not-twitched list

[Jane Turner]

I have a big thing for pre-emptive twitching. Picking the location on weather and time of year, and trying to be there when the big news breaks, or better still finding the bird in the first place. It has a very low success rate, but somehow the rewards are much greater. Anyway...to the point of my post. I was contemplating what the best birds that I had technically not twitched were, aside from things I'd found....the ones where I happened to be in the right place when the news broke.

1. I was on my way to Shetland, mainly to see Mr A.Ross and have a week's birding up north, when the Pallas's Sandgrouse turned up.

2. I was walking back from Blakeney point when someone cantering past me said "Did I know about the Pacific Swift at Cley"

3. I appeared at Blacktoft about 15 seconds after Penduline Tits!

4. An August speculative day trip to Scilly, while on a family holiday in Cornwall. That day a Citrine Wag turned up on tresco...which sort of counted as a twitch since I would otherwise have gone to Aggie. As I got off the boat I met another birder who said "There is a really good looking stint on the Great Pool".

It was an adult Semi-P....

5. I was watching an Olive-backed Pipit on Fair Isle, down to a few feet, when Paul Harvey came running towards me shouting can you see it as he hurdled a fence. i thought to myself this is a bit keen, he must have seen dozens of these! I turned round to see an Eye-browed Thrush!

[Harry Hussey]

Hi Jane,
Obviously,this doesn't include finds?;)
Well,in that case,can think of a few off the top of my head:
1)May 10th 2001.A few of us headed down to Great Saltee for our usual spring weekend.As the boat pulled out of the harbour,a phone call came from some birders who had gone over the previous evening to say that some ringers had just found a Woodlark(only the second Irish record since 1966 of this former scarce local resident,and the first twitchable bird).That crossing seemed to take ages....
2)October 1999 I was on Cape for a week,and had already seen a few good birds(including an Eastern Olivaceous Warbler on arrival which went missing later the same day as we saw it!).There was nothing much on this particular day,and we were all gathered by the "Waist" when Steve Wing arrived with his ringing bag....and a Thrush Nightingale in it!
3)Smerwick Harbour(Co.Kerry)this Sep:a report of a possible Semi-P Plover lured three of us to Kerry,but there was no further sign of this.While there,a friend of mine(who didn't know the area)went wandering up a channel running back from the beach(unknown to him and to me,there was a flooded area back there).Next thing I know,he's ringing me to say that he's just found his and my first Wilson's Phalarope...!
There are others,but don't want to go on all day!
Harry H

[James]

My best was when I was at Penrhos Park in Anglesey on my way home and somebody asked me "Did you come to see the White-Billed Diver?"

James

[James]

P.S. When I read the title, at first I thought you meant birds missed by not twitching them and regretting it.
Black Lark Aaaarrrgggggghhhhhhhh!

James

[Jane Turner]

Don't stop on my account :)

On a similar line, I did once make a long drive for an unidentified bird and so beat the crowd. Before they days of birdlines, pages and yes even the internet......I got a call from a car-less friend (I was 17 and had a driving licence and a clapped-out mini). He said a friend had called him that evening, he had seen briefly, but failed to ID, what looked like an American Sparrow or intesting bunting. The bird had been missing all day and they had given up on it.... then it turned out that a bird fitting the general description had been seen by this chap's girlfriend who was sunbathing nearby. It sang a few feet from her.

Chris convinced me to take him to Portland overnight... I'd been on the pop, so it was early hours before we could leave. We got there at just about as the ID was confirmed as Savannah Sparrow.

[Harry Hussey]

Hi Jane,
Actually went for the White-crowned Sparrow this May on the strength of reports of a "sparrow with a stripy head",but this was confirmed while we were still on the way there.
Harry H

[Jane Turner]

James As for birds not twitched and regretted.... I got a call from a friend to let me know that there was a report of a Pec at Frodsham. I was travelling north that day so to go round the bottom of the Wirral and up the M6 was not a huge extra effort. In the end I thought its only a Pec...and I never liked Frodders much.

I got home a few days later to a panicked message on my answer phone from the friend (pre mobile days) to tell me he had been to see the bird and it was a Sharp-tailed Sand... bit of a b*mmer!

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I can't think of too many on this subject - although it maybe depends on what you count. I saw quite a few rarities on pre-arranged coach trips to bird reserves when I was a kid. In some cases I either didn't know about the bird until I got there or the bird arrived on the day - so not really twitching as such. Examples include Stilt Sandpiper and Bluethroat at Minsmere and White-rumped Sand at Blacktoft.

[Steve Jones]

3rd Jan 1988..woke up to a force 9 westerly & thought 'lets see whats at Seaforth, Liverpool'. Getting out of the car I stopped one of the numerous birders running hell for leather to the hides...Ross's Gull - Yippee!!!
PS. James, the black lark was great. I've done the same as you in the past, but its not worth the sleepless nights/knashing of teeth after its gone!!!
Steve.

