Bogey Bird (1 Viewer)

[Larry Lade]

I have been to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) on several occasions and have always missed seeing the WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN. I have walked through the area where they have been reported and "see nary a one". I spoke with one of the rangers at the park and he told me that I had probably just walked by several of them. They are so well camouflaged and "sit tight" that unless you nearly step on one they remain invisible. I still have high hopes of seeing one some day!

 

[rogerk]

How about Wryneck? I'll join you with that sneaky b*gger!!

Ooooh.. Aren't they a canny wee birdie??
I agree, officially the new bogey bird for Messrs K and C

 

[trealawboy]

What's your 'bogey bird'? That is, the bird which you have been trying to tick off for many years, but for some reason has eluded you.
Mine has to be Great Grey Shrike. So many times I've had, 'should've been here yesterday/earlier' or I'll go to a place of several sightings and see nothing.
How frustrated does one person need to get?

Yep, it's Great Grey Shrike for me too.

I've been for one on many, many occasions only to learn that it left the day before, or "just missed it ... 10 minutes ago mate!"

It looks as if there is something of an influx at the moment however, with reports from north Wales, Berkshire, Hampshire, Derbyshire etc at present. May get one soon!

 

[Alastair Rae]

Gosh Jason, I'm surprised you haven't seen a corncrake yet. That's only becuse i got one on my list before I even had a list. One walked into or back garden in the late 1960's in Co. Galway, with not a cornfield in sight. Some nights you couldn't sleep for the racket they made.

Unfortunately that was before the EEC and CAP were heard of. Although I had heard of agriculture and knew the word 'intensive' (as in care) no-one would have thought of twinning the two.
Now, corncrakes are confined to pockets in Donegal, Mayo and around the Shannon basin in Co. Westmeath.
Shame.

The last contact I had with Crex crex in Ireland was at Oxford Island, Lough Neagh. It was calling away in some long grass but I never saw it. The next year I went back there, they'd built the "Discovery Centre" and put the car park where the long grass had been! :C

 

[Bluetail]

Actually, forget Corncrake. Down where I am I think I've got every excuse not having seen one. The one I really should have seen by now is White Stork. It's not that they haven't been "available" down here. One swine saw one flying past my house one day when I'd gone out birding!

Jason

 

[Acanthis]

My most annoying bogey birds.
Common Rosefinch - missed it so many times I've lost count. There's a bottle of malt whisky available for any birder who helps me get it on my list. B

Also Storm Petrels. Went after them loads of times and not seen one yet. Do they actually exist or are they a figment of everybody elses imagination? I've seen them on the telly - amazing what you can do with computer generated graphics!
It's a conspiracy I tell you!!

 

[Strix]

I've had a shrike hanging out in my yard pretty regularly this winter. If you want to see it, just stop by.

I can see how that is a good candidate for an elusive bird though. Watching it, it never stays in one spot for more than 5 min. It makes its rounds, flies from tree to tree, but it's pretty hard to predict when it will be specifically where.

My current nemeses are Boreal Chickadee, Black Scoter and Ferruginous Hawk.

Past birds that eluded me for a while were Canvasback and Varied Thrush.

 

[Mikejenk]

My most embarrassing bogey bird at the moment is the lesser redpoll ( Unsuprisingly, I haven't seen a Mealy either).

Redpolls are regularly reported at several of my local haunts' but this species clearly has an allergy to me.

Do you ever get the feeling that the rest of the world has 'made up' a species to have a laugh at your expense?