Still plenty of butterflies

Despite the heavy overcast and cooler weather today, the buddleias are still attracting a good number - and a good variety - of butterflies: Painted Lady, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Red Admiral and (least common) Meadow Brown.

The Moon and Venus

At sunset, the crescent Moon and Venus were quite close together in the misty western sky.

Dipped - again!

Having been 'late on parade' for the Weybourne Shorelark on Tuesday (by half an hour!) I thought I'd leave early and try again this morning. Despite arriving at 06.45 and staying until 09.00 the bird failed to appear. Some consolation came in the form of a Peregrine heading eastward and a few Stonechats. A large offshore 'gull melee' held a few Meds but nothing exciting. Great to chat with Richard the Hat and local birder Ian....

Stopping off at Cley, I enjoyed sharing a Common Sandpiper with Steve G, but there was little else about.

Frogz!

While watering the pot plants in the garden (with a watering can, naturally!) I was delighted by the number of Common Frogs that appeared: five from just a dozen planters!

Purple Hairstreaks on Mousehold Heath

Linda and I decided to revisit a delightful American-themed restaurant that we used to take our kids to when we first got together. The carpark is a known spot for Purple (and White-letter) Hairstreaks: amazingly we found four of the former without any trouble!

Adult and juvenile Glossy Ibises

Short video taken from Babcock Hide at Cley yesterday

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!