Your top ten Birding memories...... (1 Viewer)

In no particular order, as I loved all these moments equally

1.Early morning trip to the Delta area of Murchison Falls National Park Uganda. Saddle billed stork, Goliath heron, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Red throated and Northern Carmine Bee Eaters,, Batleaur Eagle, Martial Eagle, Denhams Bustard, and best of all, African Skimmer skimming right in front of me.
2. A very very foggy day on Aurthur's Seat in Edinburgh, visibility about ten yards, and dozens of Swifts coming in and out of the fog to swoop right past me. Kind of spooky and magical.
3.A day trip to the Isle Of May in The Forth in Scotland. Perfect weather and masses of birds. Nesting Eider, Razorbill, Fulmar close enough to touch, Puffins everywhere, seals offshore, being attacked by the terns as you got off the boat to land, and masses of plunge diving gannets offshore.
4.A dawn walk in Rothiemurchus that got me my first Crested Tits, Crossbills, flyover Capercaillie, and Red Squirrels.
5. Sunset at Gretna with about a million starlings putting on an incredible show before they went to roost.
6. Watching a male and female Golden eagle mirror each other's flight perfectly during a display flight.
7.Goa, flight arrived about 4 am but couldn't sleep for the excitement so just stayed up and glad I did. Orioles, bee eaters, kingfishers, egrets, kites, sunbirds, woodpeckers, parrots, shrikes, and much more.
8. Being inches away from Velvet Purple Coronets at Mindo Loma in Ecuador.
9.As a young boy, my grandfather took me on a walk along the shore near Edinburgh and we spent the morning watching Arctic Skuas chasing terns.
10. As an even younger boy watching the courtship of Great Crested Grebes on Linlithgow Loch. That was the moment that got me hooked and thirty years later I'm still hooked.

If I could update my earlier post there's one day that stands out since:

California off the coast: just wangled two places on a whale watching boat.

Cassin's auklets & Marbled murrelets kept flying past & occasionally landing as we searched & searched for whales - then, just as we'd given up hope, the first humpback appeared.

Soon other whales were sighted & eventually we had a humpback on one side of the boat & a BLUE WHALE on the other!!

We watched at close quarters for ages & headed for shore.

As we motored back a bird came in from nowhere and landed just off the port bow.

Albatross! I shouted! A Black-footed albatross had obligingly come to us!

But I think the Big Blue eclipsed the birds.

chris butterworth said:

2. 1969 saw my first solely birding trip abroad with a trip to eastern Turkey. We had the sketchiest of knowledge about where to look for birds but still managed Caucasian Grouse, Caspian Snowcock, Red-fronted Serin and Red-wattled Lapwing among others.

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So, it's getting longer ago with the telling. In 2011, you claimed you saw Red-wattled Lapwing in 1978, now it's 1969. (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=212122&highlight=Red-wattled+Lapwing&page=12, post #299, in a thread rather appropriately entitled "the darker side of listing").

As for Caucasian Grouse, in 1969, the only readily available information on Turkey's birds in English were the Turkey Bird Reports for 1966/67 and 68/69 (neither reports any sightings), and the only published observation (in German) from the country dated from 1943, in a publication by Kumerloeve not readily available outside of Germany. (Apart from Kumerloeve himself, German ornithologists did not widely circulate his work; he had changed his name after WWII, ostensibly for genealogical reasons, because it was well known that he had been a "fanatical" Nazi and had even served at camps such as Kaisersteinbruch, as well as overseeing a publication on the birds of Auschwitz!—at least one obituary more or less completely fails to elude to anything he did between the late 1930s and mid 1940s, http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...DLz4SzPvN--cFnQ&bvm=bv.58187178,d.d2k&cad=rja). To my knowledge the first UK observers to see the grouse in Turkey were Mike Helps and N. A. G. Lord in May 1970.

Amazing how you consistently beat other people to finding these birds, despite never having been to the country before.

