Birds and Butterflies!

A great day out with Brian & Norman started off at Cley Beach, where a huge melee of seabirds included an immature Gannet, as well as Mediterranean Gull, all the regulars and a couple of Arctic Terns (Which I may have photographed!)

Next stop was Bishop's, where we were entertained by four Green Sandpipers and a young Little Ringed Plover. Next we drove to Babcock Hide, where the two Glossy Ibises were very active, as was a delightful full-summer plumaged Spotted Redshank.

After coffee we moved west to Warham Camp: after the usual tedious roadworks and diversions we enjoyed great views of Chalkhill and Common Blue butterflies: a Hummer made a brief appearance! A high speed (but legal!) drive to Weybourne was in vain: the reported Shorelark had been flushed..

Where'd HE come from???

Just after I gave the marine tank its weekly water change (shop-bought RO water) this Serpent Star appeared above the reef. Since these little creatures are known to be useful scavengers that don't harm corals, I was happy to see it! I assume he entered the system with a previous coral: they are nocturnal, so has probably been growing inside the rock-work.

The Iceman Cometh!

Time for Snowie to have a look around the Summer garden. He's more or less transformed into a block of ice after his years in the freezer, so the heat didn't cause him too many problems!

The International Space Station

A few shots of the ISS passing over the Heath at 21.58 and 23.35 last night: note also the many other fainter satellites. Lastly, a final picture of Venus and Regulus.

Hummer

Last night's Hummingbird Hawkmoth has visited both our front and back gardens today: it never stops for long and has proven quite tricky to photograph!

Anticlimax!

While enjoying the odd glass of Retsina with friends last night, I managed a couple of poor shots of  a Hummingbird Hawkmoth, as well as two even poorer ones of the Venus / Regulus conjunction. The two bodies just weren't as close as I'd been led to expect by the online data...

Closer!

Venus and Regulus, getting closer before their conjunction just after sunset tonight.

Mediterranean birding on the North Coast

Brian, Norman and I spent the morning at Cley and Kelling, revisiting the Squacco Heron at the Water Meadows before adjourning to Bishop's for distant views of the adult Glossy Ibis that has graced Pat's for several weeks. After coffee we moved to the centre hides, where a couple of juvenile Bearded Tits were good to see. (One surprising bird was an adult Gannet that actually flew over the new North Hide!)

Last stop was Babcock Hide, where the juvenile Glossy Ibis was feeding on Watling Water for over an hour: nice and close too!