Another beautiful pre-dawn Moon...

More gorgeous crater fields: hand-held 300mm prime. Just imagine what some of you with really big 'glass' could achieve!

Those far-away Norfolk hills....

As Linda and I were driving towards Potter Heigham today, the distant edge of a stratus cloud front looked for all the world like a range of hills: there were even features resembling roads and woodland! 

Norfolk is a beautiful place to live, but (apart from the Cromer-Holt ridge) it does lack elevation to add contrast to the landscape.

A diamond necklace in the southern sky

Just after sunset tonight (and for a few nights to come) three of the brightest objects in the heavens - Jupiter, Saturn and Venus - were strung out along the ecliptic above the southern horizon. With binoculars or a telescope two more planets - Neptune and Uranus - will also be visible, in Aquarius and Aries respectively.

Great Grey Shrike at Waxham

Linda and I had business near Waxham, so we decided to take advantage of the fine weather to take a look at the long-staying Great Grey Shrike. Although 'somewhat' distant, this handsome bird put on a good show, hunting around its favoured straw stack.

Fabulous crater fields!

This morning the terminator (line between the illuminated and dark area of the Moon) passed through a rich field full of rills, mountain ranges and craters. The complex crater Janssen was particularly impressive!

More Moonshots!

This morning's Moon (low in the west) compared to last night's: note how the terminator has moved to cover Mare Crisium...

The International Space Station in November

Here are the times of the ISS for the rest of the month: it occasionally passes close to Jupiter and Saturn. (Times are for East Norfolk: these will differ by a few seconds elsewhere in the  southern UK.)

Hemblington Church Bird Survey: slim pickings!

Not unexpectedly, this year's November wildlife survey was pretty much unpolluted by birdlife! The absence of any thrushes whatsoever was a little surprising, but, to be fair, it was a dreary, cold day... 

The whole of the Moon

When the Moon set at around 6.00am yesterday it was in the partial shadow of the Earth's penumbra: when it rose again just after sunset it was back to normal, providing a striking contrast...

Anniversary eclipse!

Today Linda and I celebrate our 27th anniversary: and what better way to start the day than with a lunar eclipse! In the UK this wasn't a total eclipse - the Moon wasn't completely tucked in behind the Earth, but was in the penumbra. Nevertheless, the Moon was visibly orangey-pink as it dropped behind the houses.

Our reef tank: a bit of a rebuild

Linda and I decided to add some height to the reef, and built up the top with some lava rock. We took the opportunity to rearrange the corals for optimum effect and also to place them in as close to natural situations as possible.

Keeping a marine tank is not only complex and time-consuming, it's also a great responsibility: the corals and other organisms deserve all the care and attention of any other domestic companion: more, in a sense, because they can't get up and walk away.

Venus and the Moon

The Moon is a couple of days from full (don't forget the lunar eclipse on Friday!) In the southern sky, Venus is exceptionally bright, not far from Jupiter and Saturn: it was fascinating to see it through a thin layer of cloud at dusk.

Confusing seabirds...

Brian and I spent a largely fruitless morning on the North Coast, enlivened by some handsome Pintail on Cley North Scrape and a trio of seals feeding in the surf. A move to Salthouse provided distant views of what seemed to be a Little Auk, A Black-throated Diver and a possible Black Guillemot.

We finished off at Hickling, where the best we could find were a dozen Common Cranes. Still: a great day out!

Bittern over the garden

Well: nearly! Just after dawn I saw (and grabbed one shot of) a small heron - presumably a Bittern - flying eastwards past the end of our garden. I've only ever seen one here before and that was nearly ten years ago!

Fossils and minerals...

A long-time client surprised me recently by asking if I had any fluorescent minerals available: I recently gave him a 'black light torch' (UV) with which to study his amber, and he was keen to put together a display of minerals that shared its property.

It's a long time since I 'stored' my mineral collections in the loft and workshop, and it took a while to find them. Most of these (and my display collection in the lounge) were collected when I was a young teenager: it was interesting - and a little nostalgic - to look through them today.

The examples below include fluorspar, Blue John, opal and various marine fossils from Dudley.