Everything is Permuted

Some days are easy on the eye, and others present some bizarre or near impossible photo moments. I was in the garden this morning watching the greenfinches on the new bird feeders we put up over the weekend. They seem to appreciate seed rather than peanuts, or maybe the fact that these are just a bit more mouse-proof!
Greenfinches on the 4-station feeder

The 4-station feeder is situated near the front of the garden so I can (in theory) watch from the window. The other feeder is at the top of the garden hanging on the fence. It's getting used, but not quite as much yet as the one hanging from the tree. I was at the bottom of the garden using the zoom when I saw a slight altercation. A greenfinch was in occupation and defending its new territory from an intruding great tit.
Greenfinch on the attack!

The bizarre came mid morning when I noticed something hanging in mid air. At first I thought it was a leaf caught on some spider webbing, but on closer inspection it turned out to be an abseiling caterpillar! It was very effectively climbing up a tiny thread back into the beech trees. It covered the final 4 or 5 feet in about 3 minutes, twisting and turning as it went. It finally settled back under a leaf.
Abseiling caterpillar

The near impossible moments were later in the day. A dragonfly was circling the garden. Now these are much easier to photograph stationary (or at least hovering, but this one wouldn't settle. What made it worse is that I'd lose sight (and focus) of it as it passed in front of the trees. I finally managed one blurred shot. It seems to be a hawker, but beyond that I can't give a firm identification.
Hawker in flight

Having got one near impossible shot (not very well) I decided to photograph gnats in flight. I've tried this before with varying degrees of no success . I set the focus manually at an approximate distance (no point in trying to autofocus on such tiny and highly mobile creatures) and pointed at a small cloud of the things. And waited. Eventually one came into the view finder for just long enough to grab a shot. This has got to be the smallest thing I've captured in flight!
100% crop of a gnat in flight

That really ought to have been enough oddities for one day, but tonight's sunset was a corker. Make of it what you will!
A-X in the sky

No rain today (well not much) which was a welcome surprise after the recent depressingly wet and overcast days we've suffered. The garden was quiet during the day, although I did spot a lone blackbird sitting quietly in the beech trees. Wonderfully close he was, but nestling behind a tangle of branches. I eventually managed one decent photo of him, though it took a fair deal of contorting to aim the camera. (I did get plenty of shots of a black smudge behind super-sharp branches though )



By early afternoon, the sun was beginning to drop in the west giving the sky a beautiful yellow cast. I took this next shot with a super-fast shutter speed (1/2500) and high f-setting to produce something slightly richer in tone. By the way, the eye-piece on my camera is a digital screen so I wasn't staring directly at the sun when I took this.



And this evening, after a few days absence, the young fox showed his face. And an odd face it is too, judging from this!



Judging from his behaviour he's making a territorial bid of sorts. Throughout the visit he held his tail out behind him, and was prone to nuzzle the ground (scent marking).