Gladstone Pottery Museum Photo-session

 

The Gladstone Museum on a wet day is a bit of a bind.  Everything is slippery and the bottle ovens are exposed to the weather inside.  Still, there are techniques for producing good photos of life in the past.

These two images show a woman walking towards a Magic Lantern Show.  The first one is the original photo and the second one is the same imaged enhanced for quality.  Light levels and exposure have been adjusted to give a better overall image.

This image can then be converted to monochrome and made to look like an old Black and White image.

Of course, a later show is also attracting an audience, especially as it is raining.

Inside the showroom is a bit more tricky as the lighting is low. Here, the Magician is setting his show up at the start of the proceedings, before the lanterns are lit on the back of the screens to generate the shadow images of the main show.

Outside is the opportunity to purchase an elixir or two to help with all sorts of ailments.

And, of course, there is always someone to sell cakes and pies for a penny or two.  What a good day out.

Goosanders

In recent years, the number of Goosanders seen at Westport Lake in Stoke-on-Trent has increased considerably.  These are predatory fish eaters and they have a long and thin, serrated edged beak.

Notice the sharp edge between the brown and white feathers on the neck.  A near relative species, the Merganser has a merged margin to these neck colours and it shows a less distinct boarder.

Goosanders hunt in packs, perhaps 2-6 birds swimming in a row. This strategy is very well organized.

The hunting birds swim quickly forward with their heads in the water.  This enables them to see and fish in the catch zone and allows them to select suitable prey that they can swallow whole.  Any fish that divert to the side may be caught by one of the other pack members.

Goosanders can move faster on the surface than they can swim under water, so this method of hunting allows then to cover a larger area of lake or river very quickly.  They will dive for food.

The local gulls tend to keep out of the way of this organized hunt.  They tend to compete rather than cooperate in food gathering.

You cannot watch birds on Westport Lake without spotting groups of Tufted ducks.  These are part of the resident community.

Grey Herons are also a likely bird to see.  There is usually the odd one perched on a tree or rock, often resting after a successful hunt. Herons are opportunists and ambush predators.

Hedgehog

This afternoon we spotted a Hedgehog foraging on the garden.  This is a rare event these days.

It was finding small insects in the lawn and especially along the side of the greenhouse base wall.

It looked healthy and when it had finished its feeding, it disappeared under the Laurel bush and probably went in to the thick vegetation on the front garden.

The whole event was observed by Pumpkin, the cat from across the road.

There is a lot of respect on our garden between the local pets and the wildlife.  I hope the hedgehog is well hidden for when the Badgers make an appearance later in the Night.
 

Autumn

The leaves are falling in abundance now.  It will not be long before this warm and unseasonal Autumn becomes Winter.

There seems to be a lot of Yellow leaves at present and much of the usual brown coverage is absent.

This Shaggy inkcap stood out in the leaf fall.  It is a fungus often referred to a Judges wig.

This bracken is looking quite brown against the green and yellow of the rest of the vegetation.

Still, there is always something different to see, if you keep looking.  This is a very brown Red squirrel looking for nuts in the grass.

Enjoy the Autumnal fun!

 

Red Deer

 

The stag is very protective of his harem at this time of year.  He is always there to challenge any lesser beast for the right to rule the herd.

There lots of interactions in this world and here a Jackdaw is inspecting the prime stags fur for bugs and ticks.

The resting hinds also get the same treatment.

And just occasionally their attention is captivated by events on the grazing field.

It is usually the old boy letting the local stags know who is in charge.  It is not often that they need to lock antlers.

Earlier, we had seen some pale Fallow Deer in Bradgate Park, Leicester.  Not such good photos as I was using a small pocket camera in the rain on this occasion.

Removing the Cat Flap

It is some years since we had cats and now we have decided to remove the cat flap. Having just competed a search for bricks to match the house wall, we found a small supply of them at a local builders merchant.  The bricks are a 1970 design  (LBC Cotswold) which is discontinued.

The first job was to remove the weather shield, which was tied into the wall as a permanent fixture.  An angle grinder and lump hammer got me started.

The wall fitting had a marine-ply box holding the cat flap, and the fixing screws were well and truly stuck.  I had to take a saw to the front of the box and prize the pieces out.  I will leave the step in whilst I brick up the front, as that can be removed later at leisure.

Before staring to lay the bricks, I fitted a patch of damp course and glued it down to overlap the existing damp course ends.  Then I cut all of the bricks to fit before mixing the mortar.

The brickwork was straight forward and I fitted brick ties to lock it into the existing wall.  Just the last 2 bricks to lay, and this is the tricky bit.

The jobs a good one - now I need to let it dry out for 48 hours, then give it a waterproof treatment to seal the bricks.

The step will probably be removed in  a week or so, and the inner wall bricks and cavity insulation will be sorted in a few days time.  Then I can sort out the water butts and overspill drainage pipes.

The London Brick Company Cotswold Bricks are a notoriously dry brick and they are prone to spalling as they age.  The house is 55 years old and a few bricks are showing signs of spalling, so they will need to the sealed with a waterproofing agent to prevent any further damage.  That is going to be a next project.

Windy start to the day

 

This morning we had an early visitor.  He was not impressed by the wind, and a bit skitty, but was hopeful of a few scraps of food.

He is one of this years cubs.  The rest of the family seem to have decamped and left this first year in the den alone.  This is his first experience of very high winds and he has yet to see a winter.

I think he is putting me on a training schedule.  I have learned that he is not fond of sausage rolls, and prefers fresh meaty feasts. Bird nibbles from the ground feeder are a second option.

He also avoids wet weather and will appear in the garden when the rain has stopped of an evening.  Not sure of how his behaviour will change when he encounters a vixen!