iplaw67

#Woodland wonders. Another very conspicuous member of our small wood is the #lungwort, or #pulmonaria. It grows almost everywhere on the #woodland floor here at home, and comes to life again in early spring. It is among the first plants to #flower and a huge attractor for #bumblebees.
#auvergne
#france
#massifcentral
#woodlandplants

More tales from the #forest, with this close up of the remains of the #trunk of a wild #cherry tree which had died, rotted and snapped at about 1m50 height. I don't know how the #woodchips in the well of the #trunk formed, but presumably linked to the structure of the wood, and some kind of specific #weathering due to #contraction in the #summer heat, and #saturation in the #winter humidity.
#auvergne
#france
#massifcentral
#trees

A candidate for #SilentSunday, but taken yesterday, this wintry sunset over the #Cézallier plateau in the #MassifCentral, the snow in our garden tinged with orange in the last rays of daylight.
#Sunset
#wintersunset
#lanscapephotography
#auvergne
#puydedome
#snowscape
#snowscene

Nothing better than watching the #mountain range of the #Puy du #Sancy and #Vallée de #Chaudefour, as the #sunrise hits it on a cold #winter morning. The Puy du #Sancy sits in the background, with the upper slopes of the #SuperBesse ski resort to the left and center.
#Auvergne
#massifcentral
#landscapephotography
#puydusancy
#SuperBesse

Today heralded the arrival of the first #snow flurries here at home in the #Livradois-Forez, #Auvergne. We're fortunate enough to get our fair share of absolutely gob-smacking sunsets from the comfort of our living room, although I stepped outside briefly to capture this on my Xiaomi phone. Here the #sun is casting its final splash over the #Cézallier Plateau on the south-western edge of the #Puy-de-Dôme and the north-eastern border of the #Cantal.
#winterlandscapes
#Auvergne
#sunsetphotography

A #vine-like plant such as #BlackBryony grows pretty much anywhere and everywhere in our #wood, given half a chance, and is almost as resistant as the thickets of #brambles. The red #berries have come out on this one, but are of the *DO NOT EAT* kind. They contain, among others, a #neurotoxin known as #dioscorine.
#auvergne
#france
#vine
#poisonous
#autumn

Unfortunately, my lack of knowledge of #spiders has left me stumped with this one, almost ghost-like, found rummaging around some fallen over mushroom stems at the base of a fallen oak. #googlelens doesn't seem to be able to help. Anyone more knowledgeable than me with an idea?
#araneidae
#Spiders
#spiderphotography
#spiderphoto
#arachnid
#auvergne
#france

A bit late for #FungiFriday and too early for #MycoMonday, but I was out chopping up some fallen trees in the wood this morning and came across this fungus growing on a small piece of dead oak from the remaining bark, which has been laying around for several years.
#GoogleLens tells me this is #Tremella aurantia or #Tremella mesenterica, aka "Witches Butter" in French.
#auvergne
#mycology
#basidiomycetes
#fungi
#fungiverse
#MushroomsOfMastodon

Last weekend, we had about 20 of these #butterflies feeding off the Mexican orange bush just coming into flower again. Most were fairly clear phenotypes of the #SmallCopper #butterfly. This one drew my attention due to purple edge wings reminiscent of the #PurpleEdgedCopper. Can anyone help out ? Is this some kind of hybrid or is the purple edging a known variation for small coppers?
#Auvergne
#wildlifephotography
#butterflies
#lycaenidae
#france

#adayinthelifeofanIPattorney
The #eyeroll when an impatient client emails you really early on Saturday morning to demand whether their trademark application has been opposed, and the deadline only expired yesterday at midnight...
The inner #sighofrelief when you discover that the online filing portal is down once again for maintenance after last week's update left it crippled...
#INPI
#France
#trademarks
#nothingtoseehere

In a previous post I mentioned that we would soon be hearing the drumming of one of our local spotted woodpeckers. Well, here we are, with a somewhat louder than usual rendition making use of a rusty tin can. Usually, they just stick to the trees, but I guess this one might have thought the can would impress the others more!
#GreatSpottedWoodpecker
#birdsofmastodon
#dendrocoposmajor
#birdphotography
#wildlifephotography

1/2 Epic fail in #Currys #Tralee last week. Specs of #Macbooks not displayed on shelf. Asked salesperson to confirm whether M1 or M2. Said person unlocked session on one, to a screen full of running apps and waiting prompts (script kiddies playing around with OSA). Incapable of shutting them down without rebooting, so showed them how. Then showed them how to find the sysinfo. Salesperson admitted they knew nothing about macOS. 🤦‍♂️

For #StandingStoneSunday, this #lichen covered, approximately 2m high sentinel overlooking #ClogherStrand, in the #Dingle Peninsula, County #Kerry, #Ireland. I actually couldn't tell whether this was a truly ancient stone, or whether it had been put there by an enterprising tourist facility owner, as the base around the stone has been reinforced. The view over the #bay to the volcanic headland in the background is spectacular, if you ignore the tearoom nearby!

We have both #blackkites and #redkites which perch on the house or surrounding trees. Numbers vary from two in the winter, anywhere up to about 15 in the spring and summer, when the fields are being cut for hay, or neighbouring farm has fresh intake of free range #chickens or #guineafowl. This #blackkite could often be seen flying around the house, on the look out for a tasty morsel.
#birds
#birdsofmastodon
#BlackKite
#wildlife
#photography

#Libreoffice rant of the day.
Why is it so difficult to have #libreofficedraw on #macos place an object where the user intended it to go? Systematically, any #line, #polyline, #Bezier curve, etc, gets started at a distance away from where the cursor was pointing on the canvas, even with snap to grid off. Annoying #regression with #libreofficedraw that has been around since 6.x, has continued into 7.x, and makes using #libreofficedraw particularly painful for any professional work.

What would a visit be to #Newfoundland, #Canada, without seeing one of the #puffin colonies ? Like the boatload of other tourists, spent an August afternoon in #WitlessBay, attempting to get a decent shot of the marine birds in the area whilst trying to remain stable on my feet in the swell.

Le #Sancy et la #vallée de #Chaudefour, dans toute sa splendeur, enfin vêtu de son manteau #neigeux

Unfortunately only managed to half a #snowangel from a #bird taking a bath in the #snow in the #garden the other day.

Can someone help me out here ? Is this a #pinemarten or a #beechmarten?