Beautiful crescent Moon

Yet again: heavy clouds rolled over at sunset, but not before I managed a couple of shots of the waxing crescent Moon.

Marine tank update

Our little reef tank is still flourishing: a colony of green, hairy discs at the top of the reef is increasing in size daily, so that there's probably no room for any additions...

Happiness is....

...getting a 'last cut' on the lawn before the rain started this afternoon. (Funny how little things like this are such sources of pleasure when you're getting on a bit!)

Better views of Comet Lemmon

Last night Linda and I drove to the top of the Heath, where there are clear horizons for 360 degrees and relatively dark skies. We had to wait an hour or so for an annoying cloud bank to drift over, but were rewarded by good binocular views of Lemmon - it's easy to find, above and to the left of Arcturus. We couldn't find Swan, unfortunately, but did see quite a few bright meteors and hundreds of satellites...

Comet Lemmon - but only just!

The sky has been completely clear all day, but just as Comet Lemmon emerged from the twilight a cloud bank rolled over from the south west! I managed a couple of photos, just record shots for the person who introduced me to astronomy (when I was 6 or 7!) my wonderful elder brother Rob, who I know is looking for the comet from Kent tonight.

Venus!

Venus is spectacular in the dawn sky at the moment: it's rising about an hour before the Sun and is just below Parrimer,  the second brightest star in Virgo. The second photo shows why I have to drive away from the village to look for the two comets!

Skyful of Buzzards!

Yesterday afternoon a brief gap in the clouds must have produced a decent thermal, because quite quickly half a dozen Buzzards appeared, soaring higher and higher and drifting eastwards...

Yellow-browed and Dusky Warblers and a bonus Great Grey Shrike!

The weather forecast was not too dismal, so the SWC made the usual trek to the North Coast. I was still keen to have a bash at the Walsey Hills warblers, so Brian dropped me off while he and Norman made their way to Bishop's.

I have to confess I deployed 'Merlin' as I moved along the path and almost immediately got notifications for both Dusky and Yellow-browed. Unfortunately there were also plenty of Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs around (some of which were ringed) Once I'd reunited with the guys we walked out to the sea along the East Bank - just a few Scoter were the best we could manage. However, the walk back gave us flight and ground views of a herd of five  beautiful Whooper Swans. By now it was 10am, so we adjourned for coffee, before visiting  the Centre Hides. We chatted with Nick A and enjoyed decent views of Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint (two of each!) among the more abundant Dunlin, Godwits and Lapwings, before the pager announced that a Great Grey Shrike was visible at the back of Walsey Hills. Back we trudged: we were pleased to discover that it was visible from the roadside by Snipe's Marsh, but we walked south for 'better' views. Our fourth Shrike species of the year! With rain threatening we headed home.

On safari!

Linda's son Simon invited us to join him and his delightful partner Jo on a 90-minute Red Deer safari around the heathland at the back of Minsmere RSPB reserve.

We started the visit with lunch, followed by a walk out to Island Mere, where three female Goldeneye and a couple of Great Egrets were noteworthy. Back at the VC we met our driver / guide Steve, climbing into a Toyota Hilux for a bumpy ride around the heath. Despite the threat of rain and the gloom, we enjoyed terrific views of several groups of hinds with calves, as well as a magnificent 16-pointer stag. (Lots of Muntjacs too!)