Half a day on the North Coast: three year ticks!

A bright - but chilly - morning at Cley and Kelling Heath gave us great views of some large flocks of waders: 100+ Golden Plover, Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits as well as good numbers of Dunlin and Ruff. At least five Marsh Harriers continually flushed the lot, but they resettled until a tractor came along and sent them all off to the North Scrape. The walk back to the VC for coffee gave us decent views of a male Stonechat and - apparently unusual - a Moorhen.

Kelling Heath was unexpectedly crowded with birders, but we managed to glimpse at least six Dartford Warblers, as well as more Stonechats and a few Linnets. Just as we were leaving I managed a few quick shots of a male Dartford, only one of which showed its head! Also on the Heath was this incredible fungus...

Moonrise, Venus and Saturn

One day off full: the Moon was orange-tinged, possibly because of Saharan dust in the upper atmosphere. In the west, Venus was a brilliant object just above the horizon, while a little later (18.20) it was dark enough to pick out Saturn.

Kites at the Church

Linda and my turn to unlock the Church this week: I always take the camera 'just in case': today we were treated to a close-up display by two moulting Red Kites. Despite the early morning gloom, the photos turned out pretty well...

Waxing gibbous Moon

No sign of the much-vaunted 'planetary line-up' tonight - just Jupiter still lurking in Gemini. However, the crater fields on the Moon were really quite spectacular..

The night sky in March and this month's ISS passes

Keeping the skies safe for democracy!

Hmmmm.... There's been lots of aerial activity this week - the usual F-35s, F-15s and Typhoons, but additionally several KC-135 tanker aircraft and - most unusual - an Italian Airforce Alenia C-27J Spartan surveillance / tactical support aircraft. I wouldn't book a flight to Teh*an at the moment!

Wildlife survey at Hemblington Church

This morning - just as the weather turned cold and breezy again! - Sue, Peter, Linda and I met at the church to carry out the February survey. We were joined by 'new recruit' Sue: five pairs of eyes produced a surprisingly rich 'haul'!

Suffolk Sound

Today's chat with Jules is a brief discussion of some of my experiences relating to the UFO Phenomenon. The broadcast goes out live at around 10.20am
Here are some points we might cover!

First quarter Moon

As I left the house (to give a talk to the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society) I discovered that the sky was crystal clear, with the first quarter Moon more or less overhead: I couldn't resist going back inside for my camera to grab a photo! Every lunar astronomer's favourite crater chain (possibly!) of Ptolemaeus, Alphonsus and Arzachel was right on the terminator (line between lit and unlit).

The 'talk' was well-received and prompted, as always, some animated and enjoyable discussion from the knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience.

Glaucous Gull & Iceland Gull together at Waxham!

With unexpected fine weather, Linda suggested a run out to Waxham to look for the reported Glaucous Gull. Had we known the temperature would reach seventeen degrees we wouldn't have 'thermalled up': we might have thought twice about the three mile slog too!

In the event we were among the lucky few who found both white-wingers side by side on the same rock, something I never expected to see. Lots of seals flopping about all around them, with a few well-grown pups...