Talking of binoculars...

 Back when I was 14 I think my mom bought me a pair of Russian 8x30s. They were my first pair of bins and they came with yellow filters for the eyepieces (I never used them). The eyepieces themselves were awkward if you wore glasses,, as I did. Fold down eye cups weren't a thing back in the early 80s. So I would use them by looking over my glasses, and enjoying the views. I can remember it like it was yesterday! Later I removed the hard eyecups and made my own using sticky backed foam. Then the left ocular came out and I messed around with the arrangement of the glass elements, which was quite interesting.

Anyway I've kept those binoculars and even though over the years the screws have got a bit rusty and the left ocular has become lost (I'm blind in that eye anyway) I still have them and they are still very sharp, and quick to focus. Russians built things to last! I wonder how long my Bresser Hunters will last! 

Fly Wing

 From a prepared slide at 40x and 100x.

I need to look closer...

More micro stuff

 My partner bought me some prepared slides. Not bad quality too! 

Here's a few snippets

Onion skin

Water flea

Bee leg

My binos

 Having tried numerous options for bird spotting/star gazing I've settled on these Bresser Hunter 7x50s. Great pair of binoculars, very sharp and lightweight. 

Micro worlds

 Got myself a new microscope and I've been exploring. 

Some cyanobacteria:

A rotifer shell:

Some white  mold from a Strawberry:

Some macro shots

 Some flower shots from the garden. 

Used a Pentax 50mm lens reversed onto my Canon 5D mkII for 1:1 macro 

Revisiting an old book

 Years ago I borrowed a library book on pond life and was fascinated by what I might see. I remember seeing Spirogyra and hoping to see it one day for myself

Years later I found, if not the same book, but one very similar on Abebooks so I bought it.

And sure enough, Spirogyra is in there. Along with lots of mini beasts.

Moths

 Some moths I've spotted over the last few years.

Silver Y, Magpie moth, Willow Beauty,  Footman, Juniper Carpet 

Little spider

 My daughter found a dead spider, so I popped it under the scope at 20x

Sawfly Summer

 Spotted these caterpillars on the birch in my garden in June. Turns out they're a species of Sawfly which are related to bees and wasps (Hymenoptera)

When alarmed they assume a defensive posture where they all hold their bodies in an outward curl.

Very cool.

Species is Pristiphora testacea

Phone shots

A Snipe Fly

Found this little chap on a rusty sculpture on West Park. I didn't know what it was but I got a broad ID from a Facebook insect group- its a Snipe Fly (Rhagionidae)

Taken with my Oppo phone

Couple of garden volunteers

 Noticed this poppy plant had appeared near the back of the shed.

 

Then when putting the bin out I spotted this tiny fern growing in the gap between the slabs

Bramble flowers

Usually the flowers of bramble (Blackberry) are white, but often I see ones with a pink or purplish tinge, like these.

Hogweed

 Some snaps of Hogweed  (Heracleum sphondylium) from a walk with the dog. 

Buttercup

 Growing amongst Wood Avens 

Couple of snails

 Spotted while out on the walk the other day.

Some wild flower spots

 Taken while out on a walk.

High altitude clouds

 Looking straight up on a walk to the shop.

The thin whispy clouds are Cirrocumulus. There's also some irridesence visible where the sun shows in the shot.