Another beautiful sky!

The three prominent lunar craters Tycho, Copernicus and Plato are really well-illuminated tonight: you can just make out the terraced walls of Copernicus. Further west, Venus carries on its passage through the Seven Sisters (Pleiades)

Saturday walk: two new 'Lockdown Ticks'...

I had a big meteorite order to process, so only had time for a quick walk to the Reservoir Woods and back. Nevertheless, there were some interesting things to see and two new birds: a Little Grebe calling from the Pedham Lake and a flock of fifteen Redwings overhead. No Kingfisher today, but two singing Song Thrushes, a pair of Nuthatches, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a delightful Greenfinch were all good to see.

Bees!

The warm sunshine has brought the insects out in force! Not just Linda's Honey Bees, but several species of Bumble Bee, Flower Bees and a few Brimstones too...

Lots to see in the skies (Apart from birds!)

At the moment Venus is not only at its highest and brightest, it's also passing through the beautiful open star cluster, the Pleiades (AKA the Seven Sisters) This only happens infrequently, so is well worth a look.

Last night the waxing gibbous Moon was high in the sky around 10pm: the reduced traffic seems to have cleared a lot of the usual haze, and the large craters Copernicus, Tycho and Plato were particularly spectacular.

Hive of activity!

No walk today: instead, Linda and I caught up with some essential house and garden maintenance (pond filters cleaned out, soffits painted etc etc) Our bees are finding this changeable weather a bit puzzling: this morning they were pouring out of the hive and exploring the garden, but this afternoon they've gone back in to sulk! The usual Flower Bees have also disappeared too...

Even without a walk out into the countryside, there's still plenty to keep us amused: lots of Buzzards have been passing over, while the feeders are still receiving plenty of custom!

Clapping for the support workers

Our little community joined probably everyone else in the UK tonight to give a good three minutes of applause for all those people - health and postal workers, delivery drivers, bin men and women, sales assistants and many others - without whom the current situation would be unmanageable. (I've blurred the video to protect people's privacy)

At last! A photo of a Nuthatch on the patch!

I began taking daily five-mile walks nine years ago, when I was told that I was 'borderline Type 2 diabetic.' Whenever possible I try to avoid taking medicines, so I've self-regulated ever since with diet and exercise. The reason I mention this is that when I began walking I merely plodded around the block: up the road to Pedham, back round by Plumstead / Belt Road and home via Woodbastwick Road. I quickly found that:

a) This wasn't far enough!  and
b) The roads were too dangerous for walking (apart from in mid-Winter)

For these reasons, I soon spread my metaphorical wings and drove somewhere nicer (and safer) to start. Given the present circumstances, my walks at the moment are a return to previous routes: apart from a few 'essential motorists' (?!) the circuit described above is currently a lot safer - and quieter! The lack of traffic has made me aware of some fairly dramatic changes. The most common bird noises these days are Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Buzzards: neither species was likely in 2012. On the other hand, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits are much scarcer...

Today I included the Pedham walk in my circular itinerary and, to my delight, added Golden Plover to my 'Lockdown List'. Additionally (having heard them on several occasions) I finally managed to see and photograph a pair of Nuthatches en route. A chunky Sparrowhawk was good to see, as were numerous Buzzards, including a nearly all-white individual.

Terrific find on my 'lockdown walk'

Badgers are not as common in East Norfolk as in other rural areas: you do see the odd dead one by the side of the A11, but nothing like the amount of road casualties I used to see along the A14 in the Midlands.

A recent walk took me to several new locations (all within the 1 hr. parameters!) and I was delighted to come across a large Badger sett (complete with footprints!)  in  one of them. Sadly the location isn't suitable for a night visit (too remote!) so I won't be adding any photos of the actual Badgers: here's the sett and a couple of photos I took in Suffolk.

Some better photos of 'our' Kingfisher!

Linda and I took a short post-prandial stroll down to the Reservoir Woods to see if the Kingfisher would put in an appearance: it did! This time he was perched on a sapling right by the road bridge. Possibly because of the much gloomier weather, or possibly because it was later in the day, there wasn't so much about today. Biggest surprise was a Tawny Owl hooting by the reservoir, while a Sparrowhawk added itself to the 'lockdown list', chasing around between a pair of displaying Buzzards.

New garden tick!!!!

The weather is a bit gloomy today, so I delayed my exercise walk to catch up with some work in the office. When I'm at my desk, I regularly glance up to see if anything interesting is visiting the feeders or flying over. Today I had the shock of my life when what appeared to be a Pterosaur flapped lazily across the fields! I had time for a single photo before running off to alert Linda: sadly, she was too slow to see the creature well. I wonder if Peter & Sue caught a glimpse.