Top 10 at the moment but will inevitably change when I remember more. Not in any order.

1. Watching Dabchicks when I was a kid on the Itchen.

2. Looking for Red Kites in Mid-Wales in the 70's with my family.

3. Falling asleep listening to Loons on Lac Le Jeune.

4. Watching a pair of Bald Eagles below our hotel balcony in Port Hardy with a Belted Kingfisher flying past.

5. Puffins on Skomer.

6. A Golden Eagle coming out of the low clouds and circling low over me, OH and my beautiful dog before gliding off on the way up to the mast at the top of the Pass of the Cattle.

7. Again when I was a kid, playing on the banks of the Seine with heaps of Black Kites everywhere.

8. Watching a Nuthatch narrowing the entrance to its nest with my father in the 70's.

9. Trying to point out a "singing" Corncrake to my father whilst on Mull. A lifer for both of us.

10. Coming across an Emu at the side of the road in WA. An almost surreal sight. Where's the cage?3

That's a difficult exercise. How to leave out Ospreys, Kingfishers and Gannets fishing. There was also the Surf Scoter that came within 10 feet of our little hired boat/ dinghy on Lac Le Jeune or the amazing variety of birds on/around goose and duck lake in BC. Or Pied Flycatchers in Dinas and a Barn Owl flying alongside the car in snowy conditions outside Kingussie.

Rich

GMK said:

So, it's getting longer ago with the telling. In 2011............

Amazing how you consistently beat other people to finding these birds, despite never having been to the country before.

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Just a mistake over the year as I'm working from memory. I've no notes with me at the moment, being away on holiday. Nothing to get excited about Guy. Thànk you for pointing it out, and the amount of work you took on to correct me.

Chris

emotional thread when birding forms such a huge part of everyday life its like describing the ten best moments of your life

In some kind of random order, highly stringy and autobigraphical

Pagham Harbour - my first birding destination - with bored sisters and cousins in tow, we encountered a Wryneck on the North Wall, very tame and approachable - great start to a lifetime hobby. First read letter day arrived to find a delicate Wilson's Phalarope on Ferry Pool surrounded by crisp, pristine juvenile Autumn waders. Then off to the Bill for my first every Red-backed Shrike, rounding it off at Arundel with showy Spotted Crakes

Poland - the first time I really understood that birding is about (day)dream manifestation. You spend all Spring just hoping that you might stumble across a Red-backed Shrike or WWBT, then you arrive in a Country where the sheer abundance of birdlife is staggering. Not just that but it represents a hyper-real enhancement of your home county - the marsh did appear to be the size of Norfolk, the forest like an endless Holkham. Masses of mouthwatering birds that we only see occasionally in the Uk. Great company and a memorable comedy moment with a Beaver.

Trinidad - Pax Guest House - spent the whole week pottering about building up my list of hummingbirds, learning the Hawaiian shamanic practice of Huna and being taken under the wing and supping Scotch Whisky with the fantastic owner Gerard - easily the best stars I've seen. The last day found my own little eden by a stream that ran across the forest path. A black Hawk swooped past my shoulder alighting on a branch yards away briefly scanning for crabs, Rufous-breasted Hermits subliminally went about their business, but the highlight - a pair of Collared Trogons. I'd expected these to be a bit rubbish but they were everything you'd expect jungle birds to be, wary and cautious as with prolonged dinosaur-like glances as the surveyed the scene.

