I'm not the greatest fan of bank holiday weekends - I'm an east coast birder in a seaside town, after all - but when spent in the company of the six-strong Perlman clan, it's a different bag of chips.
Local trips to Bempton Cliffs, the North Yorkshire forests, fossil-hunting on the beach and lots of fun elsewhere made for a blast of a weekend in great company (even Bamba the dog is friendly and chilled).
And there's a nerdily special thrill in getting to show a birding friend the local patch for the first time - a bit like letting your mate from school have a go on your prized, hand-made train set that took you years to build - and this being early summer on the east coast, in appropriately October-like conditions (I hired the smoke machine especially, just for the full effect).
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| My Mrs on Libby duty (note traces of Bamba) |
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| Picnicking at Bempton - she saved me a crust |
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| Uri digiscoping Puffins... |
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| "And this is where I found ...." Yeah, fascinating....zzzzzz" |
