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Post by 4wd on Feb 24, 2021 21:58:33 GMT
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Post by rgsp on Mar 22, 2021 11:08:56 GMT
These are shots from yesterday taken using the new Lumix camera. They were taken to push the camera to its limits, and so aren't very good as works of art, but I'm still pleased with them. The first three are of the lambs we have so far: they're all in a rather dark part of the yard, and No.1 was in full shadow, but fairly easy to get at otherwise. Lamb No.2 was in full shadow, tucked away in a very dark corner under a hay rack, and only just visible to the naked eye. Lamb No.3 was in partial sun, challenging the camera's dynamic range to the full You wouldn't believe there were central heating pipes under the doorstep the cat is laying on, would you? Shot taken across the 18' or so of kitchen with no lights on or flash. The final three shots were taken standing in the same place - all hand-held. The first one is at maximum wide-angle, the second at maximum optical zoom, and the third at maximum optical and digital zoom. Not spectacular shots, but useful indicators.
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Post by 4wd on Mar 22, 2021 11:11:32 GMT
Amazing zoom for small camera, looking good and nice natural colours
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Post by rgsp on Mar 22, 2021 11:33:51 GMT
Amazing zoom for small camera, looking good and nice natural colours Yes, and that's the "restricted" 10x optical zoom of the Tz100. The Tz80 with the smaller 1/2.3 sensor goes up to 30x optical. Image stabilisation does work quite well. The camera has a plethora of colour rendering options (including "appetising food", what on earth's that?). However, I've only used the default option so far, which does look at least OK. I'm also very pleased with the low light performance. The noise level on the shot of lamb No.2 is very high, but it's still a usable shot, and you literally couldn't see that lamb at all until your eyes had accommodated for a couple of minutes.
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Post by 4wd on Mar 23, 2021 9:14:26 GMT
Bergenia (?) just now. Last year the rabbits demolished this but it seems to have done it good to have all old leaves removed. A more common problem is it will try to flower in February and the flowers get killed by frost as they aren't very hardy. I was surprised to see it grows apparently wild at Redcar on the coast. However the ones there seemed a bit less stocky somehow.
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Post by 4wd on Mar 29, 2021 17:17:48 GMT
Someone's unfortunate incident. These are opening here but further ahead south of the moors. Nearby a significant area with scattered Pulmonaria in two colours - they may have been tipped out in garden rubbish but been there many years by the look of it.
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Post by rgsp on Mar 31, 2021 10:18:44 GMT
Some more playing with new camera. Patch of wood anemones - notable only because we sowed the seed there, and they're gradually making up. A single anemone flower: they are quite smart if you look closely. Iris Unguicularis close-up. This is really showing off the image stabilisation and zoom of the camera, because it was taken from normal standing height.
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Post by 4wd on Mar 31, 2021 11:57:49 GMT
Are wood anemones trick to get seeds to germinate? Cowslips you need to know what you are doing they need cold and light so on the surface about Christmas. I have established a lot of patches by dropping pinches of seed saved previous June/July, onto likely slightly bare spots
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Post by rgsp on Mar 31, 2021 13:58:57 GMT
Wood anemone seed needs to be sown very fresh. Its most fertile state it's greeny-yellow and slightly sticky: some authorities say it's spread by ants.
Seed collected and distributed commercially is barely viable. The best way of getting a patch of anemones established is to buy a small number of potted plants. After a year or two to settle in, they will seed: as soon as the seeds come off when you run your hand up the stalk, it's ready, though it doesn't look it. Just chuck the seed onto the ground near the original plants, and new ones will start to be visible in one or two years. They take at least two years to reach flowering size.
The plants also spread by runners, like strawberries, and I suspect this is often the most effective spreading mechanism in woodland, though it only amounts to perhaps 4-8" per year.
Once you have a patch well established, outlying plants will start to appear occasionally at a distance of some yards, which is probably where the ants come in.
PS Mrs RGSP thinks I should add that although the seed must be sown fresh and green, it doesn't germinate properly for 10 months. Furthermore the first-year plants are tiny: they do look like anemone plants, but the whole thing is only fingernail size.
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Post by 4wd on Mar 31, 2021 16:19:43 GMT
They do grow here and there locally but would consider trying to start them off in new places that might be suitable. It sounds like trying to get a few plantlets from runners might be easier.
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Post by 4wd on Mar 31, 2021 19:11:21 GMT
Last rays of warm spell on old bridge and wild daffodils Cowslips on sunny bank adjacent - seeds thrown out about 5 years ago! Twenty minutes later our spring default fog and drizzle @ 5C rolled in off the sea.
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Post by rgsp on Mar 31, 2021 19:23:06 GMT
They do grow here and there locally but would consider trying to start them off in new places that might be suitable. It sounds like trying to get a few plantlets from runners might be easier. If you can find areas where there are plenty of small clumps, then lifting a few will almost certainly succeed better than trying seed.
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Post by 4wd on Apr 1, 2021 8:48:57 GMT
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Post by 4wd on Apr 10, 2021 12:38:49 GMT
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Post by 4wd on Apr 25, 2021 20:01:10 GMT
Early Purple Orchid and other well known woodland flowers south of moors this afternoon, I was surprised how well forward bluebells were they are two weeks later here. Everything is rather short due to dryness but not desperate yet,
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