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Birds you have seen but not COUNTED (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mysticete
- Start date
Jane Turner
Well-known member
My worst is ever so painful. A Scarlet Tanager in the UK, views not quite good enough to completely rule out Summer!
Was this a self found bird Jane?
Jane Turner
Well-known member
Yes... 5 people saw it over 3 days. My best views were in flight and I found it on the day I got out of hospital after an ectopic pregnacy. 28 abdominal staples slowed my progress over a fence trying to catch up with it. It had flown over the road looking like a pocket golden oriole with highlighter yellow under tail coverts. It was a 1st winter female and the bill was huge but I just couldn't judge the shape properly.
It could sit still for hours, then fly out looking like a short tailed barbour-coloured shirke and sit still in another 2 hours. To view it you had to trespass on the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (as exclusive and unwelcoming to non-members as a piece of land could be) and stare into the back garden of the Collins' [publishers]. I had back on views for a solid hour at one point, but never was able to judge the bill shape well enough.
It could sit still for hours, then fly out looking like a short tailed barbour-coloured shirke and sit still in another 2 hours. To view it you had to trespass on the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (as exclusive and unwelcoming to non-members as a piece of land could be) and stare into the back garden of the Collins' [publishers]. I had back on views for a solid hour at one point, but never was able to judge the bill shape well enough.
lewis20126
Well-known member
Another one from me - Imperial Snipe; I used to hear it displaying each morning at Cajanuma in Ecuador but never saw more than a blur in the half light. Good enough for some world listers I suspect...
cheers, alan
Jan-Paul Charteris
Sussex birder and budding moth enthusiast
You'll get Goldcrest soon enough
Conifer woodlands often have bugger all else except Golcrests and Coal Tits in absolute abundanceJan
I have been spending a lot of time looking at Common Buzzards this month, and, to a lesser extent, last spring/summer, and it is certainly possible for birds to glide for some time without their wings being raised in a 'v'. Indeed, juveniles (and birds intruding in the territory of a pair) regularly adopt a flatter-winged posture than one would expect. Juveniles also have a different shape to adults, somewhat, often appearing longer-tailed and narrower-winged, but this is hardly an obvious difference much of the time.
That said, your bird may well have been a Honey-buzzard, but, as you yourself were unsure anyway due to the nature of the views, we will never know for certain.
What time of year was this? I ask, as female Sparrowhawks are larger than males, usually markedly so, and some aspects of display could be mistaken for mobbing. That said, I suppose a Sparrowhawk could mob a Goshawk, as a potential threat.
Andy Wraithmell
aka Limeybirder
My most painful memory is seeing the tail of the White's Thrush on St. Agnes disappear from view and then a complete bar steward stepped in my way so never got tickable views. Still have regrets over that bird!
Nightranger
Senior Moment
I think it was April 2002. The bird was seen by other people in the area at the time. Caution noted Harry but I have seen male and female sparrowhawks interacting. Not only was this behaviour very different, the size difference was far more than could ever be between the sparrowhawk sexes.
Nightranger
Senior Moment
I would not dream of counting it anyway and it has to be one that got away but I did look into all the features you mentioned at the time. If anything, I made the wrong assumption in thinking it may have been a rough-legged buzzard if only because of the timing. The sadder postscript was the definite report of a honey buzzard somewhere in the Ribble Estuary area a few days later. I suppose I will have to stop looking up when I have not got my bins with me.
Nightranger
Senior Moment
This goes for stuff on my year lists too - I had a poor sighting of what was probably a swallow today and an inclusive snatch of what was probably blackcap song. The difference is that these species are less critical and I am bound to get them sooner or later whereas the buzzard could have been something potentially rare for my area (even though it wasn't a lifer for me personally). The same goes for my rejected black-eared wheatear about 15 years ago. In some ways, I did everything right by researching before reporting. On the other hand, the bird had moved on by the time I realised what it was and thus, was lost to everyone locally (and further, given the species). I am not so much bothered about the personal kudos of finding the bird, as the fact that I caused other people to miss it although I doubt if it would have been a long-stayer as very few individual wheatears seem to stay here more than a day.
Jeanie
Jeanie with one n.
Having just returned from a 3 week birdwatching trip in North West India we have about 20 birds that the guide pointed out to us but that we did not get good enough views ourselves to give them a tick. Particularly frustrating was a possible grey sided bush warbler which gave us great views of all of him apart from his side!!
Why doesn't that count as a tick just because you didn't see it's side? You still got great views of it. I personally would tick that.
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