13/05/2011 Pendennis, Falmouth

Weather: Sunny with cloudy skies
Temp: 12oc
Vis:4/5 metres

MNHP L1 students went for a dive down at Pendennis. I was a little apprehensive as most people are at a beginning of a dive. Dreading to get into that cold, wet, ripped worn wetsuit, trying to get the booties on, lugging the BCD and tank on my back and weight belt on my hips, underwater camera and housing in one hand, fins, mask and snorkle in the other, down the steap rocky steps of doom is where you will find me at my most unattractive state!
But once I was in the water, had finally got my fins, snorkle, mask and dive gloves on I was finally engulfed into the underwater world and was loving it once again.
The water was cold and crisp, very clear. I saw alot of fauna as soon as I was submersed.
Sightings of pipe fish, spider crabs, common juvenile star fish,  spiney star fish and snakes lot.

Spider crab Libinia emarginata

Seaweed Long exposure

Juvenile starfish Asterias rubens

Spiney starfish Marthasterias glacialis

 

                             Snakeslot                

Seascape

16/11/2010 Walled Garden

Weather: Mild, rainy, cloudy with sunny spells
Temp: 12oc

I took a stroll around the walled garden, it was a crisp fresh autumn afternoon. I noticed these beautiful autumn coloured Rhododenron leaves. A mixture of red, pink and orange and yellow caused from lack of sunlight and chlorophyll. These leaves reminded me of the beaks of a Toucan bird that lives in the rainforest.

Rhododenron leaves

12/05/2011 Perranaworthal wood

Weather: Blue skies, and occasional cloud with sunshine in between.
Temp: 14oc
Wind: 12 mph

I stumbled upon this woodland area scattered with bluebells. What a lovely sight it was.
Location: Between Penryn and Perranaworthal.

Brough a Hassleblad medium format camera with me to photograph a chosen area of this woodland.

I was surrounded my a range of different species. (see bellow for images and names)

Blushing waxcap Hygroybe ovina

Yellow feildcap Bolbitius titubans

Garden snail Helix aspersa

Blue bells and Spider Hyacinthnoide and Araneus diadenatus

Lichen Parmelia caperata

12/02/2011 Devoran Village

Chosen Habitat.
Location: On the way to Truro.

Devoran has a significant history that played a major part in the copper and tin mining industry, was home to Cornwalls busiest Mineral port in 1838.

Weather: Sunny, warm, not much wind.
Observations: Green, lots of shrubbery, noticed quite afew plants and flowers such as daffodiles, snow drops, arm lillies, common gorse and many others. I have taken pond water samples and hope to look at this under the microscope to find out what is living in the small stream running through the marshland surrounded by woody area. Again, sightings of sparrows, robins, and ravens.
Image taken bellow is of the pond right by Devoran layby, taken on a large format (5x4) feild camera.

Pond at Devoran layby

11/02/2011 Tremough, Penryn

Weather: Overcast, damp, mild, slight showers.

I took out a 500mm and a 105mm macro lens from the stores. Simlpy went round campus, walked around the walled garden to photograph the early signs of spring. Buds, shoots and new plants starting to appear from the ground, snow drops already in full flower and up from the garden I sat under the hut. I put out some bird seed and waited. Birds surrounded and swooped down in turns, robins blue tits and sparrows. The domiant robin now and then showing who's boss and marking his territory. Got some close up shots of the robin.

15/01/2011 Loe Pool/ Bar

National Trust.
It is separated from the sea by the single bank of Loe Bar, situated midway between Porthleven and Gunwalloe.
Walked around 6 miles around Loe pool itself, home to a miriad of habitats such as sand dunes, marshlands, grassland, heathland, woodland and the pond itself.
Walked to Loe bar, and the swell was pretty high. Rough huge waves crashing down.

Weather: Mild, Grey and overcast.

Sightings of common water fowl: Mute swan, herron, herring guls.
Observations: Scarse amount of plants and flowers, saw some shoots and afew different species of mushroom and fungi:
Common earthball,
Scarlet cup (Sarcoscypha coccinca)
King alfred's cake (Dadinia concentria)

King Alfred's cake Daldinia concentria

Scarlet cup Sarcoscypha coccinca

Loe bar

13/01/2011 Trebah Garden

Another Nation Trust owned sight.