Evenings at Sheringham - I spent a wonderful year seawatching at Sheringham - amongst many highlights a blustery day in mid August. My aim for the year was to see my first proper Long-tailed Skua. Eventide and three Skua bopped on past, having spent the whole summer grilling Arctics I was now in tune with the inner sanctum of Skua, lithe, hesitant, lean and elegant - this encounter will always be associated with this song! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdTzmIgRuQ0

Thung Song - Thailand
Had been taking trips to a small temple on the outskirts of town and befriended a Buddhist Mary and Joseph and their dogs who were pleased to know that I realised I was already dead - 'Mary's parting salvo was ''teach'', The next day walking with a friend in a park saw various orioles entering a small sala and reemerging was Sparrow, realisation of everything returning to the source. Also saw the most beautiful bird I will ever see and its not even on the list

Sheepcote Valley - Long-eared Owl
Quite heavy snowfall, walking through overgrown sloping thicket - flushed an Owl that landed about 20 foot away, for what seemed like eternity it fixed me with a stare and penetrated my birding soul, for the first time I saw the ture face of nature. I vowed if I never saw another bird again I had still acomplished what I set out for

Khao Dinsor
Raptor watching at its peak. Endless cascading flocks of Chinese Sparrowhawks, eye colour Ided Oriental Honey Buzzard recognising the Skua complex in the Accipiter - but the Matric moment. Suddenly all the thermals the raptors were climbing became visual and understood the meaning of migration

South Giant Petrel Puking Valparaiso, Chile
My first ever flight on a speed boat. Bobbing about in choppy waters, suddenly an Royal Albatross appears wing spanning the entire ocean, look down to see a South Giant Petrel glaring up at me like some aquine demonic goblin, lean over andf chunder.

October week in Norfolk
Probably the greatest fall of Thrushes I will ever witness, carpets being kicked up from Burnham Dunes and streaming overhead. After an absolutely classic week of Norfolk birding found a quiet spot at Holkham beach and stumbled across a Redpoll. Didn't know what it was, didn't care it was just enchanting, approachable and just the two of us. This was my swansong in Norfolk and felt my contribution to scene was vindicated and rewarded. Delighted for the best in Norfolk to witness what was a stunning bird.

Field trip around Wittaya Map Ammarit School, Thailand
Lesson plan based around the Gyr Crakes tune http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv2R9s2nVCc I took the students on a trip to my house, while larking about with the scope one of the students spotted their friend Cafe who was stood directly in front obstructing the view. Part of the lesson was based on frequency and asked students to pick the most appropriate answer - noted on their checklist - Cafe - there is only one...

1. Seeing a Kingfisher at my local patch.

2. Seeing my first ever Corncrake in 2007 in The Outer Hebrides after standing listening to its call for a while it popped up. The following days I managed to see more of them.

3. Seeing my first ever Red Kites last year at Argaty Stirlingshire.

4. Going on a boat trip to St Kilda in 2005 and looking at the Seabird Colonies around the Island.

5. Having a flock of Waxwings in my garden in 2009 they became my favourite Wintering bird.

7. Seeing my first ever Siskin at this years Scottish Birdfair.

8. Going on a boat trip to The Famous Bass Rock to get closer views of Gannets.

9. Seeing my first ever Hummingbird, Brown Pelican & Flamingo in Cuba.

10. Seeing a Blue a Jay & American Robin in Centrally Park New York City.

1. Listening to my Corncrake on the farm(hogweed patch) during the summer. All my hard work paid off. Didn't see him, but it didn't matter. I can die happy after that.

2. Seeing my first Golden Eagle in Donegal (Ireland) soaring over the mountains of Glenveagh National park.

3. Watching the first Sea eagles nesting in Ireland for a 100 years on Lough Derg.

4. Walking up the road to Monteverde Cloud forest (Costa Rica). A taxi driver passed me on the road and shouted "El Quetzal". I ran with all my gear and girlfriend in tow up to the entrance of the park and saw a male and a female eating on a wild fig tree.

5. Seeing my first Spanish Imperial eagle flying above a pine tree in Coto Donana.

6. My first Bearded Vulture in Odessa national park in Spain. Was watching the bird through my scope. A couple came up to me and asked what I was watching (In Spanish). I explained in broken spanish that I was looking at a Quebantahuesos (bearded vulture). After a couple of minutes I realised that they were English. It was funny that both of us were speaking broken Spanish.

