Sue, Peter, Linda, 'new Sue' and I met at the Church in somewhat gloomy weather to carry out this month's survey. As the sky cleared from the south west, birds began to sing and appear in and around the churchyard: we were all pretty sure we'd heard a couple of other species (notably Whimbrel) but we only log birds we've seen well! Good to see a few butterflies...
I'd love to claim that I've had much impact on the lovely garden that Linda has created over the past thirty years, but in truth, apart from pruning, mowing and maintaining the two ponds, it's all been my clever wife's efforts.. Things are just beginning to colour up and the 'meadow' and 'secret garden' are looking really pretty.
I picked Norman up at 07.00 to beat the A11 traffic down to Mayday Farm. The regular drinking pool was unusually quiet: the presence of a Goshawk and two Sparrowhawks may be part of the reason! As we were wrestling with the unfeasibly complex new parking machines, Alan, a birder from - I think - Halesworth arrived: he hadn't visited before and so walked round with us. Not the variety enjoyed by Brian and me on our visit, but we added Grasshopper Warbler, Cuckoo and Willow Warbler on our way around. Lots of Woodlarks, on the ground, in trees and in song flight, and possible Whitethroat and Tree Pipit too.
A move to Weeting Heath finally gave us Stone Curlew for the year, while Cockley Cley added Roe Deer and Curlew.
With a chance of a clear eastern horizon, I crawled out of bed at 03.30 and drove out to the top of the Heath. The target was the snappily-named Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS, which had reputedly brightened to 5th magnitude. However, it is currently in the constellation of Pegasus, very low in the East before dawn, so a thin veil of cloud didn't improve prospects. A break in the haze at around 04.30 revealed the appropriate region of Pegasus, and allowed somewhat unimpressive views of my 27th comet! (I've added shots of Cygnus, the Plough - and its famous binary stars Alcor & Mizar - and Capella, to demonstrate how poor the 'seeing' was!)
This morning's dawn sky was an amazing vista of reds, pinks and blues: only lasting for five minutes, the colours rapidly faded to grey.
A terrific way to wind down after sixty years of live music! Our host Desmond made us most welcome and the sell-out crowd stayed for three encores before we had to wrap: a great night!
