[KenM]

Finding rare birds is one aspect of 'Birding'....another might be finding species in slightly incongruous places? Two examples spring to mind for me, many years ago whilst holidaying in Scotland during August I climbed Carn bahn mohr (If that's how I remember spelling it?) in the Cairngorms and instead of finding perhaps Dotterel in the mist...I found a solitary Ringed Plover!

My second experience was when I first moved from the parental home and lived in a ground floor maisonette facing mature woodland with houses and flats either side with gardens backing on.
A 'drive' that ran alongside the house and finished to the front of two garages, which abutted another row of garages, a lawned area with a huge conifer in the centre, adjoining other suburban gardens (apologies for the detail...but I believe it's relevant to the surprise visitor).
Our portion of garden was a narrow strip of lawn (fenced) to one side, and a shared path with the upstairs tenant plus a hard turning circle on the other side, with flower pots and appropriate solid fencing (hope all are getting the relatively congested picture?).
At the end of my narrow lawn strip there was an inverted L shaped earth border...perhaps 5m x 2m in length and 1m deep against an approx. 2m high...solid fence.

Effectively the L shaped 1m wide earth border was used to grow Runner Beans, It was early May...I had just dug the trench and filled it with horse manure, had retired to the bathroom to clean up, when my wife called out ''what's this strange bird on the earth border?'' A quick sprint into the kitchen and my jaw dropped!...an adult male Northern Wheatear!

Although having bumped into a number of scarce birds over the years, for me this ranks very high, relative to habitat requirements. Having regularly seen Wheatear locally in horse grazed paddock particularly on Spring passage, it can be no coincidence that the invertebrates associated with horse manure (specific flies etc.) were responsible for this occurence in what must represent a 'micro' example of the sum total of it's requirements.

(How the bird found this feeding 'site'..I can only speculate..by scent?..in what one might describe from a fly-over Wheatear's perspective, an almost alien environment). Can anybody else recall seeing birds...somewhat out of habitat? cheers

[Monahawk]

Birds can turn up anywhere beyond their normal habitats. A prime example are 'wrecks' or seabirds blown miles inland after violent or strong storms. Puffins, sheerwaters and gannets turning up at resevoirs or lakes in land locked counties have been recorded down the years. Plus birds on migration or passage can turn up at the most unexpected locations.
Three oddities that spring to mind with me are a guillemot on the River Thames at Kingston Bridge one May a few years back. I have seen on more than one occaision a kingfisher zipping through the local Tesco carpark which is a fair distance from a suitable body of water but most strange of all a dipper flying low around a local farm field. The nearest river that would deem suitable for these is at least 2 miles away. Witnessing the unexpected is what I like most about birding.

Si.

[14meyera]

I read an article in Bird Watcher's Digest that stated a couple found an american coot attempting to perch on the top of a spruce tree in their yard- miles from the nearest lake/marsh.

[ChrisKten]

I guess the Kestrel and Grey Wagtail that turned up in my garden this year were a bit out of place. Especially as I live on a Housing Estate in London.

The female Eider that turned up at the local Reservoirs in the middle of London, was also out of place.

I guess Birds, like other Animals are just attracted by food/water; sometimes they travel (or get blown, in the case of Birds) away from their usual habitat.

[Cheshire Birder]

The first example of mine thats springs to mind was that of a Quail feeding under some bramble along the promenade at Bangor in North Wales in early October some years ago. This is strange on two counts, first the completely unsuitable habitat and second the very late date.

CB

[KenM]

Ringed Plover on a Mountain top....

Wheatear in an 'obstacle' strewn piece of suburbia...

Dipper flying around a field miles from any watercourse...

Coot attempting to perch atop a Spruce tree (have seen a Moorhen attempting the same atop a Sequoia)...

Quail foraging beneath a piece of bramble on a promenade in Bangor during October!..(to date probably the most bizarre?)

There must be many more 'out of situ.examples', excluding flyovers on passage and seabird 'wrecks'.

I seem to recall someone reporting a Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eater flying out of an urban 'trailer park' early one misty morning, in the midlands a number of years back?

[Redshank3]

No birds of especial note however have seen a VERY out of place grey squirrel before:

I was out birding at a local estuary where a small rocky and treeless island about 15m by 10m in size lies separated from the shore by a tidal channel 300m wide. Near mid-tide with a strong current running through the channel, with binoculars I noticed a mammal swimming through the water head only visible leaving a v shaped wake; I wondered if it was an otter as it headed in to shore from the direction of the island. Size was hard to estimate at first but as it neared shore it became apparent it was much too small. On clambering out it turned out to be a very bedraggled looking squirrel!

