I crawled out of bed at 04.00hrs to photograph the Moon sliding in front of Saturn: the whole process (until Saturn re-emerged) took around forty minutes. Despite being pretty tired already from band practice last night (and having a lecture to give this morning!) it was really worth the effort: I even managed to capture Saturn's largest Moon, Titan.
As last week, with only the morning free, the 'Summer Wine Crew' met early and were in the Centre Hides at Cley before 08.00hrs. Water levels were very low, and the resident Angus herd was wandering about in front of Dauke's Hide: this had attracted a large flock of Cattle Egrets (around fifty at times) Now and again we enjoyed the classic 'Garde de Boeuf' pose: the Egrets seemed very skilful at catching toads.
Other birds included several juvenile Yellow Wagtails, lots of Ruff and Green Sandpipers with just a solitary Knot: a Spoonbill flew across to the North Foreland Woods.
After coffee we visited Bishop's Hide, apparently missing a Wood Sandpiper by minutes, before walking out along East Bank. Still a few Sandwich Terns around, as well as three distant Hobbies, but nothing on the sea. A fruitless return to Bishop's and then home...
Quite often when Linda is out weeding and watering the garden, one of our several hedgehogs - obviously quite a young one - will emerge from the borders, enjoy a drink at the splash pool and go for a snack of crushed nuts and suet. I'm sure neither of these are on the approved food list for hedgehogs, but there's no way we can stop him tucking in and he does look healthy enough. With the ground so dry and hard, I imagine he's supplementing his normal diet during this dry spell.
I was chatting with Steve & Sue Gantlett recently, when the subject of the Cley Bird Club came up. I first joined in 1987 and have kept almost all of the various format newsletters since then. I have to say, the modern newsletter is absolutely terrific, with dozens of coloured photos and high-quality records. But.... The original black and white photocopies did have the most wonderful artwork by legends such as Richard Millington, Martin Elliott and Rick Simpson.
We only have a smallish garden, but Linda and I try to provide habitat for as many types of wildlife as possible. Our two water features - a pond and a splash pool - attract dragonflies, hedgehogs, mice, birds (of course!) and amphibians. Most regularly seen are Common Frogs, but we have had toads and newts too. This mint-fresh frog came to inspect the work as I was cleaning out the splash pool!
Band practice tonight, so only half a day out with Brian and Norman. The session began at Bishop's Hide, where a distant pair of Curlew Sandpipers was a good start: a move to the centre hides added Green, Wood and Common Sandpipers (all distant!) and a Great White Egret loafing on Pat's Pool.
After coffee we walked the East Bank, where more Great Whites and half a dozen Spoonbills were at the back of the Serpentine. The morning finished with a stroll along the Iron Road, where more Egrets and a few Greenshank were the best of the bunch.
Although not as bright as the display I missed yesterday (by going to bed half an hour too early!) the northern sky lit up again last night. In the east just before dawn Jupiter and Mars are even closer today...
