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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Your Most Recent "Life" Bird (4 Viewers)

Bluetail said:
Congratulations, Simon. Very nice! I bet that'll make a few people here jealous (including me!) ;)
Cheers Jason, Definitely my birding highlight of the year (if not the last 4 or 5 years!)
I managed to get the news out very quickly (thanks to a timely call to a very well known birder) and luckily quite a few managed to see it. Unfortunately, me old mate Roger (rogerk) didn't manage it as he only had 1/2 hour before he had to go to work :storm: so no doubt i'll get slated for even mentioning it in his presence for a while now ;)
 
Just last Friday (after not getting a new bird for quite a few months). I went in a twitch to a lake where I was told Green Pygmy Geese had been seen and I saw 'em! A pair bobbing among the pink-eared ducks and grey teal. Lovely. :)
 
I just now went back through this thread, reading all the posts of the various, latest "lifers" which people have been able to see.

It makes for quite interesting reading!

Whether you have 50, 500 or 5000 on your "life list", getting a "new bird" is always so exciting!
 
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Patuxent Research Refuge, Maryland 3 days ago.

edit: I have removed this from my life list :( After reading up on the Empids in a book of mine I found out that all empid flycatchers can have a lot of yellow in their breasts and many will have yellow up through their chin areas. I knew it was an empid the second I saw it, and the all yellow breast and chin were (I thought at the time) diagnostic, so I ticked it.

I'm bummed because that was the only one I thought I would be able to identify by sight.
 
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Clay-colored Sparrow - self found on my patch this very morning (I love my patch - for a community garden and an acre or two of open fields and a couple of soccer pitches it turns up some really cracking birds in migration) - not quite a 'mega' but following fairly close behind - new state and life bird for me and an absolute beauty. Just hoping my mate can meet me after work to get it. Took me a couple of good looks to rule out the possibility of some abnormally plumaged Chipper.

Luke
 
Hi,

A White-bellied Antbird along the trail above Canopy Lodge, El Valle, Panama in March this year. The last of 144 lifers, of 275 total species, on our trip there this Spring.

Richard
 
That Sooty Tern at Cemlyn in July (it was the 10th, I think, that I managed to catch up with it). Off to Brazil on Monday, so I'll have a new "most recent life bird" to post in a few weeks!

James
 
Today, in New York's Central Park, an American redstart. I saw one, ysterday, as well, but I could not identify it until today.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:
 
I saw a Kingfisher in my local patch last week and whether its on my "life list" or "year list" is of little consequence - its just great to see one. I have one worry - the presence of mink (feral) in the area.
 
In early August this year, I saw both Greater and Cory's Shearwater on the way back from Newfoundland to Cape-Breton Island (West of St. Pierre & Miquelon). There was also a storm petrel but I didn't see it close enough to decide if it was Wilson's or Leach's. But on the same trip I also saw another lifer at JT Cheesman park at Port aux Basque, Newfoundland - piping plover.

Scott
 
Today I saw my first Northern Parula (but it was not that exciting to me because a group of 6 birders saw it first and had to point it out to me.) I also saw a first year Lark Sparrow which had been reported on a birding hotline. This was the 3rd time I went to find it. It was probably right in front of me the other two times but I was in abit of a rush before. I could not pick it out with the naked eye. It was mixed in with chipping sparrows on the grass in a cemetery. The head/face patterns only became obvious after the sky brightened on what was an overcast day. I also caught a flash of white from the back when it flew away. I imagine the first guy to find it must really know his stuff. Surprisingly Pine and Palm Warblers were also landing on the ground and headstones in plain view. Also saw a very white albino bird. 5 people said it was a cardinal but I wasn't convinced of that.
 
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The Little Crake at Slimbridge today.

That is 9 in Britain and 4 in Europ this year so far. Much better than I was expecting.
 

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Finally saw an American White Pelican for the first time this past weekend. I have been looking for this bird all summer after hearing it was at a wildlife refuge, but somehow this gigantic obvious white bird has eluded me til now. It is not a breeding bird in NJ and is quite uncommon. I see Brown Pelicans every summer, but never a white. It was nice as I usually bird alone so I saw it on my own. That always makes it better. Snapped off a few not-so-great-but-good-just-to-prove-I-saw-it pictures, it was rather far away and the sun was behind it rather than on it. http://www.pbase.com/image/49581376
 
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Spotted Crake at Blacktoft last Saturday, nearly jumped out of my seat when it revealed itself!!!!

What a lovely looking bird - but that Little Crake looks a smasher as well!!
 

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