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Steven Neish

@findinganeish.bsky.social
603 followers 322 following 762 posts

A Neish in search of a niche. Scottish volunteer and psychology graduate into travel, wildlife and photography. At home in Dundee and the northeast. Pictures and opinions my own.

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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
In December 2017, I spent an incredibly wet weekend in Gdańsk, Sopot and Malbork - so wet that my memory card corrupted and I lost half of my photographs. Nearly eight years later, I've managed to restore some of them.
The largest port crane in medieval Europe and Gdańsk most famous tourist attraction, towering over the Motława river.Brama Mariacka is another gate on Gdańsky’s riverside, leading to St Mary’s Basilica.Grand Spa on Sopot’s Skwer Kuracjyny, or Healing Square. The fountain at its centre is turned off during winter months.The entrance to Malbork Castle looking even redder than usual during golden hour.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Since I last posted, I’ve had a week in Sutherland, a week in Switzerland and a couple of outings to Pitlochry and Loch Brandy.
Dunrobin Castle under a blue sky and at the end of a garden path.The Swiss city of Chur, foregrounding vineyards and Bogentrakt, a prison-turned-hostel.A pumpkin patch by the river in Pitlochry, at Port-Na-Craig Inn & Restaurant.Loch Brandy shining blue at Glen Clova.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
And Doors Open Weekend 4, taking in Edinburgh’s Faculty of Advocates, Futures Institute and McEwan Hall, as well as Dundee’s Caird Hall.
An elaborate and colourful stained glass window depicting a judge at the centre of a courtroom scene.Blue booths to the side of a stone corridor, combining modern furnishings with 1729 architecture.A wide-angled look up at the McEwan Hall’s domed ceiling.The stage at the Caird Hall, with a small cluster of visitors above being shown the organ.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Doors Open Weekend 3 was a bit of a bust. Went to Dunfermline on Sunday to see Abbot House, only to discover it was only open on Saturday. Nipped into St Margaret's church to see the reliquary, and finally saw inside Glasgow City Chambers.
The pink exterior of Abbot House, as viewed from Dunfermline Abbey. The cafe was open but the house itself was closed.The Lady Chapel of St Margaret’s Church in Dunfermline, and a reliquary containing the saint’s shoulder bone.One of two grand Italian marble staircases in Glasgow City Chambers, the largest in Western Europe.A view down one of Glasgow City Chambers’ staircases from the Portrait Gallery.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
For Doors Open Weekend 2 this year, I visited Perth Art Gallery, PSNS Library and St Ninian’s Cathedral, and then Inglis Memorial Hall in Edzell.
The main hall at Perth Art Gallery, with paintings hung between the arches on one wall and an arcade corridor on the other.A faux-neon unicorn by Chila Kumari Singh Burman, adapted from an earlier, simpler version that stood outside Perth’s new museum.The inside of St Ninian’s Cathedral, with a skeleton choir in red robes singing for Doors Open Day participants.The library at the side of Inglis Memorial Hall in Edzell, and an elaborate stained glass window featuring secular Scots proverbs such as “A gaun fit's aye getting”.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
So far in September, Doors Open Weekend 1: Paisley Abbey, John Neilson Institute, Oakshaw Trinity Church and the Russell Institute.
Interior of Paisley Abbey, showing stain glass windows above main entrance.Looking up at the centre of an old school atrium and the statue at its centre, now an entrance hall serving private accommodation.A view from the balcony at Oakshaw Trinity Church overlooking the pulpit and organ.Two busts astride the marble staircase at the Russell Institute, an art deco medical centre repurposed as an employability hub.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Back into the hills today for a traipse around Glen Esk.
A view down the Ladder Burn to Glen Esk from the foothills of Mount Keen, Scotland’s most easterly Munro.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
A view over Braemar from Morrone, the nearest mountain.
Braemar laid out beneath Morrone, with the Highland Games, Fife Arms Hotel and Braemar Castle visible below.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
Kind of love this picture of Union Street on Saturday night.
The number 13 bus to Queen's Cross departs Adelphi at dusk, driving into shot and away from Aberdeen Town House and Castlegate.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Been a fairly quiet month so far, but August picked up last week with outings to Balmaha, Inchcailloch, Stonehaven and Aberdeen.
