It is now thirty six days in a row that our Buddleia has been visited by one or more Hummingbird Hawkmoths. Some days there are just singles, often there are two at a time: the maximum has been four! They arrive at dawn and stay until dusk - we still haven't grown tired of these cross-channel visitors!
I suppose the heat has brought plenty of tiny flies into the garden: certainly the Sundews are covered with recent captures! It's going to be a close run thing between the next rainfall and running out of water in our four barrels: insectivorous plants cannot tolerate nutrient-rich tapwater...
As you can see, there are half a dozen different pitcher plants, two varieties of Sundew, Venus Fly Traps and Butterworts, all of which are permanently located on the patio, proving how surprisingly tough they are!
In enervating heat, Linda, Sue, Sue, Peter and I carried out the monthly survey at 'the Little Church on the Hill'. To be honest, we expected little and were not disappointed, although a pair of displaying Buzzards were unusual.
Although I've seen a handful of our delightful native Partridges this year, these two up by Hemblington Church are the first I've photographed in 2026. (Unfortunately right into the setting Sun!)
There was a decent number of meteors between 03.00 and 04.00: I counted 15 brightish ones. Attempts at photography were somewhat affected by the steady procession of Mr Musk's Starlink satellites travelling west to east through the Cassiopeia region. With a dark, moonless sky, the Milky Way and M31 (Andromeda galaxy) were naked eye objects for once!
There was a fabulous clear sky and lots of our lovely neighbours came out to enjoy my projected images of the eclipse. There were several small sunspot groups too! (All this and a fabulous supper courtesy of Sue and Peter!)
Really looking forward to tonight's solar eclipse: the best since 1999, when Linda and I drove down to Prawle Point in Devon - still got the glasses, as you can see! We're having an 'Eclipse Supper' with chums Sue and Peter, with plenty of fizz: I've got all the appropriate gear ready to observe, record and project the event: fingers crossed!
