RIP Paul Woolnough- birder, twitcher, lister & a real character

Really, very sad indeed to hear today from Paul & Jane F, of belated news that our friend Paul Woolnough had died at home, aged just 60 years old, in mid to late September. Paul Woolnough was a Norfolk birder of long standing. A particularly garrulous individual, he was a real character, a loner who loved his birds and would always be at the big twitches. He worked for many years as a van delivery driver for Norfolk Norse but had left his job in the last 18 months. Although a loner, he was very sociable and was well known to Norwich, Norfolk and Lowestoft birders. He particularly liked us Lowestoft birders (he was also friends with Justin, the Norwich & other Norfolk birders especially the Dereham birders, for example). He was always very helpful in giving directions to various, out of the way locations (even offering to meet us and guide us to our quarry, in our pursuit of wildlife, which we were very grateful for). He also had a great love of other wildlife especially Butterflies, Dragonflies, Orchids etc and planned his holidays so he could observe and tick off different Butterfly, Dragonfly and Orchid species. He had a particularly successful trip to Scotland in the summer of last year. We first came across him on twitches in Norfolk in the early 1980's when he sported some particularly fine flared trousers and Ricky famously dubbed him "Lionel Flair!" after Lionel Blair, the entertainer. I'm sure we may even have called him Lionel on a few occasions, too! We didn't know his real name, sadly till quite a bit later. He would often be seen on twitches in Norfolk and he would always come over for a chat, he was also quite the obsessive lister, with Cley square patch lists, Norfolk lists and then later on a Lowestoft Lizardland list. He loved his patch lists, so it seems very fitting to recap some of the birds he had seen: He had an impressive Cley patch list of 314 (source: Bubo bird lists) which probably included his last good bird the Black Guillemot off Cley car park. Paul also had seen such megas such as Moltoni's Warbler, Alder Flycatcher, White- Crowned Sparrow, Dark- eyed Junco in the past and he had found a Glossy Ibis at Cley in 2014. He also had a very impressive Lowestoft area list of 273 (particularly as he lived in Norwich and not Lowestoft!) including recent sightings of Pacific Golden Plover, Savi's Warbler, Iberian Chiff- Chaff, GW Teal, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Barred Warbler and American Bittern (Source: Bubo Bird lists). He had a great recall of the exact dates when he had seen birds in the past and was keen to share that information with all and sundry. He was a fine birder though and could be relied upon on any sightings he had seen, to be spot on. He was also very sharp eyed and I was fortunate enough to benefit on several occasions, specifically when standing next to him when he picked up the Norfolk Beeston Blyth's Reed Warbler and he pointed it out to me and I had a great view for all of half a minute before it disappeared never to be seen again. His Twitter tag was the "Norfolk Visitor" and he then started to bird/twitch around the Lizardland area quite a lot. Around 2011- 2013 he would often post very welcome comments on this blog on various species he had seen or the last time one had been sighted. I was pleased to bump into him early morning at the Savi's Warbler at Carlton Marshes this Spring and in July was very concerned to see him struggle the mile and half along Breydon south shore to the Pacfic Golden Plover, Yare Valley Justin & I offered to walk back with him but he insisted he would be OK and we only left when he guaranteed he would phone when he got back to the car, which he did. I rang him a day later to see how he was and he said he had taken my advice and said he was better following his visit to the GP who had given him a prescription. He recovered sufficiently to twitch the Black Guillemot off Cley in August, but following a tweet a couple days ago from Justin enquiring to his whereabouts, (as we would have expected to have seen him at the Two- barred Greenish Warbler twitch), it was very odd that no one had heard from him since September. He was sent direct texts and I called him several times and no response, which was very odd as he was so punctilious at replying. We are grateful to Justin for raising concerns initially and calling at his address and unfortunately finding out from his neighbours about this very sad news, Paul was a unique individual and I for one will miss him. RIP Paul. (Photos: first one: Paul on his 56th birthday enjoying a pint and at the Lizard Orchid somewhere in Norfolk, second one: courtesy of Jane Ferguson), 3rd & 4th one: my copyright!