It's rhododendron time

click photo to enlarge
It's the end of May and the rhododendrons at Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire are beginning to display at their best, their large, opulent, very un-English blooms drawing admiring glances from all who pass by. I admire them too. But, having lived in North West England, and having experienced the rhododendron-choked woods of the Forest of Bowland, I also admire the way that the rhododendrons in this Lincolnshire location are periodically controlled, cut back and cleared from areas.

I was reading recently that the horizontal growth and spread of a single rhododendron ponticum can cover 100 square metres. The Victorian landowners, who planted them as cover for their game-birds and as exotic and beautiful additions to their woods and country house grounds, didn't realise the environmental headache they were bequeathing to future generations. These rapidly growing plants quickly spread, denying native plants their space. They have few natural enemies - insects don't like them and rarely damage them, birds are scarce around them for lack of insects, and mammals don't eat their leathery, poisonous leaves. The few rogue sheep or cattle that do usually become sick and often die. In an area of lowland heath such as Woodhall Spa they are particularly problematic because silver birch, a short-lived tree, is common. Consequently when such a tree dies its space is quickly taken and new trees cannot grow up through the rhododendrons due to the lack of light at low levels. If the shrub didn't have such eye-catching flowers rhododendrons would surely have been cleared from woods years ago.

I searched long and hard for this specimen for my photograph. I was looking for a flower in the dark recess of a bush with strong contrast between the light, bright bloom and the darker leaves and shadows. I also wanted a flower with a fairly regular, radiating "ruff" (as I call the ring of leaves). A slight, dark vignette has been added to my shot to emphasise the natural contrast.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 96mm (192mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f4.9
Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec
ISO:500
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Know your enemy

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I seem to have been afflicted by midges all my life. Wherever I've lived they have found me and bitten me! But, when I saw a late cloud of the little nuisances the other day, I realised I didn't know a great deal about them. So, in the spirit of "know your enemy" here, in no particular order, are some things I've found out!

• Midge is a generic term for a wide variety of small, two-winged flies
• "The Midge Forecast" provides daily and weekly forecasts of biting midges throughout Scotland
• In one midge study over 5 million were collected from an area of only two square metres
• It is only the female midge that bites
• Midges prefer dark colours over light colours
• Midges prefer a moving target
• Midges are attracted by carbon dioxide and the smells that it contains of the animal that produced it
• They can detect a suitable target from 200m distance
• Taking two dessert spoonfuls of vinegar, or eating raw garlic, taints perspiration and is said to deter midges
• If light levels fall below 260 Watts/sq.metre then midges start to bite
• Midges are estimated to cost the Scottish economy £280 million per year in lost tourist revenue

Now that the weather is getting colder midges are disappearing. However, a burst of sunshine on a recent warm evening brought the little blighters out for a farewell aerial dance at the field edge as we walked by. I paused only long enough to grab this picture!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm (200mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On