7. Two Bramblings in the garden at the bird feeders during the big snow of 2011.

8. My first bittern which I saw in Tacumshin,Wexford. Spent 7 hours in the same spot waiting to see something. As it was getting dark a wildfowler was heading out to the reedbeds. His dog flushed the bird in an isolated patch of reeds just 15 metres from me. The bird was there the whole time and I just hadn't seen it.

9. Monfrague national park, Spain. Was walikng through the forest up onto a ridge. A black vulture flew directly over my head nearly touching me.

10. Watching a male Hen Harrier perform his Sky Dance in Co. waterford. A beautiful sight........

Top ten birding 'moments' in no particular order.

1. May 19th, 2010, and a lull in a bird survey on the Dogger Bank to run some repairs on the boat. All of a sudden a minke whale starts swimming around us, looking up at us from less than 5 metres distance, and continues to blow our minds for the next half hour or so. All of a sudden one of the guys waves me down to look at a 'funny bunting' that had landed on the deck. It hopped out from it's hiding place revealing a dark-eyed junco!

2. My only biscay trip - poor for birds but with pilot, sperm, and cuviers beaked whale, striped and other dolphins, and breathtaking views of fin whale.

3. Ouessant 2012 - seeing Pechora and cliff swallow within half an hour of one another, and loving the atmosphere as the French birders celebrated two national seconds.

4. In April 1994 I went on a family holiday to Rhodes. My dad and I decided that it would be great to explore around the resort having done no homework at all. The area was dripping with migrants, and among all of the commoner stuff I recall cretzchmars buntings, isabelline wheatears, pallid harriers, red throated pipits, pied wheatear, and the cherries on the cake, a cracking citrine wag, and a flock of 5 blue cheeked bee-eater.

5. I was lucky enough to spend summer 1996 birding in the Peruvian amazon. Staggering wildlife at every turn.

6. On patch in August 2013 - about mid month things started to happen when I picked up 3 killer whales offshore. A few days after a fall delivered three self found greenish warblers in three days, along with red backed shrikes, and wrynecks.

7. Sanday in September. Three autumns on the trot I've been to sanday, which surely offers some of the best all round autumn birding in Scotland at least. Having a place like that to ourselves, with its now familiar and friendly faces, and great beer, adds massively to the excellent birding on offer.

8. Sunday mornings with my dad, usually down to Hartlepool and the tees marshes, or up to Northumberland. If it wasn't for my dad's indulgence I probably wouldn't be into birds today.

9. Peterhead harbour many moons ago, perhaps 2003. Up to twitch a Ross's gull, and in the end connecting with 4 each of glaucous and iceland, with the Ross's and a bonapartes gull too! At one point I had a scopeful including an icer, the Ross's and the boneys on the same rock!

10. Mornings on my patch. Before the golfers get there, keeping me sane before work.

Fat Paul Scholes said:

Top ten birding 'moments' in no particular order.

1. May 19th, 2010, and a lull in a bird survey on the Dogger Bank to run some repairs on the boat. All of a sudden a minke whale starts swimming around us, looking up at us from less than 5 metres distance, and continues to blow our minds for the next half hour or so. All of a sudden one of the guys waves me down to look at a 'funny bunting' that had landed on the deck. It hopped out from it's hiding place revealing a dark-eyed junco!

2. My only biscay trip - poor for birds but with pilot, sperm, and cuviers beaked whale, striped and other dolphins, and breathtaking views of fin whale.

3. Ouessant 2012 - seeing Pechora and cliff swallow within half an hour of one another, and loving the atmosphere as the French birders celebrated two national seconds.

4. In April 1994 I went on a family holiday to Rhodes. My dad and I decided that it would be great to explore around the resort having done no homework at all. The area was dripping with migrants, and among all of the commoner stuff I recall cretzchmars buntings, isabelline wheatears, pallid harriers, red throated pipits, pied wheatear, and the cherries on the cake, a cracking citrine wag, and a flock of 5 blue cheeked bee-eater.

