Blast from the past.

Seeing Waxwing's reported on Rutland Drive in Lancaster prompted me to search my old records to come up with the date of 3 Feb 1996 when I note 2 birds were at the precise location 13 years ago.

Looking through old records comes up with some really interesting reminders some of which - not all in the LDBWS area - are often the result of my employment as a delivery driver which gelled perfectly with my birding in a manner unthought of when I initially applied for the job but which eventually could best be described as an excellent 10 years. Here are a few of them......

In the winter of 1992 I found good number's of Brambling at 11 different location's, something we don't seem to be able to do these day's.

In 1993 a visit to Blea Tarn Reservoir on the morning of 5 March turned out to be a very wise move when I found a drake Smew there and is one of the very best past record's I have. There was always a sneaky feeling it was the then regular wintering Dockacres bird on an away trip.

On 6 August 1996 from the path to the Allan and Eric Morecambe Hide's I found an amazing 'probable' up to 100 Painted Lady butterflies. I had never heard of any such sightings of this creature before and certainly haven't done so since.

And a week in Norfolk with my dear friend and mentor John Leedal in May 2000, on a visit to Cley one day produced an amazing 9 Temminck's Stints together.

Talking of 'amazing', a sight I never thought possible on the Eric M'cbe complex at Leighton Moss on 21 September 1996 was of at least 70 Little Stints, 130 here 24-25 Sept. 

And finally......The sight of 17 Grey Partridge in the Eagland Hill area on 4 February 2000 is - I think - the best personal count of the species, though I just have a feeling I counted 21 in the Pilling area one day but cannot put my hand to the record as I write.

The pic at the head of this post is another one of those old 'you won't see it like this again' pic's and is taken from the end of the East Quay at Glasson Dock looking to where the West Quay now stands. The wooden structure at the bottom right is a bit of a mystery to me but presumably was the remains of an old wooden jetty perhaps.