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!

Coming together!

Venus and Regulus - the brightest star in Leo - are getting closer every day: on the 9th they'll be side by side above the western horizon at sunset.

Squacco Heron at Kelling

Having filled up with butterflies at Foxley Wood, Linda, Paul and I zoomed north east to Kelling Quags, where the handsome Squacco Heron was briefly on show! At times it 'buddied up' with a Great White Egret...

Wonderful Butterflies at Foxley Wood

Great mate Paul drove over all the way from Derbyshire to hunt for butterflies with Linda and me. Our chosen venue was Foxley Wood, near Guist: not only is this a terrific place for White Admirals and Silver-washed Fritillaries, it also holds a good number of the beautiful Valezina female form of the latter.

The main reason for the visit, though, was to try to connect Paul with a Purple Emperor. Although it took us two hours, we eventually managed to see and image a female, with help from a small group of enthusiasts who'd located her in a tall Oak tree. In total we saw seventeen species in the wood including well over a hundred Silver-washeds!

Southern Migrant Hawker - in the garden!

All goes to show: almost anything can turn up almost anywhere!

Buddleia bonanza!

Where would our gardens and urban landscapes be without the plant discovery of 17th Century botanist Adam Buddle?  The prolonged dry weather held back the flowering of the large bush outside my office window, but the recent rain and following humidity persuaded it to burst into bloom! The result has been daily visits by literally dozens of the 'usual suspects': Meadow Browns are a little less regular!

A Dakota over Norwich Airport

The Douglas C47 from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight made three circuits of Norwich Airport this afternoon. While not as impressive as the Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane trio, it was still great to see (and hear!)