Once was the time when a goodie was found on a remote western Irish headland and all it took was a cheap last minute Ryanair flight from Stansted to Cork, Kerry, Shannon or Knock and £30 a day car hire and it was job done. Happy days indeed with fond memories of Little Blue Heron, Philadelphia Vireo, Thayer's Gull etc.
Fast forward to the present day and the HUGE mega of Eastern Kingbird. A quick check of the Ryanair website and they want £350 return to Knock this weekend and when I had a casual glance in midweek thinking of the MyrtleWarbler I couldn't get to Cork for less than £230 return at short notice.
Do they actually sell tickets at these prices?!
Anyway, for this birder at least, it seems those happy twitches to the Emerald Isle and plenty of craic are a thing of the past :-(
While I'm in a moany mood, I've been trying to arrange some guided birding for a few days in Northern Thailand next Feb and the prices are unbelievable - £280 per day for 2 of us?! Or £640 for 3 days for 2 of us?! In a country which is generally very reasonable I find it amazing. It'll be far more satisfying finding my own birds!
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