5. I was lucky enough to spend summer 1996 birding in the Peruvian amazon. Staggering wildlife at every turn.

6. On patch in August 2013 - about mid month things started to happen when I picked up 3 killer whales offshore. A few days after a fall delivered three self found greenish warblers in three days, along with red backed shrikes, and wrynecks.

7. Sanday in September. Three autumns on the trot I've been to sanday, which surely offers some of the best all round autumn birding in Scotland at least. Having a place like that to ourselves, with its now familiar and friendly faces, and great beer, adds massively to the excellent birding on offer.

8. Sunday mornings with my dad, usually down to Hartlepool and the tees marshes, or up to Northumberland. If it wasn't for my dad's indulgence I probably wouldn't be into birds today.

9. Peterhead harbour many moons ago, perhaps 2003. Up to twitch a Ross's gull, and in the end connecting with 4 each of glaucous and iceland, with the Ross's and a bonapartes gull too! At one point I had a scopeful including an icer, the Ross's and the boneys on the same rock!

10. Mornings on my patch. Before the golfers get there, keeping me sane before work.

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I've heard the whale in number one even smiled at you ;-) Junco was rather predictable as well!!

Some of the choices are easy even after 60 years of bird watching.

1. Seeing a Firecrest in a Privet bushes in my suburban front garden, when still at junior school. My father called someone and the president of the local society dropped in (I suspect expecting a Goldcrest) and confirmed it. It started a long association.

2. Watching Old Hall RSPB develop over 40 years especially the establisment of a Marsh Harrier breeding colony (now of 8 or 9 pairs). Later Avocets and Common Terns colonised the reserve.

3. Having Missey, a Southern Cassowary, join us for breakfast with the Gregorys at Cassowary House.

4. Magee Marsh, Ohio. My first visit coincided with a cold front, which had caused a fall of warblers and other migrants, waiting to cross Lake Eire. They were dripping from the trees and heavy on the ground. That morning I saw 34 species of warbler (including Kinglets but not Vireos). Several were firsts for me. Also at Magee Marsh, watching a hungry and exhausted Kirtland's Warbler struggle with a huge yellow caterpillar, like a "Wotsit", within 3 feet of my boots as I sat on the lakeside dunes.



5. Asa Wright Centre in Trinidad. The dawn birding from the balcony is superb and the experience wonderfully civilised. Since my visit in 1994, it has, however, become prohibitively expensive.



6. The spectacle of Cranes at Cheyenne Bottoms and Bosque del Apache. The Kansas site probably has the edge as a few Whooping Cranes are present along with thousands of Sandhill.

7. Listening to a chorus of New Zealand's native birds, including Tui, Saddleback and Stitchbird, in a grove at Tiritiri Matangi.


8. Another spectacle, this time Hato El Cedral especially its waterfowl.


9. My first day at Laem Pak Bia, Thailand, with Getty Brett. The shorebirds in particular teemed and I saw 9 species of them for the first time, including Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Nordmann's Greenshank and Asian Dowitcher.

10. Watching a flock of 40+ Swallow-tailed Kites hawking like Barn Swallows over a small field near the everglades.

Less pleasant, but certainly memorable, was being detained by the Israeli military. 3 halftracks converged on me while scoping a Finch's Wheatear on the Golan Heights. Being surrounded by a herd of about 70 plus elephants in the Krueger NP was probably more dangerous but only in retrospect.

I would go along with Auchinbowie with 2 of his top ten:

1. Hato El Cedral in Venezuela. As well as thousands of jacanas, ducks and ibises we had a Sunbittern giving its threat display to a caiman just a few feet away (we were in a small boat) and a Hoatzin with chick shouting at us from 6 feet. Also Anacondas.

2. Tiri Tiri Matangi Island, NZ. A tribute to all the hard work the volunteers have put in to make this place habitable for many near extinct species.

