John Grant
Suffolk’s Mr Lister rises again
Photo: Jon Richardson
Pacific Swift – New to Suffolk, May/June 2013
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now it seems as if we created a bit of a monster that rose, Frankenstein-like, with life-giving lightning bolts provided by Suffolk birders’ competitive nature, their rather anorak propensity for keeping lists and, more importantly, their sense of fun. Way back in 1987, when I was editing “The SOG Bulletin” as The Harrier was called then, filling one particular edition was proving to be something of a challenge. As our deadline approached, I recall some ominous blank pages staring at me and my production colleagues – or partners in crime, more like – Steve Piotrowski and Reg Clarke. Then we had a brainwave, inspired by Suffolk’s famous three Great Bustards. It was a case of three Great Bustards sparking into action three old bustards. We stumbled on the idea of “Mr Lister” – who had the most species on their Suffolk life list, we wondered. What a great way to unite the Suffolk birding community in a bit of harmless fun, we thought. More to the point, what a great way of filling those blank pages.
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THE HAR R I ER – S p ring 2 0 1 5
So we set out on an SOG quest to track down Suffolk’s Mr Lister (We weren’t so enlightened in those days. Of course, nowadays we’d embrace a Miss, Ms or Mrs Lister with open arms, err, so to speak). The result was not just an entertaining way of filling a few bulletin pages. The idea really caught on and provided the raw material for many an animated discussion (and perhaps a row or two….remember the “Corncrake” at Martlesham?) among observers in the field, or more often than not, in the pub after a hard day’s birding. Looking back at the first coronation of the King of Suffolk Birders, which took place in the July, August and September issue of the bulletin in 1988 after the submission of many a list, my write-up described the whole process as an “unashamedly flippant piece of bulletin space-filling”. However, almost 27 years on, it’s a fascinating read. Some big listers of yesteryear are sadly no longer with us, some old stagers are still going strong – and Suffolk’s list of birds has soared to heights that back then could barely have been predicted.
