Smile for the camera

Smile for the camera
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

Ah. The season for frogspawn is nearly gone, the season for pregnant newts is here. We found this in a bucket of water this morning, and I took some good shots of it before it got transfered to the pond where it can safely give birth and have its little offspring survive to look cool later on. Long live the newts!

Polka dot petals

Polka dot petals
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

I was in Steyning this morning, and while at my uncle's house, I took this rather nice shot of one of the random guest appearance plants that inhabits his garden. I think the petals look quite nice. I was lucky to get them in such good lighting.

The seagull is ruler of Brighton Beach

The seagull is ruler of Brighton Beach
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

He ruled the roost. Or at least, he thought he did. This was the scene after he had been shunted off the prestigious position of on top of the big yellow post which has gone white at the top from birds taking an unhealthy interest in it. They do make quite a din. Anyhow, this big yellow post marks one end of the narrow channel on the Brighton and Hove seafront where boats can use the beach. Seagulls like it so much because the boats are all fishing boats and there's a small fish shop on the beach. I would imagine that the bird on the post is the dominant male in the society, hence the ease with which this one gave up his seat when challenged.

Pheasant among the grass

Pheasant among the grass
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

Don't pheasants look so silly. As I was walking back to the second car park above the roundabout on the road up to Devil's Dyke, cutting across the Dyke Golf Club (keeping strictly to the bridleway, of course), a male ran across, and took me off guard. Then the female shot across. By the time my camera was ready, they were around the corner in the undergrowth, or at least the female was, the male was nowhere to be seen. But they do look so silly when they run. And make such a noise when they take off!

Spring-like blossoms

Spring-like blossoms
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

All the snow has finally melted, the temperature seems to be going up again and spring is back in the air. Hopefully winter has had its final throes and we can all think about taking off our coats again. And about time too. That blossom was really quite pretty. Luckily the sun fell on it well.

It's in the tracks

It's in the tracks
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

The snow was still thick on our lawn this morning, and you could see where the birds had been overnight. It all melted off reasonably quickly though, and the snowmen who looked so proud yesterday have morphed into forlorn piles, the only reminder of what has been. There was enough snow left on car roofs for a minor snowball fight across the road though...

When blossoms meet snow

When blossoms meet snow
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

This is what happens when you let the weather do what it wants. This really is crazy. On friday, I was so warm I had to take off a summer weight walking jacket. Two days later, the snow moves in. Oh so typical, isn't it. Just when we thought we'd got away from the wintry stuff, it comes back in force. This was the tree just across the road from us, its blossoms nicely covered in snow. How calm it looks.

The log man

The log man
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

Having spent a good deal of the morning and some of the afternoon cutting up a great pile of branches, this was the most interesting product. It was a part of our large and very climbable strawberry tree, until a few weeks ago when I set about removing the lower branches to improve the overall look. Anyway, the log sort of resembles a man, gesturing "rock on" at a concert or something. Or maybe it's just a log. It'll get burnt in the end.

On the ball...

On the ball...
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

I found this sitting on our lawn this morning. My guess is that it was deposited by a fox last night, the ball will have originated in the tennis club at the bottom of our garden. I mention foxes because there was at least one around last night. They call out horribly, it sounds like a child in pain. At least they're not on heat at the moment, as when they're on heat, they keep going all night. Anyway, I'm getting used to my macro settings, this was taken using the super macro setting. I'm quite pleased with the lighting on the ball and the grass in the foreground.

Colored lines

Colored lines
Originally uploaded by Timothy Davies

Walking up on Devil's Dyke today, I came across a whole load of parakiters and a few hang gliders were playing in the wind. Luckily my summer-weight windproof walking coat protected me from the worst of it. Out of the wind it was nice and warm, where the sun was shining. Anyway, this photo was of the lines connecting the kite to the backpack thing they sit in when they're in the air. Obviously they're color coded so that they go to the right place. This was the kit of one of the guys as he was beginning to roll up his kite. Looks quite nice, really.