3. Also in NZ - Kaikoura, mentioned by a number of people. There were only 4 of us on the boat, me, my wife Jo, a British backpacker and the boatman. The sea was so rough it left the water twice. However all this was forgotten when he chucked out the bait and the birds appeared. The first was an Wandering Albatross coming straight at us with slightly dipped wings like a B52, then more albatrosses and petrels. A Pintado Petrel held its left wing only 3 feet from my nose. Amazing.

4. Sterling, Nebraska. On a hitch-hiking trip around the USA I spent the night in a field. On wakening I saw that the wide cloudless sky was full of Franklin’s Gulls, thousands and thousands of them in skeins stretching from horizon to horizon. I travelled about 300 miles that day and every time I looked at the sky the gulls were there. I think the world population had decided to move to South America on that day. The previous day I had been in a car crash. The car caught fire with me inside and I was pulled clear with only a few seconds to spare so seeing the gulls was practically a spiritual experience.

5. Finding Buckinghamshire’s first breeding Woodlarks for 21 years.

6. Seeing a male Blue Swallow flying at eye level down the chain of small lakes that go through the middle of the upmarket enclave/golf course of Borrowdale Brooke in Harare, Zimbabwe.

7. Theodora Trail, Venezuela. 3 of us plus our guide, Cecilia Herrera, were walking along the trail when we came upon a swarm of ants. Immaculate Antbirds were running around in the undergrowth but when Rob Andrews motioned us towards him we knew we had something different -a Spotted Nightingale-thrush which gave us brief but excellent views. Cecilia’s face, when she saw the bird, was a wonder to behold.

8. Cave Creek Canyon, Arizona. Seeing my first Elegant Trogons - a pair at a nest hole.

9. Little Desert NP, Australia. We were at the campsite when I decided to go for a stroll, leaving Jo at the picnic table. When I returned, having seen not very much, Jo was watching in wonderment as a Malleefowl fed on scraps at her feet.

10. Refugio Paz de las Aves, Ecuador. Seeing Maria, the Giant Antpitta, emerging from the undergrowth to feed on handout mealworms.

Nice thread. From what I can remember off the top of my head (in no particular order):

Ospreys – Florida
I had seen them before in Scotland, but was amazed at how common these were in Florida - every other telegraph post at the roadside contained an Osprey nest or perch, but the highlight was definitely eating lunch less than 10m from where an Osprey dived into the water multiple times, eventually hoicking out a large fish.

Bald Eagle – Florida
Given as this wasn’t a birdwatching trip, this was the one bird I really hoped I came across. Imagine my delight when on our very final day, this bird flew across behind me; I even managed to get some film!

Nightjar – Crooskbury Common
A little trip to Surrey during the summer ended at dusk at Crooksbury Common. The first Nightjar called at 8pm and then 3 or 4 finally emerged at 9pm and flew so close over our heads we could hear the wings beating. Again, I was able to get some nice film. Fantastic!

Goshawk – Garden
One Christmas Eve, a beastly female Goshawk took a Greenfinch (having missed its original target of the Blackbird) and proceeded to eat it in full view. I have only ever caught fleeting glimpses since!

Owl on head (almost)
Sitting on Benfleet Downs with my lady one summer’s dusk, she suddenly flinched back so I looked up and saw a (I assume Tawny) owl with claws down about to use my head as a perch. I ended up feeling the wingtips against my hair as it suddenly realised its error of judgement and sharply turned around.

Hoopoe – Dungeness
We were on a family trip to the RH&DR at Dungeness and came across a large group of birders watching a Hoopoe. We waited for about 10 minutes before my mother and sister got restless – the turned around to go to the loo and, lo and behold, said Hoopoe flew about 10ft behind them and so near to is that it was too close for the binoculars. They missed it.

Hand feeding Robin
During a big freeze we came across a very tame Robin while getting back in our car after a bitterly cold walk at Great Wakering. Assuming this poor bird was hungry, I cracked open a packet of crisps, crushed them and sat for 15 minutes as this cutie happily ate off my hand. I like to think I made a difference

Dipper – Watersmeet
After watching Chris Packham struggle, this was the first bird we saw, 5 minutes after getting out the car!

