A peaceful sight to end our day -a pair of swans eloping across the marshes.

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For a few days in October 2017, the tail end of hurricane Ophelia whipped up dust into the atmosphere from the Sahara and fanned Iberian wildfires which were belching smoke into the atmosphere. The combined effect of suspended atmospheric particles was to scatter sunlight and absorb the blue end of the spectrum of sunlight, leaving only the red. So at 14.43 on the 17th of October, the sun emerged briefly from behind low clouds to look as though it was setting -but high in the sky. It was an apocalyptic vision and everyone found it very eerie. The overall light when the sun was behind clouds was still strange, and very diffuse and directionless. So much so that I noticed we were not casting any shadows. That was very strange indeed!

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An elegant aviator and bane of fishkeepers everywhere. A heron looks more like a pterodactyl in flight than any other bird in this part of the world. This one was looking for snacks at a respectable distance, and a bit later in the afternoon I was lucky enough to catch him in flight and landing.

Not very clear as I was panning at full 1000 mm zoom hand held with no mono-or tripod. To be remedied soon as I now have the gear and less excuse for blurry shots. But the spirit of the movement is still there I think.

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Oulton Marshes in North Lowestoft are also owned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. As beautiful and calm a place as Carlton Marshes, but  with a little more variation in land contours and with some enclosed wooded areas that feel like a very different place all of a sudden when you arrive in them.

On an introductory walk there, we came across two very unusual neighbours

A pair of Emus!