Inspired by Tom Delaney's excellent article on the sand martins at Hewan Bank, I looked them up in Morris's British Birds 1857, a family heirloom which I inherited some time ago but have rarely used. Each of the six volumes (and there are also three of Eggs and Nests) includes some 60 beautiful colour engravings of the drawings made by The Rev. Francis Orpen Morris during the seven years it took him to complete the work.

This in turn led me to think that we might have a competition for members who spot interesting bird species in our area.

Only observations in this millennium please - so the goosanders I watched out of my window a couple of years back don't count. I have bagged the buzzard, kingfisher and dipper but I'll leave the heron to someone else.