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Showing posts from January, 2026

Ripley - Killdeer

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Another moment of opportunity and despite the continual rainfall, I headed down to Hampshire where the killdeer  that had been present for a few days was still actively feeding on the far side of a relatively small waterbody near Ripley. Thankfully the rain largely held off. An immature white-tailed eagle sitting in a nearby tree was a bonus.

Lourdes - New Years

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Just can't cope with having time off work and not having any travel plans to fill the time. The post-Christmas lull induced the inevitable skyscanner search of the cheapest flight over the new year. And so the search results returned Lourdes, £63 return on Ryanair from Stansted leaving on New Years Eve and returning the next day. It's not just about the flights though, there are hotels to consider and of course, places to eat for the evening. And it came to pass that everything checked out, the hotel felt less of a concern, but finding a table for dinner was a little more challenging, but we found a restaurant with availability close to our hotel which was a real steal. So we flew out on a crisp winter's day. The flight was really pleasant, as was the STN experience so no complaints there. It was great seeing Letchworth and Baldock from the air. On arrival, a bit of confusion at a very quiet airport, but we eventually jumped on a two euro bus that took us into the centre of...