A boat from Balmaha called Margaret prepares to depart the pier at Inchcailloch, an island on Loch Lomond.A view of Loch Lomond from the highest point on Inchcailloch, with a cruise ship ferrying passengers between Luss and various islands.The ruined Chapel of St Mary and St Nathalan near Cowie sits between Stonehaven Golf Club and the sea.King's College at Aberdeen University between tour groups shuttled from a Viking cruise ship docked in the city's new South Harbour.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Held this back a month to let them mature, but here are two adorable fox cubs beside the River Dee in Aberdeen. #FoxOfTheDay
A pair of fox cubs, one sitting and the other standing, in overgrowth beside the River Dee in Aberdeen.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Made a new friend. I chanced upon a #buzzard nest this week and have enjoyed watching the juveniles build their flight muscles.
Staring head-on, a furious-looking buzzard glares down from a tree branch.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
One of my favourite photographs taken this year didn’t require any travel at all. I’ve seen foxes along the Dighty Burn before, but this is the first to pause before disappearing into the overgrowth. #FoxOfTheDay
First light catches a Dundonian urban fox as it stops to glance back after being disturbed.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
I’ve been neglecting this place lately. Here’s a few photos from recent travels around #Scotland, taken on a madcap long weekend spent touring Stirling, Dunblane, Kingshouse, Fort William, Inverness, Elgin, Lossiemouth and Aberdeen.
An evening stroll past Buachaille Etive Mòr on the West Highland Way.Looking back along the River Lochy towards Fort William from the Great Glen Way.A late arrival in Inverness and last light on the cathedral.An overview of the River Lossie and East Beach at Lossiemouth.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Back to normal yesterday, spotting wildlife in Aberdeen. I really enjoyed my time on the Rhine in Germany and the Netherlands but it can’t compete with the Dee where biodiversity is concerned.
A grey seal looks up from the shadows beneath Victoria Bridge.A bottlenose dolphin breaches next to North Pier as it enters Aberdeen Harbour.A fox cub emerges from the bushes into a quiet car park.An adult fox follows its young out of their den and only the streets of Aberdeen.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Saturday: I had a few options for my last day but Deutschebahn drama put paid to them all. I was reluctant to travel in the wrong direction (Köln) or on a parallel line (Xanten) so after finally departing Düsseldorf Hbf I ended up spending most of it in Weeze ahead of my evening flight home.
Storm clouds gathering over St Cyriakus Pfarrkirche church and an incredibly humid Weeze.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Friday: I wasn’t quite sure what to do with my penultimate day. My biggest remaining blindspot on the German Rhine was Koblenz, but it seemed a bit far and extravagant for a day trip so I decided to stay put in Düsseldorf, eat gelato and drink beer. It was a beautiful evening for a tipsy stroll.
Düsseldorf’s Rheinturm and Rheinkniebrücke photographed from the promenade at dusk.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Thursday: With the next few days forecast to top 30, I brought Wuppertal forward so I could hopefully catch a breeze off the Rhine at Düsseldorf. I bought a day ticket for the Schwebebahn and went to town on it, before accidentally interrupting a couple’s wedding pictures in the botanic gardens.
A Schwebebahn train leaves Kluse station as it travels east along the River Wupper towards Oberbarmen.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Wednesday: I had two reasons for stopping at Arnhem Centraal; I wanted to revisit a family grave at Oosterbeek War Cemetery and the manatees at Burgers’ Zoo. It was quite a gear-change, but I bridged the gap with an hour at Eusebiuskerk in the city centre.
A view of Eusebiuskerk from across an empty market square.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Tuesday: Utrecht is commonly quoted as travellers’ favourite Dutch city and it’s not hard to see why. It may only be 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam, but that’s far enough to keep the masses at bay, letting you enjoy the storied streets and historic canals in relative peace, even during Pride.
Domtoren is all that remains of the never actually completed St Martin's Cathedral, and is never far from sight as you walk the historic centre and beyond.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Monday: It’s hard to think of a more Steven city than The Hague, and after Amsterdam it was nice to be back in the Netherlands proper. Grand, ordered and manicured, with public art and civic spaces aplenty, one day didn’t feel long enough. It was topped off by a very scenic journey back to Utrecht.
