Some After Work Instagram Browsing Brought Up An Unexpected Gem Today As It Randomly Decided To Show

I was wearing the lichen themed hair clip I made, while on a walk yesterday. I spotted some beautiful lichen and moss and decided to have an impromptu photo shoot. So here are a whole bunch of pictures of my hair clip alongside the organisms that inspired it, just because.

Plus 2 bonus pictures of lichen because I love it.

Some wild fungi photos that I have taken this autumn. It always amazes me how quickly the fruiting bodies develop and the immense diversity of forms and colors that they can take.

I will probably be using this account to store photos that I have taken so I can use them later on, for work or in my art. Hopefully others will find them interesting or useful as well. I will avoid posting my art and other unrelated posts here.

The top one is the cap of a fly-agaric (a fairytale toadstool). I don’t know what species the others are but they were all photographed in the southeast of the UK.

I made a little dragon head out of polymer clay my brother thinks it look more like a chicken Dino hybrid and now I keep imagining it scratching around in a corn field making nervous chicken noises.

Today I visited the Ossuary in Hythe, Kent, UK with my parents. It was absolutely fascinating and well worth the visit if you are interested in local history (£3 adult entry).

You find yourself wondering about the lives they all lead and who they might have been. Hopefully they are all in a better place regardless.

It is no doubt due to angle and lighting but they all look like they have distinctive personalities and expressions if that makes sense.

I went along to a guided walk at Denge Wood near Canterbury (Kent, UK). The walk was run by butterfly conservation and we got to see some amazing butterflies, moths, orchids and lizards.

Including the Duke of burgundy butterfly, the green hairstreak butterfly, the dingy skipper, brimstones, orange tip butterflies, lady orchids, early purple orchids and twayblade orchids.

Unfortunately my camera is being mended so I had to take photos on my phone. But you can at least get an idea of how pretty they all are.

I would strongly recommend a visit if you are in the area and I recommend checking out the butterfly conservation website for local walks if you live in the UK as they are free and very informative.

Backgrounds and geographical structures are things I, currently can't, but would really like to be able to draw/depict. and these are rendered so beautifully that I am saving it for inspirational purposes

Art by Gui Yuan

My last two atlas moths have emerged from their cocoons. They are beautiful and absolutely fascinating.

Can you see the snake head markings on the tip of each forewing? They are there to deter potential predators, which I think is pretty neat.

They are absolutely gorgeous, and I am so glad that they have all hatched safely. Unfortunately, I think these two are both female so it looks like I won't be getting any fertile eggs.

One damaged it's hind wing a little when it flew into one of my orchids. It is the only one that has shown any interest in flying and has been having short (approximately 2 min) flights around my room every evening. Finding a new place to lay eggs each time.

2,300-Year-Old Plush Bird from the Altai Mountains of Siberia, c.400-300 BCE: this figure was crafted with a felt body and reindeer-fur stuffing, all of which remains intact

This plush bird was sealed within the frozen barrows of Pazyryk, Siberia, for more than two millennia, where a unique microclimate enabled it to be preserved. The permafrost ice lense formation that runs below the barrows provided an insulating layer, preventing the soil from heating during the summer and allowing it to quickly freeze during the winter; these conditions produced a separate microclimate within the stone walls of the barrows themselves, thereby aiding in the preservation of the artifacts inside.

This is just one of the many well-preserved artifacts that have been found at Pazyryk. These artifacts are attributed to the Scythian/Altaic cultures.

Currently housed at the Hermitage Museum.

Is this partial albinism? A few years back I saw a blackbird (common name) with a lot of white feathers (see my picture below) and a quick internet search suggested partial albinism as the reason for this. However a more recent search suggested that partial albinism was not a thing and other genetic mutations are at play.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

Rare white puffin spotted on Scottish island

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) said the bird was first seen on Handa Island in mid-June by seabird fieldworker Dora Hamilton.

Photographer: Dora Hamilton

I wanted to enter an embroidery competition that was run by Domestika. And this is what I ended up coming up with. It is a lichen themed French barrett hair clip.

Prior to planning and making my embroidery I went on some walks and took some photos for inspiration.

I really love lichen it's such a strange thing. The physical structure of lichen is a fungi that clings to tree branches, rocks, and other solid surfaces. The fungi provides a home for a colony of tiny algae or cyanobacteria. The algae or cyanobacteria photosynthesize producing sugars and other molecules that they share with the fungi. These are what give the lichen its colours. So lichen isn't really one thing. It is a living collaboration of two completely unrelated organisms. It can survive desiccation and bounces right back with a little rain.

It looks a bit like coral and can be used to indicate air quality. Overall a fascinating and splendid amalgam.