The past week has been a nostalgic whirlwind. First we traveled back to England, a place where I grew up between the ages of 3 and 7 (30+ years ago) . Then we rebonded with grad. school friend Kristina Stanfield and her family in London (12+ ya). And this weekend we were visited by family of college ex-boyfriend, Marcela and Nicole McGrath, (20 ya) as well as Stijn's oldest brother et familia and Stijn's parents. Whew! I need a week to recuperate! It was like walking down memory lane: exploring castles and countryside, riding a double decker bus, walking the White Cliffs of Dover and cobblestone streets, eating fish & chips and bangers & beans. Having spent some of the best years of my childhood in England, I felt at home there and with the people (who happen to love birds!). I could easily envision a yearly pilgrimmage, esp. one connected to birding opportunities and visiting friends. This photo was taken at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, an excellent birding site on the southern coast of England (www.naturereserve.ryeharbour.org) where we saw nesting oystercatchers, lapwings, wheatears, linnets, redshanks, and colonies of terns and gulls. It was the closest I've come to heaven since moving to this side of the big puddle.
4 comments:
Courtenay,
So glad that you had a heavenly time. It sounds fantastic.
Neighborhood goodbye party set for July 22nd. Any chance you could just "stop by"! HA! Wishful thinking!
Miss you!
Rochelle
wouldn't that be swell! do you have my party dress all picked out? has the reality of your imminent move finally set in? I hope you get a chance to catch your breath now and again.
miss you!
Paul and I are doing a mini Big Day this weekend...going to try for 80 species, though we can easily find 100 on the route we'll take if we can figure out the calls...We got some route advice from a local birder. It will be good to do this, but I admit, I'm ready for some exotic birds...the eastern avian fare is somewhat less exciting these days...Laura
i'm envious that you can get away from it all, just the two of you, and do whatever you like! I know you'll have a blast -
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