cloudy/river/gull

As seen crossing the rail & cycle bridge over the Neckar at Ladenburg during this evening’s 52km ride.

#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷

In worlds beyond my back garden, I was humbled to hear my toot about the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart & the influence of ST:TNG on 1980s astronomy & NGST/JWST was mentioned in a New York Times piece by Robin George Andrews.

Thanks to @AkaSci & @saarmuller for screenshots.

Gives me an excuse to show pictures I'm in with ESA friends & Enterprise-D crew Riker, Data, Crusher, Troi, La Forge, Worf, & Yar (plus Q 🙂), at FEDCON in Bonn over the years, if sadly never Picard himself.

#StarTrek

FWIW, that brings my list for 2026 so far to 488 different species of "bug", including insects, arachnids, & a few isopods & gastropods.

About 350 of those have been seen in our garden & most of the rest close by in SW Germany, with ~20 more in the UK, NL, & ES.

I don't have definitive IDs for every single one, but I'm pretty sure they're almost all distinct.

Can I reach 500 by year's end? I observed ~25 species in Nov & Dec last year, but I've already catalogued many of those in 2026 🧐

Perhaps even rarer, this seen on our front door by the ivy.

iNat & ObsIdentify suggest it's a black compost fly (Scatopse notata), but the gold between the antennae & around the thorax, & multi-coloured legs say otherwise.

Likely genus Apiloscatopse, perhaps A scutellata, v rare in DE 😱

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

While the pickings are slim in the garden by now, there are still some interesting new finds to be had.

This tiny beast is a braconid wasp, likely genus Spathius. Hard to get a species ID, but S curvicaudis, S rubidus, & S erythocephalus are plausible in DE, albeit all very rare on iNat.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Autumn on the Königstuhl 🍂

Today’s @mpi_astro colloquium was by Alex Dimoff on stellar nucleosynthesis ☢️

Which produced most of what you see in this picture of the forest, namely the carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, & trace elements combined with primordial hydrogen made in the Big Bang 💥

And Sol in the middle is turning hydrogen & helium to make the sunlight & material that may build new stars, planets, & trees billions of years from now 🌞🌍🌳

#Science
#Photography

Ad astra, Patrick Stewart ✨

I've met many of the cast of Star Trek – The Next Generation over the years, but unfortunately I never had the chance to meet him.

I hope he knew how influential that programme was across astronomy – it's no coincidence that the observatory now known as JWST was originally and for many years called the Next Generation Space Telescope.

My email folder spanning almost thirty years involvement is still named "ngst".

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/oct/29/patrick-stewart-dead

Back to the many wasp species in the ivy, including these – I think they're common European yellow jackets (Vespula vulgaris; 🇩🇪 Gemeine Wespe).

I say I think, because the facial markings are odd, but they might be males – their faces are variable & they often feed on ivy flowers in autumn.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Not a new species for the year, but this is one of several bay leafhoppers (Synophropsis lauri; 🇩🇪 Lorbeerzirpe) basking in the autumn sunlight.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

The ivy remains the hot-bed of garden activity at the moment, with many species buzzing around. Hard to shoot there though, standing on steep steps, awkwardly stretching to reach the feeding bugs.

Among them, several bur-marigold flies (Campiglossa bidentis; 🇩🇪 Rainfarn-Bohrfliege).

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Let's start with the biggest wasp & we'll come back to another at the end.

This is a European hornet (Vespa crabro; 🇩🇪 Hornisse) found by the ivy. It probably got gunged after it died, but gave me the chance to make a 24-image macro stack. Could have done with even more steps, tbh 🤷‍♂️

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

A warm & sunny day after wind & rain, so out for a 51km ride in the golden hour.

Along with many commuters, now that the clocks have gone back.

#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷

A warm & sunny day after wind & rain, so out for a 51km ride in the golden hour.

Along with many commuters, now that the clocks have gone back.

#CyclingLife 🚴‍♂️
#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷

I'm no expert when it comes to the many species of cockroaches, but this appears to be a variable one (Planuncus tingitanus; 🇩🇪 Tanger-Waldschabe).

It may be a complex, not a single species, & as the German name suggests, originates from North Africa & now spreading rapidly north in Europe.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

Just for fun: the Moon seen through thin cloud last night, a couple of hours before it was full 🌝

Capturing details on the Moon itself at the same time as the colourful surrounding halo would be extremely challenging, so this is a two image montage, with a longer exposure for the cloud & a shorter one for our satellite.

Both hand-held with my Nikon, so the cloud part is fairly noisy.

Anyway, as I say, just for fun 🤷‍♂️🙂

#Photography 📷
#Astronomy 🔭
#Heidelberg 🏰

FWIW, here's another image taken about a minute later – this is not a montage, but just a single exposure (1/160s, f/6.3, 200mm, ISO 800) that captures the full Moon and surrounding cloud halo simultaneously.

The dynamic range has been tweaked to keep the Moon from saturating while bringing up the halo, but no blurry AI denoising has been applied.

It's gritty, but perhaps equally effective, & looks similar to the naked-eye appearance.

#Photography 📷️
#Astronomy 🔭
#Heidelberg 🏰

Just for fun: the Moon seen through thin cloud last night, a couple of hours before it was full 🌝

Capturing details on the Moon itself at the same time as the colourful surrounding halo would be extremely challenging, so this is a two image montage, with a longer exposure for the cloud & a shorter one for our satellite.

Both hand-held with my Nikon, so the cloud part is fairly noisy.

Anyway, as I say, just for fun 🤷‍♂️🙂

#Photography 📷
#Astronomy 🔭
#Heidelberg 🏰

Today's rain & wind from Storm Boelo weren't particularly arthropod friendly 🌧️💨, so I had to look in some dark, dry corners to find any 👀

Resulting in the discovery of this hairy little moth fly, sub-family Psychodinae. Beyond that, goodness knows – perhaps genus Philosepedon or Quatiella? 🤷‍♂️

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

And while there were many (many!) marmalade hover flies (Episyrphus balteatus), I also spotted some other varieties, including this one.

Definitely genus Syrphus, but am not 100% sure yet whether it's the black-thighed flower fly (S vitripennis) or hairy-eyed flower fly (S torvus).

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲

And here are a couple of the flies also feeding from the ivy today. As it gets colder, wetter, & windier, this is by far the most active part of the garden.

This is a male common drone fly (Eristalis tenax; 🇩🇪 Keilfleckschwebfliege). Readily ID'd via the two lines of hair in each eye.

#Heidelberg 🏰
#Photography 📷️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️
#BugOfTheDay 🐞
#MacroPhotography 🔬
#InsectsOfMastodon 🪰
#BackGardenEntomology 🪲