I had two unpleasant encounters with pigeons while we were in Great Britain. Early on, in Covent Garden, one landed briefly on my head before barreling on to its next destination. In Glasgow, one shat on my coat. There are no photographs of either incident; you'll just have to take my word.
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Here and there in London we would encounter a rhinoceros.
I understand that there are twenty-one of them altogether and each is different.
They reminded me of the donkeys that were all over Philadelphia in the summer of 2016. |
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These animals are placed to draw attention to their endangerment from poaching.
They were auctioned off, with the proceeds going to conservation of the species. |
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| I never saw so many swans anywhere! And they were accompanied by geese and ducks. This was in Stratford-on-Avon, where we learned that most of the swans in England are the property of the Queen; others are associated with one of two or three swanneries (I love that word), the largest being Abbotsbury Swannery, the only managed colony of mute nesting swans in the world. |
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| Joe met up with this elegant bird when we were having tea beside the Avon. |
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| I encountered this less impressive bird down the walk a bit. |
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| We spent an afternoon at Blists Hill, a reconstructed Victorian Town in Shropshire, and Joe had a chat with this horse. The horse didn't seem to see the "Do Not Feed" sign that Joe obeyed. |
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| These horses were waiting to start a procession in York, just outside the Minster. |
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I don't know how it is that geese manage to always look so clean.
These were on the grounds of Rievaulx Abbey. |
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They wanted to get better acquainted with me than I with them. Having no food to offer them,
I suspected that their response to that truth would be a bit of a bite. |
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| I've always been a duck or cow kind of a gal, but on this trip I pretty much fell in love with sheep. They were everywhere. |
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| Most had white bodies, heads and legs, though some had black head and/or legs. Rarely I would see one that was all black. With sheep, apparently matching earrings are not a fashion must. |
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| This turtle was in the courtyard at one of our hotels. |
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We made a brief stop at The Drovers Inn near Loch Lomond;
this is reputedly the most haunted hotel in Britain. |
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