Brighton

We spent a few days visiting my sister and her family before our trip. The twins and my sister have birthdays right at the beginning of the trip, so we celebrated a few days early.

It was pouring quite hard when we got off the bus for an 8 minute walk to the house. We had our umbrellas ready.

While the kids were at school and the parents working, we took some time to walk and saw some birds.

We keep hearing the Eurasian Wren, as it’s rather loud, but it’s tiny and hides in the trees well, so we haven’t gotten a photo yet. Steve did see it sit on a sign for a couple seconds, but it kept moving when it felt exposed.

We gave the kids binoculars and a UK birding book for their birthday. They did surprisingly well learning to focus and learning to see something in the distance and find it with the binoculars.

At the birthday party in the park, the Carrion Crows were quite aggressive trying to grab some cake. We had to have someone stand next to the cake to deter them. They also cleaned up under the picnic table that the kids ate at right after the kids left.

On Sunday we visited Pullborough Brooks RSPB and gave them the experience of bird watching.

We also saw some other animals.

Monday was a nice day, and we had a long walk down to the beach and along the beach and back. 27,000 steps, about 12 miles for the day. On the way to the beach, we stopped a Preston Park for another chance at the elusive Eurasian Wren and succeeded in getting a photo!

We got to the beach, walked west to Regency Square and ate at a Turkish restaurant. Then we walked back to the pier and walked out on it. The seagulls were putting on a fine show of flight skills. This gull landed on the light and a line of gulls flew past him as he squawked at each of them. Donna joked that he was playing air traffic control.

Afterwards we walked east on the beach and I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and put my feet in the ocean. It was quite cold. I was surprised at the number of people swimming given the temperature of the water. The sun is strong, and with the breeze and a little rubbing, your feet dry quickly.

Afterwards we had some gelato, chocolate and pistachio.

It was such a nice day, we decided to go up in the i360 tower. We went at 5:30 pm, the latest we could book.

Donna wanted to rest a bit the next day, and it was raining on and off, so I went out walking alone. I went over to St. Nicholas church, the oldest church in Brighton.