March 2012
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Attenborough, Nottinghamshire
There was some beautiful light on a few of my early morning walks around Attenborough this month, but not much interesting birdlife to photograph.
Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - Attenborough, Nottinghamshire
Towards the end of the month I took a couple of trips up to Monsal Dale to attempt to photograph the Mandarin Ducks along the river. Unfortunately the weather forecast was a bit off on both occasions and, instead of getting the predicted bright mornings I was hoping for, it was heavily overcast. Since the light conditions were a bit of a dead loss for bird photography, I didn't even bother to get the big lens out of my car and instead switched my focus to the early spring flowers that were starting to come into bloom along the valley floor.
Barren Strawberry (Potentilla sterilis) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
 Garden Arabis (Arabis caucasica) |
Common Ivy (Hedera helix) berries |
Garden Arabis is a plant that is native to the eastern Mediterranean region which has become naturalised throughout most of Britain after escaping from garden rockeries. In Monsal Dale it is commonly found clinging to the steep rock-faces of the valley sides.
Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
The marshy riverbanks were dominated by Butterbur, while the woodland floor was carpeted with a dense covering of Dog's Mercury.
Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) |
Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
T. versicolor is a very variable bracket fungi and the photos above and below illustrate two of commoner colour forms.
Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
Another common fungi that can be found year round is Jelly Ear. Similar to T. versicolor, it also has a wide range of colour variants.
Jelly Ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) |
Mouse-tail Moss (Isothecium myosuroides) |
Monsal Dale is also home to a wide variety of mosses, some of which are very rare. All the species photographed here, however, are common and widespread species.
Mouse-tail Moss (Isothecium myosuroides) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
Intermediate Screw-moss (Syntrichia intermedia) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
Intermediate Screw-moss (Syntrichia intermedia) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
Wall Screw-moss (Tortula muralis) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
Grey-cushioned Grimmia (Grimmia pulvinata) - Monsal Dale, Derbyshire
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