What was you’re worst string? (1 Viewer)

[KenM]

This should run as long as “the mousetrap”, however it might close prematurely.🤣
We could all do with a chuckle during these dark times especially at this festive season…no?
So let’s separate the “mice from the men”.

A bit like a highly contagious disease, acknowledged but rarely communicated!
I recently “strung” twice, three days apart, much to my consternation and latter amusement, of course, on both occasions mitigating circumstances were responsible, learning curve and ignorance were the prime culprits!

December 5th, I found two Redpolls feeding high in a Birch Tree (male and female) rare as hen’s teeth in these parts.
The male complete with the faintest of streaking to the flanks and white “streak-less” underparts, gave me quite a shock!, thus I tentatively put it out to locals as a possible “Arctic”(one had been reported in Essex at the same time).

Getting a rump shot was an impossibility with it being 30’ up a tree, however the following day I managed to get a side rump shot, when it flew up and out of the tree.
Showing a “streaked white rump” a real learning curve, not knowing that Common Redpolls can appear un-streaked to the UTC’s.😮

Embarrassingly, three days later on the 8th with cold Northerly winds blowing seeing three Southbound Swans in a line (a mega at this abode), appearing to show yellow on the bills before rapidly disappearing behind a line of trees with me managing a shutter burst, as they re-emerged fore-shorteningly at the other end.

Enlarging the images (not good) showed an immature bird leading with two adult birds behind, showing “yellow” bills, I could only compute Whooper!
Not knowing that immature Mute Swans can often show brown wash to the plumage, wings neck etc.,which this bird did, unlike the “wild” immatures that don’t and are often difficult to separate from adults.
Regarding the apparent yellow to the bills, I can only put that down to the very low, bright sun, turning orange to yellow?

So what was your worst?….to err is human I’m told, if that’s the case, you’d all better get in quick before the stampede arrives, current and ex BBRC members most welcome.🤣

Cheers and Season’s Greetings.🎄🎅

 

[cheshirebirder]

This should run as long as “the mousetrap”, however it might close prematurely.🤣
We could all do with a chuckle during these dark times especially at this festive season…no?
So let’s separate the “mice from the men”.

A bit like a highly contagious disease, acknowledged but rarely communicated!
I recently “strung” twice, three days apart, much to my consternation and latter amusement, of course, on both occasions mitigating circumstances were responsible, learning curve and ignorance were the prime culprits!

December 5th, I found two Redpolls feeding high in a Birch Tree (male and female) rare as hen’s teeth in these parts.
The male complete with the faintest of streaking to the flanks and white “streak-less” underparts, gave me quite a shock!, thus I tentatively put it out to locals as a possible “Arctic”(one had been reported in Essex at the same time).

Getting a rump shot was an impossibility with it being 30’ up a tree, however the following day I managed to get a side rump shot, when it flew up and out of the tree.
Showing a “streaked white rump” a real learning curve, not knowing that Common Redpolls can appear un-streaked to the UTC’s.😮

Embarrassingly, three days later on the 8th with cold Northerly winds blowing seeing three Southbound Swans in a line (a mega at this abode), appearing to show yellow on the bills before rapidly disappearing behind a line of trees with me managing a shutter burst, as they re-emerged fore-shorteningly at the other end.

Enlarging the images (not good) showed an immature bird leading with two adult birds behind, showing “yellow” bills, I could only compute Whooper!
Not knowing that immature Mute Swans can often show brown wash to the plumage, wings neck etc.,which this bird did, unlike the “wild” immatures that don’t and are often difficult to separate from adults.
Regarding the apparent yellow to the bills, I can only put that down to the very low, bright sun, turning orange to yellow?

So what was your worst?….to err is human I’m told, if that’s the case, you’d all better get in quick before the stampede arrives, current and ex BBRC members most welcome.🤣

Cheers and Season’s Greetings.🎄🎅

Not sure if this counts as a string but about 30 years ago (!) I went for a black stork up at Carlisle. Got to the location, a pretty rough area of town, to be told by a carload of birders that it had been taken into care because the local youths had been taking pot shots at it. They had the location of the care centre and we set off to see it ,and there it was, stood at the open door of a shed in an enclosure.
Shamefully, that bird was inked in on my list for about a year before my conscience got the better of me .
My first storm petrel was more what you’d call a string - up in the Hebrides , though at the time I’d convinced myself that it was one, with time and experience I came to realise it was rubbish.

 

[KenM]

Not sure if this counts as a string but about 30 years ago (!) I went for a black stork up at Carlisle. Got to the location, a pretty rough area of town, to be told by a carload of birders that it had been taken into care because the local youths had been taking pot shots at it. They had the location of the care centre and we set off to see it ,and there it was, stood at the open door of a shed in an enclosure.
Shamefully, that bird was inked in on my list for about a year before my conscience got the better of me .
My first storm petrel was more what you’d call a string - up in the Hebrides , though at the time I’d convinced myself that it was one, with time and experience I came to realise it was rubbish.

Sounds like your Black Stork was a Bonafide ID?

What do you think your “Storm Petrel” was?

Cheers

 

[Mike Crawley]

It could have been this story below but I realised just in time.

I used to live 800 metres from the River Mersey in Stockport. The river bank and the natural woodland leading to it were my “patch” for about 20 years. Best find - Firecrest, although strictly speaking I re-found it.

However, spring about 6 years ago and the river was in spate, and looked like it might breach the banks. I only had binoculars with me but spotted a white bird at quite a distance as it landed in a tree. My first thought was “Little Egret”, potentially a first for the area and certainly a first on my patch. I walked/jogged along the river bank to get a closer view. The footpath needed care and the meanders of the river removed my view of the tree. The view cleared and the bird was still perched in the tree.
I got a little closer and got my phone out to call friends and report to Rare Bird Alert. At that moment it took flight and as I followed it across the river towards me it transformed into a Tesco shopping bag !!
I put my phone away and pottered off home for a calming cup of tea !!!

