RIP Keith

Very, very sad to hear of the passing of Keith D. I first met Keith, in his role as chairman of the Great Yarmouth Bird Club, a role he served with great distinction with his front of house role for many years. Keith was a true gent and 28 years ago I applied to join the GYBC, at that time it wasn't a given that I would be accepted but he kindly informed that I was eligible to join the Bird Club. I was welcomed by all the other members of the Club too, I greatly enjoyed attending the meetings. I had moved back to Suffolk (following 8 years at University then working at Chiswick then Hounslow Libraries) to take up my then new role in 1993 as Senior Librarian at Great Yarmouth Public Library. Keith was a passionate and very knowledgeable birder and a great field birder too, finding a Franklin's Gull on Breydon on 30th June 1991 being a superb find for the both site & county. I didn't see that bird (working in London at the time) but I finally caught up with one on Breydon 0n 5th August 2014, just before work. Keith led from the front and a wonderful feature of GYBC meetings, was Keith announcing at the start of each meeting talking about latest news and rarities seen. He was an excellent Chairman of GYBC. Keith was a great compiler of records too and I was honoured to visit him at his home office on a few occasions. He helped compile records for the Norfolk Bird & Mammal report and was meticulous in recording these and the GYBC Norfolk bird lists. It was always good to catch up with Keith when out and about in the field, he'd always give you a cheery greeting and alaways had time for you. Farewell @Chelseabirder, RIP Keith.