It seemed to have come from the island but I have no idea why a squirrel would cross mudflats/swim to reach a small treeless island and then back again!

[KenM]

Originally Posted by Redshank3

No birds of especial note however have seen a VERY out of place grey squirrel before:

I was out birding at a local estuary where a small rocky and treeless island about 15m by 10m in size lies separated from the shore by a tidal channel 300m wide. Near mid-tide with a strong current running through the channel, with binoculars I noticed a mammal swimming through the water head only visible leaving a v shaped wake; I wondered if it was an otter as it headed in to shore from the direction of the island. Size was hard to estimate at first but as it neared shore it became apparent it was much too small. On clambering out it turned out to be a very bedraggled looking squirrel!

It seemed to have come from the island but I have no idea why a squirrel would cross mudflats/swim to reach a small treeless island and then back again!

That 'currently' suggests that avian vagrancy....is just a 'breeze'...What an amazing 'tail'....

[ovenbird43]

During an otherwise rather boring pelagic trip off the Texas coast, we had a Killdeer fly by, miles from land.

One of the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast a few years ago blew a lot of seabirds into Arkansas... none seen by me personally, but these included Sooty Terns, Magnificent Frigatebird and a shearwater (don't recall the species) on some of our larger lakes.

[gandytron]

I once flushed a blue-breasted quail from my feet - which doesn't sound that surprising....but I had just stepped out of my cottage (in a small resort in central Vientiane - capital city of Laos)...and it was on my doorstep!

Whilst Vientiane is not exactly the biggest capital city in the word and it is surrounded by a lot of farmland land, this bird was way out of context!

[KenM]

Originally Posted by ovenbird43

During an otherwise rather boring pelagic trip off the Texas coast, we had a Killdeer fly by, miles from land.

One of the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast a few years ago blew a lot of seabirds into Arkansas... none seen by me personally, but these included Sooty Terns, Magnificent Frigatebird and a shearwater (don't recall the species) on some of our larger lakes.

I seem to recall a Yellow-nosed Albatross (think that was the name) which turned up at a lake in the midlands a few years ago?....I believe that the prevailing weather conditions were settled?...Clearly a short distance from the sea compared to Arkansas.

[Cheshire Birder]

Originally Posted by Redshank3

No birds of especial note however have seen a VERY out of place grey squirrel before:

I was out birding at a local estuary where a small rocky and treeless island about 15m by 10m in size lies separated from the shore by a tidal channel 300m wide. Near mid-tide with a strong current running through the channel, with binoculars I noticed a mammal swimming through the water head only visible leaving a v shaped wake; I wondered if it was an otter as it headed in to shore from the direction of the island. Size was hard to estimate at first but as it neared shore it became apparent it was much too small. On clambering out it turned out to be a very bedraggled looking squirrel!

It seemed to have come from the island but I have no idea why a squirrel would cross mudflats/swim to reach a small treeless island and then back again!

We had a similar instance recently off the Cheshire coast as a Squirrel tried to make it to Hilbre Island which is surrounded by a tidal estuary and at high tide can be a mile from the nearest dry land.

CB

[KenM]

Originally Posted by Cheshire Birder

We had a similar instance recently off the Cheshire coast as a Squirrel tried to make it to Hilbre Island which is surrounded by a tidal estuary and at high tide can be a mile from the nearest dry land.

CB

Don't lemmings throw themselves off cliffs when populations are high?...Perhaps Grey Squirrels are evolving, to immitate their Northern cousins.

[DST]

While taking a break from work I came across this thread and thought I might contribute.

Many years ago a fellow local patch worker rang one evening to say he’d found a Stone Curlew. It wasn’t actually on our patch but about 50 yards away next to the local scout hut (we didn’t use metres in those days). A few of us local patch-listers rushed to the scene, one armed with a copy of the Waders monograph just in case. The scout hut was in the middle of a row of three huts- one owned by a rugby club I seem to remember- along an approach road to some playing fields and backing on to some reservoirs-our local patch. Nearby were a pub and some houses. Between the huts was a narrow strip of ground about 7-8 yards wide: So quite an enclosed area given the large trees close by as well. In the middle of this strip was a small patch of sand and gravel, perhaps leftovers from a small building project. In the middle of this patch was the Stone Curlew. Only it wasn’t one. After careful scrutiny of the bird and the book it was decided it was a Peruvian Thick-knee.

