Owner: The Green Fingered Photographer URL:http://thegreenfingeredphotographer.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 08:58:36 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: The Green fingered photographer is a blog all about my favourite interests of Photography, Nature and Plants which have grown and complimented each other for a number of years Site statistics:Click here
Corncockle Seeds Update 2007-09-18 05:56:00 I would like to thank everyone who requested Corncockle seeds. I have sent out 15 cards with about 50 seeds in, so hopefully there will be around 700 new Corncockle plants come next year. Each seed head has a large number of seeds, so before long Corncockle shouldn't be to rare.If any body else would like some and lives in Britain, get in touch as I still have some left. One of the things that I found interesting was how I was able to use different types of media to let people know about the seed offer. The first one was my Blog, then I let people know who were in my Facebook groups and then I wrote an article in The Wellington News a local newspaper, that I write articles for. All slightly different forms of communicating with people, but achieving the same thing.Going back to Facebook I thought you might like to have a look at April Simpsons watercolour cartoons, they will give you a chuckle...
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Green Thumb Sunday 2007-09-15 18:06:00 How To Join GreenThumbSundayGreen Thumb
Sunday Blogroll During the Crusades, the Knights of St John of Jerusalem used this St John's-wort to heal the wounds of the Crusaders. This was in accordance with the so-called 'doctrine of signatures',which said a plant could cure the ailments of the part of the body which it resembled.But St John's-wort does not outwardly resemble any part of the anatomy: its supposed magic lies in the fact that when a leaf is held up to the light it is seen to be covered with translucent glands resembling punctures, which medieval folk saw as 'wounds'. According to the doctrine, because the leaf appeared to be punctured it was capable of curing wounds - especially those received in battle.St John's-wort was also esteemed for its power to drive away devils and evil spirits. In medieval times , the plant was hung in windows and doorways to prevent Satan and his emissaries from entering. If a woman thought herself to be possessed by the devil, and when C
Photo Hunters 2007-09-15 06:13:00 This weeks theme.... PlasticHow To Join PhotoHunters
Photo Hunters Blogroll(click image to see more detail)The World famous Ironbridge, in Ironbridge, Shropshire,was built by Abraham Darby III in 1779 and said to be the birth place of the Industrial Revolution. It is only about 10 minutes away from where I live and I thought that it would be a good idea to wrap it in plastic to symbolise old and new materials.Once I had taken the picture it was really difficult to get all the plastic back off before all the visitors came, I managed it and took all the plastic back home for re-cycling , as I didn't want to litter the countryside.
Advertising On Your Blog 2007-09-14 00:36:00 Since starting my blog back in April I have been using it to advertise my web site Dragons and Damsels Wildlife Photography and recently my Images of Nature 2008 Calendar through my Lulu storefront, but that is about as far as I have gone.A few weeks ago I had reached the 10000 visitor point and this must have triggered something off as I am now constantly sent e-mails from advertisers asking could they use my blog to advertise on. I have to date been reluctant to do this as I don't want to compromise what I am doing with adverts.I now however think I have found a compromise that allows adverts on my blog. The good thing about this is you will only see adverts if you view my blog via your Mobile phone.I have signed up with a company called Feedm8. What they do is take your feed from your blog and turn it into a mobile site. All you have to do is supply Feedm8 with your feed URL and they do the rest and the good thing is it is totally free.You can add buttons to your blog to give your Read more:Advertising
Wiggly Wednesday 2007-09-12 00:42:00 The Wiggly CollectionFor the next 10 Wednesday
