A Great Achievement

24th December 2016
                                  A Very Happy Christmas to everybody. I have posted very little this year but I would like to share with you a short video that I've just finished editing. The footage was sent to Peter Chippendale over the internet from Switzerland by Walter Rossini a mountain guide who Peter hired and trained with in late August this year. Peter was successful and has fulfilled his dream of climbing the Matterhorn.
                  From the 3 hours of video that Walter filmed on a GoPro Helmet Camera located on both his helmet and ice axe ( he's to be congratulated on his coverage) I've tried to make this short video of the story leading up to this achievement spoken by Peter in his own words .
        This short film will be viewed on Christmas Day by Peter's Family.

On my local patch

23rd June 2016
          Just had a short walk this afternoon around my local patch  and found these two beautiful orchids .people were hurrying by without so much of a glance.

Southern Marsh Orchid .....our area is about its northern limit.

A haven for the insects

20th June 2016

I haven't posted much lately but at this time of year my modest back garden reaches its peak. The profusion of wild and garden flowers paints a random tapestry that is not easy to create and look natural.
       Every year about 100 wild orchids which have naturalised in the garden start to flower at this time of the year and I've noticed that there are more Marsh Orchids or Hybrids. I think they are the result of cross pollinating with the more Common Spotted Orchids I can tell them apart because of their more vigorous growth and size.

        A tapestry of wild and garden flowers which attracted the bees

 A more vigorous orchid with the same colouring as the Common Spotted Orchid but the flower lips resemble a Marsh Orchid
    What's unusual about this orchid, its tuber is constantly under the surface of the pond.

               Four more Marsh Orchids that have appeared this year.

                                      A large vigorous Hybrid

              This Hybrid is growing happily in the stone alpine trough

Outside my Window

14th May 2016
                       As a lover of the great outdoors and a passion for all the wonderful diversity of nature I came up with the idea of recording on video a year in my modest back garden as it transforms through the seasons. Very little was planned and I could only record the events of 2015 which was a little disappointing compared with the comings and goings of animals and birds in previous years. The sequences were shot between holidays in our motorhome so there are gaps in in the natural progression through the seasons, but never the less it was a relatively easy video to make because all the sequences took place literally "outside my window".

The New Wildlfe Pond

All our interests have a connection in various ways to the environment, the countryside and the wildlife, so it's not surprising that many of our friends also have very similar interests. Last year we were asked by two of our friends if we could help them install a wildlife pond in their already well established wildlife garden. This film is a record of the preparation and development of what we hope will be another wildlife attraction to their garden.

Weather Watching

Just a short post to show everybody that I'm still around , perhaps not posting about wild orchids because it seems to be a yearly repeat. My latest interest is being a local weather forecaster for the BBC Television Weather Service. If you have time to watch my short film all will be revealed.