The cutest animal on Earth!

Hunters' Moon!

Back home in Norfolk: the skies cleared enough to catch the full Moon low in the west: absolutely beautiful! Looking back through my attempts at Tsuchinshan the night before we left for Sussex, I find I did manage a tiny smudge...

Back home in Norfolk

On our last day in Sussex we finally woke up to sunshine, giving us the opportunity to revisit one of our favourite places, Pulborough Brooks. A short walk down to the first hide gave us distant views of six species of raptor: Peregrine, Hobby, Kestrel, Buzzard, Red Kite and Marsh Harrier, while a few Pintail lounged among the Wigeon and Teal. While we were enjoying an ice cream, a beautiful Small Copper rested on Linda's sleeve for a minute or two...  (By the way: I did most of the pushing: Linda's helping out here on a steep slope at Pulborough!)

Back to the cottage to clear up and be amused by the antics of the ever-present woodpecker, as well as a pair of Buzzards and a rabbit. During our short break we saw lots more birds than we could photograph, including Goshawk (two!) Sparrowhawk and an owl that rushed through the garden at dusk.

The journey home was horrendous, with heavy rain, detours, thunder and lightning and flooded roads: great to be back in Norfolk!

Around and about: Drusilla's Park

During our visit to Sussex we took Mum-in-Law Mary to Drusilla's Park, an absolutely delightful establishment that is attempting to breed a number of threatened species. (My older brother Rob has endowed the park in memory of his daughter Susie, who once worked there)

We had a fabulous morning: our particular favourites were the Red Pandas, Giant Anteaters and the animatronic dinosaurs.

On the way home we stopped at Wilmington to see the 'Long Man', a hill figure that might date back to the early iron age.

Down to Sussex: an enjoyable break despite the weather

Linda and I made our biannual drive through the night to spend a few days with her Mum, Mary, who lives in Hove just below the South Downs. Our usual accommodation at Findon was fully booked, but Linda discovered a cottage that was equally charming and better in several ways: it stood alone in the secluded grounds of a rural garden centre at Poynings, As we were unloading, a Great Spotted Woodpecker 'chipped' overhead: Linda needed no further encouragement to visit the garden centre and buy some suet, seeds and a feeder! Within the hour the woodie - and dozens of Blue and Great Tits - began visiting, continuing to do so throughout our stay.

The weather was less than kind, with total cloud cover and virtually constant drizzle, but - as you'll see - we still managed to have a good time (despite failing to see the comet or Hunters' Moon!) including visits to Brighton Car Boot, Lewes and numerous coffee shops!

 

No comet yet!

I spent an hour after sunset scouring the western sky for a glimpse of Tsuchinshan, but failed to see or photograph the comet: 'X' marks its rough position! I did manage Mercury, however and dozens of Starlink satellites - they are becoming a nuisance!

Beaver hunt at Sculthorpe

Linda and I persuaded friends Peter and Sue to join us on a rare visit inside the Beaver enclosure at the Hawk & Owl Trust at Sculthorpe, A very informative talk was followed by a trek through several miles of marsh, during which the only signs of Beavers were a few gnawed tree trunks and a lodge at the edge of some wet woodland. It started to rain - heavily - and we found the path blocked by deep water, so we walked the long way back to the car, before changing and adjourning to a nearby pub (The Aviator) for supper. This was the highlight of the evening - just superb ambience, food and service - until we returned home to witness the wonderful auroral display...