In early Spring 2024, after a dismal few weeks of weather, we had a forecast for clearing skies from around 1am, with the moon setting at 2am.  That left around 2 hours for some dark-sky goodness and hopefully my first Milky Way core action of 2024.  The only challenge was that it was a Sunday night, ahead of a busy week at work.  But I set the alarm for 1.15am anyway, and dragged myself out of bed only to see broken cloud in front of the moon.  20 minutes of should I / shouldn't I later, and I headed down to our local nature reserve, not entirely sure if I'd made the right choice but knowing that I would torture myself if I stayed at home wondering what might have been.

I only had a few compositions in mind after visiting earlier that day - nothing dramatic or epic, but some simple Fenland scenes of wood piles, dead trees and still pools.  As the morning drew on, the cloud shifted and I was treated to the rising Milky Way and a sky full of stars.  I was so glad I made myself go out, with the ultimate reward of watching the dawn surrounded by the wonderful sounds of the local birdlife.