Ranworth Ospreys

With poor weather forecast and a busy few weeks ahead, I dashed out to Ranworth at 7.30 to see if I could glimpse the returning pair of Ospreys. After a brief wait one, then the second arrived at the nest: although very distant, still a terrific thing to see in Broadland! Other birds included Marsh Harrier, Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

Showground Antiques Fair

Today was the first of two annual antiques fairs at Norwich Showground - the next will be in October. Linda and I always look forward to these events, although we don't necessarily buy anything: it's just a great way to spend a couple of hours! Today, however, I added to my collection of Uranium glass, while Linda bought a piece of Wade, some bee-keeping equipment and a pair of vintage earrings.

Pink Moon and Venus

With a clear sky at sunset, I was optimistic about catching Moonrise at around 20.45: while I waited I took a couple of shots of Venus, a cropped version of which plainly shows the planet's gibbous phase.

The Moon eventually crawled over the rooftops, but a bank of low mist made focusing problematical. I overexposed one image to reveal the nearby bright star Spica (mag 1.0) in the constellation of Virgo.

Artemis!

The launch videos of Artemis 2 were absolutely incredible: in the fulness of time, I look forward to adding some more lunar astronaut photos to my album!

It does seem hard to explain that the time difference between Apollo 17 and today's launch is more than that between Apollo 17 and the end of  the First World War!

In case you wondered: SNOWMAN!

Still very much 'alive and kicking', the little Snowman emerged from the freezer for a quick check of the spring flowers!

A flock of Twite saves the day!

Just Brian and me now: Norman has withdrawn from our little group due to health concerns. So: the two of us drove north to Cley, starting the morning in Bishop's Hide. The 'highlight' was a Merlin that dashed through the gulls and waders at near supersonic speed: a 'year tick, but not a photo op.! A Spoonbill dozed on Pat's, occasionally waking for a stretch, while to the left of the hide a Great White Egret was much more obliging! (A pair of Common Lizards were snuggling on the Centre Hides after a fairly fruitless visit)

A stroll along the East Bank was routine: just another Spoonbill and several Mipits, with nothing on the sea, so we returned to Bishop's to avoid the drizzle. Even less on view, so coffee and scones lured us to the Visitors' Centre. A move eastwards and a walk up Gramborough Hill added just a few Stonechats to the list, so we decided to finish off at the Iron Road, Salthouse, where a flock of Twite had just been found. After a bit of a wait, we eventually saw around a dozen: never near enough for super images, but good enough for jazz! (The group photo is Brian's excellent image)

The night sky in April (and table of ISS passes)

A fair bit of planetary action this month, with all five bright ones visible. If you missed the March lunar occultation of Regulus, there's a repeat performance this month. All this and the possibility of a brightish comet and the 'Pink Moon' at the start of the month!
The ISS is a bit of a damp squib: many of this month's passes are dim or at inconvenient times.

The Moon and Regulus

Regulus is a  bright (mag 1.3) blue-white star in the constellation of Leo. Lying close to the ecliptic (the plane of the Solar System) it's not uncommon for the Moon to pass in front of Regulus: this occurred last night at around 19.30. Unfortunately it was cloudy here until 20.25,when Regulus was just emerging from the Moon's north-eastern limb. At the same time, Venus was a brilliant object just above the western horizon. (Because of their distance from Earth, stars can, of course, only be seen as points of light: the apparent disc of Regulus is a photographic artefact)