A view over the Hofvijver lake towards the red-bricked Binnenhof complex, currently being renovated (hence the Portaloo), and the skyscrapers beyond.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
Sunday: On reflection, Sunday morning, before the bin men had been out, wasn’t the best time to arrive in Amsterdam, especially after a wet trudge into town from the FlixBus stop at Sloterdijk. I’d had enough of the mess, rain and crowds by late afternoon and fled somewhere nicer for the evening.
An orange sightseeing boat passes in front of Loetje restaurant and Amsterdam Central, through brown water and under a grey sky.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Saturday: I started last week’s Eurotrip at Brussels-Charleroi, almost a year to the day since I’d last flown out of it. I only had an hour in the city centre before my night bus from Midi but it was nice to be back, even over midnight.
One of two murals commemorating Hergé at Brussels-Midi, this one replicating a scene from The Seven Crystal Balls in which Tintin and Snowy visit Moulinsart railway station.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Split last week between Brussels, Amsterdam, the Hague, Utrecht, Arnhem, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf and Weeze. A million more photographs incoming.
Grote Church in The Hague, photographed from the tram tracks of Torenstraat.Eusebiuskerk in Arnhem and the municipal offices beside it.A suspended train leaving Ohligsmühle station on Wuppertal’s Schwebebahn.Düsseldorf’s Rheinturm reflected in the waters of the quay.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Do you not get it where you are? It’s a wheel of cream cheese with pineapple and almond, and it’s amazing.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Looking forward to spending a bit more time in the Netherlands next week. I used to live near the Dutch-German border as a kid, but as an adult I’ve only had the odd day in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Maastricht and Roermond.
The approach to NEMO Science Museum, with people sitting along its sloped, tiered roof.Eindhoven Centraal train station under a grey sky, with a sea of stored bikes in the foreground.Maastricht’s Basilica of Our Lady on Onze Lieve Vrouweplein.Sint-Christoffelkathedraal and the colourful buildings of Grote Kerkstraat, Roermond.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Sunshine on granite.
Aberdeen City War Memorial, comprising a granite lion positioned at the centre of a curved colonnade.A statue of Robert Burns on Union Terrace, in front of SugarBird wine garden.Colourful bunting strung between the buildings of Union Street, advertising the 2025 Tall Ships festival, with the clocktower of Aberdeen Town House and the castellated tower of the Salvation Army Citadel in the background.A statue of Ceres atop Wetherspoons' Archibald Simpson pub, to the right of Aberdeen Tolbooth Museum.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Yesterday.
A dipper lands on a handrail along Dundee's Dighty Burn.A seal swims underwater beneath Victoria Bridge in Aberdeen.Inside the Monsters of the Deep exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery.Below decks aboard Norway's S/S Hestmanden.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Some mornings are just special. Incredible encounters with dippers, deer and kingfishers this morning, all before 7am, and now a seal.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Unexpectedly challenging conditions on Thursday, with the sun glaring, the water choppy and the dolphins non-committal, but I quite like this set of one above and below the waves at the harbour entrance.
A dolphin's shadow beneath the waves at Greyhope Bay.A dolphin leaps out of rough water at Greyhope Bay.A dolphin's shadow beneath the waves at Greyhope Bay.A dolphin's tail sticks out of rough water at Greyhope Bay.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
A few from this week's encounters with the Finlathen Park deer, still mid-moult. It's getting harder to spot them in the warm weather and spring overgrowth.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Lovely day in Fraserburgh yesterday, but it’s a strange place. Impressive buildings, big yachts in the harbour, more banks than your average high street, and yet there’s barely any shops or cafes.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Great day yesterday, though a later start than usual after a couple of long journeys and late nights. There’s just no beating Aberdeen in the sun.
Multicoloured Aberdeen Inspired umbrellas hanging above Shiprow.A glimpse of Aberdeen Town House between the buildings of Marischal Square.A bottlenose dolphin dives after surfacing to breathe, its dorsal fin angled down.A view of Footdee and Aberdeen Harbour through the yellow gorse lining Greyhope Road.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Been feeling a little cooped up and out of sorts lately, so took a long weekend, walked from Tillicoultry to Stirling, took the bus up to Kingshouse and watched the dolphins in Aberdeen.
Yellow gorse under a blue sky on the Ochil Hills in Clackmannanshire.Andy Scott's Fox Boy statue in the village of Menstrie.A young stag climbs out of the River Etive beside Kingshouse, Glencoe.Aberdeen Town House viewed from Provost Skene's House in Marischal Square.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
This image has been whole summers in the making.
