Spring Has Sprung

Close-up photo of a fern leaf, all furled up and waiting to spring out on the world!

I don't know whether it's actually true but I have heard from several sources that Sigmund Freud has pteridophobia, or a morbid fear of ferns. Seems a strange affliction, but then he was undoubtedly a strange man.

Did you know that the word "fern" applies to any of 12,000 different species of plants? Plus, they reproduce via spores.

Enough with the fern facts now, I feel.

Seal Your Fate

Another fine specimen from the Gweek Seal Sanctuary! Can't remember if he's a grey seal or a common seal or a different kind of seal altogether, but he (or, in fact, she) certainly is a seal and I'm sticking with what I know. And a speckled seal, at that!

Freaky Stuff

Close-up of the stem of a giant gunnera plant, gunnera manicata. Them's some peculiar plants, it's got to be said!

Monet

It's hard to look at this and not be reminded of a Monet. Apparently you can actually visit his garden at Giverny in France, the site of the famous bridge and waterlilies. Interestingly, Monet suffered from cataracts towards the end of his life, which may have been reflected in his paintings, which at the time they were affecting his vision had a redder hue than previously; after he underwent surgery to remove the cataracts in 1923, the hue of his paintings changed again, and he was possibly able to see further into the ultraviolet spectrum than is normal - he even repainted some of his earlier works to give them a bluer hue. Intriguing!

Say What?

This curious fellow is a face in a tree :D

Apparently the phenomenon of seeing faces or shapes in objects like clouds or trees is known as pareidolia. Carl Sagan theorised that seeing faces like this is common because we're hard-wired to recognise them; but precisely because we have the ability to distinguish faces at a distance and in poor lighting, we end up seeing faces when they're not there. Hence we see faces here and here and here... even though they're not there. Unsurprisingly, when faces are distinguished they're often given a religious slant, hence all the bizarre stories about jesus appearing in a bit of marmite. Or a chapati, depending on where you're from.

People who can't recognise faces correctly suffer from prosopagnosia.

Pitcher Perfect

This is a picture of a carnivorous pitcher plant. They lure insects into the pitcher, and they then fall in, are drowned in the liquid inside the plant, and are gradually dissolved. Nice, huh? It is a cunning adaptation to soil that's too poor for most plants to survive.

The Snipe

And this is the owner of the very beautiful feathered tail I posted a picture of a couple of days ago.