Bootiful

Another in my Cloud Appreciation series, this is a distant shot of the evocatively named, but environmentally unfriendly Fiddlers Ferry coal-fired power station near Warrington. I did wonder at what point an industrial chimney's 'exhaust emission' becomes a true 'cloud'?

Ignoring these ecological issues for a moment, I was thinking it's odd squashed shape might be caused by temperature inversion. These act like putting a lid on normal convection rising. Net result, is a cloud I reckon that looks like a crouched buzzard or one of those fleet-footed oviraptors from Jurassic Park. Ha, well it does if I squint.

With Christmas fast approaching, I suddenly wondered if there might be such a thing as a Turkey Dinosaur. For some reason, the name seemed vaguely familiar, untill I did a Google search and of course then came up with Bernard Matthew's kiddy fast food of the same name - D'oh! Processed turkey in the shape of dinosaurs. How could I have forgotten these dreadful things so quickly? Poor neglected daughter J must have been force fed had her fair share of these in the early 90's. I guess I must have munched through quite a few as well, trying to entice that girl to eat. Someone call Childline, quick.

My Turkey Dinosaur of choice today though is the one they call Hagryphus giganteus (aka 'giant four-footed, birdlike god of the western desert'), after the first fossil of it discovered in Utah in 2006.

Or is it just me?