s I will be showcasing my images contained in the The Wiggly Collection .The collection is 12 images that represent various aspects of our natural world. Each A4 print is mounted in a 400mm x 500mm acid free mount (stops it from discolouring) and is limited to 30 prints, each signed by myself.The only place where you can purchase these reasonably priced pictures from is Wiggly Wigglers and you can do that by following this linkThis picture is called Through The BulrushesI am sure what happened to me on the day that I took this picture has happened to many people.I had got up early to get to Berrington pool in time for the sunrise.It was only after I had arrived and was getting my camera gear ready that I realised that I had not brought my memory card with me. The sun was just coming up and together with the water vapour on the pool it looked fantastic. There was nothing I could do but watch it for awhile and then return home for the missing
From This To This To This.... 2007-09-11 07:44:00 Every few days I will go out into the area in front of my house that I look after and see what is going on.The thing that caught my eye on this visit was the amount of hazelnuts were being produced on the two trees that are their. I don't know whether it is because the trees are a certain age or this year is a particularly good year for them.This got me thinking as earlier on in the year around April I took some photos of the hazelnut flowers, they are tiny red things that don't really resemble flowers, but are like strands coming out the top of a bud. The flowers came out when we had beautiful but unusual sunshine in April, during this time they would have been pollinated and doing their thing during all the wet weather. Now we are having a good sunny spell again , the bumper crop is ripening. This seems the way with many other early flowering trees, such as hawthorn and elderflower.I might be totally wrong but it does seem the weather pattern this year has suited some things. While
Green Thumb Sunday 2007-09-09 04:30:00 How To Join GreenThumbSundayGreen Thumb
Sunday Blogroll One of the challenges in photographing Dragonflies, is catching them in flight. I have been photographing them for the past five years and it is something I have managed to do only a few times and having a digital camera really does make the difference. It also helps if you understand the behaviour of the dragonflies as they tend to have an area they patrol, looking for either females to mate with, or to fight off males from their patch.That knowledge helped in both of these pictures: The top picture is of a Four Spotted Chaser, he had just mated with a female and was patrolling above her as she laid her eggs. He was doing this to ensure that the eggs that he had just fertilised were laid and that another male hadn't re-mated with the female, which would have destroyed the eggs that he had just fertilised. The second picture is of a Emperor Dragonfly, this was taken at one of my favourite locations, Berrington Pool. That is the
Photo Hunters 2007-09-07 14:38:00 This weeks theme.... MusicHow To Join PhotoHunters
Photo Hunters BlogrollI have to confess that I have a soft spot for Bagpipe and Drum Music. Jim Nicholl was a piper I met recently at a wedding that I photographed at Borthwick Castle, just outside of Edinburgh. He played the pipes with gusto, that he reminded me of the music I had heard the previous year while holidaying in North Uist and The Isle Of Skye. The bands used traditional pipes and drums and give it a twist. You can have a listen for yourself by following these links. The first band is the Peatbog Faeries and the second is Shooglenifty .Hope you enjuy their Music.
Images Of Nature 2008 Calendar 2007-09-06 14:10:00 A couple of weeks ago I decided to publish a 2008 calendar of some of my favourite nature images.I chose a company called Lulu to do it through .Once I published it I ordered a copy to see how long it would take and to see if the images had been faithfully reproduced onto the calendar. My calendar arrived yesterday , so I can say when you order your copy allow between 2-3 weeks for it to arrive with you. The images have been faithfully reproduced and I can say I am very happy with the finished calendar. The calendar is A4 in size and is in the landscape format, with the image for the month appearing in full A4 size above the dates. British and American holidays are also included in the various months. You can see more of my Lulu storefront by clicking here , and if you would like to order the calendar, in time for Christmas, just click the Lulu button.