 

[cheshirebirder]

Sounds like your Black Stork was a Bonafide ID?

What do you think your “Storm Petrel” was?

Cheers

It was probably one of the auks , but it was from a moving ferry and distant, though we were passing some small isles where they breed. Flight wasn’t right in retrospect.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Moped for Crested Ibis probably my personal best. Crash helmet on moving motorcyclist for Little Bittern prob best I've witnessed

 

[foresttwitcher]

Light plane called as vulture in East Africa.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Not actually mine, but was with a companion listening to Black Grouse pre dawn. My companion thought he could see one; as dawn broke it resolved into the head of a horse!
Or, different companion, leading a Mid Wales Kite trip in the 80’s. A large raptor perched on a hedge, which he called as a Buzzard, then got his bins on it to announce it was actually a cat! At which slander, the cat spread its wings and then flew off; it was a Buzzard after all!

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Back in the day, a few of us used to play a game while birding, where you had to call every single bird the instant you saw it regardless of how rubbish the initial view. This produced some fabulous and at times eye-opening results when it came to realising how some things were capable of looking like other totally dissimilar species given a rubbish enough view.

Of course nowadays it's pointless me playing this game because every single bird I see is correctly identified the instant I see it regardless of how far away it is and how rubbish the viewing conditions 😁

 

[Allen]

Broken white plastic beach chair for a Western Reef Egret in Egypt; but in my defence I had no bins and was using camera zoom only. Ironically there was a Western Reef Egret in the next bay.

 

[KenM]

Of course nowadays it's pointless me playing this game because every single bird I see is correctly identified the instant I see it regardless of how far away it is and how rubbish the viewing conditions 😁

……you clearly haven’t seen some of my “distant” images Larry. 🤣

 

[Richard Prior]

Wasn’t a white 45 gallon drum mistaken by some for a distant Snowy Owl (Felixstowe Harbour was it?)?
I’ll come onto my embarrassing stringing when I’ve had a stiff drink for Dutch courage 😬

 

[Farnboro John]

I arrived at Sollas on North Uist in pursuit of an adult male Snowy Owl reputed to be "easy" on the machair. Having parked up and scanned the grassland I hadn't come up with the goods; a look along a barbed wire fence revealed only plastic bags. I set off across the open plain to just roam about hopefully. An hour later I spotted a birder (confirmed through bins) and made in his direction to compare notes.

My question of "have you seen the owl?" received an affirmative response and his response to my supplementary "where?" had me totally embarrassed as he pointed it out at the base of the fence. I'd strung an adult male Snowy Owl into a plastic bag....

At least it was a happy ending!

John

 

[KenM]

White plastic bags have got a lot to answer for!
Many years ago myself and a colleague espied a “Ptarmigan” on a park bench at Canary Wharf!
It was so contort-idly “lifelike” we both laughed in amazement and I took a couple of shots (will try and dig them out) would’ve looked good on the London List.🤣

 

[01101001]

This summer I saw what later turned out to be a Great White Egret. However, when I wanted to come closer, it flushed from afar and flew along the river towards a nearby forest, upon which I lost sight of it. After a while, though, I noticed a distant splash of white right at the border of the woods, so I took a few photos and proceeded in this direction. The bird seemed strangely approachable, but when I was close enough, I realised that it was a shopping bag from Biedronka--a Polish discount supermarket chain--mounted on a wooden pole, which made the 'bird' appear taller. The actual egret was long gone, although I did refind it on another occassion.

 

[Mysticete]

I arrived at Sollas on North Uist in pursuit of an adult male Snowy Owl reputed to be "easy" on the machair. Having parked up and scanned the grassland I hadn't come up with the goods; a look along a barbed wire fence revealed only plastic bags. I set off across the open plain to just roam about hopefully. An hour later I spotted a birder (confirmed through bins) and made in his direction to compare notes.

My question of "have you seen the owl?" received an affirmative response and his response to my supplementary "where?" had me totally embarrassed as he pointed it out at the base of the fence. I'd strung an adult male Snowy Owl into a plastic bag....

At least it was a happy ending!

John

Ah yes, the annual midwest tradition of mistaking snowy owls for plastic bags, and plastic bags for snowy owls...

 

[Andy Adcock]

Wasn't there well watched Nighthawk somewhere that turned out to be a cow pat?

My biggest boo boo was calling out a distant Honey Buzzard in Norfolk, the assembled crowd seemed slightly perpelxed until some shouted 'where is it from the hang glider'........

 

[Farnboro John]

Wasn't there well watched Nighthawk somewhere that turned out to be a cow pat?

My biggest boo boo was calling out a distant Honey Buzzard in Norfolk, the assembled crowd seemed slightly perpelxed until some shouted 'where is it from the hang glider'........

No there wasn't, it was a group of lads staying at Rocky Hill winding up one of their number by timing an announcement for just before he reached the shops on Scilly on a Saturday evening so he came rushing back without getting supplies for the morrow, back when shops didn't open on Sundays. When he had got almost back for the bird they announced it was a cowpat. But there was no bird involved.

John

 

[Lerxst]

Called out the species in a distant mixed group of ducks on a windy lake. How strange that they didn't fly off when a man in hip waders started wading among them. Oh yeah... hunting season.

 

[Original PaulE]

Pretty much every seawatch I call something wrong, usually because I tend to think out loud! I do usually get to the right answer in the end!! Though I did once call a baby moorhen as a redhead Smew once as well!!