frogesque

Thanks for the interesting comments guys! Thundersnow it was then!

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post so Mods, feel free to move. I was in the general area of the hills around Wanlochead (1500ft asl), Dumfrieshire on Monday afternoon (22nd. Mar. 2010) about 3.30pm and heading back down a small glen to the car parked beside the Mennock River it suddenly came over very dark with a strong wind coming up the gully (roughly from a Southerly direction). The rain quickly turned to sleet, then snow and at the height of the brief storm there were a few very bright flashes of lightning followed imediatlely by loud thunder. By the time I'd got back to the car the sky had cleared and the wind died to little more than a light breeze. No photos I'm afraid as my camera battery had died on me. :lol: Is this just normal lightning induced by strong winds, hills and valleys with heavy rain/snow or is it what would be called thunder snow?

Looking good for our amphibious friends! Toads or newts anyone? We normally only have frogs in the pond although the goldfish did have babies last year :blush:

Err... 'ello! Yep! It's that time of year again, seen a couple in the garden pond today. Obvioulsly no dire effects from the prolonged cold. No croaking or bonking yet but it won't be long. Anyone else got a plague of frogs?

From Spaceweather, "New sunspot 1050 is anchoring one end of an enormous magnetic filament. Another new sunspot, not yet numbered, is emerging over the sun's northeastern limb. Image credit: SOHO/MDI " http://www.spaceweather.com/ More about this huge filament and the posibility of a Hyder flare from link

A wee bit chilly! Crom Alt, West Higland Way From a picknic spot on the Oban road

Meteor/meteorite traveling to the the NE at 21.10 GMT (UT) tonight. Viewing location, Thornton, Fife. Very bright scintilating white, lasted for a couple of seconds. Maybe more since we were travelling home in the car at the time. Sky crystal clear (for a change!). No sound or shock wave that we could hear but we were in the car. Reckon it would have broken up over the North Sea. Anyone else see this event?

Wooohooo! 3 Spots on the Earth facing side of the sun. OK, 1043 is about to disappear over the limb but it's been a long time since we've seen this much activity. Could do with some in the Southern hemisphere though. Still fell quiet in that quarter

Looking good Mondy! A direct smack from an M6.4 might just about do it! Now all we need is some clear skies - who's nicked the sun?

:)...and it's growing!

Just back from walking the dog at Kirkcaldy. Partial thaw on at the moment and a stiff easterly to boot. Some bigish waves about so any ice wouldn't stand a chance.

My guess is the focus range can't cope with the 2x diopter. If they are both genuine Canon products check to see if there is a known issue. If not take it back to the shop or send it to Canon for a replacement. If it's a mismatch between different manufacturers (eg. Sigma and Canon) then you may just have to live with it and not use the full 300mm x2.

Nice pics Mondy! Haven't been down to the Forth for a couple of days but I doubt if the ice flow would make to Kirkcaldy. Although cold there was no ice in the rockpools and the sand above the tideline was still soft. This was before the big freeze on Thursday night though - got down to -12C in the back garden

Yeah, but, it's a return trip and therefore a long lived spot. More significant than a quick bubble and fade perhaps? Update: it has also recently fired off a C1 class flare. Go 1040 (aka 1035!) http://www.spaceweather.com/

Spots can boil up at any time. Don't rely on one spotless day to predict 2010 totals. Still hopeing for some decent X class flares and those elusive aurorae.

Yep, done that! And, with a warm camera and lens, the closer you get the quicker they melt

Nice closeups! Did you use a plate out of the freezer to catch the flakes in or was it naturaly cold enough outside?

Created a panoramic of the loch (autostitch)

Nice crisp shot there with the Meade! Mine was snapped quickly, hand held Sigma 500mm 1:7.2 on my old Canon D60. You're right - perishin' outside!

Thanks for the heads up - just taken this a couple of mins ago!

Baah! Humbug! http://nwstatic.co.uk/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif Absolutely not! Need a few X class potshots at the Earth to bring in a wicked 2010

Not far up the road from me. We didn't hear any thunder but we had a right heavy shower of sleety snow that night.

Top photos! Love the atmospheric night scenes.

I think there was a Bonspiel in '63 but it was played on the Lake of Montieth. Also held there in '79 Yep, we've done well this year. Away from the coast there's 6" - 8" of snow. Probably best descibed as 1" of powder on a firm to icy base. Probably a lot more up in the Highlands but we just went for a wee run since the back roads are pretty gruesome where they've not been treated.