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, Calendar
Wiggly Wednesday 2007-09-05 02:55:00 The Wiggly CollectionFor the next 11 Wednesday
s I will be showcasing my images contained in the The Wiggly Collection .The collection is 12 images that represent various aspects of our natural world. Each A4 print is mounted in a 400mm x 500mm acid free mount (stops it from discolouring) and is limited to 30 prints, each signed by myself.The only place where you can purchase these reasonably priced pictures from is Wiggly Wigglers and you can do that by following this link .This Image is called Apple BlossomGranville Nature Reserve is situated amongst the ever encroaching housing developments in Donnington, Telford. The reserve is managed Shropshire Wildlife Trust.The reserve contains a vast array of habitats and is a valuable resource. After a day's photography in the reserve I was on my way home with enough space for only two images on my memory card when the Apple Blossom caught my eye .The blossom is a sure sign of spring and together with the beautiful colours of fresh emerging l
Took The Opportunity 2007-09-04 14:23:00 I haven't been able to get out and about as much as I would like to for the last three weeks, due to work commitments. Today I took the opportunity to go to one of my favourite places, Berrington Pool. The pool is situated by a place called Cross Houses, just outside of Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The pool is packed full of wildlife, from insects, butterflies and my favourite, Dragonflies. It is coming towards the end of the dragonfly season, but their are still plenty to be found.The first one that I saw was this Migrant Hawker. Like many dragonflies it has an area that it patrols, looking out for females or fighting off other males. If you know this and observe the dragonfly for a while you will see that it will come back to roughly the same perch and enable you to get quite close for a good picture.(click to enlarge you can see all the hairs on it's body) This banded Demoiselle caught my eye as it's greeny blue body reflected the sun. I like these type of shots were you can see the s Read more:Opportunity
Awesome Guy Blogger Award 2007-09-03 14:07:00 I would say that sums me up quite nicely...well I would, wouldn't I. Some people might not agree with me , but hey what the eck.Kathy over at Photography By KML thinks so, so for that I thank her. Kathy is quite an accomplished photographer, she excels with nature photography as well as sports images and her blog is well worth a visit. She also has an excellent Web site. One of the things I have noticed since starting this blogging is their are very few of us males. I could think of a few reasons, but I wont go into that. So I thought I would introduce you to a few Awesome GuysBob at Gardener To The Big HouseMr Brown ThumbDrew at The Ben SparkChris at Digital Flower PicturesThomas at Photos From Northern NorwayI hope you enjoy the visiting these Guys as you won't be dissapointed. We may be few but we are good.....
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A Bit Of A Mixture 2007-10-01 10:23:00 For quite sometime now I have been a wicked musician, not many people know this but I now feel it's time to let you all know.You might be thinking what instrument does he play, well it's not just one instrument but several. I play a mean arm chair and I am possibly better at the desk but my main instrument is the steering wheel. To fine tune my skills, I thought it was time to purchase a so called proper instrument. My instrument of choice, is the Bongos. Captain Lifecruiser has encourage my development into bongo bashing, so if you are ever in Telford and you hear strange bongo noises, it will be a good chance it will be me....I am awesome!!!!! believe me.April Simpson a fellow Facebook artist has released some more of her work, you can view more by following this link I really enjoy her watercolours, as the interesting cartoon characters and lively colours give me a chuckle each time I see one.And finally I would like to direct you to Tractor Boy over at Green Jelly bean ,who has u Read more:Mixture
Green Thumb Sunday 2007-09-30 05:05:00 How To Join GreenThumbSundayGreen Thumb
Sunday Blogroll(click to enlarge...if you dare) Crab Spider on Lavender Crab spiders do not spin webs to trap prey, but hunt on the open ground or on vegetation and flowers. Typically crab spiders are predators that lie in wait to ambush their prey. Though their jaws are rather small and slender, many crab spiders possess potent venom's that quickly immobilize their prey. Flower spiders, a particular type of crab spider, rest on flowers and remain motionless for long periods of time with their front two pairs of legs extended in readiness. They ambush butterflies, bees, flies, and other flower visitors; their venom's enable them to successfully attack insects much larger than themselves. They do not wrap their prey in silk after biting, but instead remain with the immobilized prey until they have sucked it dry. This picture was taken in France this year and shows a crab spider waiting on lavender for its prey.
