A few more 'lockdown ticks' on a completely solitary walk.

I didn't meet a single person on my walk today: a refreshing change that made the whole hour's exercise really enjoyable. All the reedbed warblers have now arrived and I photographed my first Reed Warbler today. Lots of Swifts again, but still no House Martin! Interesting to note that all five of the Marsh Harriers I saw were bearing green wing-tags: I should imagine they are all local birds. New birds were all a bit 'tarty' really: Pochard, Egyptian Goose and Reed Warbler.

Odds and ends in and around the garden.

Sunday tends to be a bad day for a walk around the lanes: people are creatures of habit and seem to do their jogging / dogging / cycling etc over the weekend. For this reason Linda and I stayed home: I made up some meteorite orders and cooked a veggie Wellington, Linda continued stripping wallpaper in the hall!

We did both some time in the garden however (critical period for the bees!) and were pleased to have the company of a Coal Tit much of the day. Also, three Swifts (and the usual Buzzards) drifted overhead: no Hobby yet, though! Have you ever seen such a large amount of pollen on one Bumble Bee? Incredibly industrious!

Lionel Fanthorpe: an amazing guy!

On a social media site there's a group that includes several hundred of my former High School students: it's an honour to be part of it! Today the name of an old friend cropped up: one of the great heroes of paranormal investigations: Lionel Fanthorpe (see photo!) He was my mentor and doyen back in 1972 when we first met. He is still the most published author in the UK - possibly the world - under a variety of noms de plume. (Trebor Thorpe, Pel Torro, Bron Fane etc) He was my friend and Deputy Head at Hellesdon High School, Norfolk, before changing career, eventually becoming a Vicar in Wales. He's written literally hundreds of SF and paranormal books and is a default 'expert' on TV: yet hardly anyone has heard of him!

Couple more 'soppy' ticks!

Linda joined me for today's walk: after the past couple of days of rain, it was pleasant to be out for exercise. The birds we encountered were pretty much as expected: Little Egret, Avocet, Reed Bunting, Cuckoo, Whitethroat, Grasshopper Warbler, Cetti's and lots of Swifts. New birds were a Great White Egret, Shoveler and - believe it or not - Tufted Duck! I also saw (but couldn't photograph) a Hairy Dragonfly.

Just too many dogs off their leads again, despite the signs: a couple of these ran out onto the Marsh where there were a lot of very young calves. The owners were like that guy on the Youtube video whose dog chases the deer in Richmond Park. One couple did at least re-tether their dog when I politely remonstrated with them. Something has to be done: at the very least, the signs need to be bigger than Times 14 on a sheet of white A4!

White Buzzard

This beautiful white Buzzard has been touring East Norfolk for several weeks: friends as far away as Happisburgh and North Walsham have seen it! Back again for a low pass today!

 

Crater names!

Several people have asked if I could add the names of some of the lunar craters on the previous post: how gratifying to discover that others are also fascinated by the Moon!

Terrific first quarter Moon last night (During the NHS clap!)

The sky really is a lot 'cleaner' at the moment: visibility is the best I've seen it from East Norfolk at this time of year. The images below were taken with a DSLR and 300mm lens, but the detail of the crater-fields is amazing: you can see central peaks, terraced rims, rills and lots of other features.