Oh go on then: a few more!

The sunset sky was totally clear and bright last night, so I couldn't resist grabbing a few more shots of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus: all four of Jupiter's Galilean moons were on show!

The difference a bit of Sun makes!

Suddenly the garden is springing into life: the Clematis is the best ever, while the Wollemi has both male and female cones. Our guest Partridges seem interested in nesting in the centre bed, while Holly Blues are everywhere! Swifts seem to be doing well lo0cally: there was a gang of 20+ tazzing around the village today.

More astronomy

I couldn't resist taking a more shots of Venus, the Moon and Jupiter: the 'seeing' was good enough that Venus' gibbous phase was clearly visible, as were three of Jupiter's many moons.

Triple conjunction

Unfortunately it was cloudy here in East Norfolk last night when the Moon, Jupiter and Venus were really close together. Tonight the clouds parted just enough to see all three: apart from the Sun, these are the brightest objects in the sky!

Temminck's: the video!

Temminck's Stints at Cley

Despite the terrible weather forecast, Norman, Brian and I headed north to Cley, arriving in a fine drizzle that soon faded away. We started the day in the Centre Hides, enjoying close views of a Spoonbill - the first of four we encountered during the day. Several Little Egrets fed in front of Avocet Hide, including one with beautiful lilac-coloured lores. We decided to drive round to the Iron Road car park and walk back to Babcock Hide: a great decision!

On the way I enjoyed my best-ever views of a singing Lesser Whitethroat, while as soon as we entered the hide I picked out a pair of Temminck's Stints. These scuttled nearer and nearer, allowing really great photo-ops for us and for Steve G, who had been alerted by my CBC Whatsapp post. Two more Spoonbills fed out on the shallow scrape, while the hide was continually visited by Swallows!

After coffee and scones we decided on a visit to Hickling NWT Reserve: as we drove past Walsey Hills a Hobby flew right in front of the car! Despite the drizzle we walked half way around the reserve, seeing another Spoonbill, two Cuckoos and a Great White Egret.

David and Bob 'meet on the ledge'...

One of my oldest friends, Bob, drove up from Essex to spend a day with Linda and me. Bob and I met at college in 1970, quickly discovering a common interest in folk music, lunchtime drinking and herbal tobacco! Together with a couple of fellow students, Anneka and John, we formed a folk group which we called 'Culverin'. We played at pubs, clubs and even an open air concert, and, it's fair to say, acquired a reasonable following. (We even made a reunion CD a few years ago!)

Bob and I were members of the 'Greate Rebellion Society', an English Civil War re-enactment group that traveled all over the country fighting battles and staging scripted events such as 'the Trial of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford'. All good fun!

As happens, despite being incredibly close mates, we rarely met after I moved to Norfolk, but have remained in touch: it was wonderful to spend time together yesterday.

Meet on the Ledge? It's the title of a song by Fairport Convention that meant a lot to us in the seventies and, probably, even more now...

We used to say, that come the day
We'd all be making songs
Or finding better words
These ideas never lasted long
The way is up, along the road
The air is growing thin
Too many friends who tried
Were blown off this mountain by the wind...
Meet on the ledge, we're gonna meet on the ledge
When my time is up
I'm gonna see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we're gonna meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes round again...

A new experience: lecturing in a tent!

Dodging the showers yesterday, Linda and I drove out to Northrepps to give a ninety-minute talk about the Moon: its origin, formation of its surface features and mankind's exploration of our nearest neighbour.

Our hosts were the charming couple Sue and Jerry who run 'Soulcraft', a delightful events group based at their private 'Hungry Hill' campsite. The open-minded audience showed real interest and asked some incisive questions: a great afternoon spent with a really pleasant group. (The only slight problem was that the interior of the tent was too bright for my pre-prepared Powerpoint: I just had to do a lot more talking!)

Never far from a Red Kite...

Amazing to reflect that back in the eighties I drove all the way to mid-Wales to see my first Red Kite: now, even with the current inclement weather, there's always one or two lurking over the Heath...

Ah! Summer weather!

I have never seen a sky the colour of today's, just before a heavy hale-storm. The contrast between the leaden clouds and brightly lit trees and shrubs was very striking. Of course, this weather (added to my current back problems) make it unlikely I'll be adding any new birds - or photos - to the blog for a while!