Photo Hunters 2007-09-29 05:14:00 This weeks theme.... OriginalHow To Join PhotoHunters
Photo Hunters BlogrollFor a while I have been championing snails by producing Original snail art . I find that they are a misunderstood, all they want to do it roam around displaying their colourful shells as a moving art instillation. All they ask in return is to have a nibble at some vegetation every now and then. I am lucky as I have these moving works of art at my wildlife garden at my work place and I am quite happy for them to have a nibble as their is plenty of vegetation to go around.So if you see any don't think of them as pests, think of them as moving Original snail works of art.Don't forget if you would like these original snail art works ,any other images you see on here or on my web site as a printed photograph you can order them by following the instructions you will find on my web site.
Bokashi And The Vegetable Patch 2007-10-12 08:06:00 I have recently filled my second Bokashi Bucket and after giving it a further two weeks to ferment, I have decided to add it to the vegetable patch. The first lot I gave to the worms in the Wormery , they soon munched their way through it and it now has the appearance of compost, which I will add to the garden later on. As you may or may not know, my veggie patch is only 10ft x 6 ft, so to keep the veggies happy for the coming year I need to keep the nutrient level up. This is why this time I am adding the Bokashi to the patch. I firstly dug out a trench to about the depth of the spade. Then went and got the Bokashi bucket. Then added it to the trench, spreading it out along its length. As you can see most of the waste is made up from fruit skins and cores,tea bags,vegetable peelings and some pasta. I then recovered the trench and I will come back to it in a couple of weeks to see how it is breaking down and adding free nutrients to my veggie patch . have found the whole Bokashi exper Read more:Vegetable
, Patch
Blog Action Day - 15th October 2007 2007-10-11 00:25:00 Get Involved ! On October
15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.You can click here for further information
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Wiggly Wednesday 2007-10-10 08:34:00 The Wiggly CollectionFor the next 6 Wednesday
s I will be showcasing my images contained in the The Wiggly Collection .The collection is 12 images that represent various aspects of our natural world. Each A4 print is mounted in a 400mm x 500mm acid free mount (stops it from discolouring) and is limited to 30 prints, each signed by myself.The only place where you can purchase these reasonably priced pictures from is Wiggly Wigglers and you can do that by following this link This picture is called ...ScabiousThis scabious was growing at the side of the railway track at Harlescott Crossing, Shrewsbury. This is the place where I work and for the last six years I have been clearing the rubbish and weeds and to replace them with native wild flowers which were supplied by Forestart. It means that I have a year round supply of photo opportunity’s; many of the photos can be seen in the gallery.I decided to showcase one of the pictures from the railway today as I have been awarded this badge by
Wellington News 2008 Calendars 2007-10-09 09:55:00 Four Calendars
to choose fromOver the past couple of months I have been gathering together images from a variety of subjects for The Wellington
News . These include images from in and around Shrewsbury Train station and signal boxes, to Front Doors from around Wellington, to scenic and wildlife images from all over Shropshire. The images have been put together by The Wellington News into these A4 size calendars ,printed onto glossy paper to give good vibrant images.You can purchase the calendars now from The Wellington News Shop, 2 Crown Street, Wellington,Telford, Shropshire. Their telephone number is 01952 415334 if you would like to order one, wherever you are in the world. Pick up one today, you wont be disappointed
Green Thumb Sunday 2007-10-07 06:14:00 How To Join GreenThumbSundayGreen Thumb
Sunday Blogroll The Hawthorn treeThe Hawthorn tree or 'May Tree' is a native British tree and is many things to many people. The Hawthorn has also long been considered a sacred and healing plant by Druids and Pagans. Traditionally the tree of the Fairy Queen. It is said that fairies and spirits had their meeting place under the hawthorn tree. A spring-time custom was to plait crowns of hawthorn blossoms and leave them for the angels or faeries who came at night. It was believed that if the faeries chose to dance around the crowns, blessings would be showered on those who had made them. Sprigs of hawthorn were attached to the cradle of a newborn baby to afford protection against illness and evil influences. If worn or carried it was said to give psychic protection, to lift the spirits and banish melancholy but unlucky if brought indoors. I personally find it a uplifting tree as it is a sure sign of Spring and of better weather to come. I have
Photo Hunters 2007-10-05 18:24:00 This weeks theme.... CurvyHow To Join PhotoHunters
Photo Hunters BlogrollMy first thoughts for CURVY was of a nice curvaceous woman, as I don't have any pictures matching that description I thought that this Long Horn sheep, with its curvy horns, from the Isle of Skye would fit the bill.
