A UAP plays tag with an F35

While photographing one of the many US F35s that were flying around Lakenheath today, I noticed an apparent white sphere of light maneuvering around its nose: it appears on several of the shots...

A day in the Brecks - but no Stone Curlews...

Norman, Brian & I decided it was time to look in on the usual suspects, starting early at Weeting Heath. I say early, but apparently the only pair of Stonies had their chicks predated a fortnight ago and have deserted the nesting area. Such a shame to see the visitors' centre permanently closed down...

We moved on to Lakenheath Fen, where a seven mile stroll round gave us reasonable views of three or four Bitterns, half a dozen Hobbies, lots of Cuckoos and a distant Glossy Ibis (Which Brian found, to the delight of the Vols!)

We rounded off the day with a walk up- and downstream of the roadbridge at Santon Downham: no sign of any Grey Wags or Mandies.

Magical morning 'star'

Any time after 04.30, the planet Venus rises above the eastern horizon just before the Sun: despite the brightness of the dawn sky, it's still a lovely sight. On the 24th, the crescent Moon will be close by, for an even more worthwhile reason to get up early!

Another Richardson: from a carboot!

Linda and I rarely miss a car boot - we usually visit a couple every Sunday. Today demonstrated the value of an early start, when we paid just £2 for this limited edition print of a multi-bird painting by RAR. It's fully marked on the back, from a framer / gallery in Holt.

Illusion glasses and Penny Licks!

Since a few people have asked! Both of these Victorian types hold far less than they seem they should: toastmasters used Illusion Glasses to reduce their intake (so they didn't get sozzled), while ice cream vendors dispensed the ice cream in these shallow glasses, which were returned, washed (hopefully!) and reused!

Radioactive!

I don't think I've ever mentioned here that I enjoy scouring charity shops, carboots and antique fairs for antique glasses: I have quite a large collection, including rummers, firing glasses, penny licks and illusion glasses! Most unusual, however, are the uranium glasses. These fluoresce incredibly brightly under UV light: needless to say, they produce such low levels of alpha, beta and gamma radiation that they pose no health threats!

Green Hairstreaks and a Turtle Dove!

Paul, one of our oldest friends from our days as space memorabilia dealers, drove for three hours to join us in a butterfly hunt in North Norfolk. First stop was Salthouse Heath, where we immediately found first one, then a second beautiful Green Hairstreak: the photos show how tiny they are! We became aware that a Turtle Dove was purring away in full view a hundred metres away and I was thrilled to grab a couple of images.

We moved to the Iron Road, where I'd seen lots of Wall Browns yesterday: perhaps it was the overcast and chill breeze, but we failed to find any today - but a Red Kite swooping overhead was some recompense. After coffee at the Visitors Centre we headed home via Hickling: Paul was keen to catch up with Swallowtail again. A walk around the whole reserve gave us three fly-bys but no photos, and we failed to find any Wall Browns either! (We did see lots of Hobbies, Marsh Harriers and Cranes!)

Wader-fest at Cley! (And five year ticks!)

The usual early start saw Brian, Norman and me at Cley before 8.30. First stop was Bishop's Hide, which immediately provided us with views of five Temminck's Stints and six Wood Sandpipers. Also present was a delightful flock of 20+ Tundra Ringed Plover as well as the usual suspects. 

A walk up the East Bank added a Knot in breeding plumage on the Serpentine, with Sandwich Tern, Little Tern and Gannet offshore. After coffee (and a Great Egret!) we headed inland to Salthouse Heath: the mission was to find a Green Hairstreak, which we duly did! Even better was a purring Turtle Dove: we didn't try to see or photograph it, not wanting to disturb the delightful migrant.

Last stop was Hickling: the target here was Swallowtail, one of which we eventually located near the boat trip dyke. Four-spotted Chaser and Hairy Hawker were good to see...

Synergy at the Blues Bar, Lowestoft

Just a couple of shots of a really enjoyable afternoon bash at one of the best venues in the east!

Year tick on the way to a gig!

As Linda and I drove through Lowestoft on our way to the Blues Bar (Details in the morning!) we were amazed to see colonies of Kittiwakes nesting on the window ledges of three buildings near the docks. Just a couple of quick snaps through the windscreen on the way home...

Never seen this before!

Obviously Robins must stop fighting long enough to mate, but I've never seen a pair actually being tender to one another! These two were 'mutual feeding' on and off all afternoon...

Another massive sunspot group!

The Sun is still very active: this group of sunspots is several times the diameter of our Earth!