NO! I haven't been on the Good Shepherd from Shetland to see the C. E. Bunting on Fair Isle. (Although I have actually been there). My all shook up came from how I felt for about 3 weeks after we had rolled the car down in darkest Cornwall in 1980! As I said in my last ditty, it did not put us off twitching or travelling or anything else for that matter, but yes, we were badly shaken up, cut and bruised for some considerable time afterwards, but good birds ensured that we carried on birding! Only two days after our gyrations (NO this is not a reference to those great white raptors!), we were off again. This time I drove myself. I suppose I was not ready yet to trust anyone else behind the wheel.
I was at work when I received a call to say there was a Killdeer in Hampshire. I left late afternoon and drove sedately and very carefully (like hell I did!) down to Keyhaven. We scrambled and fell out of the car, and jogged out along the seawall to where the distant crowd of Killdeer-admirers could be seen in the distance. Suddenly they all started to trudge back towards us. Doom and gloom. We supposed that the bird bird had just flown off. We ran faster and soon met the first vanguard of birders trudging back. 'The ******* thing's flown back this way' greeted us as we stopped dead in our tracks. At the same instant we heard what could only be the unmistakable call of a Killdeer right overhead. Sure enough, I spotted the bird as it flew in and conveniently landed in a nice muddy patch right next to where we were standing. Talk about jammy! We didn't even have to walk all the way out to that distant spot where the original sightings had taken place. This was a really EARLY record of this fantastic plover, most records fall in the late autumn or winter. I've since seen another in England (on Scilly) and hundreds of the little blighters in Florida, but they still knock me out as one of the smartest shorebirds there is! Roll on one in Devon!
My next excursion occurred nearly a fortnight later, when instead of heading south-west, I headed up to the Midlands of all places. However, it was to tick off another American vagrant. I have a great affinity with Worcestershire. My father was born there and I know the county well. I even keep a Worcestershire list, based on my holidays and trips there over the years. I won't tell you what it stands at because it's embarrassing, but I added another little corker to that list on this occasion. I was originally going to work, but as I approached the place, I thought 'Fiddlesticks' and drove right past the place and kept going - all the way to Upton Warren! Ninety minutes later I was in the hide watching my first-ever two Blue-winged Teal! I know they're not that rare nowadays, but everyone has to start listing somewhere and 1980 was MY year. They were still quite a draw in those days and I was happy to see them, where-ever they turned up. Yes, I really enjoyed sitting there on my own, in peace and quiet, watching them moving to and fro. I even had Tree Sparrow chucked in for good measure! I have visited Upton Warren on several occasions since that eventful day, and it has never disappointed. (The Tree Sparrows are still there as well!). Two days later I was on the Scillies, but more on this next time!