The People's Post

I follow a few natural history bloggers, most of whom seem to be busily publishing their end of year round ups - highlighting their best birds, best rares, best moths, best images... Bravo chaps but who, besides yourselves, actually cares? I'm not going to do one of those, it's just ego-tripping and boasting gone mad, as it always does at the close of the year, I guess. 

Not that I pretend to be any holier than thou because, oh look! - here I am writing yet another post that I arrogantly believe will keep my audience both captivated and enthralled. And I know I have an audience, Blogger's stats tell me so, so thank you all (whoever you are....) 

I barely publicised this blog when I first started it up two years back. The original intention was to create a means of recording what I get up to, something for me to look back on in the future, to remind myself of all the obscure things I'd discovered whilst blitzing the square. Then you lot showed up and I had to somehow try to keep it mildly entertaining. I do get a bit carried away sometimes, I know this (late night wine-addled blogging was never gonna be a great idea. Still, sharing is caring....)

However, I will say that 2018 has been a great year for me. I added well over 500 species to my PSL and enjoyed some cracking adventures with an assortment of PSL nutjobs. Some of these I travelled to see, others came up to see me, plus there's the regular SNG/SBG bunch that already live up here. Some of these antics and species I blogged about, far too often I neglected to write a single word or take a single image. 

I would like to take this opportunity to make special mention of at least some of the many folks who have helped shape my adventures in the world of natural history this year, for they are all of them lovely people who I'm happy to call friends. I'd like to thank them for the lifers, the mishaps, the memories, the laughter and the magical weirdness that we PSL types enjoy so fully!

Debs and Kev Rylands (collapsed) and Nicola Bacciu (sitting) - probably best not to ask what was occurring here!

The lads from work with a pollack - or Piotr, as we call him (haha - I'm actually very glad you've stayed, buddy!) 

Tony Davis - winner of the coveted 2018's Man of The Year Award - this guy is a legend

Stephen Bungard - a most remarkable botanist and our very own living breathing Indiana Jones of the North

Mark Telfer - to find Bembidion you need to become Bembidion! God of PSL, a true legend and damn fine friend

Bradley Telfer - coolest kid in the world! (Unless it's 6am and you wake to find him already sitting on your chest)

The incredibly house-proud Graeme Lyons, caught here vacuuming beneath some Pampas Grass

My Wee Sis, the craziest tattooed pink unicorn anyone could ever hope to meet :) 

The entire '1KSQ Team 2018' hits Uig - (L - R) Ali, Tim and Pete hit the clippings pile bigtime, marvellous!

My blogging is about to change somewhat, but I'll tell you a bit more about that in the next post, which should be the last of the year unless I jam into something remarkable this coming week. 

This next track is dedicated to Big Lee who moved back home to Glasgow yesterday. We were really good friends last year - Big Lee, Wee Lee and myself formed a bit of an unholy alliance, of sorts. This year we haven't been so close, though we're still mates. A few weeks back I moved into the same annex as Big Lee, and it's been somewhat...'trying'...having him living in the room next to mine. But we managed not to fall out and now he's gone, bless him.

As an aside, I've just stumbled across possibly the greatest single sentence of the year, courtesy of Portland Bird Observatory - "It might have been the shortest day of the year but there were more than enough hours of daylight to ascertain that nothing much had changed on the bird front" - doubtless courtesy of Martin Cade, PBO Warden and owner of the driest wit in all of Dorsetshire.