anderson10
Well-known member
I don't understand this.
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Best/Favourite "Self-found" bird. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Stonefaction
- Start date
I don't understand this.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Reference to Ken's often less that stellar (forgive me Kenneth) photography.
Actually, most of his shots are stellar that is to say they are usually a dot in the sky! Only joking Ken :t:
A
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KenM
Well-known member
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Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
A bit harsh Andy( though I did hear that Ken’s “Shoot first and ask questions later” policy explains why his career in the Met Police was so short
).
Finding a singing male Common Rosefinch on the old Pontins site at Selsey Bill has to be my favourite self-found, it was a lifer for me and my son at the start of that year’s Big Day. Hearing a song that one doesn’t recognise has to be one of the most exciting sensations birding brings.
).Finding a singing male Common Rosefinch on the old Pontins site at Selsey Bill has to be my favourite self-found, it was a lifer for me and my son at the start of that year’s Big Day. Hearing a song that one doesn’t recognise has to be one of the most exciting sensations birding brings.
KenM
Well-known member
Reminds me of being at Beachy Head Richard in the mist, late July, think it was '83?, however hearing calls that I recognised, yet couldn't ascribe! Nevertheless I had an adrenalin surge even though I hadn't "registered" the calls...yet knowing that they were "megas", it wasn't until they morphed out of the mist...4 Bee Eaters...that I went into total meltdown.
Happy days
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Happy days indeed, I also had a Bee eater find, again at Selsey Bill on a slow seawatch in early May. Yours truly decided to leave the comfort(?) of the concrete slope and check along the beachside gardens. There perched on the Bill House behind us all was the multicoloured wanderer. "Bee -eater!" I screeched . "Yeh right" came the cynical replies, "No, really". Cut to sound of falling tripods and clanking thermos flasks as all scrambled to their feet B
KenM
Well-known member
Happy days indeed, I also had a Beefeater find, again at Selsey Bill on a slow seawatch in early May. Yours truly decided to leave the comfort(?) of the concrete slope and check along the beachside gardens. There perched on the Bill House behind us all was the multicoloured wanderer. "Beefeater!" I screeched . "Yeh right" came the cynical replies, "No, really". Cut to sound of falling tripods and clanking thermos flasks as all scrambled to their feet B
Crikey Richard....thought they were endemic, didn't realise that they ranged that far from the Tower.:-O:-O
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Well their uniform is almost as colourful as Merops apiaster.......
jurek
Well-known member
Not sure which one is my favorite, but have two stories to tell.
One candidate for the favorite find was not fully self-found. We were a tour group on a remote island of Principe looking for the local thrush. All birders stood in line, looking at an opening for the thrush to appear. I was the only one who realized that the bird can come from anywhere and decided to look the opposite way. Sure, the thrush flew in quietly and started looking with interest at a row of birders' backsides. Had everybody looked in the same direction it could well remained undetected.
My least favorite find was when we were driving at night in Western Sahara, spotlighting for mammals. You may know how spotlighting works - you drive slowly straining your eves for any tiny glow or movement. There were lots of jerboas hopping on the road and I avoided them all. Still, I did not see a nightjar sitting in a small dip on the left-hand side of the road. It less then two seconds it took off, flew left off the road, then made an U-turn and flew back across the road - and hit the car. I stopped and hoped that maybe it made it in the last fraction of the second. Then I looked in the rear mirror and saw it dead. It turned to be a Golden Nightjar, new for the region, and subsequently led to discovery of a breeding population there. Still I would prefer the little idiot not to fly into anyones car, even if it and its mates would remain unknown to this day.
One candidate for the favorite find was not fully self-found. We were a tour group on a remote island of Principe looking for the local thrush. All birders stood in line, looking at an opening for the thrush to appear. I was the only one who realized that the bird can come from anywhere and decided to look the opposite way. Sure, the thrush flew in quietly and started looking with interest at a row of birders' backsides. Had everybody looked in the same direction it could well remained undetected.
My least favorite find was when we were driving at night in Western Sahara, spotlighting for mammals. You may know how spotlighting works - you drive slowly straining your eves for any tiny glow or movement. There were lots of jerboas hopping on the road and I avoided them all. Still, I did not see a nightjar sitting in a small dip on the left-hand side of the road. It less then two seconds it took off, flew left off the road, then made an U-turn and flew back across the road - and hit the car. I stopped and hoped that maybe it made it in the last fraction of the second. Then I looked in the rear mirror and saw it dead. It turned to be a Golden Nightjar, new for the region, and subsequently led to discovery of a breeding population there. Still I would prefer the little idiot not to fly into anyones car, even if it and its mates would remain unknown to this day.
Corvus cornix
Well-known member
I'd say finding a Great Reed Warbler on my local patch. Completely unexpected and totally by chance. (I wasn't even out birding). Not a spectacularly rare bird but a West Midlands county first (and one of only two reported in the UK that year), but a reward for years of hard slog and great to see so many visiting birders on your patch. As others have said, I think it can be more about the setting and the circumstances than the species.
Of course, I still think you can't beat finding a Firecrest. A patch rarity for us and a superb little bird. I can never tire of them, wherever I find one.
Of course, I still think you can't beat finding a Firecrest. A patch rarity for us and a superb little bird. I can never tire of them, wherever I find one.
Gillian_M
Birding since 2006!
I don't like chasing other people's birds much, or visiting the most popular birding spots here in Ottawa, Canada because of the crowds, so I'm always super excited when I find my own good birds at the relatively under-birded trails within 15 minutes of my house. Last fall I found an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at the storm water ponds 5 minutes from home. This was not only the closest one I've ever seen, it was photographable!
I also found a female Black-backed Woodpecker at a trail nearby last fall where a few had over-wintered the year before, but this was my one and only BBWO of the 2016-17 season (and in fact the only one seen in Ottawa to my knowledge).
About three years ago I found a Golden-winged Warbler at a different trail in the same conservation area - these are scarce breeding birds in our area, with only one known breeding area, and this was nowhere close by. I thought it was a weird looking Golden-crowned Kinglet and did a double take when I realized what it was!
I also found a female Black-backed Woodpecker at a trail nearby last fall where a few had over-wintered the year before, but this was my one and only BBWO of the 2016-17 season (and in fact the only one seen in Ottawa to my knowledge).
About three years ago I found a Golden-winged Warbler at a different trail in the same conservation area - these are scarce breeding birds in our area, with only one known breeding area, and this was nowhere close by. I thought it was a weird looking Golden-crowned Kinglet and did a double take when I realized what it was!
