New bird for the Church

It was my turn to unlock the Church this morning: as always, I took a camera and was pleased to add Common Snipe to the list of birds seen in and around All Saints. A Red Kite and Buzzard were quartering the field east of High Noon Lane..

The Moon, Venus and the Pleiades

The beautiful crescent Moon was just above the 'Seven Sisters' (Pleiades) at sunset: below Venus was incredibly bright: the whole spectacle was - to me at least - absolutely stunning!

Anyone want a vintage Fender (or two!)

Now that my live music career is coming to an end, I'd like to pass on a couple of my guitars: I'm keeping my Squier Telecasters as everyday 'players', but it's time to part with my vintage Stratocaster and Fender Sonoran electro-acoustic. (Both with cases)

I bought the Strat new in 1985 or 86 from Cooke's in Norwich: despite forty years of gigging it's virtually immaculate - just a couple of tiny, unnoticeable marks. It has a beautiful tone / action / finish and will only continue to increase in value. The Sonoran is a chunky electro-acoustic with a Strat-type neck: again, it's in near-mint condition and plays beautifully. 

Finally: there's a 20W Roland Cube combo amp (the baby brother of the 40W I used for Synergy gigs) It's in immaculate condition, has an excellent range of settings and is a really good bit of kit.
Strat £1000 ONO
Sonoran £120 ONO
Amp  £120 ONO

If you're interested in one / two / all three, e-mail me on: david_bryant51@hotmail.com

April wildlife survey at Hemblington Church

Sue, Peter, Linda, 'new Sue' and I met at the Church in somewhat gloomy weather to carry out this month's survey. As the sky cleared from the south west, birds began to sing and appear in and around the churchyard: we were all pretty sure we'd heard a couple of other species (notably Whimbrel) but we only log birds we've seen well! Good to see a few butterflies...

Linda's beautiful garden...

I'd love to claim that I've had much impact on the lovely garden that Linda has created over the past thirty years, but in truth, apart from pruning, mowing and maintaining the two ponds, it's all been my clever wife's efforts.. Things are just beginning to colour up and the 'meadow' and 'secret garden' are looking really pretty.

Amazing sunrise and a supper date!

The eastern sky was a glorious perfusion of reds, gold, lilac and blues this morning: really something to see. Tonight friends Sue, Peter and Margaret are coming over for a Greek meal: the table's laid, pudding cooked and moussaka underway!

Stone Curlews and Cuckoos: must be the Brecks

I picked Norman up at 07.00 to beat the A11 traffic down to Mayday Farm. The regular drinking pool was unusually quiet: the presence of a Goshawk and two Sparrowhawks may be part of the reason! As we were wrestling with the unfeasibly complex new parking machines, Alan, a birder from - I think - Halesworth arrived: he hadn't visited before and so walked round with us. Not the variety enjoyed by Brian and me on our visit, but we added Grasshopper Warbler, Cuckoo and Willow Warbler on our way around. Lots of Woodlarks, on the ground, in trees and in song flight, and possible Whitethroat and Tree Pipit too.

A move to Weeting Heath finally gave us Stone Curlew for the year, while Cockley Cley added Roe Deer and Curlew.