Whilst having a 'tidy up', I came across an old field note book: back in the day I always kept meticulous field notes, which I entered into my 'proper' bird diary when I was back home. (Nowadays this practice has been replaced by this blog and a camera!)
Reading through the diary produced feelings of nostalgia, both because of the birding friends who have disappeared over the past 50 years, but also because of the number of lost habitats and the reduced numbers of species that can now be expected on a typical day out. The page below records a 1987 visit to Santon Downham in the Brecks, where England's last breeding pair of Red-backed Shrikes nested in the middle of a picnic site! (I should also admit that the diary records hectic drives across East Anglia to see my first Great White, Cattle and Little Egrets! For the latter, I left a dinner party I was hosting, scorching across to Welney to add the species to my life list before it got dark!
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