Quentin Stafford-Fraser's blog
One should always have something sensational to read on the net...
What is this strange exotic mix of natural textures flowing past the domed obstruction?
And the answer is.... chicken wire!
At least, it's a fence post to which chicken wire is attached. I photographed it twice using a macro extension tube in the low winter morning light, then stitched the two halves together before doing a reasonably high-contrast conversion to black and white.
Here's a more conventional view taken a bit later from further away - using the same lens, as it happens, but without the macro tube.