The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Dear all,
I would like to say goodbye and thank you to all my birdwatching friends from LBC. I will be moving soon to Scotland because of a job change. Please accept my apologies for not getting round to thanking you individually for all your help during my membership of LBC and before - there are so many of you who I have met in the field that to name everybody on here would take me ages. However, i would like to especially thank Russell Hayes who I first bumped into on a circuit of Toft Newton Res in 2006/7. Id found a godwit but had no idea about bar tailed or black tailed - Russ put me right on that day and has done ever since, becoming a good friend and birdwatching companion. Russ has ferried me about all over Lincolnshire finding birds, sea watching, rarity chasing etc and if it wasnt for Russ i probably wouldnt have met many of the good people in LBC. Thanks Russell.
I have no present intention of giving up my membership although the commute from South Scotland to Gib may be a bit far even for me. Unless I bump into people between now and going I wish you all many more happy hours of birdwatching and if anybody would like to keep in touch then i can be contacted on the same details below.

Many thanks again,
Matthew Strahan
matthewstrahan@hotmail.co.uk
07804 329859

Good luck Matt!

I shall always remember you for having your binoculars stolen at Covenham Res.
That was a great shame and I hope the incident will not tarnish your memories of Lincolnshire.

Regards
Roy

Thanks Matt, kind words.

I will miss our trips, especially enjoyed the one to Majorca where we had many good birds including Great Snipe, pitty you were in the loo at the time and missed it.

Hope to get up and visit Scotland sometime in the future.

Best of luck in your new post.

All the best

Russell

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http://birdmanbirds.blogspot.com/

Thanks Russ, thanks Roy. Great Snipe Russ? Must have been a Common...You are welcome up to Scotland anytime. Hopefully Ill suss out some ptarmigan, crested tit, capercaille, black grouse etc hotspots.I never did get those bins back Roy - definitely my all time favourites - Swift HHS 8.5 x 44 - compact and light. All my best birds seen through those bins but definitely wont tarnish my view of Lincs Roy - Ive enjoyed every minute of it thanks.

Thanks for your good wishes,
Matthew.

good luck matt, hmm did you dash after that great snipe looking slightly flushed,

take care and good birding in a truly beautiful country

terry whalin

All the best, yes beautiful Country

_________________
Regards
Dean Eades



Take nothing but photos - Leave nothing but footprints - Waste nothing but time

My website: http://www.birdmad.com
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http://www.lcegroup.co.uk
http://www.Canon.co.uk

Let me know if you find any glow worms up there! All the best, Matt.
Stuart

Thanks Terry,Dean and Stuart. Ill certainly be keeping in touch with everybody - I need all the help I can get! Its quite a heavily forested area so Im not expecting too much variety but it might surprise me. Im already thinking the Solway might be my number one destination once Im settled. i will truly miss the East Coast and the sense of wildness and isolation that pervades this area.
Stuart - glowworms in Chambers - brilliant. id only ever seen these once before in Suffolk with Russ Hayes - absolutely magical on a Summery evening with lights twinkling down the Coast. Ill keep my eye out for them in Scotland.

Thanks everybody,
Matthew.

Hi Matthew.
Unfortunately only met you once, when I robbed you in the McDonald's car park at Lincoln. LOL.
Enjoyed spending that short time chatting with a real gentleman.
The Manfrotto Head is suburb thanks Matthew.

Getting a 'where to watch Solway' guide for Christmas, so may have the pleasure of meeting you again.

Good luck with the new job.
Wishing you and yours a great christmas.

_________________
Regards.
Del.

To err is human. To really louse things up takes a computer

Hi Derick,
Thanks for your good wishes and Merry Christmas. Glad youre getting best use out of the Manfrotto head - it would only have been stuck in the back of the cupboard for me so its nice its getting some use. Bird-wise its not been great up here - yet. This may be due to the awful weather weve all been experiencing and I can tell you that coming from Lancashire I thought I was used to rain but this is something different. Believe it or not the sun has just appeared in the last hour, we havent had any sunshine for days - I was forgetting what it looked like. One thing that is noticeable up here is the amount of chaffinches - they really seem to be thriving and be in good condition. There are plenty of roadside beech hedges and they seem to favour these areas. Anecdotally, chaffinches appear to me to be in decline but there are large numbers here. Another species that appears to do well up here is the humble wren and for anybody that likes redpolls ive seen very large flocks, sometimes on the ground which Ive never seen before. Then off course there are plenty of buzzards and a few bullfinches which always cheer me up. For the classic 'Scottish' species, crested tit et al Ill probably have to head North but Caerlaverock and Merse head are definitely planned as trips out. Funnily enough it was only a few days ago when I was thinking - if only I could see a Tufted Duck - I havent seen one yet to add to my Scotland list, and I think back to the thousands Ive seen in Lincolnshire.
Anyway,
Best wishes to everybody back in Lincs and a Merry Christmas to all. Keep in touch,
Regards,
Matthew.

I used to go up to Dumfries every feb with the family and grab some birding too. I like cav'lock but I had a good wander at Mersehead last time up (2 yars ago) and loved it there.

I could really enjoy that place as my local patch.

Thanks for the recommendation Andy - Mersehead was the place I most fancied visiting. Lochmaben is my nearest lake/loch area. Hopefully Ill be able to get a tufty or two on their - see above!

Cheers and a Happy Hew Year (in a few days time) to everybody at LBC.

Matthew.