Jupiter and Saturn, but no NLCs today...

I crawled out of bed at stupid o'clock this morning in hope of another display of noctilucent clouds: sadly (unless the photo below shows a few wisps) I was out of luck. Jupiter and Saturn were quite impressive, however, and I grabbed a photo or two that show three of Jupiter's Galilean satellites.

Noctilucent clouds

Early this morning (2.45 to be exact!) I dragged myself out of bed to look for noctilucent clouds. I've only seen these from the Heath on two previous occasions, possibly because this beautiful aerial phenomenon tends to occur low in the northern sky: coastal observers see them more regularly. The excellent bottom image (after my somewhat average attempts!) was taken by astronomer friend Martin Stirland: he lives on the east coast and enjoys beautiful clear horizons.

No-one knows for certain what causes noctilucent clouds: the best bet is that they are produced when sunlight from below the horizon (ie: pre-dawn or post-sunset) illuminates tiny dust or ice particles at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. Until the final flight of the Shuttle, it was considered possible that metal oxides from the SRB exhausts were a contributory factor.

My photos were taken with a rather high ISO and shortish exposure, and more or less reflect what the clouds look like with the naked eye. Martin uses a low ISO (200) and a longer exposure of 10 -15  seconds. This set-up captures the electric blue colour and structure much more clearly. I didn't want to wake Linda up by clattering about in the garden with a tripod, so had to 'hand-hold'!

Covid-19 test: ouch!

Just completed the 'C-19' swab test, using the home kit from the NHS / DHSC. I have to say: it's quite unpleasant, even doing it to yourself! Shoving a Q-tip down your throat for 10 seconds and then up each nostril for 10 seconds is no picnic! I seem to have heard that the Govt. is intending to introduce a less invasive technique: a good move, IMHO!

I'm assuming (hoping?) that the somewhat intrusive questionaire and the results of the swab test might help subdue or defeat the virus, but you can't help wonder when the online survey asks permission to monitor your medical records for the next twenty years (I refused!)

Interesting finds No.3!

When I was a kid, the majority of my family holidays were spent in Airborne or Martin Walter 'Dormobiles': hard to imagine modern youf sleeping in narrow bunks suspended four feet above their parents! My father was in charge of the Special Vehicles Division at Fords, so he could borrow them for nothing.

Still: my memories are all pretty good, not the least because my Dad had this fundamental cockney ethic that education was the answer to everything. We never once stayed at or visited a Holiday Camp / Butlins / Pontins, tending instead to pitch up in a farmer's field or layby. It was just like 'Carry on Camping', with regular strolls to the farmhouse for fresh milk, bread and bacon... Days were spent visiting castles, hill forts and museums or scouring beaches and spoil tips for fossils or mineral specimens. I still have a large collection of self-found specimens from as far north as Wick and as far south as the Lizard - which is where the three samples below originated. As far as I can tell, they seem to be steatite (soapstone), serpentine and opal. It was, in fact, the serpentine I was looking for when I found the others.This colourful rock has been used for centuries to make small carved objects, like the lighthouse I bought with all my holiday pocket money! I also found several types of asbestos, a closely-related mineral, but they're tucked away in the loft.

Allez-oop!

Last evening, Linda and I noticed some curiously shaped, ephemeral clouds to the north east. They were quite distant, and seemed to take the form of vertical ovals. Luckily, the camera and 'big lens' revealed the culprit to be a sky-writing aircraft: haven't seen this sort of thing for years!

Hornet Clearwing and some other interesting insects

Today was the monthly biodiversity survey at Hemblington Church: Linda, Sue, Joyce, Peter and I spent the morning counting birds, wild plants, insects and anything else that cropped up!

Stars (for me!) were the two Hornet Clearwing moths, but the Silver Y and Longhorn Moths were new for the Churchyard and there were plenty of Green Flower Beetles (?) too.

Fossils from the Norfolk coast

Inspired by Adam Pointer's post ('Wheatears in the Mist') about the fossils he's collected on the Norfolk coast, I thought I'd photograph some of my finds. Most of these are elephant or Mammoth bones (including the piece of ivory!) and I think the humerus might be from an Aurochs. Once you get your eye in, it's not hard to find mammal bones from the various periods of glaciation and interglaciation: the things to look out for are the haversian canals - channels running through the bones that would have supplied blood in the living animal.

Spoonbills at Potter Heigham

Just a couple of short videos...

Spoonbills, Bitterns and Egrets: the Thurne Valley is the place to be!

An early start saw Brian and me at Potter Heigham Marsh before the sea-fret dissipated. However, by the time we reached the electric pump, the mist cleared and we were able to enjoy this wonderful location without the heat haze that is often a problem here.

Lots of Sedge, Cetti's and Reed Warblers as well, all singing their heads off. (Does this mean they are 'second brooding'?) Plenty of Black-tailed Godwits and Reed Buntings too. Great to see a flock of six Spoonbills at comparatively close range: with the forty or so Little Egrets and Avocets, there was a definite feel of the Somme Estuary about East Norfolk today. Occasionally a Hobby dashed across the water, putting up the Godwits and Lapwings: when the camera is set up for white birds wading in water, it struggles with a dark shape moving rapidly against a bright background!

With no sign of the Caspian Tern, we walked back and drove on to Hickling, arriving at 8.30: to our surprise, we were the first people on the reserve. A double circuit added Bittern, more Little Egrets, a Crane and a few Common Terns to the daylist. We did see some Swallowtails, but they flew rapidly across the reedbeds without settling.

Nightjars churring

Just a short audio/video clip of the Nightjars churring on a Norfolk heath on Tuesday night. (You may need to turn the volume up!)

Black Redstart singing in Norwich

I had a dentist's appointment in All Saints Green this afternoon: I had to arrive promptly at 3.45, so being ten minutes early I took a walk up and down in front of Bonds / Aviva. As always, I had my camera in my backpack and was therefore able to grab a single shot of a male Black Redstart on top of the Heart Foundation Charity shop: this (predictably) was rubbish, so here's one I took earlier! It was quite flighty, moving to the top of Bonds and on to the old dutch-gabelled building further up the road.

Nightjars on the Heath... but not 'my' heath!

A delightful late afternoon and evening with Sue & Peter, whom we'd arranged to meet at Walsey Hills. First stop was the reedbed at the end of Snipe's Marsh: this can only be seen by following little trails through the thicket, at the end of most of which were hunched figures in Barbours! However, we all managed to hear the delightful renderings of the reported Marsh Warbler, and, as a  bonus, were followed around by a cute pair of Shelducklings.

Since our main reason for being on the North Coast was our annual Nightjarring session, we had an hour to kill, so took a walk around the top of the Hills and then along the East Bank. Little Egrets, Bearded Tits and Marsh Harriers drifted in and out of the sea-fret, while Reed Warblers, Meadow Pipits and Linnets seemed to be everywhere.

Eventually it was time to move to our usual Nightjar spot a few miles away. We'd all brought picnics and, while we were eating, to our delight, two 'jars started churring in broad daylight! As it grew duskier, we took a stroll around the Heath and were rewarded by close views of a couple of Roe Deer as well as a delightful juvenile Woodlark. Eventually a few Nightjars began to churr, but without the 'intensity' they'd shown in the car park.

While it was still light enough to see, therefore, we recrossed the road to a large clearing near the cars. Suddenly Nightjars were everywhere: at least half a dozen were churring, kew-wicking and zooming around. Joining them were a couple of Woodcock, calling as they flew overheard. Obviously the photos are of the usual high standard (!) I manage of the species, given the gloom and the mist...