As todays forecast was fairly good I decided to venture out for a trip round Northants area, approx 140 miles round trip. Early to Fermyn, no PE seen in ride opp gliding club but reports on at least one seen high up in the other wood. 1 Red A & 1 White A plenty of Ringlets. took the gated road t...

Sunny periods today & fairly warm on the coast. Holme village marsh produced 12 meadow brown, 6 Ringley, 1 Red Ad, 1 Comma & 6/7 lge Skipper. Holme NWT had 16 meadow brown 12 Ringlet, 4 lge Skipper & 3 Spec wood. In the afternoon the forecast heavy shwrs never arrived & our local woo...

After all yesterdays rain (5miles from Jacks 51mm!) it cleared up in the evening & I decided to get a bit of fresh air on Snettisham beach & there on the gravel I found a very pristine Painted Lady at 8pm, hope there is a few more to come before this dreadfull summer comes to a close. Eric

Back to Kelling today after last thursdays failure, drawn by the report Red veined darters were at the Water meadows site. after waiting some time some did show up in cooler windy conditions. As it was nearby decided about 11.30 to go up the heath again to see if SSB's had turned up. No luck at orig...

Had planned a trip doen the coast today for the Sacred Ibis on Popes marsh (showing well from road but no parking!) & Kelling heath, very windy there & despite diligent searching found no butterflies at all, just the usual Stonechats & Linnets. decided to go inland a bit for the afternoo...

This morning Titchwell rspb produced just a fresh Red Admiral near Parinder hide. Holme marsh had one Spec wood & one large Skipper. The pines at Holme noa/nwt had 3 white sp & 8 Specled Woods. Best count all season up here in Norfolk for me. Eric

Still nothing of any real interest at our end of Norfolk. Holme marsh today produced just one poor spec wood. Did get what I thought was an interesting photo of volucella bombylans (I think) mating pr & one is a white tailed mimic & one a red tailed mimic. Would an expert please confirm &...

Hoggers was very lucky to see 5 swallowtails today & even get a picture on the doctors sweet williams! I & many others only saw 3 & all fly by's, 2 over the garden & one over the meadow trail so no pics. Did see a m+f Lge skipper with male chasing her around the plant but she did not...

In very windy but warmish weather this morning my first Painted lady of the summer showed itself on Holkham dunes. The only butterfly I saw all day & no orchids in dunes either. On a brighter note the wytch elm along the track is full of leaf after the wet april/may/june, perhaps augers well for...

Sunny in Norfolk today from about 9.30am but cool breeze. titchwell rspb produced one tired female Wall, Holme nwt had several Small Heaths & Common Blues. After lunch my garden had a bright fresh Holly Blue but could not get a pic of it as camera was indoors. Eric P1010356 Wall female well worn...

Sunny forecast for today in Norfolk, decided early start for Stone Curlews @ Weeting (also found Spotted flycatcher there) & G Oriole @ Lakenheath, had a job to find him. Saw one peacock & 3/4 Orange tips there in sunny conditions. Plan was to do Foulden common pm but it turned very cool &am...

We saw plenty of swallowtails on friday 13th may last year, yes early but even 2 weeks later this year you should be in with a good chance. Strumshaw is the safest bet down the track by the good doctors garden & the west entrance to reserve just past the garden. Last year because no other flower...

Had a fantastic trip up Rhine to Basel & back again with 5 days on boat in Basel & trips out. Guy was right it does rain & snow in april but we also had 3 superb weather days for most scenic part of trip. A few photos. P1100543 Harder Kulm fr L Thun.jpg Dsc07184 Viewpoint Harder Kulm.jpg...

Guy, I read your sat 28th post with interest as we had 3 fabulous days in Bernese Oberland area. Sun 22nd poured with rain as we drove in coach from Bresaich (locks trouble) never got out of coach for short view of bridge @ Lucerne. Got to Grindewald in perfect sunshine & clear skies, train to K...

Is it possible to have a chance of seeing both in same week?. I am thinking last week in june might be a possibility from the flight charts here on UKB. Later in july/aug, school holidays & Olympic sailing events at Weymouth might mean getting reasonable accomodation is difficult. Eric

Dsc06269 Moth.jpg Found this moth on Roydon common Norfolk just before noon on tues 27th. Had a quick look through Collins insects (the only book with moths I have) & cannot see it. Can anyone give an id please. Still finding very few bf's in our part of Norfolk, guess it's that cool east wind....

Jack, I got a EXpro power plus through Amazon. Works perfectly & shows the remaining charge on the screen in blocks just like the original, quite happy with it & about half the price on Panny's. Eric

At last some butterfly's in my garden on our return today from visiting grandchildren in Sheffield. Just 1 Coma & 1 Peacock, my 2nd & 3rd bf's of the year. They still seem pretty scarse here in Norfolk compared to other parts of the Country. Eric

Forgot to say the big advantage for me of fz150 over the fz45 is the turn out/tiltable screen. Saves getting creaking joints by nealing or lying down for a photo (younger ones may not have this problem...yet!) Also for those who would like to see the way the menues work on the fz150 a guy called Gra...

Nick, I am over the moon so far with my fz150 although at moment I do keep it with my old Sony1758tc permanently attached for birding etc. Beware the fz100, if you read the forums it does not have a good reputation for speed or IQ. That is why panny dropped the mp to12 for the 150 instead of the 14 ...