Some terrific north coast birding!

Despite a persistent drizzle, Norman, Brian and I headed north west to Titchwell. On arrival we were informed that one of our targets - a Hoopoe - had just flown, so we walked out towards Parrinder Hide, quickly locating a large flock of Golden Plover. Another birder had already found the long-staying  juvenile American Golden Plover, and we all filled up at close range. Carrying on to the sea, I found a distant Scaup and a Guillemot, but with little else, we turned back to the Fen Trail. After a bit of persistence we eventually found a tit flock holding at least two Firecrests: these weren't in the mood to be photographed, however!

Back to Cley for coffee and a walk out to Bishop's, where we added Water Pipit to the daylist, before the pager sent us hurtling east to West Runton for distant - and fleeting - views of a Pallid Swift. 

Backyard astronomy...

Last night's beautiful waning Moon, nestled in Gemini, close to Jupiter. Also: this is what severely restricts astrophotography: the f***wit next door has these lights on most nights, all night..

Elevenses!

Look at the photos below... Do you notice anything?
Some years ago I became aware of a strange phenomenon: this coincided with Linda buying a digital bedroom clock that projects the time onto the ceiling in large red numerals. Like all / most other old geezers, I generally 'visit the bathroom' once or twice every night: I gradually realized that the times of these visits were frequently multiples of eleven - as in: 1.11, 2.22. 3.33 and so on. This occurs far too frequently to be chance! Similar timings often happen during the day time, too, but they are then only obvious on an analogue time piece.

Looking back through my diary of thirty years or so ago, I was intrigued to discover that the somewhat eccentric Uri Geller had reported the same phenomenon during a meeting I had with him. I wonder if any of you ever experience this outre occurrence?

A ramble at Ranworth!

Linda and I fancied a pre-lunch walk, so drove the short distance to Ranworth, parking in the last available space opposite 'the Maltsters'. (We were pleasantly surprised to find that none of the passengers of these cars had preceded us to the boardwalk!)

The walk out to the floating Visitors' Centre was surprisingly bird-free, although we did catch a fly-by glimpse of a Kingfisher from the hide: several Common Darters and a female Brimstone were noteworthy. Just a few wildfowl on the Broad, with a Sparrowhawk, Buzzards and Marsh Harriers over the woodland. One raptor visible through the foliage seemed to be a Peregrine, but it was 'seen off' by a Buzzard.

The walk back was more productive, with lots of Siskins, a couple of Nuthatches, a Great Spot and a female Reed Bunting, as well as  'heard only' Crane and Water Rail.

The Moon and Jupiter

The Moon is passing through the constellation Gemini at the moment: tomorrow it will be at its closest to the mighty planet Jupiter. Even a birding telescope  will show Jupiter's four largest Moons - worth a look if you've never tried!

A somewhat damp beaver!

The Moon only appeared very briefly last night (at around 4.00am) and even then was behind a watery veil of cloud. I took a couple of photos just for a record of the event: with luck the last super moon of the year (on December 4th) will coincide with clear skies.

Beaver Super Moon

Tonight's full Moon (if it's not cloudy where you are!) is a super Moon: this occurs when the Moon is both full and at perigee (closest approach to Earth) at the same time. It's only slightly larger, but people often comment that it appears a little brighter.

The photo is of last's night's gibbous Moon, just one day off full. The young ray crater Tycho shows up particularly well.

Rewarding morning at Cley

My turn to drive: we headed north to Cley, arriving before 8.00am. A brief visit to Bishop's revealed absolutely nothing to set the pulses racing, so we carried on to the East Bank. With help from a couple of friendly locals, we managed to pick out the long-staying Grey Phalarope on Pope's Marsh, whizzing around among the Shovelers. A walk out to the sea gave us just a fly-by Kittiwake, so we returned to  Bishop's, where Jacquie B and her crew were happy to point out a very close Water Pipit. After a bit of a wait, we added an unusually-marked Whinchat to the day list, as well as Water Rail and numerous Godwits.

Next stop was the visitors' centre for tea and scones, before walking out to the Centre Hides. A distant Spotted Redshank and a handsome Buzzard were about the best of it, so we returned to the car, driving along to Salthouse Duck Pond, where we enjoyed close views of a drake Pintail at two metres range!

The Moon and Saturn

Last night the waxing Moon was close to Saturn: I tried using a 2x extender on my R7 and 100-400 zoom combo. The extender meant I didn't have to crop to obtain a large image: I think the result is better, but I did need a tripod.

Synergy at Desmond's Restaurant, Lowestoft

Our best evening ever? Well if Carlsberg made gigs...
Desmond, the larger-than-life and highly talented restaurateur, invited us to play for his family and friends to celebrate his 60th birthday: that's him in the white Cab Calloway suit! He joined us to give an impressive rendition of 'Minnie the Moocher' - neither he nor we had ever played the song, but, regardless, it was a show-stopper! Birthday boy Desmond painted the amazing portrait of the band that adorns the wall of the Italian restaurant: I wonder how long it'll stay up...

Tonight's gig!

Synergy are playing at a private party tonight: the venue is a bijou restaurant owned by the 'birthday boy'! He is a well-known artist, and, flatteringly, has painted a mural of the band in the restaurant!