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!

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...