[Bluetail]

Off the top of my head I can only think of two instances. The first was one afternoon at Lodmoor. I had the place to myself - not another soul in sight. I entered the hide on the southern edge, read the blackboard and was gutted to note that someone had seen a Hoopoe that day. No indication of where and no one to ask. Presumably the bird had gone or there would have been people looking at it. I sauntered around the other hides and back down the Beechdown Way track. Just as I was getting towards the end the Hoopoe suddenly shot up from the vegetation next to me and landed on a mound just a few yards away, where it stayed. I was able to scope it for ages.

The second was at Dawlish Warren in 1988. A crowd of us were waiting for a Greater Sandplover to come in to roost. A group of Dunlin flew in and almost before they had hit the deck, a chap barged out of the hide calling "Broad-billed Sandpiper!" (he must have picked it up in flight - very impressive). An excellent surprise: they're like gold dust in the South West.

Jason

[Bluetail]

Oh, but I've remembered an even better one. I was at Porthgwarra in 1989 when Peter Harrison yelled "Soft-plumaged Petrel!!" It took all of two seconds before the enormity of it hit me. And I nearly missed it - it had already gone past by the time I locked onto it. The guy sat next to me never connected at all.

Jason

[sparky77]

My best was a day on Cape Clear one August, when we started the day with a short pelagic in sunny and calm conditions, about five miles out we found a Wilsons Petrel among the stormies, later that day on a seawatch from Cape a Little shearwater flew past among a lot of manxies. An end to a very enjoyable day.

[Michael Frankis]

Back when I first started birding, and still with only a minuscule list . . . cycled to a local pond, to look for Shoveler, Little Grebe and suchlike. Just as I arrived, passed a birder leaving, who said 'have you seen the Spoonbill' . . . got it 10 seconds mad pedalling later. Still the only Spoonbill I've seen within easy cycling distance of home.

Also a few years ago, got a lift out to yeartick a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been reported the evening before at Druridge Pools - joined 2 or 3 others watching it, standing next to a Black-winged Stilt. Even got my name in BB for that stilt, as the finder never bothered to report it.

Last but not least, went on a rather forlorn twitch to Newbiggin, in the hope that a Great Shearwater that had gone past 2 days earlier, might be doing a double fishing circuit of the North Sea. Well it didn't, but the seawatching was good, and gave me my opportunity to yell out "Soft-plumaged Petrel!!" . . . ;)

Michael

[Stephen Dunstan]

A lady I work with has an interest in birds, but is not in any sense a twitcher. Having been off work ill for a few days she went to Mere Sands Wood to get some fresh air and was surprised to find the car park heaving. She stumbled on the second Surf Scoter for Lancs, a one day bird.

[Jane Turner]

I've driven past a few hastily abandoned cars and joked...I wonder what we are missing, only to discover it was a Terek Sand!

[Andrew Whitehouse]

When I was young I used to go birdwatching most weekends at Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire. One Sunday I was there and I met a couple of local birders I knew well. I asked what they'd seen and they said not much, although there was a drake Falcated Duck around the back of the res. Even at that age I thought - hmm, that'll be an escape - and didn't think much more of it. Anyway, in those days there were no birdlines and between visits I never really knew if anything unusual had been seen. So I was pretty shocked the following weekend when I got dropped off on the causeway to see vast numbers of birders pouring about the place - hundreds. Ohmygod what's turned up, I thought. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered it was all for a dodgy Falcated Duck. I saw it but...not one for the full list yet I don't think.

[Tim Allwood]

Get a few of these living in Norfolk!
Most recent was driving to school along Acle straight and passing a birder at 7:30 on a fast road with no prior reports of anything around.....then another......then two more..... then another. I stopped got out the bins and instantly saw a Lesser Grey Shrike.
Had longer views on the drive home but was in my full footy kit so must have presented an unusual sight.

Plus you know you’re finished twitching when a Pallas’ Gropper comes on 30 mins away and you sit there calmly and think ‘Nah, it’ll be murder on the point trying to see that (and it nearly was apparently) and you go off to Waxham/Horsey instead. Seen a few abroad tho or it might be a little different!

Got a few from overseas but i'll save em for later...

[Jane Turner]

I've precipitated one of these the other way round..on Fair Isle. Three of us were giving a cabbage patch a serious grilling. It contained YB warbler...and a really elusive Reed Warbler.... the latter put up a real fight and we spent ages trying to see it. we were spotted by someone on Ward Hill...who eventually bottled it and came canteing down.... it was just a reed.

[Darrell Clegg]

Bluetail
I was at Dawlish that day and shouted out "Broad-billed Sandpip......!" then got crushed by the mob and never saw it again!!

Darrell

[tom mckinney]

I was at South Stack the sunday the Black Lark was put out. I was hung over and not at all well so I couldn't be bothered to park at the bottom and instead just parked right at the top as far as you can go. Got the Choughs and then drove home. Imagine how worse my (admittedly self inflicted) illness became after the mega alert on my pager pirced through my brain.
Bad day.

[Jane Turner]

That has to hurt!

[Bluetail]

Bluetail
I was at Dawlish that day and shouted out "Broad-billed Sandpip......!" then got crushed by the mob and never saw it again!!

Darrell
Well, bless my soul! I owe you one for that - it was a tick!

Jason