Bryophyte photo of the week
Polytrichum commune

A very common moss, it's proper common name supposedly Common Haircap Moss, for some reason, though most people I know call it Star Moss.... for more obvious reasons....

Here, the droplets of a dewy morning were still held between it's leaves.

You can find more images of Bryophytes, mainly from Argyll, in my album at:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPJNYBCG8aEbiUPQz-SR5hJq__QxIJygfkmgOac

Or here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/ArgyllBryophytes#

Nature Image of the week No.5
OK, so I'm spending quite a bit of time in ravines lately and my photo's are starting to look a bit samey.  However, this one is special (to me).

I was actually photographing and video-ing a bryophyte at the time, but these stones in the burn caught my attention.

The water had a silky flow and was forming bubbles around some of the stones, which were glossy with splash and humidity.

I loved the line of bubbles against one of the stones, and the woodland reflected in one of the other stones.  The mercury blue and fiery orange hues finish it off nicely.

You can see more of my nature images, mostly from Argyll, at https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/NatureImages

Or here:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOWFgog_ZSHSqnMf7K11lFxoY621wrJDjvwk1-k

Bryophyte photo of the week
Radula voluta

A liverwort you can spot from several metres away, thanks to it's bright green-ness illuminating otherwise shady ravines.  It's smooth, close-knit leaves give Radula voluta a globulous appearance, making it difficult to differentiate the features of it's leaves.  It's Nationally Scarce, occuring only in the very west of the British Isles, where the climate is mild and wet.  It's always found on rocks and trees in burns, just above the normal water levels, so will be regularly inundated after rains.

The tricky thing about photographing this liverwort is it's glossiness, rather than it's size, as its actually quite large for a leafy liverwort (the fronds in the photo are about 2cm long).  But trying to make the details of the plant stand out requires some severe underexposure to balance out the highlights.

You can find more images of Bryophytes, mainly from Argyll, in my album at:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPJNYBCG8aEbiUPQz-SR5hJq__QxIJygfkmgOac

Or here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/ArgyllBryophytes#

Nature Image of the week No.4
Sitting by the side of the burn, eating my piece, watching the foam from the rapids slide down the water, following the path of least resistance.

Funnelled beween two large stones, and eddying in front of a third.  The bronzed glow of smaller stones under the water.

A snapshot just wouldn't do it justice.  A slower shutter speed brings this movement to life a little, and shows the line the foam is taking.  It helps maintain the view of the glowing stones on the bed of the burn, too.

 You can see more of my nature images, mostly from Argyll, at https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/NatureImages

Or here:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOWFgog_ZSHSqnMf7K11lFxoY621wrJDjvwk1-k

Bryophyte photo of the week
Plagiochila porelloides

Quite a small liverwort when I saw it, battered by the spate flows and silt incursions from a nearby waterfall.  It can be quite a bit bigger than these 1cm long specimens, though.  It also commonly occurs away from water in woodlands, too, though always attached to rock.  Even so, it's part of a dsintictive community of liverworts living very close to the water on rocks in burns in Argyll.

I liked the way the subdued woodland light brought out the delicate textures of the leaves.

Plagiochila porelloides is an example of a, structurally, fairly simple leafy liverwort.  Other types of liverwort can have much more complex leaf arrangements.  Hopefullly I'll showcase those in a future photo post.

You can find more images of Bryophytes, mainly from Argyll, in my album at:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPJNYBCG8aEbiUPQz-SR5hJq__QxIJygfkmgOac

Or here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/ArgyllBryophytes#

Nature Image of the week No.3
Sand patterns on a beach.  Some things are quite permanent, like rocks.  Some things are more temporary, like sand.  Some things are so transient they don't appear to be there at all, like the water which has painted these patterns in the sand.

Spent ages photographing these miniature landscapes, and wasn't 100% pleased with any of the shots, but this is the one I was most pleased with.  When I say ages, I don't actually have that much time for these sorts of things, and what time I do have ebbs away very quickly.

You can see more of my nature images, mostly from Argyll, at https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/NatureImages

Or here:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOWFgog_ZSHSqnMf7K11lFxoY621wrJDjvwk1-k

Bryophyte photo of the week
Spagnum girgensohnii

Everyone knows a bog moss when they see one.  But most people probably think of Sphagnum's as frequenters of flat wet, inhospitably blowy places, like bogs...

However, there are some that prefer other places, including this species, S.girgensohnii, found under shade in woodlands, usually on banks and sloping ground where water percolates.

A beautiful, bright green moss, with a very star-shaped look about it. I found this patch under a fallen birch tree.  I had to contort myself into an impossible position underneath the trunk in order to photograph it.  It was worth the soggy knees, though - I liked the early fallen birch leaves hinting at it's favoured woodland environment

You can find more images of Bryophytes, mainly from Argyll, in my album at:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPJNYBCG8aEbiUPQz-SR5hJq__QxIJygfkmgOac

Nature Image of the week No.2
A wooded ravine in Knapdale, Argyll.  Not the most incised section of this burn - you can walk up this part without much difficulty, or even getting wet if you have wellies on.  But I liked the way the foam from the waterfall, just out of shot upstream, has delineated all the rocks in the burn.

Everything is looking so lush and green just now, but some of the leaves on the trees are starting to turn and fall.  It won't be long before the bryophytes re-claim their sole rights to green-ness.

You can see more of my nature images, mostly from Argyll, at https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/NatureImages

Or here:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOWFgog_ZSHSqnMf7K11lFxoY621wrJDjvwk1-k

Bryophyte photo of the week
Breutelia chrysocoma

A beautiful, quite large moss that occurs in flushes and wet places.  This was found up a burn near Cairnbaan on a steeply sloping bank.  It made it easy to photograph as I could get numerous stems in focus.

It has a very restricted distribution in Europe, liking the mild and wet climate of the extreme west of the continent.  Needless to say, it's relatively frequent here in Argyll.

You can find more images of Bryophytes, mainly from Argyll, in my album at:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipPJNYBCG8aEbiUPQz-SR5hJq__QxIJygfkmgOac

Can it really be Autumn already?
I guess so, given that it's mostly been winter for most of this summer in Argyll.  Captured this fallen birch leaf suspended in damp grass this week.

You can see more of my nature images, mostly from Argyll, at https://picasaweb.google.com/106899153891562063558/NatureImages

Or here:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOWFgog_ZSHSqnMf7K11lFxoY621wrJDjvwk1-k