It makes a change to get a double act that holds attention for the full night. A superb night and it would be highly recommended for anyone except this was their last date on tour, so if you didnt catch up with them, reflect on missing a great talk.
Afterwards we did the usual stand around and chat at the club. I say usual, it used to be usual for me. I never missed an indoor meeting for about 15 years until recently, but now the distance is a bit too far from home. I noticed another thing too, in my self imposed exile, half the attending members have changed into people I dont know! No sign of stalwarts like ADMC, Alan Jack, Richard Dunn, Nigel, John, John H, Nick Rossiter, John Richardson Tom n Mu, Les Robson, Ian Douglas, Bob Dack, Mike Holmes, Mike Natrass, Alan Johnston, Alan Janes, Lindsey MacDougall, etc etc. all ones I liked to catch up with.
This got me wondering about their absence...Some will have been busy, but others, I know for a fact, have jacked it all in. I wonder why? I wonder when I'll cut the reins and be added to the 'missing in action' list?
With the ready access to virtual birding colleagues via the internet, maybe these casual catch ups dont fill the gap they once did? More for discussion here another time...
Mmmm....Night all.
Oh we got our 2011 annual report -
One of the illustrations I did for BiN2011... |