Just looking at the hordes of shots taken by various birders of the Cley White Crowned Sparrow on Surfbirds, brought back happy memories of the mad tazz to Seaforth on October 2nd, 1995, when our very own White Crowned Sparrow turned up.
Ah, those were the days - I couldn't paint (as should be obvious from my attempts to capture the Seaforth bird at the time above), but at least I didn't have a digital camera to inflict blurry record shots on you all.
The crowd was a heck of a lot smaller than those in Cley from what I've heard too.
Access to the reserve was easier then of course, and more Yankees had a habit of jumping ship.
The last time that happened was the stunning summer plumage Blackpoll....more cherished memories.
I remember covering the distance to the Freeport in record time from High Park in Southport, where we lived at the time, after work.
This was in the days when speed cameras hadn't been installed everywhere, and I may well have shaved a red light or two.
Or three.
Everyone had to park up by the Marina, then sprint round through the Freeport entrance and on to the reserve to catch up with what was at the time, only the third record for Britain, and the first in 18 years.
Classic, especially as the bird was feeding around the mounds (remember them?) and giving great views.
One of those marvellous days, when wives, children, responsibilities and everything else was left abandoned as everyone converged on Seaforth.
And the bird had gone the next day.
Anyone else remember their dash for the sparrow? Let me know...it beats trying to bird in the atrocious conditions at the present....
Meanwhile, I meant to post this report about the sorry state of the UK breeding population of Common Scoter, that I got my hands on last week from the Press Association.

The cool Scoter shot above is by Mark Hamblin (RSPB/PA Wire Images). Something tells me he didn't take that off Formby Point.

RARE DUCK POPULATION IN DECLINE
By Lucinda Cameron, Scottish Press Association
The population of one of the UK's rarest breeding ducks has plunged by almost half in the last 12 years, a new survey revealed today.
There are now just 52 pairs of the common scoter, a diving duck, left in the country, the RSPB study revealed.
The threatened bird's range has also shrunk and the breeding population is now found only in remote freshwater lochs in northern Scotland.
The black diving ducks have already disappeared completely from Loch Lomond and from Northern Ireland in recent decades.
Conservationists said habitat changes could be causing the decline and called for "urgent action" to tackle the problem.
The scientists surveyed nearly 330 lochs in Scotland during the breeding period between late April and early June in 2007 to look for common scoters. They found that Islay had been hardest hit, with just one pair of common scoters left, a drop of 92% since 1995, the only time the species has been surveyed nationally.
The scoter population in west and south Scotland has dropped by 46%, to 25 pairs.
The most resilient area has been the Flow Country, an expanse of peatland and wetland in northern Scotland.
There are 26 pairs of scoter in the area, centred around the RSPB's Forsinard reserve, a fall of 28% in the last 12 years.
In Scotland as a whole, the population has dropped from 95 to 52 pairs in that period.
Reasons for the decline remain unclear, although scientists have said it is possible that climate changes could be pushing the birds further north.
Scientists also suggested that plantations and badly sited forestry in the Flow Country could have changed water chemistry in some freshwater lochs, causing invertebrate populations to shift, restricting food availability.
Pike introduced in some lochs where scoter used to breed could also be killing chicks, although some scientists believe they help the ducks by eating small fish which compete with the ducks for food.
Common scoters have never been present in England, and the breeding population in Scotland is the most westerly outpost for the ducks, which are also found in the Arctic and Scandinavia.
Conservationists said more research is needed to discover the causes of the drop and develop plans to tackle the problem.
Mark Eaton, research biologist with RSPB, who led the survey, said: "A decline of this nature highlights precisely the gravity of the situation facing common scoters in the UK right now.
"For this to have occurred in such a short time period is rare and of great concern.
"We really need to get out and conduct more research over the coming years to firmly establish the causal factors that have driven this reduction in the breeding population so we can stop it."
Stuart Benn, senior conservation officer for RSPB Highland, said it is important to discover why the ducks choose to breed on different water habitats, with some on small freshwater peaty lochs in the Flow Country and others on larger hydro lochs in west Inverness.
Peter Cranswick, programme manager for threatened water birds at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, said: "The continuing decline in our rarest breeding duck is especially worrying.
"These new results clearly demonstrate that urgent action is needed to avoid the same fate befalling the remaining birds in Britain."
The survey was a partnership between the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

So there you go, spare a thought for the pitiful UK breeding population next time you're watching our wintering flocks offshore in Liverpool Bay.
And if you're up north and see a Pike, hit it with a stick.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...

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