A City Quay swallow turns in midair.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Great to have the swallows back at City Quay and to have the weather to properly appreciate them.
A swallow looks up from a concrete ledge.A swallow looks up from a concrete ledge.A swallow perched on a sign.A swallow perched on a handrail.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
Dolphins aside it was a bit of a disappointing day; dull throughout despite sunny spells being forecast. This is about as bright as it got, just before sunset.
The evening sun catches the clocktower of Aberdeen Town House while the rest of Union Street lies in shadow.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
A spot of #dolphin watching in Aberdeen this afternoon.
Two crewmembers watch a dolphin breaching from the bow of the VOS Seeker as it arrives into Aberdeen Harbour.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Quite like this one from Dundee last night. I left Stirling half an hour earlier than planned in the hope of making it back before sunset.
Wispy cirrus clouds over Dundee’s Murraygate glow pink in the minutes after sunset.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Had a great time at Argaty Red Kites near Doune yesterday, even if I only got a handful of usable pictures from it. This is probably the best of the bunch.
A close-up of a red kite surveying the ground from overhead, wings outstretched and out of frame.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
An unexpectedly sunny afternoon in Stonehaven.
A view of Dunnottar Castle straddling the Burn of Halymyres, with yellow gorse blooming on the clifftops.Looking down at Stonehaven Harbour from the cliffs above, the tide in and the water calm, reflecting the boats and harbour buildings surrounding it.The upgraded flood defences of the Carron Water, where the burn flows under White Bridge and past St James' Episcopal Church.Dunnottar Parish Church and Cemetery under a blue sky.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Really enjoyed Ben Coates’ account of travelling the Rhine so now I’m reading this. I’ve always been a bit lukewarm on Amsterdam but still enjoy hearing what others love about the place.
A copy of Ben Coates’ The Invention of Amsterdam: A History of Europe’s Greatest City in Ten Walks.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Started at Dawson Park today, then walked through Finlathen Park to Caird Park and back again. The shine’s rather come off Dundee of late but there’s still beauty to be found.
A close up of pink cherry blossom under a blue sky in Dawson Park.A frame filled with pink cherry blossom.A young roebuck molting for spring, with a young doe grazing behind.A heron with coiled neck in Caird Park’s pond.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Recently realised that since mid-March my computer's been serruptitiously saving photographs in low resolution, so no wonder I've been unhappy with my pictures lately. Here's a few fresh edits from Switzerland.
A river cruise passes beneath Basel Münster at dusk on the Rhine.A blue Schaffhausen road sign on Feuerthaler Brücke, with Munot hilltop fortress rising up behind.Looking up at a bronze statue of Hermes adorning GLOBUS department store in St Gallen.A white Evangelical Church framed by Aarburg's red Grand Tour of Switzerland sign, with the castle rising up behind.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Beautiful day to be down at Tentsmuir Point on Thursday.
Flooding sandflats at Tentsmuir Beach; the pooling water reflecting the blue sky.Two shelducks coming in to land on Tentsmuir Beach.A motley selection of seals hauled out on the Point's outermost sandbank.Three disembodied seals watching from a safe distance offshore.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
I am a creature of habit and I do tend to photograph the same things over and over, but here's a slightly different perspective on Aberdeen Town House.
Aberdeen Town House photographed across the cargo deck of MV Helliar as it enter's the North Harbour, with NorthLink's viking logo visible on the side of the bridge tower.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Dundee’s Auld Tram takeaway in some of the glorious spring sunshine we’ve been having.
A repurposed and rebranded tram on Dundee’s High Street, shaded from dappled sunshine by white blossom.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Dundee’s Auld Tram takeaway in some of the glorious spring sunshine we’ve been having.
A repurposed and rebranded tram on Dundee’s High Street, shaded from dappled sunshine by white blossom.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
If you're familiar with eider ducks then you'll know this to be one of the most charming sounds in nature.
An eider drake in black, white and green breeding plumage throws its head back to coo.
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Steven Neish @findinganeish.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Today’s deer is brought to you by Barry Buddon.
A young roe deer pauses to look into the lens of a camera as it crosses a quiet road on Barry Buddon training area.
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