Still a few Butterflies about

Despite the Buddleia having only a handful of  flower heads, it was visited by two Peacocks and two Red Admirals today: all in mint-fresh condition.

Even more astronomy!

Well: in response to quite a few requests, here are three more labelled images to finish off the 'lunar tour'!

More lunar astronomy...

Several people have contacted me to ask if I could post more named images of the Moon, so here goes! The last quarter Moon, with craters labelled in green, mountains in white.
The image of the Straight Wall shows that it is located inside an ancient lava-flooded crater.

Selenography!

The Moon was spectacularly clear in the pre-dawn sky, so I thought I'd label some of the most obvious craters - these can all be picked out with binoculars or a spotting 'scope.

Waning Moon

A brief gap in the murk allowed good views of the waning gibbous Moon (waning - becoming smaller: gibbous - more than half illuminated) Some excellent crater fields along the terminator: I've labelled a few of the more impressive features, including the 300 mile long escarpment Rupes Altai

Some decent seawatching on the North Coast

Three year ticks today! With early morning drizzle, an easterly wind and work going on by all the hides on the reserve, Norman and I spent an hour sea watching at the Coastguards. We were rewarded with close views of Red-throated Divers (most in summer plumage) Razorbills, Guillemots, Gannets and Little Gulls: best of all an Arctic Skua chased a group of Sandwich Terns quite close in. A Bonxie was too far out to photograph...

A walk along the Iron Road produced a couple of possible Caspian Gulls and dozens of Mipits but little else, so we returned to the VC for coffee, followed by a stroll out to the sea along the East Bank. A Razorbill and lots more Gannets were close in and a couple of fly-bys seemed good for winter-plumaged Black Terns. A drake Eider was another pleasant surprise! Walsey Hills was next, where a brief wait was rewarded by views of a flittery Yellow-browed Warbler - I managed just a single photo!

We finished the day at Kelling Quag, where a female Stonechat posed nicely, as did the eleven Red Kites and two Buzzards that circled low overhead! (Remember when both were scarce in Norfolk?)

Amazing sunset

Just for a few minutes tonight the western sky glowed with beautiful bands of orange, red and gold....

Last of the Hummer wine!

There are just two or three flowers left on our Buddleia, so I was astonished to see this Humminbird Hawkmoth from the kitchen window. Because its chosen flower was around the back and almost out of sight, I managed just two dodgy shots - still: the latest I've ever seen a Hummer.

Shine on Harvest Moon!

With a more or less cloud-free sky, tonight's 'Harvest' Moon was a splendid sight, peeping over the hedge at 19.20 tonight. Half an hour later, Saturn appeared, below and to the left.