July 4, 1996

We woke today to a light drizzle (this seems to happen quite frequently in Britain), and headed for Edinburgh. It is fortunate that no one seems to mind vehicles pulled half-way off the side of the road, because we’ve been doing a lot of that along the way, stopping to see birds. We saw a flock of Eurasian Oystercatchers on a grassy hill, and an adorable Yellowhammer singing exuberantly from a grassy area at the side of the road. Pied Wagtails, the British Isles race of the White Wagtail, were spotted at the roadside, and we saw our first Ring-necked Pheasant this morning, as well. We also spotted a bird kiting over the highway, whose markings under the wing and on the tail matched a Rough-legged Buzzard closer than any other, although this would have been outside of the bird’s normal summer range. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see it closely enough to be certain.

July 3, 1996

Although I was sad to leave York, we did have more adventures ahead of us, so I turned my attention north and east, to Whitby. To get there, we drove through the well-known (possibly infamous) Yorkshire Moors, which I loved. They are absolutely gorgeous – misty, and dark, and lovely.

July 1, 1996

Since Kevin was working on this day, I ended up sleeping very late (11:30), then wandered on my own into York under a light drizzle to change some currency. I discovered that the York City Centre is a charming warren of shops, pubs, and ancient buildings. After lunch and a guided bus tour, I found myself strolling through the Museum Gardens.

June 29, 1996

On our first day in the British Isles, we took a bus tour through London, to orient ourselves to the sights. After finishing the tour near Buckingham Palace, we walked back to our hotel via St. James and Green parks, to look for birds along the way. Some of the first birds we encountered were familiar from back home: Mute Swans with cygnets, and Mallards, but of course, many others were new to me.

May 2, 1995
Hazy, 65°F

After an appointment in town, I took a late morning walk through the park. I saw lots of birds by the bridge, and also found a path down on the other side of the creek which was very isolated, and gave me a great view of the birds going about their business.

April 15, 1995
Hazy, 50°F

Kevin suggested this expedition to take advantage of spring migration. He has become quite interested in birding and hiking with me since our trip to Florida, and this was one of the first specifically “birding” trips we went on together. We had a lovely morning, hiking trails One and Two (Two is terrific, by Lake Worster). We also followed a few deer trails, covering a total of about 6 miles, and there were many life species for both of us.

January 23, 1995
Hazy, ~50°F

Kevin and I took a boat tour through the swamp and bayou. Things were a bit quiet, probably due to the weather and the time of year. Still, we got an idea what the bayou is like . . . it’s beautiful!

January 18, 1995
Afternoon

We arrived at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge after noon, so we only had a couple of hours to spare before heading to Orlando to meet Deb and OD for dinner. Even with such a short period of time, it was WELL worth it! Merritt Island is one of the premier spots I’ve birded thus far in my young life, certainly at this time my favorite. I will return in the future – it’s WONDERFUL!

January 14 and 15, 1995

On the day we’d planned to visit the Keys, a tropical storm hit southern Florida. However, given that we only had a limited number of days before Kevin needed to be back in Indiana, we decided to drive through the Keys anyway. This was less than pleasant at first, with some really heavy rains. Fortunately, though, it cleared up by the afternoon, and we found ourselves in the middle of a gorgeous landscape. The water on either side of us as we drove over the bridges that connect the islands was some of the most INCREDIBLE shades of blue and green that I had ever seen. Beautiful turquoise. We spotted several pairs of gorgeous Magnificent Frigatebird while driving through the Keys, and saw at least one Osprey that appeared to be at a nest.