Darting Visitor

Common darter is a reddish dragonfly that's been coming to our pond, but never staying still long enough to get photographed. I stalked it this time, and waited patiently at a frequently used landing spot - success at last! And then I read on Wikipedia that its 'habit of repeatedly returning to a sunny spot allows you to easily predict where they are going to land, which is why it is one of the easiest dragonflies to photograph.' Harumph ... it has taken me a few weeks to nail this one down (shh, don't tell anybody).

Prickly Visitor

Our resident hedgehog has been partaking of the food we've been putting out almost daily, and certainly very regularly. Since they're nocturnal, we don't always get a chance to see them ourselves, but we got lucky one evening when it came earlier than usual - Dale took this pic from the living room window when the camera spotlight turned on. 

Our feed station has to be cat proof, otherwise they'd munch all the food before the hedgehog got there. So, we've made a maze of bricks inside an overturned tote bin, forcing the animal to weave and turn inside the tote in order to reach the food bowl.

and we've cut a small entranceway into the plastic tote. Though we've seen cats peek inside this entrance, they're nervous about the interior labyrinth that doesn't lend itself to a quick escape. This way, only the dim, adorable hedgehog gets to eat the food!

Bore Da

Good morning from Wales, or bor-eh dah!

This was earlier than my normal wake up, so took advantage of the opportunity

This appearance of the sun was a false promise though

It's became grey and colorless from 9AM, so I'm glad I got to see this.

Overnight Slime

 This slime mould appeared overnight on our new pond log

The next day it looked like this

and it became more pink as the hours went by (this is 2 hours later). This apparently happens as its reproductive structures mature.

Slime moulds! Phenomenal things - they can move as a creeping mass to hunt for food, consuming yeasts, bacteria, and fungal spores. They're not fungi, plant or animal - they're classified as protists.