Norfolk Holiday pt3 Horsey and Happisburgh

This morning we are going to Horsey to see the Windpump and hopefully the seals on the beach, which is a lovely walk across the fields.     The sails are back on after a full restoration that has taken years !

It is blowing a gale!  I guess the approaching storm is getting closer to Norfolk than we had hoped.
Great to see the sails back on, last time we where here they had just been removed.

                           Now to walk across the fields to the shore, its a good half hour walk.

Plenty of Common Darter dragonflies sheltering from the wind all along the path, the drainage ditches must hold thousands of them in mid summer.

On the beach, and the sand is blowing sideways in the strong wind,  it feels like being sandblasted and its stinging on my face.   There is a little bit of shelter behind these boulders, but not much.

There are good numbers of seals, and talking to the warden both harbour and grey seals here, about 200 today but last week double that number.     We had to keep well away, and I didn't bring my long lens  Ooops

                                  Jan got a bit too close and got this shot on her phone.

    Chester has sand blown into his eyes , he is trying to shelter from the wind near the top of beach.

It is actually too painful to stay on the beach any longer , and getting back over the flood defences is causing Jan a bit of trouble   haha

Time to drive down along the coast to Happisburgh now, at least the Terrible Twosome will be able to run on the beach there.     Unfortunately I don't think I will get to fly the drone again today and I think the sunset is unlikely also.

The sea erosion on this beach is amazing, and they have to re build this path down onto the beach every spring after winter storms wash it away.

The cliffs are just washing away constantly, all the buildings along this stretch have long gone into the sea,  it looks very unstable.

                                    This cloud is not looking good for a sunset tonight, Again!
                 And Chester has got covered in sand and mud, he looks like a chicken nugget   haha

                 Luckily our van has an outside shower attachment, so a warm shower for Chester, don't want all that mud in the van after all.

Now time for me to shoot the Lighthouse, it is in the middle of a field right on the cliffs so it is very windy, even hanging my camera bag on the tripod hook I am still struggling to get sharp long exposure images with the Lee big stopper 10 stop nd filter.  Reducing aperture to f8 has reduced exposure enough as a compromise.

The field was recently cut and the stubble remaining actually gives good lead in lines towards the lighthouse.   I don't normally centralise the subject, but this is one of those occasions where it works.

                                                                      5dsr , 17-40 L
                                                                      30 seconds  f8

The end of another great day in Norfolk...………  we are going to Thurne tomorrow for a couple of days.

Swallowtails and Sunsets Norfolk june 11 th 2015

This morning a quick walk down to the beach with the dogs , its very warm and sunny and at last the wind has dropped a bit.    We stayed out longer than expected just sitting in the sun throwing the ball for the beasts :D

 A really beautiful morning on an almost deserted Norfolk beach , sitting in the sun throwing the ball for the Terrible Twosome :)

                                                          HAHA!      sandy face Mollster

 After lunch , a last trip to hopefully see a Swallowtail butterfly at Strumpshaw , the wind is the lowest it has been all week and being warm and sunny this has to be my best chance to see one.

 We are not going into the fen site, but walking down the track to the Doctors garden which is a very good spot for them ,the main Swallowtail breeding area is just the other side of the railwayline.

 Not a sight of Any species of butterfly on the flowers ,its clouded over a bit unfortunately ,but we continue down the path to a small hidden clearing a couple of fields away But Again Nothing to see!

Walking back past the small meadow next to the doctors cottage and a Yellow flash signified my first ever sighting of a Swallowtail YAY!    

                                Quickly putting on my 100-400mm lens i manage a few images.

 Then on with 100mm macro and after ages following manage a couple of closer shots ,unfortunately  its wings are a bit damaged :(

                            Into the next meadow and in the sheltered corner.........................


                                                                Thats a better one :)

After a successful afternoon the weather is looking very promising for a decent sunset tonight , i think another long walk to Brograve is called for.  Even Jan agrees surprisingly  lol
The Horsey Mill looks awful without its sails!   they are being renovated after damage over the winter i believe.

 The path follows the Waxham new cut channel from Horsey Mere ,   nice light over the mere as we walk past.

                                                 A Marsh Harrier is circling overhead :)

                          and flying past ...............    whatever type of geese they might be   lol

At the Mill in good time for the sunset , after a load of long exposure images that didn't work , i wait until the sun has almost set before shooting this 3 frame hdr image. the sun is lighting up the small drain beyond the mill where the owls were hunting earlier in the week.

 My favourite image with the colour at its strongest , the sky has lit up nicely tonight with the wispy cloud :)

The end of a superb day in Norfolk , the last two days over the weekend are looking rubbish weather wise so this may be my last sunset image of the week.