Have you spotted a rare bird and started off a twitch? (1 Viewer)

senatore

Well-known member

• Dec 14, 2005

• #1

I went off on a twitch last week and was very pleased to see the Hawfinches at Draycote Water.Chatting to the birders there enjoying these birds one of them said he was the one who spotted them first and let everyone know.

Now this got me thinking that,whilst it is great to go out on a twitch and see the bird you were after,it must be absolutely fabulous to be the first to spot a rareity.To see a bird that should not be there and has never been seen there must be heart stopping.What did the guy who spotted the Belted Kingfisher feel when he saw it or the guy who first saw the Bee-eaters in Hereford.

Have you been the one who spotted a rareity first.Let us know about it.

Max.

 

B

Bubbs

Well-known member

• Dec 14, 2005

• #2

Red-footed Falcon at Spurn some years ago. It was the year my mother could have twitched one, but it was still nice and was seen by only a handful of birders..... I think that constitutes a twitch, albeit minor.

John.

 

S

showaddy

Well-known member

• Dec 14, 2005

• #3

senatore said:

What did the guy who spotted the Belted Kingfisher feel when he saw it or the guy who first saw the Bee-eaters in Hereford.
Max.

Click to expand...

Couple of years ago, in spring, I found an Upland Sandpiper on the moors in East Cheshire. It circled above and around me, with its display. My first reaction was puzzlement - here was a bird I knew was not normal for the area, but I was not sufficiently well informed to know what it was. I could only make notes on the spot.

I was only able to identify it after searching the world wide interweb net thing at work the next day. I never saw it again - but then it was a long way from home.

So in this particular case, feelings were mixed. Puzzlement - excitement - disappointment - pleasure - they're all involved.

 

dbradnum

Well-known member

• Dec 14, 2005

• #4

White-winged Black Tern earlier this year - not a top class rarity, admittedly, but still very nice to find. After putting the news out, the following few hours were really enjoyable as people turned up to see 'my' bird.

You can only imagine what it's like to find a real mega...

 

Andrew

wibble wibble

• Dec 14, 2005

• #5

Just a female Red-crested Pochard for me on my local patch but it was good to see it being reported for a few days running as people went to see it for their year lists.

 

Corax67

Well-known member

• Dec 14, 2005

• #6

Year before last I managed to find a Bee-Eater in Marloes (West Wales) - whilst not mega rare it felt nice that I enabled other birders to hear about & see this colourful visitor .

 

J

jada dulo

Mr.VP!!!

• Dec 17, 2005

• #7

Nothing major, but 2 Bitterns on my Patch caused the usual 'local' twitch for this species!! The first was in August and I believe that this is the earliest recorded date for Bittern at this site?
Also inland Scaup (found the Belvide bird earlier this year), and Black-necked Grebe at Gailey!
Rarest is an adult male Ortolan Bunting in Cornwall 3 years ago - also had a Black-headed Wagtail outside the cottage we rented!! Unbelieveably, I wasn't 'fully' birding then. Went to Cornwall this year ..... Nothing!!!

 

J

J Jones

Well-known member

• Dec 17, 2005

• #8

American Golden Plover at Warham this October caused some problems. First the messages said "report of American Golden Plover...", and then I had the problem of getting out accurate directions. It took a while for the first people to arrive, and once they did the flock had dispersed and the AGP flown off. Thankfully it was relocated at Cley the next day allowing plenty to see it.

 

Reader

Well-known member

• Dec 17, 2005

• #9

I have had one or two but I suppose the best was a Pallid Swift at Sizewell on 31/10/1999.

I had just come down from watching the Juv White-tailed Eagle at Reydon, near Southwold and spotted a Swift species flying along the beach as soon as I arrived. It was a sunny day and against the blue sky it became just a silhouette but then it flew down in front of the power station and straight away I could see it was a Pallid Swift. That was at about 1pm and through the rest of the afternoon quite a few went after the bird and a few photos were taken.

Below is a photograph taken by one of the photographers that quickly arrived. This photo appeared in one of the monthlies a month later.

 

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KC Foggin

Very, very long time member

Supporter

• Dec 18, 2005

• #10

For me it was the Lark Sparrow on the East Coast. Not sure I would ever open my mouth about a new bird again either after that one I actually had some birders calling me in the middle of the night to ask questions.

 

M

MikeCross

Well-known member

• Dec 18, 2005

• #11

senatore said:

I went off on a twitch last week and was very pleased to see the Hawfinches at Draycote Water.Chatting to the birders there enjoying these birds one of them said he was the one who spotted them first and let everyone know.

Now this got me thinking that,whilst it is great to go out on a twitch and see the bird you were after,it must be absolutely fabulous to be the first to spot a rareity.To see a bird that should not be there and has never been seen there must be heart stopping.What did the guy who spotted the Belted Kingfisher feel when he saw it or the guy who first saw the Bee-eaters in Hereford.

Have you been the one who spotted a rareity first.Let us know about it.

Max.

Click to expand...

Finding the first Woodchat Shrike for Carmarthenshire in my home village on a trip home three years ago was a great buzz and a surprise given it's relatively inland location. A little surreal, scanning for Whinchat and thinking aloud "Stonechat....Stonechat....Woodchat......eh?!" Given that I found it late in the evening I don't think anyone else saw it that day even though I rang the news into RBA straight away. However, what gave me most satisfaction was seeing it come up the next day on the pager and knowing that I had helped a number of people see ther first Carms, Welsh or even in some cases British Woodchat. I went back a few times during it's stay to share the buzz. In my humble opinion the sharing of information (and I am eternally indebted to several finders of rare and scarce birds) is one of the joys of this hobby and I find the mindset of suppressors (private land excepted) totally beyond comprehension.

 

nickderry

C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.

• Dec 18, 2005

• #12

used to spark a few local twitches when I was younger, birding Belvide res in Staffs, Blue-winged Teal and Temminck's Stint were about my best finds.
Tried to start a twitch when I moved to Aberystwyth and found my first UK Black Redstarts, not realising that they were actually quite regular in the town.
Since then I co-found the first Red-necked Phalarope for Ceredigion since the 50s (lifer for me too) which was really nice to share with all the locals, then in the same month found the second ever Serin for the county which was a one person twitch as my phone was dead and the volunteers at the visitor centre didn't know what a Serin was and thought 'oh, that's nice!' At least the record was accepted!