Shrike at Titchwell, Corn Bunting at Choseley and much more!

An early pick-up saw Brian, Norman and me at Titchwell before 08.00. The short walk to Fen Hide was rewarded quite quickly with distant views of a female Red-backed Shrike. While we were watching her, a Turtle Dove flew overhead! Other odds and ends at Titchwell included Red Kite, Yellow Wagtail (finally!) seven Little Gulls and scores of Avocet chicks. Driving up the hill and round the loop (Chalk Pit Lane) we scanned the wheatfields and were thrilled to discover a Corn Bunting, glowing in the morning sunshine: it's been a while...

Next stop was Wells North Point: just a few more Red Kites, some Buzzards and a few distant waders - Godwits, Avocets and Redshanks. We carried on to Cley for cheese scones and coffee, before walking out to the centre hides to enjoy decent views of a Spoonbill on Pat's.

We finished the day at Ormesby Little Broad with very, very distant views of a summer-plumaged Red-throated Diver: a great summer bird for Broadland!

Synergy at Rollesby Jubilee Celebrations

Despite the constant threat of rain, my new band 'Synergy' played for two hours to a decent crowd. It was a pleasure and an honour to front such a wonderful band of musicians! Roll on the next time!

If you want to book a tight, edgy six-piece Rock & Blues outfit for your next function, just PM me here or on our Facebook page!

Mysterious meteorites: carbonaceous chondrites

Part of the thrill of making a living selling meteorites is that I have the chance to get up close and personal with some amazing space rocks that most people will never see, never mind hold! These include meteorites from Mars, the Moon, several asteroids and even - possibly - Mercury!

Among my favourites are the carbonaceous chondrites, which some people believe may have brought life to the prehistoric Earth! This rare class includes several groups, named after the region where the 'type' specimen was found: CM (Murchison) CV (Vigarano) CI (Ivuna) and so on. 

The photos show a trio of CV3 slices: the '3' is part of the classification that indicates that the meteorite contains numerous, large spherical chondrules. These little objects are among the oldest matter in the Solar System, so that CV3s are very primitive, ancient relics of the early days of planetary formation: over 4.5 billion years old!

The dark carbonaceous matrix contains variable amounts of different amino acids. Although not in themselves 'alive', these macromolecules are the building blocks of polypeptides, nucleotides and nucleic acids: the self-replicating bases of life on Earth. (And presumably elsewhere in the Universe!) Your body contains around 20 amino acids: some CV3s have over 100!

The famous astronomers Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe proposed that the transfer of life from star system to star system takes place when cometary or meteoritic material 'seeds' a suitable planet.

Snowman's June outing among the Manuka

If I'm honest, poor old Frosty is looking a little worse-for-wear: but do I touch him up, or just leave him in his somewhat battered state? It's well over a year since he first appeared on the blog, so I suppose he's not fared too badly!

The beautiful ruby-red flowers are Manuka, which is the source of the incredibly expensive honey from New Zealand. (£50+ a jar!) Linda's bees love it! BTW: don't fall for the cheap generic honies being offered in many supermarkets - much of it consists of a honey base with syrup added to bulk it out! Traditional beekeepers like Linda have to submit their product for rigorous testing, which guarantees its purity and integrity. A certain country on the other side of the globe buys Manuka honey from New Zealand and dilutes it with sugar water! It's a fact that there is more Manuka honey on sale globally than is produced each year!

You can't always get a photo!

Tonight as I was driving back from band practice, I glanced left as I crossed Filby Bridge and saw the unmistakable silhouette of a diver. Presumably this was the recently-reported Red-throated, but I had no time to stop (and no camera!) A few miles further on (having added Muntjac and Brown Hare to the 'from the car' list) I watched a Woodcock fly along the road in front: a definite this time!

Six hours later!

Just to demonstrate how rapidly the Sun rotates on its axis: here's the surface at 6.00pm - you can see a whole new crop of sunspots!

Sunspots: a bad case of solar acne!

This morning the Sun is displaying a good number of widely-dispersed spots. While not particularly large, there are quite a lot of them.

Cley: just a few odds and ends

Norman and I spent an hour or two walking the circuit at Cley NWT, starting at the centre hides. A few Black-tailed Godwits and Shelduck were about the best of it, while the beach road, beach and East Bank added Little Tern, a distant Spoonbill and a few Bearded Tits.

After coffee and scones, we moved to Kelling Quags: again, little of note, but Stonechats, Linnets and Whitethroats are always pleasant to come across.