Slender billed Curlew (1 Viewer)

I was a little surprised at work today when I received a call, on my mobile, from Birdlife international. It seems my sighting of this bird in Greece has caused a bit of a stir. I have had to write up a report for quite a few people and I have just e-mailed that report to all those concerned. I knew how rare it was when I saw it but there was no way I was going to try and register it as there is no way I can prove that I saw what I saw. Imagine it. Miles away, in another country, deep in the middle of nowhere with just you and the missus and the only other things you can hear and see are birds. Put yourself in my place. How could you prove that you had seen such an important bird.

I will be interested in the outcome of this request for information as earlier this year I did inform the Spanish rare birds of the Lesser sand Plover I had seen at Tarifa two weeks prior to the same species turning up at Rimac in Lincolnshire. I received an e-mail yesterday rejecting that record. Mind you I must admit that I wasn't expecting anything different to that.

I have had an amazing year this year for good birds and this years lifers are:

Titchwell Norfolk Mealy Redpoll
Scarborough North Yorks Ross's Gull
Laguna Dulce Spain White-headed Duck
Sierra Nevada (Ski Slope) Spain Alpine Accentor
Vuelta de la Arena ( nr Villafranco Del Guadalquivir Spanish Imperial Eagle
Saltfleetby N.R Lincs Lesser Sand Plover
Drayton Basset pits Staffs Least Sandpiper
Bealach na Ba (nr Applecross) Highlands Ptarmigan
Loch Eriboll Highlands White-billed Diver
Farmoor Res Oxon Franklin's Gull
Tsgari (on Souli Villages road) Greece Rock Thrush
Ioanina Lake Greece Pygmy Cormorant
Wetlands near Sagiada (Nr Albanian border) Greece Slender-billed Curlew
Rodia Lagoon (Amvrakikos Gulf) Greece Slender-billed Gull
Flamborough Yorks White-throated Sparrow