User:JERIDGE

== 48 years old now & I don't even know how or why I am still here - I should be dead 100 times over - I have been birding, (or at least trying) since 1981. My first half decent find was a Black Redstart (almost unbelievably, on the school playground) in 1984. Other good London finds followed & include Great Grey Shrke (1998), Ortolan Bunting (2002), Pectoral Sandpiper (2003), Red-backed Shrike (2005) & Wryneck (2005 & 2008)...not too bad for an idiot : } - My local patch is Pinner Park Farm, which I have covered for 23 long years. I love walking for my birds, as it is environmentally friendly : ) - my longest walk was for a Grey Phalarope at Tring Reserviors (which is not even in London!) in 2003 (54.12 miles there & back) - other idiotic walks include a Dusky Warbler at Walthamstow in 2010. My best total on foot  from home in one year in London (& bear in mind that  I live in Pinner & not Rainham, is 142 species). My total of chats in Pinner is 1,122 which by most standards is okay - I have also seen four species of Shrike in London on foot (Red-backed, Great Grey, Woodchat & Brown Shrike) ~ (Nobody else has achieved this, or probably ever will). B irding, (or at least listing), has nothing much to do with being any good, it is simply about being in the right place at the right time & this is exemplified by the fact that a complete 'non birdwatcher' can go over to the Scilly Isles for three days in October & return with two species that I have never even seen! My best London session was in Oct 2003 when I recorded 2 Ortolan Buntings, Barred Warbler, Leach's Petrel & Red-necked Phalarope in the space of 17 hours. My best London birds are Collared Pratincole, Rustic Bunting & Squacco Heron. A Little Bittern on foot was my most recent rare bird here. My best UK birds are Cream-coloured-Courser, Roller & Lesser Sand Plover - Best UK birding day involved Oriental Pratincole, Bluethroat, 2 Golden Oriole, Temminck's Stint & a Wood Sandpiper on May 17th 2010 & prior to that Radde's Warbler & Red-breasted Flycatcher simutaneously in adjacent trees in Norfolk. On October 11th 2009, my mobile phone went off & It was John Gates - he had found a questionable shrike on Staines Moor & I rushed down there - It was London's first Brown Shrike, & identified as a first-winter by yours truly, but very few, if any birders actually agreed with us until the next day...Thank goodness it did not fly off! - I often record raptors over the garden on clear days now - unthinkable 25 years ago : ) Apart from that London birders are considered to be amongst the best birders in the world & we should attempt to live up to this accolade  : ) Outside birding - sporting accolades include being school triple jump champion in 1984 & retained in 1985 - Ok, back to birding - Favourite birds? Snipe, Swallow, Lapwing & the Shore Lark is amongst the coolest :) Birding seems to rule my life & I love it...I just hope I am doing okay : ) The photograph in the avatar (until I change it), is of a first-winter Red-backed Shrike at Pinner Park Farm. Pagers & fancy cameras don't exactly appeal to me, as they tend to dictate the days itinerary, but can be very handy, so I will probably contradict myself & end up with something usable for 'record shots'. A paper on Red Kites in north-west London is being prepared over the next two years but nobody will ever read it - it's as boring as my dad's sermons. Ihope tol smash the Red Kite total of garden recording days in 2017. ==

Life rather sucks sometimes, especially as we are subjected to fake religions (which have started nearly every war in history) & the horror of education (where I learnt absolutely nothing).
== It was a privilege to be friends with the late Peter Naylor & Mark Hardwick, as I learnt a lot from them both. I will certainly never be London's best birder, so I just enjoy it - having been rubbish for the last eight years now, I guess it is time to try & break the curse (Jon Ridge) (26/03/17). == I may have lost my strength, but not lost my spirit

Dedicated to the memory of my fiance Gabrielle 10/10/65 - 19/10/15 - I love you X.

I have a fairly extensive music collection & listen to everything from Big Black to Abba.....Favourite bands: Joy Division, Killing Joke, The Smiths & If you don't like Black Sabbath, you should be ashamed - favourite singers, Elvis Aaron Presley, Roy Kelton Orbison & Amy Jade Winehouse <3; RIP - George Michael - he was a smashing bloke.

I don't get out as much as I used to due to rubbish health, but I've pretty much given it my all - well, you can laugh, but not as much as me : ) That is all you need to know after 36 years in the game. We probably only get ONE shot at this life & I am trying my best not to waste it.

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