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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Stupid Stupid Stupid (1 Viewer)

Mickymouse

Ubuntu Linux user
This afternoon I was creeping along looking for what ever was about and I could hear this sort of squeaking noise I'm thinking Firecrest or Goldcrest because I know they are about but I can't find them so I creep on some more then, Doh it was my keyring hanging on my belt.
Be interesting to hear others accounts of such stupidity, if only help my battered self esteem.
Mick
 
Goldcrest

Mickymouse said:
This afternoon I was creeping along looking for what ever was about and I could hear this sort of squeaking noise I'm thinking Firecrest or Goldcrest because I know they are about but I can't find them so I creep on some more then, Doh it was my keyring hanging on my belt.
Be interesting to hear others accounts of such stupidity, if only help my battered self esteem.
Mick

Not sure if it's stupid or not - but I was down the end of my garden this afternoon, working on my laptop. Above my head in the sycamore a goldcrest appeared. This was the first time I had seen one in the garden in all the 21 years we've lived here.

I had a copy of Bird Guide's CD ROM in my laptop and so I quickly selected goldcrest and clicked on samples of its song. The poor little thing in the tree went manic as it tried to find where the call was coming from. As it tried in vain to locate the source it swooped down so close I could have reached out and touched it.

I naturally recorded the sighting on the software. Bit cruel though...eh?

Kevin
 
Ah, Kevin, it's no different than when my birding buddies and I call Barred Owls into the cabin on our birding weekends at a local state park. It was done the first time in order to 'get' Barreds for two of us who did not have them on our life lists, but we've now made a habit of it -- perhaps unfortunately. This does happen only twice a year, tho -- but it's now a tradition for us.
 
Jane Turner said:
I've stalked an electricity pylon before now... making this low grating rattly noise!

How close did you manage to get Jane, before it noticed you :eek!:
 
I think I could relate several stories if the joys of The Old Coach House's real ales had not erased my memory. Anyway, we have been doing Territory Mapping surveys around The Lodge over the last few months and the last visit was memorable. There were warblers all through the broom in Sandy heath quarry and I was busy mapping the target species when something went "crex". I confess that my legs went weak and the colour drained out of my face, especially as I was one of the corncrake reporting contacts for the 2003 survey. The sound seemed to be coming from the bottom of the quarry or the bottom edge of the broom. So I moved slightly to locate the position, thinking that the TM survey may well be suspended for the next half hour.

"Crex". Hang on, it moved!

So I move again. "Crex". "Oh no! That was only a few metres in front of me and it is sat on top of a broom. Well, it wasn't a witch but it wasn't a corncrake either. I didn't know warblers did that! :clap:
 
I only wish the afore mentioned yarn was the only time I have been so daft, but alas it isn't, I had a similar occasion that turned out to be a dog with a squeaky toy, I wonder what the next will be?
KC, don't worry about laughing, that's the point of posting it, made me laugh out loud when I realised, I hope the dog recovered.
Mick
 
We went to Tophill Low in East Yorkshire at the weekend. The noise coming from some of the shallow lagoons was incredible.We spent about 40 minutes in total trying to see the ducks which were making the noise from the reeds.
It sounded a bit mallardish,but more like Daffy Duck than the low quack of a mallard. I think I am experienced enough to recognise most of the common duck calls,but we couldn't identify these at all.
We gave up after spending another 20 minutes looking at an area of horsetails
where the vegetation was not very thick,but the sound was emmanating from.
Totally exasperated we eventually saw the warden who informed us they were actually a European frog which somehow have got into the reserve and taken a liking to it and now breed there.
Regards Tony
 
I was walking along a footpath one day when I heard call I simply couldn't identify. It was coming from a bush and as I got nearer I got quite excited. Whatever it was hadn't flown away and it was making quite a racket. Convinced I was about to spot a rarity I crept very slowly along the path and peered into the bush. It was then that I spotted it. Our neighbour had dropped his pager.
 
One April we were walking back down Borrowdale having climbed Bowfell when I saw something hawking insects over the river. "Swallow", I announced, it being the first of the year. On raising the bins it turned out it was a bat!
What business did it have flying around at 4 o'clock on an April afternoon ....

Rob
 
Crept about 15m through Spanish thistles to get a picture of a partially obscured but cracking Roller perched on a small dead tree. Reckoned I would get an award winning picture if I reached the cover of an adjacent old stone wall. My light shirt was no barrier to the thistle spines & by the time I got to the wall I was bleeding & had bilateral multiple pierced nipples -but surely it was worth it.
I slowly rose to a half crouched position raised the camera & let fly......... got some beautiful pictures of a blue plastic bag! :eek!:
 
birdman said:
Erm... I've stalked my mobile before now!

You have your mobile switched on whilst birding Birdman?? Seems to be a habit of Yorkie Birder if what I saw at Old Moor is typical.
 
pduxon said:
You have your mobile switched on whilst birding Birdman?? Seems to be a habit of Yorkie Birder if what I saw at Old Moor is typical.
Actually I never have my mobile switched on... much to the chagrin of anyone trying to get hold of me... but I was awaiting an urgent call.

Under the circumstances, it's perhaps a little less surprising that I didn't recognise my own phone!

(BTW... pm me and tell me what you thought of the place!)
 
2 weeks ago we were in Spain on a campsite at El Rocio on the Coto Donana area. We had met John Butler at one of his favourite bars in Vilamanrique. He had told us that a fairly good spot for Red-necked Nightjars was opposite the campsite so on Tuesday me and my mate set of just before dusk to cross the road and over onto the land John had recommended.

As soon as we arrived we heard the sound of a churring Nightjar, something that caught me out as R N Nightjars sound nothing like them. It soon stopped churring and the two of us proceeded to cross the land towards some trees. Half an hour later the churring started up again. By now it was fairly dark and a dark silhouette of a bird swooped over the top of my mates head towards some open land by some trees and immediately a churring noise set right by were this bird had gone so we set off to try and find it.

As we approached it got louder and louder until it was quite deafening and obviously right by us in some thick grassy area. We both looked at each other and I said that surely this can't be a bird. It started up again and our heads got closer and closer to the ground. It sounded exactly like an European Nightjar but after pushing our fingers through the grasses it became obvious that it must have been some sort of Cricket.

By the time we had gotten back to the campsite we had Nightjars erm!! crickets all over the place.

Embarrassed or what. We had a good chuckle when we got back to the ladies and told them all about it.
 
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