at <"Carymoor Environmental Centre">. We collected the hay from a <"Somerset Wildlife Trust meadow at Babcary"> back in 2001 and I did the "20 years" survey at Babcary last week...

Hi all, Looks like <"Lemna minor">, not technically an algae, but a higher plant. Looking at the <"growth and leaf colour">, if they are using the <"Duckweed Index"> they need to reduce the nutrients a bit and change some more water. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The Callitriche looks really healthy, it might be C. hamulata, but they are difficult to ID. The Hydrocotyle isn't H. vulgaris, but an invasive alien, I assume that it is <"Floating Pennywort"> (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides) from its growth habit. Edit: I should have said it looks a...

H all, You are meant to be able to de-bone them, but it was pre-WWW and I never found anybody who knew how to do it. I don't fish now, so it is too late for me. Now YouTube is your friend. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Lots of lovely little, very sharp, Y shaped ones scattered throughout the flesh. When I fished I used to eat the 3 - 4 kg sized ones in the winter as "fish cakes", but some bones always got through. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Brilliant, Norfolk Hawker. I've never lived in the right part of England to see one. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The <"Welsh Marches"> (along E. border with England) and in <"N. Wales, ringing Snowdonia">. Edward I's castles are the famous ones, like Harlech, Caernarfon etc. Henry V was born in Monmouth and Henry VII in Pembroke. I'm English, but grew up very close to Wales, where <"every...

Hi all, Snowdonia is pretty wet. It is often better earlier in the year (April, May and June), but there is some really good bits of coast (Morfa Harlech) and the Lleyn peninsula and Anglesey tend to be a bit drier. The Southern side of Snowdonia is a lot quieter, and peaks like the...

Hi all, You are just rubbing it in now. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think I'm already <"too decrepit"> for that. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Brilliant, I haven't been to <"either place since the 1980s">, but the Brick works looks just the same. I want to go back to both of them (and Parys mountain) before I'm too decrepit. cheers Darrel

Hi all, We have a few <"Hydra"> threads. As a safer alternative fenbendazole <"Panacur"> is very effective against both Hydra and Planaria. I used to have a <"Hydra tank">, It had various "growing out fry" and then Trichopsis pumila, and they mainly got micro-worms and Daphnia. Hydra love...

Hi all, I like your moss and stripy Ostracods as well. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is a Passiflora sp, so a lot of them have edible fruit (Passion fruit, Granadilla etc.). cheers Darrel

Hi all, I can't do the grass, but the creeper looks like it might be <"Ipomoea pes-caprae">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, In temperate regions what would be the Coconut Palm/ Mangrove zone in the Tropics is largely comprised of mono-cotyledons, many of them grasses. The two most prominent ones are Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) on coastal <"sand dunes"> and the Cord or Rice-grasses (Spartina spp.) in...

Hi all, Batham looking east towards Thurlestone? The green algae is Ulva lactuca ("Sea Lettuce"), and the Brown seaweed (in the near ground) is Fucus spiralis ("Twisted Wrack"). I think the grooves in the rock (Old Red Sandstone) are "ripple marks" from when the rock was laid down ~400,000,000...

Hi all, I liked that one as well, the plant is Paepalanthus (bromelioides?). A weird Eriocaulon like thing. Not too sure about downtown Dubai. cheers Darrel

Hi all, That one is a terrarium, and none of them are aquatic plants. I can see two Fittonia cultivars (pink and white marbled leaf). The two plants that look like conifers, are conifers. The bottom one looks like a dwarf form Chamaecyparis obtusa, but there are plenty to similar ones with...

Hi all, You might get Chinese Water Deer as well, if there are old brick, or gravel, pits near you. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Brilliant, that is a fantastic sighting. There are plenty of Roe deer, often in quite <"urban situations">, but they are nocturnal and often people don't realise they are there. All the Roses etc at work have two distinct browse lines, a low one which is the Muntjac deer and a higher...

Hi all, If it is the same age as the Glasgow Museum "Fossil Grove" it is Carboniferous, and about 325 million years old. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Nice. It is a macroscopic algae, a <"Charophyte">. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I think it is a "Charophyte", something like Nitella flexilis. <"Ireland has a lot of different species of Chara etc,"> because they like clean, often calcareous water. cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is all limestone and "shell sand", so it would raise pH. Snap, the scones were good last time I was there. The cafe in Bosherston is OK as well, and the "Stackpole Inn" does reasonable meals. If your interested in native plants there are a few more unusual ones on the dunes...

Hi all, Yes, it is Carboniferous limestone. I actually know exactly where the photo was taken. It is Stackpole Warren from the beach at Broadsands, looking E, just past the S. end of the freshwater lagoon. We used to run a Field Course from Orielton FSC centre, and one of the sites we...

Hi all, It is funny I was looking at an artcile about this in National Geographic a couple of days ago <"Men and women really do see things differently">. There is also quite a bit in Dawkin's "The Ancestor's Tale" on colour vision. I think it will be the majority of women who have better...

Hi all, I like the top "green one" (10,000 & 6500K), the greens look a "bit washed" out on the pinker images. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Brilliant, definitely a Lunar Hornet Moth. The Hornet Moth (Sesia apiformis) is even bigger, with more yellow on it and a much rarer beast all around. I've only ever seen one Lunar Hornet, although they are apparently quite widespread <http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=371>. cheers...

