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The following is from the UK400 website:

I have been birding since 1968 recording Green Woodpecker as my first ornithological sighting at John O'Gaunts Golf Course, Sandy (Beds), on 1st September 1968. My interest in rarities started in 1969, when I saw a Pectoral Sandpiper at Tring Reservoirs (Herts) in September. My next rarity was a Black-crowned Night Heron at Lemsford Springs in 1970. Along with others, I set up the South Beds RSPB group in Luton in 1974 and streamlined the coach excursions to take in the better and rarer birds each other weekend. I also cajoled John White, who had a car, to take us (that was myself Matt Andrews, Paul Fuller, Phil Rhodes & Mark Simmonds) to major rarities that I had heard about on the grapevine that then existed. I became obsessed with rarities in 1977, and buying my first ever car - a Mini, drove 45-60,000 miles per year in pursuit of them. I became obsessed in year-listing in 1978 - recording over 300 species for the first time - and continued to do so until the present day. Steve Webb held the record for several years before I set a new one in the early eighties. Paul Samson beat me in 1985 but then I regained it the following year. I have held the record since. Bob Walthew was my nearest and most enjoyable 'rival' - recording 367 birds to my all-time record total of 383 in 1996.

My current British life list total is 529 (UK400 Club)/ 497 (BOU) (UK position 7), my Western Palearctic life list total is 733 (UK400 Club listings) (No.1) and my World List is 2,301 (UK400 Club listings) (No 92). My British Year List record is 383 (1996), my day-list record is 163 (28th May 1984) and I am in the Top 15 in the following county listings (Norfolk - no.12, Suffolk - no.8, Cambs - no.4, Beds - no.6, Bucks - no.3, Kent - no.3, Yorkshire - no.11, Hants - no.7, Dorset - no.12, Cornwall - no.5, Scilly - no.4, London - no.5, Northants - no.11, Essex - no.13, Gloucs - no 6, Devon - no 10, Lincs - no 15 & Sussex - no 12).

Since 1970, I have personally found or been involved in the finding of 216 rare vagrant or scarce migrant birds to Britain, including Wilson's Petrel (13), Little Bittern, Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Great White Egret (2), White Stork, American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, King Eider, Surf Scoter, Black Kite, Red-footed Falcon, Common Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Black-winged Pratincole, American Golden Plover, Baird's Sandpiper,Pectoral Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (4), Alpine Swift, Short-toed Lark, Red-rumped Swallow, Blyth's Pipit (2), Olive-backed Pipit, Red-throated Pipit (6), Isabelline Wheatear, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Radde's Warbler, Western Bonelli's Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo (3), Serin, Rose-coloured Starling, Rustic Bunting & Little Bunting.

My most memorable dip was the Caspian Plover on Shetland. I spent £525 flying first-class from Heathrow to Aberdeen only to find that the bird had departed at 6.30am. After waiting all day at Aberdeen Airport, I decided to return to London on the evening flight. Ron Johns & Paul Chapman decided to stay on and miraculously saw the bird the following day as it made a surprise reappearance in the same field. I set forth once again and drove to Aberdeen but only to meet with the same results. The bird was never seen again. This came on top of the Caspian Plovers that I missed on St Agnes (disappeared overnight) and at Aberlady Bay (flew off with Lapwings just 15 minutes before I arrived on site). I have thus far spent over £1000 trying to see a species in Britain that I see almost annually in Israel in March ! Also memorable was my dip on the Suffolk White-crowned Black Wheatear. Its appearance coincided with my then annual pilgrimage for the Steller's Eider on Vorran Island, South Uist. Just as I had stepped off the ferry at Lochmaddy, I was met with the news of the bird in Suffolk and even worse that it had been present since the Friday and suppressed. After a half-hearted look for the eider it was decided to rush back to Suffolk. Myself and Martin Palmer shared the driving throughout the night through storm-lashed roads and arrived in Suffolk to find a bonfire glowing in the place that the wheatear had been frequenting. It was no surprise as daylight loomed to find no sign of the bird. Also at the forefront of my mind are my three dips on Yellow Warbler (North Ronaldsay, Shetland & County Clare), the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker on Cape Clear Island, the Wood Thrush on Scilly (missed the boat whilst searching for a Quail!), the White-crowned Sparrow at Seaforth NR, the Hudsonian Whimbrel in Gwent (flew off west just before Chris Heard and myself arrived), the White-tailed Plover at Packington, the Royal Tern in Lothian, the Lesser Short-toed Lark at Portland Bill, the Ovenbird on Dursey Island, the Cretzscmar's Bunting on Stronsay and the Great Shearwater at Willen Lake (Bucks).

The most enjoyable twitch that I have been on in Britain was that for the Cheddar Gorge Wallcreeper. I was so enthralled by this bird that I watched it non-stop for five hours. It was the most beautiful bird ever seen and still remains my favourite.

Outside of birding and other forms of wildlife, my main interest is music. I am obsessed with CD's and have first-day issues of every single by every artist that has reached the Top 75 since 1969. My other job is that of DJ - I run a mobile roadshow.

The most frequently recorded birds that I have still yet to see in Britain are Little Shearwater and Fea's Soft-plumaged Petrel, but I won't hold my breath.... Also, Sooty Tern is my main target bird now, as well as Royal Tern.

My foreign exploits are wide and varied. Within the Western Palearctic, I have visited Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Cyprus, Corsica, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden & Finland. In North America, I have birded extensively in Florida, Texas, New Mexico & Arizona and in Central America, Mexico. In Asia, I have birded Thailand and Goa and in Africa, Gambia.