It's been a long time since I was actively birding. Never was much good at record keeping anyway. So, how to work out a list dating back to 1976 given that most of my stuff has been lost during umpteen moves over the intervening years? Memory is notoriously fallible, witness statements given to the police are a prime example. I did find a couple of RSPB birdwatcher's field list booklets. Unfortunately they only list the dates of my sightings in various years.
To compound the difficulty, taxonomists have been busily splitting species in my absence. I should probably be grateful for these armchair ticks; but are they justified? Is memory sufficient as I will not be subjecting these records to scrutiny? Given that I am seriously rusty I doubt that that I could tell a Short-toed Lark from a Corn Bunting [add link to CB]
Having skimmed through my few surviving records I can already see problems galore. Ferriginous Duck (10/01/1994 et seq). Ruddy Shelduck (various). Lady Amherst's Pheasant (02/09/1979) near Milton Keynes iirc. Plus several apparently wild birds that might have been escapes. Black-headed Bunting (Tresco, I remember this one 'cos Bill Oddie was there). Black-faced Bunting (Wigan Flashes) might have been accepted. I'm gonna have to do some research.