Hi all, Very funny, I nearly ticked "like", but then paranoia set in. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Not a photographer, but I know a few fanatical ones. Have a look at <CVL BIRDING>, <Digiscoping > & <gear and processing>. cheers Darrel

Somewhere near a Heuchera. My guess would be Tiarella "Pink Skyrocket"? cheers Darrel

Brilliant, Female Dark Bush-Cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera), a common one and often in gardens etc (along with the Speckled Bush-Cricket). Another couple to look out for are Roesel's Bush-cricket and the Long-winged Conehead (what a great name), both recently spread across most of Southern...

Hi all, Thorns are a bit tricky, but that one is definitely a male Canary-shouldered Thorn (Ennomos alniaria) <Canary-shouldered Thorn Ennomos alniaria - UKMoths>. "Sparkweasel"'s moth is a summer migrant to the UK, a "Silver Y" (Autographa gamma): Silver Y Autographa gamma - UKMoths. cheers...

Hi all, I can do this one, it is a "Jersey Tiger" <Jersey Tiger Euplagia quadripunctaria - UKMoths>. I remember the first one I ever saw was on a Buddleia bush at Stoke Gabriel (just. West of Paignton), you can't tell from the photo, but it is a large butterfly sized moth and I stared at it for...

Hi all, I only know a few flies, but that is a really easy one to identify, a horse fly, patterned wings and green "sun-glasses". cheers Darrel

Hi all, It was Chrysops relictus. I try and flick them off rather than killing them, but it feels like some-one has stuck a needle in you if they do bite, and you end up with a huge allergic reaction and it itches so much you can't sleep. I'm in Sweden at the moment and I've been bitten all...

Re: seiru stone in Bonsai Hi all, Really nice, Larch (Larix) I think Larch makes an excellent bonsai, and I believe is often the last tree (L. laricina, L. sibirica) at the tree line in Canada, Siberia etc, at the northern edge of the Taiga, where the trees will be natural bonsai. I've seen...

Hi all, I think the bifurcated white flower spike probably means that it is Aponogeton ulvaceus hybrid. cheers Darrel

Hi all, I like Aponogeton, you could try pollinating it with a soft paint brush, although I think a lot of A. crispus/undulatus type plants are hybrids and sterile. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Lovely photo's, I think they look like a Grouse, so presumably Hazel Hen (Bonasa bonasia) too small? (which we don't get in the UK) or the bigger Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix). If they are really big then they might be female Capercallie (Tetrao urogallus)? We do get Black Grouse and...

Hi all, Yes, it is a "Damselfly" rather than a "Dragonfly", they are all the same (Odonata) but Damselfly are "Zygoptera" and Dragonflies "Anisoptera", main difference is the size and the way the wings are held, open in Dragonflies, closed over the back in Damsels. Ischnura elegans (below) is...

Hi all, They are lovely little fish, the local MA had some in and I was very tempted to buy a pair. I believe they are quite feisty for such a small fish. The Dragonfly looks interesting, my first thought was that it was Ischnura elegans, but it may be something a lot more exotic. cheers Darrel

Hi all, There are some Nelumbo plants by the pool in the Tropical Biome of the Princess of Wales pavilion at RBG Kew, but I can't remember them flowering. Last summer I saw some stonking specimens outside, which would have been perfect, but they were at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart. cheers Darrel

Hi all, The link on Lisa's post is a good one. The other Bumblebee to look out for in S. Britain is the tree nesting Bombus hypnorum, that has arrived from the continent since about 2000. I saw one yesterday at our allotment on the rapsberry flowers, so they have reached at least Wiltshire, and...

Hi all, Lovely photos, I can add a few I.D's. The large green Dragonfly is a female Emperor (Anax imperator) she is laying her eggs. The other brown Dragonfly is a Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis. The Damselfly is a male, he is probably the Common Blue Damsel Enallagma cyathigerum, as he only looks...

Hi all, I'm not a photographer, but there is a poster on Planet Catfish - Harvaard Stoere who takes amazing pictures of his L. numbers. I'll post a link to one of his threads, but I can't rememeber which one talks about his lighting set-up...

Hi all, Were they at the Farm (feeding station) near Rhayader? cheers Darrel

Hi all, I did a degree in Botany, and I worked for a long time in Horticulture (including some curation of plant collections) so I picked up a lot of the names. Knowing where to start is the tricky bit, for "Glasshouse plants" I'd recommend "The Garden Plant Series - Conservatory and Indoor...

Hi all, Yes, real Sorrel (and the posher "French Sorrel") is a herb, Rumex acetosella, the leaf tastes of vinegar because of the acetic acid it contains, as does the leaf of "Wood Sorrel" Oxalis acetosella. Try them they are quite sharp. Wood Sorrel is an indicator of "Ancient Woodlands", and...

Hi all, I can put names to a few of the mosses and plants, the moss in pic 2. is a "Hair Moss" (Polytrichum), the moss in pic 3. is probably Brachythecium sp. the plant in pic 4. is Helxine (Soleirolia) soleirolii, pics 6 & 7 look like a Selaginella species, the fern is probably Woodwardia...

Hi all, Lovely, I think the Clover may be Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), it is the right habitat, and it has those pale green translucent leaves. cheers Darrel

Hi all, Here's my frog photo from a very warm night in the garden a few years ago, it could have been even better as when I shone the torch on them there were 4 frogs at 90o from each other, but 2 had "escaped" before the photo. I used to quite often find frogs in the bucket (it is always full...