Vegetable Patch...End Of The Season 2007-10-05 04:37:00 It has been an interesting experiment having a go at growing our own vegetables. I have learnt a few lessons along the way, which will enable me to do better next year. One of the biggest problems is that our garden is quite small (40ft x 16ft), that we were only able to locate the patch in one place. The patch itself is 10ft x 4ft and because of its location it doesn't get as much sun as other parts of the garden. This has resulted in veggies like tomatoes,corn and peppers not receiving enough sun , so they haven't grown very much or the fruit hasn't ripened.I know this could be down to the wet Summer we have had, but I think that next year these veggies will have to be grown in a mini greenhouse. The Winter veggies are doing quite nicely and in fact they are the best things I have grown. The funny thing is I still am not sure what some of them are (didn't label when sown) but they are doing well and have really shot up over the last few weeks. I am at the minute doing something t Read more:Vegetable
, Patch
, Season
Wiggly Wednesday 2007-10-03 05:47:00 The Wiggly CollectionFor the next 7 Wednesday
s I will be showcasing my images contained in the The Wiggly Collection .The collection is 12 images that represent various aspects of our natural world. Each A4 print is mounted in a 400mm x 500mm acid free mount (stops it from discolouring) and is limited to 30 prints, each signed by myself.The only place where you can purchase these reasonably priced pictures from is Wiggly Wigglers and you can do that by following this Link This picture is called...Daisy BankIn the Granville Nature Reserve there is an area what is known as “The Bowl”. At one time it was part of Granville colliery; it has also been used as a motocross course.Over time nature has started to claim it back. You can find early purple and bee orchids together with many other wild flowers. Several kinds of butterfly and Dragon and damselflies can also be found here.I came across these daisy’s that were growing on a bank, together with the lime green colour of the grasses
To Early For Mushrooms 2007-10-02 11:30:00 I had a day off today so I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to go and look for some mushrooms. I chose to go to woods not far from where I live, called Limekiln woods and Short wood. Both woods have a rich industrial history dating back as far as the 17th century. They reached their heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries, providing the raw materials, such as lime and coal for nearby Coalbrookdale. Today the vegetation has taken over the woods and all that is left is numerous pits were mining work had taken place. I have visited these woods often looking for mushrooms, but today I have gone to early as I could not find any , anywhere. I did though find plenty of sweet chestnuts on the ground waiting for some woodland animal to come and eat them. I must have looked at over 20 oak trees looking for acorns, to my surprise I hardly found any trees with acorns and the ones I did were quite sparse. I am guessing that this is something to do with the wet summer, but I could be wrong. Th Read more:Early
, Mushrooms
Wiggly Wednesday 2007-10-17 03:50:00 The Wiggly CollectionFor the next 5 Wednesday
s I will be showcasing my images contained in the The Wiggly Collection .The collection is 12 images that represent various aspects of our natural world. Each A4 print is mounted in a 400mm x 500mm acid free mount (stops it from discolouring) and is limited to 30 prints, each signed by myself.The only place where you can purchase these reasonably priced pictures from is Wiggly Wigglers and you can do that by following this linkThis picture is called...Sunflower This sunflower picture was taken in one of the fields Farmer Phil uses to grow the sunflowers for Wiggly Wigglers to use the seeds in their bird food range. The colour and the pattern of the floretts fascinated me, it is a pattern that is seen throughout nature.One thing I found this week that I thought was quite useful, is the ability to have a Technorati widget on your blog that allows you to show the posts that have been favourited by yourself. This allows your readers to instantly
