Couldn't resist it! Rising an hour before dawn, Venus is now the brightest object in the sky (apart from the Sun and Moon, of course!) In the next day or two, it should be possible to see Mercury below and to the left (The faintish star in the photo below is Spica, the brightest star in the constellation Virgo) Meanwhile, Mars and Jupiter are even closer to each other!
Frosty start this morning, so we weren't expecting many birds: in the event we recorded 23 species in the allocated hour. A Chinese Water Deer was interesting to see, as were the first winter thrushes in the churchyard (and both Song and Mistle Thrushes)
I'm still trying to wring the best from my Canon set up, but - for astronomical imaging at least - it doesn't produce the results I managed with my old Pentax and its 'astrotracker' GPS feature. Still: here are some images of the Orion Nebula, M31, and the Jupiter / Mars comjunction. (Three of Jupiter's moons - Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - are visible: Io is hidden in the planet's glare)
Around 06.30 Venus rose in the east: always a lovely sight.
Mars is sneaking up on Jupiter in the constellation of Leo: it will be even closer in a couple of days. Well-worth looking out for (06.00am is a good time!) with the blue star Regulus complimenting the creamy yellow of Jupiter and the orange-red of Mars...
Linda returns from visiting Mum-in-Law this evening, so I thought I'd 'enjoy' a quick trip to Waxham, where two Hume's Warblers had been present last night. A hundred metres from Sea Palling I discovered that the road was closed, meaning a half hour detour via Potter Heigham!
I might as well have stayed in bed! Despite a long walk through the dune woods either side of 'Shangri-la', all I saw were dozens of Robins! Someone had turned a tree stump into a dragon, which lightened my mood somewhat: as did an incredibly skilful paraglider...
Norman, Brian and I arrived at Salthouse as the Sun broke through the early morning mist. We parked at the end of Beach Road and trudged westwards, in order to avoid the quagmire that the Iron Road has become. Twite were everywhere! I counted at least forty in two large flocks, with others scattered along the shingle. Offshore, Eiders and Red-throated Divers kept us interested, until we eventually found half a dozen Shorelarks (west of the Iron Road!)
After tea at the VC I drove west to Brancaster: despite a long vigil, we failed to connect with the Isabelline Shrike - we'd missed it by ten minutes!
In reality, separated by 550,000,000 miles of space, the two planets are currently close together in the pre-dawn sky, in the constellation of Leo. Mars is visibly red, while Jupiter has a pale yellowish tinge...
For the past 50-odd years I've been lecturing and teaching to audiences all over the country on a variety of topics, ranging from Astronomy and Meteoritics to wildlife and to the paranormal: I haven't finished yet! I have two more talks to deliver before Christmas. However, I thought I might put some of my Powerpoints on the blog, so they could be viewed by a wider audience. Unfortunately I haven't yet found how to do it! Anyone out there know a way? (Of course, feel free to contact me to book a talk for your group: I have about a hundred different presentations! Norfolk only these days, I'm afraid!)
At the time of writing, my year list stands at 238: this compares favourably with the totals since I started Birds of the Heath back in 2015. In previous years Linda and I have visited the Farnes, Devon, Cornwall, Wales, the home counties and Yorkshire on numerous occasions: 2026 has been different, with just a three day trip to East Yorkshire which added five species to the total: the only fairly distant 'twitch' has been the Essex Hudsonian Godwit.
In addition to the species I might have anticipated in the West Country and Wales are the expected regular migrants that have been conspicuous by their absence! Redstart, Wryneck, Pied and Red-breasted Flycatcher and Hoopoe have all eluded me this year. In theory I could have chased after these: they have all been briefly available around the county. But they are all birds that I've just 'bumped into' in the past. (I recall several visits to the plantation at Horsey that delivered all of the above in one morning!)
Fingers crossed: there are still birds that should be available before the end of the year: Shorelark, Barred Warbler, Hen Harrier, Firecrest, Pallas' Warbler, Great Grey Shrike, and perhaps an unusual goose or two!
Last night friends Sue and Peter joined us for beef Stroganov (veggie, of course!) It being November 5th, Linda had bought some really impressive sparklers: the photos don't do them justice! You're never too old to act daft and have a bit of fun!
A small flock of three Waxwings arrived in a corner of Jenny Lind Park, Norwich (Just off Vauxhall Street) Naturally, Linda and I dropped everything and headed into town, joining three or four birders who quickly pointed out the delightful winter visitors in nearby trees. Occasionally they came down to feed in a Rowan - frustratingly, often obscured by twigs - and we all had lovely views. Linda passed her bins around to some charming locals who'd come to look, while I showed them 'back of camera' images.
