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Tuesday 26 March 2024

Long-billed Dowitcher at Cley - but not much else!

Brian, Norman and I took a drive up to Cley in the hope of a few migrants: in the event we didn't see any hirundines, chats or Spoonbills.The centre hides are open again, so we started there with distant views of the long-staying Dowitcher, both on the deck and in flight. A move to Bishop's was unproductive, as was a walk to the sea along the East Bank. Coffee and scones on the terrace gave us distant views of a Great Egret but, with nothing to detain us, we decided to return home via Hickling.

The majority of the paths are still closed: hard to see why the track to the 'mound' at Brendon's Marsh is still out of bounds, since it is patently as dry as a bone!

A distant Crane and an even more distant Great Egret were about the best of it - several booming Bitterns were good to hear, but we failed to pick out any Garganey.

Both at Cley and Hickling the USAF were very active, with F35s and a KC135 in evidence.









Monday 25 March 2024

March wildlife survey at Hemblington Church

Linda, Sue, Peter and I met at the Church to carry out the monthly survey of wildlife in and around the churchyard. The chilly breeze resulted in a low total, but it was pleasant to see Native Daffodils and Celandines pushing up through the rank grass...









Some good astronomy!

For the first time in a while the sky was completely clear last night: this coincided with predictions of a significant auroral display, so I drove up to the top of the Heath to try for some photos. In the event I arrived after the peak, but even with the naked eye there was a definite tinge to the north: sometimes green, sometimes reddish.

With such a clear sky, I took the opportunity to look for comet Pons-Brooks: despite the full Moon I could just pick it out and managed a couple of photos. Mercury was a lot easier, twinkling brightly above the western horizon.








Sunday 24 March 2024

Very spotty Sun!

When it was visible through the fast-moving clouds, the Sun was covered in sunspots this afternoon. (Taken with a Baader solar filter: NEVER look directly at the Sun!)






Final passes by the ISS for a while

Here are the times when the International Space Station will pass over Norfolk for the last week of March (before its orbit takes it elsewhere!)

Saturday 23 March 2024

Mercury and Pons Brooks: some excellent astronomy

A totally clear sky at sunset last night allowed me to photograph two elusive objects: Mercury, folowing the Sun towards the western horizon, and comet Pons Brooks. This remains a faint, fuzzy green ball near the constellation Aries. Orion is still an impressive sight, as were the Pleiades and Moon.










Friday 22 March 2024

Hairy-footed Flower Bees

Apart from Linda's Honey Bees, among the earliest bees to visit the garden each year are the charmingly-named Hairy-footed Flower Bees. If I have the office window open in mid-March, their extraorinarily loud buzz carries from one end of the garden to the other. The females are almost black, while the males resemble tiny teddy bears: both have long, thick probosces. They seem particularly fond of Pulmonaria (as do the Honey Bees) so it would be a great addition to any wildlife garden. H-F F B are very active and fast-flying, which is why a couple of the photos below are a little out of focus!






Thursday 21 March 2024

Garden freeloader, and a perplexing accipiter

When Linda lifted off the lid of our garden feeder this morning this little mouse was having a happy time! He took his time leaving, finally exiting through one of the slots at the base! 

The large accipiter (and I mean Buzzard-sized) has flown across the garden a couple of times. It is without doubt a Sparrowhawk (based on its general shape and barring) but its tail is distinctly rounded like a Goshawk's.