The Secret....Fully Revealed 2007-10-15 05:16:00 As you may know , I have a love of wildlife, particular I enjoy photographing it. Well can you imagine my excitement when I was asked to photograph a calendar full of naked women. I thought about it for about...2 seconds and happily agreed to do it.The calendar was an idea that the ladies of Preston-on-Wye had to raise awareness for the need of Organ Donation . This is because Billy Montague, who lives in the village ,had a heart transplant 2 years ago and he has been raising money ever since for the Heartlung Transplant Fund (charity 121138).Well the day had arrived for the photo shoot. My wife and myself arrived at the village to meet the ladies who would take part in the calendar, they were already quite raucous, due to a few drops of bucks fizz.I knew several of the ladies as they all work at Wiggly Wigglers .A lot of preparation had gone into each months shot which made the whole thing run very smoothly.The process for each picture was made all the better for my wife being there,
blog Action Day 15th October 2007 2007-10-14 18:01:00 Blog Action
Day 15th October
2007 Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. I have decided to focus on the town where I live, TelfordOver the next 10 years 3000 new houses are going to be built on what was green open space,in Lawley, primarily on land that was used for grazing farm animals. This is only one of currently 4 similar scale major housing schemes being developed around Telford. You have got to ask yourself , what is the impact on wildlife? ( Wildlife area seen at the bottom of the picture)As you many know, I look after a wildlife area in front of my house that is packed full of wildflowers,trees and insects.I recently added a hedgehog house and it was while I was checking to see if it had any occupants (stick placed in front of entrance, if it is moved good chance something has moved in), that I noticed a hole full of badger poo. Firstly I was quite pleased to see this so close to my
Photo Hunters and The Secret 2007-10-13 04:57:00 This weeks theme.... SmellyHow To Join PhotoHunters
Photo Hunters BlogrollWith the word smelly we tend to think of one of two things, either unpleasant smells or pleasant ones. The unpleasant ones tend to be from unwanted things, such as waste products,whether they are natural or man made. Animal droppings are essentially processed vegetable matter , but they provide a whole environment for many insects, to either meet and mate or just a nice cosy place to live. In turn these insects take the poo back into the ground helping with its fertility. At the other end of smelly ,we have the pleasant smells, these to can be natural or man made and they help create a feeling of well being. I can think of nothing more refreshing than walking around a garden on a beautiful summers day smelling the perfume from all the flowers. Walking into a bakers and smelling fresh bread being baked is also another favourite.What are your worst and favourite smells ?Talking of the senses, here is another. This
Green Thumb Sunday 2007-10-20 18:15:00 How To Join GreenThumbSundayGreen Thumb
Sunday Blogroll Original Acorn ArtSome of you will be familiar with my Original Snail Art .Well as it is getting colder the snails are tucking themselves up for the winter, so it is not as easy to persuade them to come out and perform. What else could I do, I thought to myself. Well a flash of inspiration came to me the other day when I was out wondering around in the local woods. What about Original Acorn Art.I thought that this would be harder as waving lettuce around would not work very well with acorns, as they are not living things in the same way the snail are.What could I do, I know what I will use another animal, to help persuade the acorns.So I found a group of acorns and whispered to them that if they would perform an original piece of art I wouldn't let the squirrels eat them. can you believe it ...they agreed and before I knew it they had arranged themselves into this colourful seasonal pattern.Amazing
Photo Hunters 2007-10-19 09:11:00 This weeks theme.... PracticalHow To Join PhotoHunters
Photo Hunters BlogrollIt was a Practical certainty that England Would not do well in the Rugby World Cup 2007Especially after getting beat 36-0 by South AfricaHowever here we find ourselves in the Final against South Africa, after one of the most exciting Rugby World Cup competitions since the last one.England will practically come to a stand still at 8.00pm on Saturday night as the nation has been gripped by the team ,that started off so badly but have turned it around to reach the final.All that is practical for me to do is to wish both teams well, but most of allCome on England......
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