Badger Visits

It has been quite a while since the Badger last visited my garden.



It ignored the two apples and proceeded to scoff all the pieces of dried bread I had thrown out for the birds.

Outnumbered

The long wriggly creature in this video is a Nematode:



These can be found almost everywhere on the Earth. There are thousands of varieties whch inhabit the ocean bed, ponds, underground in mines, in soil and even in a small piece of moss. That is where I found this one. It is thought there are approximately 60 billion Nematodes to every human. We are well and truly outnumbered.

Lunch Time Visitor

I never know what I am going to find in my kitchen. A couple of days ago it was:



a small beetle, a Lagria hirta. Photo taken with a cheap DooGee Note 58 Android phone. For just under £100 the phone was really excellent value, though unfortunately no longer available. BTW: I identified it using the Google photo search which I find to be quite useful from time to time.

Microscopic Life in Moss

Some video clips, slowed down to a quarter speed ....



... as they are constantly rushing about. This time I was able to use the above stage lighting which gives somewhat clearer views of the activity. My first thought on identification was Ostracada but now I am not so sure, Thay may be Cillates. PS. Just been identified by Izmi Gigavista from Fort Hays State University as being a cillate known as Colpoda.

Moldy Breaf

Basic microscopes only have a lamp under the specimen being viewed. Sometimes better results are obtained with illumination from just above the specimen, or even a mixture of both. This photo shows the microscope and above that is a Schott lighting unit. The light travels down the flexible tubes so it can be aimed just where I want it.



Here are some views of a piece of mold from an old slice of bread:







PS. The flag seen just above the Schott unit is the flag of the county where I live - Lincolnshire.