Henley - London
by River Thames steamer
Ther. [Thermometer] MON. [Monday] JULY 17, 1911 Wea. [Weather]
76 [degrees] Red Letter Day. Fair.
Partly cloudy, largely sunny. Warm; light W. [West] wind
Left Henley 9.45 by river steamer. Lunched at
White Hart Inn, Windsor, opposite castle. Reached
Kingston 7.45 P.M. & took 8.10 train to London.
Took taxi from Waterloo to Paddington Hotel where
George & I dined. He left by 9.50 train for Oxford.
I shall spend night at Paddington Hotel xxx
The river trip as far as Windsor was wonderful 
with wild primitive forest scenery alternating
with cultivated grounds, villas, little ancient
villages & house boats gay with flowers. Near
the landings were countless boats & punts & they were
scattered everywhere with men & women in them
fishing, pic-nicing [picnicking], sketching, reading etc.
In places the marshy shores were glowing with
purple loosestrife & wild mallows. Bird life most 
abundant & varied. Saw 4 Kingfishers and 3 ad. [adult]
Herons within 6 m. [miles] of Henley. Lower down saw
3 Dabchicks, 3 Sandpipers (flight & teetering exactly
like our Spotted S. [Spotted Sandpiper]). A little above Maidenhead saw
an adult [female] Black Scoter within 20 yds [yards] of boat. It
made two long dives. Saw about 20 Moor Hens,
30 Missel Thrushes [Mistle Thrushes], countless Swallows & Martins,
many Swifts, 50 [in a flock] Lapwings, numbers of Thrushes,
Blackbirds, Pied Wagtails & Chaffinches, swarms
of Starlings, one large flock of Rooks, a few
Wood Pigeons & Stock Doves, 3 Turtle Doves.
Heard in full song 3 Skylarks, 1 Chaffinch,
1 Reed Warbler, 1 Black-headed Bunting (?) &
several small willow frequenting birds with
voices new to me & [?]. No
Hawks, Partridges or Pheasants seen. Saw
fully 200 Mute Swans old & young. One at
Windsor (in river) is known to be 125 years old
the Captains assured me. Altogether the trip a 
wonderful one. Several social & friendly men on boat.

London to Oxford
Ther. [Thermometer] TUES. [Tuesday] JULY 18, 1911 Wea. [Weather]
75 [degrees] Meet Mr. Ogilvie Fine
Clear & cool with light N.W. [Northwest] wind.
  Left London at 8.48 & reached Oxford at
10.30. Went to little book shop opposite St. Giles
church and bought a lot of 7d. [sevenpenny] & 8d. [eightpenny] books
to send home. Spent afternoon reading, packing
& napping. C. [Caroline Brewster] & E. [Elizabeth R. Simmons] went to a sort of fair at
Wadham. After dinner we the called on
Miss O'Conner. I went there at 8.45
to see Mr. Ogilvie who called on me
this morning before my return. He received
me very cordially and showed me some
beautiful skins of Woodcock & Golden-eyes.
One of the latter, ​an im. [immature male], had been thought by
Ogilvie Grant to be a Barrow’s Goldeneye but I
do not consider it so nor is Mr. Ogilvie inclined
to do so. He has measured & verified over
100 Woodcock. His heaviest bird was 14¼ oz. [ounces]
He is an intelligent & agreeable man very
familiar, evidently, with living British birds.
He has often heard the spring song of the
Woodcock a double note one half a rather
musical whistle, the other half a croaking call.
Walking back from his house at 10.30 I heard
2 crickets. One in a wall chirped like our
field cricket the other more like our tree [?]
[margin]Saw a Red shank feeding in a pool near Oxford, from the cars.[/margin]