After the disappointment of not getting a notable patch-tick the gathered “patchers” began to enjoy the incongruity of the situation. How remarkable that this escaped bird should find this tiny patch of suitable micro-habitat when nearby there was a large expanse of playing fields and some reservoirs with their grassy banks to choose between. Not unlike Ken’s Wheatear in his vegetable patch, then.

After a while it was decided that an attempt should be made to capture this presumed escape. An old cardboard box was found and the bird was stalked using the years of field craft honed in the bulb fields of St. Mary’s and the tatty fields of Fair Isle. The bird evaded the despairing lunge and flew to the playing fields, perhaps deciding it would be a safer and more appropriate place to be.
It was almost dark now so the Peruvian Thick-knee was left to enjoy its new found freedom. I can’t remember if we went to the pub or went straight home.

There is an interesting coda to this story. A few months later on reading the latest issue of Birding World I found on the last page, which was left for birding bric-a-brac, a photograph of a Peruvian Thick-knee. It had turned up somewhere on the North Norfolk coast that spring only a short while after we’d seen ours and it’s appearance was deemed newsworthy. Surely it was our bird: Unless it had been an El Nino year.

I don’t know what Michael Bentine would have made of it all.

Apologies for rambling,

D>:

[KenM]

Originally Posted by DST

While taking a break from work I came across this thread and thought I might contribute.

How remarkable that this escaped bird should find this tiny patch of suitable micro-habitat when nearby there was a large expanse of playing fields and some reservoirs with their grassy banks to choose between. Not unlike Ken’s Wheatear in his vegetable patch, then.

D>:

I seem to recall a Stone Curlew found on a 'children's sand pit', at I believe Crayford, Kent or thereabouts, this was published in the LNHS Birds of the London Area (first edition), although not in the second edition.

Can't remember the exact date probably '40's/50's...It was c1960 and that particular extract became indelibly etched. The concept of a bird that I could only dream of seeing...landing in a small sand pit (the sum total of it's requirements) within a relatively speaking alien habitat...kinda blew me away!

[alan_rymer]

I have twice found Great crested Grebes on roads. The first was a country lane on a five foot long eighteen inch wide, inch inch deep puddle at the side of the road. Both times it had been raining and then sunny. I assume they mistook the roads for rivers?
I both cases, capturing them was a painful experience!

[Cheshire Birder]

Originally Posted by alan_rymer

I have twice found Great crested Grebes on roads. The first was a country lane on a five foot long eighteen inch wide, inch inch deep puddle at the side of the road. Both times it had been raining and then sunny. I assume they mistook the roads for rivers?
I both cases, capturing them was a painful experience!

Seems highly likely. Swans seem to like trying to land on major roads thinking they are water. That bill surely is a good defence.

CB

[Keith Dickinson]

Just picked up on this thread and I'm sorry Ken but that myth about lemmings was either started by Walt Disney in one of his wildlife films in the 40' and 50's or brought to mass audiences by same.
Wiki article HERE

Originally Posted by KenM

Don't lemmings throw themselves off cliffs when populations are high?...Perhaps Grey Squirrels are evolving, to immitate their Northern cousins.

[Keith Dickinson]

Thinking about things, I'm sure that either last year or the year before someone at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve logged finding a roosting nightjar on the reserve, a great record, made even more special due to the bird's location, in one of the grit trays put out for the bearded tits!

[Jonny721]

Originally Posted by Keith Dickinson

Thinking about things, I'm sure that either last year or the year before someone at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve logged finding a roosting nightjar on the reserve, a great record, made even more special due to the bird's location, in one of the grit trays put out for the bearded tits!

You mean this one

http://www.lancasterbirdwatching.org...8312#msg-28312

[Keith Dickinson]

That's it! Thanks for the link.

Originally Posted by Jonny721

You mean this one

http://www.lancasterbirdwatching.org...8312#msg-28312

[KenM]

Originally Posted by Keith Dickinson

Thinking about things, I'm sure that either last year or the year before someone at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve logged finding a roosting nightjar on the reserve, a great record, made even more special due to the bird's location, in one of the grit trays put out for the bearded tits!

With new build (esp high rise flats), where increasingly flat roofs are being used particularly in cities and suburbia, perhaps a not dissimilar material might be considered to boost their numbers? As I believe Nighthawks in the United States have colonised these niche areas. cheers