A morning at Titchwell Marsh

It's been a while since Brian, Norman and I visited Titchwell: it's quite a long drive from East Norfolk and hasn't held much of interest so far this year. The presence of a Pectoral Sandpiper on Sunday tempted us to make the hour and a quarter drive, arriving at around half past eight. As it turned out, the Pec had flown off about the time we were leaving Norwich!

A visit to all three hides / watchpoints revealed nothing out of the ordinary: a few Arctic Terns flew through with the many Commons, while two large groups of Avocet were noteworthy. Other waders included Black-tailed Godwit and a few Ruff: two Spoonbills dozed at the back of the Freshmarsh, while a visit to Patsy's failed to produce any Red-crested Pochards.

A stop at North Point Pools added nothing new: we just made it back to the car before the torrential rain started. Coffee and scones at Kelling (Cley was full up!) was most welcome: while we enjoyed our snack the rain set in again, so we called it quits and drove home!

Norwich Antiques Fair

While I was out with the band last night, Linda received an e-mail from the organisers of the Garden Show, inviting us back free of charge: this included entrance to the Antiques Fair next door! Despite not getting to bed until 2.00am, we decided to take up this kind offer!

We bought more plants, before walking across to the antiques stalls: surprisingly, in view of last night's wind and today's weather forecast, there was still plenty to see. In among a box of old coins I found two apparently 17th Century items: the larger one purports to be a five shiling piece from the siege of Scarborough: this I think is a silver museum replica. The other, however, I reckon is genuine - it's a sixpence from the Commonwealth period when the country was a Republic under Oliver Cromwell's protectorate. After a shared cream tea, we drove home to try and catch up on some rest!

SYNERGY at Burgh Hall

Great gig at Burgh Hall last night: one of the band's followers kindly took some photos, but the strobing coloured lights made photography somewhat problematical! The large, appreciative crowd stayed until half-past-midnight, with lots of dancing and audience participation: we're back on Christmas Eve!

Norfolk Garden Show

Linda and I try not to miss this annual event: if you enjoy gardening it's a terrific morning out. Given the threat of showers, we arrived at 9.45 and were about fifth and sixth in the queue: this reached back a quarter of a mile by the time the gate opened at 10!

As usual we bought some lovely plants (including the bonsai Metasequoias below) as well as hot doughnuts, coffee and cookies! The lovely ladies of 'Twigs and Berries' were there again, so naturally I added to my insectivorous plant collection!

Worth an hour of your time?

I imagine many of you are unaware of this online presentation I put out during lockdown: it invites you to think more analytically about the reality of the Apollo Moon missions 1969 - 1972. Approach with an open mind and recall that I've met and chatted with dozens of astronauts / cosmonauts!
Click the photo!

The Little Snowman visits the garden!

Well, we never did get any snow last Winter, so Snowman is still looking a little forlorn: nevertheless it was time for his monthly outing in the garden, before diving back among the ice creams in the freezer!

A date for your diary!

Long-billed Dowitcher still at Cley!

Norman, Brian and I spent the morning at Cley, enjoying a five mile stroll around the various hides: in truth, there wasn't much of any note other than the now-regular Spoonbills, Little Egrets and LBD! Three Wood Sandpipers were a brief bonus, as were several family groups of Bearded Tit...