Those of you who either stay up late or get up early can enjoy a full Moon on the 30th: it will rise at midnight on the 29th and will be low in the west... It might appear slightly smaller and dimmer, because it is at its furthest point from the Earth in its orbit.
Following the (brief) rain, a fairly impressive sunspot group... (As always: NEVER look at the Sun with optical instruments, cameras or the naked eye - I have special filters!)
As promised during my chat with Jules Button this afternoon, here are July's astronomy notes and times when the International Space Station passes over East Anglia. I've added some photos I took of a stunning noctilucent cloud display - it really is worth looking out for them over the next few weeks...
After sunset I made the short drive to the top of the heath, where I knew I could expect a dark, clear western horizon. Venus and Jupiter were easy to find (despite the haze over Norwich) but Mercury eluded me again...
Hanging low in the south, the waxing gibbous Moon was a beautiful sight just after sunset: to the west Venus and Jupiter were visible, but I coiuldn't find Mercury...
Back from our various trips out of Norfolk, we decided to brave the 30+ temperatures and check out the North Coast. First stop was Titchwell: no Spotted Flycatcher, just Grey Wagtail and Great Egret after a sticky trudge out to the main hide. We moved on to Holkham - no sign of yesterday's Ibises - and then had to take a horrendous detour almost back to Fakenham.
Cley gave us just seven Spoonbills (of various ages) a Ruff or two and lots of Little Ringed Plovers. Most notable were the huge clouds of Hirundines: mostly Sand Martins, but with Swallows and a few House Martins...
Since it was a beautiful warm evening, Linda and I decided to head north for our annual Nightjar quest. Just for a change from the usual spots, we parked on the heath where I first encountered the species 45 years ago. After a short wait (spent in the company of a delightful couple on holiday from Yorkshire) several birds began churring at around 10.00pm. Soon after, we enjoyed close views of at least four Nightjars, zooming low down among the scrubby trees: one repeatedly perched somewhat distantly on the same small birch. Great fun!
Brian's driving and impeccable route planning made the drive to Hunmanby a pleasant experience, by-passing the larger towns and avoiding any major hold-ups. We were going to stop for breakfast at Far Ings nature reserve (as usual) but arrived before it opened! However, just to the east was a terrific garden centre, where I couldn't resist pancakes and maple syrup!
The cottage (appropriately called 'The Snug'!) was clean and comfortable and situated among a cluster of newly-built retirement cottages: the inhabitants were keen to chat every time we passed! The only minor setback was our failure to work out how to access terrestrial TV on the overly-complicated widescreen set, meaning (to Brian's delight!) that I couldn't watch the England vs Croatia match!
An enjoyable stay (sadly without Norman, who was with family in the North West ) with fish and chips two nights in a row and a delightful Indian meal in Scarborough on the last evening.
There's a moose loose aboot this hoose! (Well: on the feeder outside Linda's office, in fact!)
Despite an early session (06.30 - 08.30) at Strumpshaw I failed to obtain conclusive views of a Spot Fly in a traditional location where Brian has recently seen one. Lots of small tweets: Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Blackcap and Whitethroat - none of which were prepared to pose for the camera!
I'm 90% certain I glimpsed a likely candidate and Merlin identified the call: I'll wait for a year tickable view however (Like this from Titchwell a couple of years ago!)
All the time we've been away in Yorkshire the pager has informed us of daily visits by a Caspian Tern to Hickling: naturally I left home early (I had to unlock All Saints anyway!) and was on the raised platform by 06.45. I stayed for three hours, but the tern was a no-show...
There were lots of other goodies to enjoy, however: normally they'd have been 'day makers'! These included Green Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff (in full summer plumage) Greenshank and plenty of Spoonbills and Egrets.
