Archive for June, 2015
Fossils at the Great Northern (1)
Posted: June 29, 2015 in Natural HistoryTags: Fossils, Great Northern Museum, Newcastle
On a recent visit to Newcastle I had the opportunity to pop into the Great Northern Museum (formerly the Hancock Museum) and visit an excellent exhibition on fossils.
The Great Northern Museum, Newcastle
Crinoids
Crinoids
A model of how Crinoids would have looked.
Crinoids can still be found today in tropical seas
![By Alexander Vasenin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://petesfavouritethings.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/colorful_crinoids_at_shallow_waters_of_gili_lawa_laut.jpg)
By Alexander Vasenin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
![By Alexander Vasenin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://petesfavouritethings.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/multiple_crinoids_occupying_the_reef_of_nusa_kode_island.jpg)
By Alexander Vasenin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Northumbrian Skies
Posted: June 28, 2015 in Landscape, Natural History, Northumberland, UKTags: Northumbria
Some pictures of amazing sunsets seen in Northumbria on recent trip
Triangulum Galaxy
Posted: June 27, 2015 in AstronomyTags: Astrophotography, Bradford Robotic telescope, Triangulum galaxy
Located in the constellation Triangulum, from which it takes its name, this spiral galaxy is the 3rd largest after the Milky way and the Andromeda galaxy. It may be a bound satellite of the Andromeda galaxy. It is 3 million light years from earth; has a diameter of 60,000 light years and is estlimated to contain around 40
billion stars.
Unfiltered image
Infra-Red filter
Blue Filter
Red Filter
These are some photos taken using the Bradford Robotic telescope
Dorset Wildlife (3)
Posted: June 26, 2015 in Birds, Dorset, Natural History, UKTags: Dorset Wildlife
Some more pictures from my recent trip to Dorset
Magpie
Mute Swan
Great Crested Grebe
An apparently headless and one-legged Grey Heron
Common Pochard
Ruddy Turnstone
Herring Gull
Statues and Memorials in London: Paternoster Column
Posted: June 25, 2015 in London, UKTags: Paternoster Sq
The Paternoster column stands at the heart of the piazza created by the redevelopment of Paternoster Sq in the 1990s. It is a 23m tall Corinthean column topped by a flaming urn covered in gold leaf. It is known to some people as the ‘flaming pineapple’.
Aside from its decorative element its true secret is that it conceals a ventilation shaft for a private road which runs under the square.
London Wetland Centre (2)
Posted: June 24, 2015 in Birds, Butterflies and Moths, London, Natural History, UKTags: London Wetland Centre, Moorhen, Red Admiral, White-headed Duck
The wetland Centre collection shows off the wonderful work that the Wetlands Trust do in helping to save and re-introduce endangered species from around the world. The centre collection area has also become home to native species such as the Moorhen, Tufted Duck and Mallard and helps promote other plants and insects.
Fulvous Whistling Duck
photo by Sue
Red Admiral. Photo by Sue
Moorhen with chick. Photo by Sue
Moorhen and chick. Photo by Sue
White-headed Duck
London Wetland Centre (1)
Posted: June 23, 2015 in London, UKTags: Bewick's Swan, Black Swan, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Crested Screamer, London Wetland Centre, Red-breasted goose
Last Sunday Sue and I took my mum to the London Wetland Centre. After lunch we wandered around the collection of wildfowl from around the world. Here are some of the birds we saw.
Bewicks Swan
Bewicks Swan
Southern Crested Screamer
Red-Breasted Goose
Black swan
Ferrugenous Duck
One of the fantastic things about walking in London is you never quite know what you are going to find around the next corner. These are some photographs of a building Sue and I found whilst walking in central London. We didnt have the camera so they are taken with Sue’s mobile phone. This is a great thing about having a camera in our phones – whatever you find you have the capability to record it.
This is the CBRE headquarters in London. CBRE is a large commercial and residential property consultants and the decoration of their building reflects this.
Most of them we could see were types of building or property, but this one had me stumped
It is a lighthouse or a globe or?
Naturelog:19th June (2)
Posted: June 21, 2015 in Birds, Butterflies and Moths, Dragonflies, Natural HistoryTags: Blue-Tailed damselfly, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Red Admiral, Riverside CP Gillingham, Small Tortoiseshell, Woodpigeon
After the morning walk along Darland Bank NR (see yesterdays post) Keith and I walked down to the estuary of the River Medway at Riverside CP.
Approaching the river through Eastcourt meadows, we were delighted by the number of Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies that could be seen.
Red Admiral
Small Tortoiseshell
We reached the estuary and apart from some Oystercatchers it was very quiet.
We also visited Sharp’s Green Pond where there were Moorhen nesting. Common Blue Damselfly and Blue-tailed Damselfly were also present.
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Moorhen nesting
Woodpigeon
Day list 19/6/15
Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Common Buzzard [sp] (Buteo buteo)
Common Moorhen [sp] (Gallinula chloropus)
Eurasian Oystercatcher [sp] (Haematopus ostralegus)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus)
Lesser Black-backed Gull [sp] (Larus fuscus)
Common Tern [sp] (Sterna hirundo)
Common Pigeon [sp] (Columba livia)
Stock Dove [sp] (Columba oenas)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Eurasian Collared Dove [sp] (Streptopelia decaocto)
Common Cuckoo [sp] (Cuculus canorus)
European Green Woodpecker [sp] (Picus viridis)
Eurasian Magpie [sp] (Pica pica)
Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Barn Swallow [sp] (Hirundo rustica)
Cetti’s Warbler [sp] (Cettia cetti)
Common Chiffchaff [sp] (Phylloscopus collybita)
Eurasian Blackcap [sp] (Sylvia atricapilla)
Lesser Whitethroat [sp] (Sylvia curruca)
Common Whitethroat [sp] (Sylvia communis)
Eurasian Wren [sp] (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Common Starling [sp] (Sturnus vulgaris)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
Song Thrush [sp] (Turdus philomelos)
Mistle Thrush [sp] (Turdus viscivorus)
European Robin [sp] (Erithacus rubecula)
House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis)
Common Chaffinch [sp] (Fringilla coelebs)
European Greenfinch [sp] (Carduelis chloris)
European Goldfinch [sp] (Carduelis carduelis)
Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Green-veined White [sp] (Artogeia napi)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Small Tortoiseshell [sp] (Aglais urticae)
Marbled White [sp] (Melanargia galathea)
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
Pete's Favourite Things 