Testing

Found somewhere on the Horton Clockwise. It looks rather like the thumb flap which serves to tighten the fitting which holds the saddle of a Bullingdon in place - but I have never seen one as far south as this. Despite reports of them being seen as far away as France and Scotland.

But it did serve to demonstrate that the new Lumia could do a better job of a close-up of a small object that the old Lumia could. So perhaps the Zeiss lens really is the business. Note the seeds which have fallen out of the feeder mentioned at reference 1. Hopefully the local rats will not find them and make a nuisance of themselves.

It also seems that the cameras on telephones are getting as complicated as the real ones which they have so largely displaced. Certainly this new one seems to have lots of bells and whistles which pop up around the edges of the screen. And I was, for example, invited to fiddle with the light level on a recent indoor shot, being presented with an on-screen slider for the purpose. The good old days of point and click seem to be coming to an end.

Other recent trivia from the Clockwise include the arrival of travellers, no doubt here to visit lapsed relatives for Christmas, that is to say the ones who have given up on living out in the mud and have taken to houses with hot water, drains and roofs. See gmaps 51.355403, -0.273505.

A pink spot has arrived on a not very well looking tree at the Christchurch end of Horton Lane, usually a sign of impending chain saw action. To which my response is that the tree might not be very well, but why can't it be left to eke out the years remaining to it in peace?

A gray wagtail was spotted among the regular wagtails, that is to say the black and white ones, along the stream which runs alongside Longmead Road.

Continuing dearth of trolleys to return, so I have taken to picking up (glass) bottles and putting them in bars and bins. A minor contribution to the appearance and safety of the borough. There is usually quite a lot of litter on the Horton Clockwise and from time to time I think to do a spot of litter picking but have yet to get around to that, and so in the meantime bottles are a soft alternative. Maybe if I had a proper council bag and picker - the pickers one seems to be able to buy in regular shops not really being fit for serious picking - I would get going properly. In further mitigation, I also plead the sterling effort noticed at reference 2.

Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/rspb.html.

Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/decision-time.html.