On April 30th at 21:53UT I observed saturn using a 12mm eyepiece and 2x barlow lens at f/10. Seeing (5/10) and transparency were moderate. No divisions in the rings are yet visible on the ring portions on either side. Strongly evident was the thin black line of shadow cast by the rings overpassing saturn. Fine focussing brought out this impressive contrasting area between the rings, their shadow and the background reflectance of the planet. Banding in the atmosphere of Saturn was also evident although there was no strong contrast.