Hairy-footed Flower Bee

The first of the year! These adorable little creatures have the loudest buzz of any insect that visits our garden. This is a tawny-coloured male (The females are black) You can easily see how the species got its name!

The 'Worm' Moon!

For a change, the sky was clear all night, so I was able to photograph the full Moon as it rose in the east and set in the west this morning. (The setting Sun revealed a few sunspots: there was a lot of haze as I took the photo, so it's not desperately clear!)

Half a day on the North Coast: three year ticks!

A bright - but chilly - morning at Cley and Kelling Heath gave us great views of some large flocks of waders: 100+ Golden Plover, Avocets and Black-tailed Godwits as well as good numbers of Dunlin and Ruff. At least five Marsh Harriers continually flushed the lot, but they resettled until a tractor came along and sent them all off to the North Scrape. The walk back to the VC for coffee gave us decent views of a male Stonechat and - apparently unusual - a Moorhen.

Kelling Heath was unexpectedly crowded with birders, but we managed to glimpse at least six Dartford Warblers, as well as more Stonechats and a few Linnets. Just as we were leaving I managed a few quick shots of a male Dartford, only one of which showed its head! Also on the Heath was this incredible fungus...

Moonrise, Venus and Saturn

One day off full: the Moon was orange-tinged, possibly because of Saharan dust in the upper atmosphere. In the west, Venus was a brilliant object just above the horizon, while a little later (18.20) it was dark enough to pick out Saturn.

Kites at the Church

Linda and my turn to unlock the Church this week: I always take the camera 'just in case': today we were treated to a close-up display by two moulting Red Kites. Despite the early morning gloom, the photos turned out pretty well...

Waxing gibbous Moon

No sign of the much-vaunted 'planetary line-up' tonight - just Jupiter still lurking in Gemini. However, the crater fields on the Moon were really quite spectacular..

The night sky in March and this month's ISS passes

Keeping the skies safe for democracy!

Hmmmm.... There's been lots of aerial activity this week - the usual F-35s, F-15s and Typhoons, but additionally several KC-135 tanker aircraft and - most unusual - an Italian Airforce Alenia C-27J Spartan surveillance / tactical support aircraft. I wouldn't book a flight to Teh*an at the moment!

Wildlife survey at Hemblington Church

This morning - just as the weather turned cold and breezy again! - Sue, Peter, Linda and I met at the church to carry out the February survey. We were joined by 'new recruit' Sue: five pairs of eyes produced a surprisingly rich 'haul'!