Weather: Sunny with a chill in the air.

Home to many plants and tress such as monkey puzzles, sequoia and common oaks.
No sightings of flowering plants as it is middle/end of winter, however I did see the odd sign of spring here and there with sprouting grass shoots bursting through leaf litter and snow drops starting to appear.

Sat outside the cafe, having my lunch with my friends and the rest of the class. Birds would come right up close and hang around for abit, you can tell they are used to the public as they are quite confident and daring. Birds such as the robin, blue titm sparrows, finches and  wagtails.

Robin redbreast Erithacus rubecula

Heart stem

Leaf

08/11/2010 Kennal Vale

Brif history: '20-acre nature reserve which occupies a steep-sided granite boulder-strewn valley through which runs the River Kennal. The site is leased and managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. In the past the valley was used for the commercial production of gunpowder. Kennal Vale gunpowder factory started production in 181' http://www.lookaroundcornwall.com/gardens-and-nature/kennal-vale-nature-reserve.htm (08/11/2010)


Weather: Mild, sunny with some showers of rain

The damp conditions of Kennal vale lay home to an abundance of wild mushrooms and fungi of all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes. No bird sightings or sightings of other animals. Wooded area with a powerfull flowing stream running through. Eery place dark, enclosed, lots of shelter from rain and sun form the canopy of tree leaves and branches.

Kennal Vale

                                      

Grooved bonnet Mycena plygamma

Bulbous bonnet Mycena stylobates

Burgandy drop bonnet Mycena haemotopus

Jelly disc Ascocoryn cylichinium

Velvet shank Flammunila velutipes

04/11/2010 Trelissick Garden

I went to a National Trust owned sight, Trelissick Gardens, as I am a proud member!
Based In Feock, next to Truro, Trelissick is a newly established garden, planted 200 years ago. It has seen trees grow to maturity.

I saw many different kinds of flora and fauna whilest I was there, countless amounts of different species of trees, lush purple flowers, and an abundance of wild mushrooms amongst the yellow, speckled, orangey summer/autumn leaves.

Weather: Mild, with alot of sunshine.
Bird Sightings: Chaffinches, blue tits, robins and sparrows.

Fireglow Acer palmatum

Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

Shamrock Oxalis acetosella

Earthball Scleroderma citrinium

Garden spider Aranius diadentus

Sharpham, Devon

4th March, 2011

Spent the weekend in Sharpham, location: Totnes, Devon, beside the River Dart in the heart of a Valley.
Weather: Overcast, cold, grey with some sunny spells.
OS Grid Reference: 50.408882,-3.653192

Saturday 5th
Exlpored around Sharpham estate, walked into the woodland and climbed up a steep bumpy grassy slope that seemed almost vertical to remove many tree gaurds with a knife that were no longer needed.

Sunday 6th
Woke up at 5.30am to go on a boat ride along the River Dart to catch the morning sun rise. unfortunatly the day was cloudy and overcast. We didn't see many birds apart from Canada Geese and Common Guls and wood pidgeons.
After the boat ride we set out to look for badger trails, learnt how to tell if a badger set was being used or not by  the defined 'D' shape of the hole and other clues such as scratch marks and droppings. We laid out a mix of nuts and syrup and set it under a stone, we then tied a camera motion sensor to a tree and left it there over night. Next morning we went to see what footage we saw and it was a success!

We noticed that the badgers seemed to come out around the same time, mostly after sunset, around 8:30pm.

After the badger trails we were given spades and went and done Hazel tree planting. Once we dug the hole, planted the few month old hazel tree, we then had to flatten the soil around it and put on the plastic tree gaurds that would then stay there to support their growth for the many years to come. I really enjoyed this aspect of the conservation weekend and named the four hazel trees I planted, Tree beared, Bilbo, Howel and Kiki. We then had a spot of lunch, cheese and pickle on the menu for me then shortly after set off home. This was when the sun came out.

Sightings of Fauna:
Great Tit
Buzzard
Canada Geese
Wood Pigdgeon
Common Gul
Badgers
Cow
Sheep
 
Sightings of Flora:
Hazel Tree
Common Oak
Rhododendron
Dafodiles
Snow drops