Swallow tailed kite - Kissimmee River
For no other reason than it is such a beautiful bird.

My first Smew – Lee Valley
Always been my favourite duck, and our quest to find one took us around various lakes in the Lee Valley, which ended up being an 8-hour, 10-mile trek. No Smews...until the last patch of water 100m before the car park, where a pair obliged for us to see.

What a superb thread, must be incredibly hard for some of the long standing bird lovers, Watchers, Twitchers and world listers to get something down on paper and keeping it to just 10!!

Anyway:

Mealy Redpoll - simple enough but very special as I had a Mealy Redpoll visit my Garden everyday for 4 months.... my word did I feel very privileged.

White Vented Plumeleteer - just seeing my first hummingbird, a cherished moment. Casa Maria, Bejuma, Venezuela

Knysna Turaco - prayed and prayed and prayed some more that I would get to see this species while on last years family holiday. Family still asleep while I drank a coffee on the veranda when I heard it above me..... followed it to the front of the cottage only to see a further 4 more in the adjacent tree.... Thank you lord.

Scarlet Ibis going to roost at Hato Pinero, what a sight (see image) just being in that location as the sun goes down is one of my life highlights, throw in some Hoatzin, Sun Bittern and a Jaguar - (see images)..... what a place!

Golden Eagles - soaring above Arran distillery( I watched from the car park with my partners youngest for at least an hour, mesmerised, the rest is history.... and that was my introduction to birding)

Red Bearded Bee-eaters - Frasers Hill. The gate opened in 15 minutes and we had to leave, a long drive to Taman Negara lay ahead. "oi" shouted a local fella, "have you seen the Bee-eaters...", we replied No, but boy had we been looking. 2 minutes later be were on them... an unforgettable moment snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Siberian Jay - Finland, in the right place this will be easy. We looked, looked again, went to many sites that are favoured by them, no luck. One last visit to a site before we drive back to Oulu airport we gave ourselves 1 last hr .... with 15 minutes to spare BINGO. Blimey that was close. And what a beautiful bird.

Casa Maria - Paradise with birds.... see link (would take too long to describe in on this thread http://www.bugparadise.com/menus/menu_en.html

Kruger Park - and my first Lilac Breasted Rollers, surely one of the most beautiful birds in the world (see image)

18th April, 2004, a beautiful sunny morning, opened bedroom window to hear Bullfinch calling on forest edge. I quickly mimicked a ''pew'' several times, and in it came! a male flying towards me before perching up, followed by another bird (presumed female). My jaw dropped..quickly..followed by those two well known Anglo-Saxon words!...then the second bird perched up on the flowering sallow...adult male Hawfinch!!!...there just aren't words or expletives....I'll never forget!

Ten is difficult, but here are some highlights in chronological order:
(1) One quiet evening, a small flock of cormorants landed in the poplar trees behind my home, which was decidedly odd. It got even better when Wigeons flew by calling. I was 13 and easily impressed, but Wigeons would still get me excited!
(2) A day in Mid-May in Eilat: Sooty Shearwaters bobbing off the coast, Namaqua Dove and Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse on land. None of my Israel visits has been timed well, but I'm ever so slowly getting there.
(3) Santa Ana NWR on the last day of July. I drank seven litres of water, saw a pair of Masked Ducks and plenty of Plain Chachalacas, with other more expected Mexican species. Great stuff, especially after walking for two hours through gang territory. Luckily I got a lift back, just after a reasonably tropical thunderstorm threatened to make my way back interesting.
(4) Twitching a white phase Gyr Falcon on the island of Schiermonnikoog on a Sunday in March. My mother had kindly picked me up half way, as she had never been on the island either. After seeing the bird, some twitchers got twitchy: a Black-winged Kite had been found on the island of Texel... and the first boat off Schiermonnikoog was only at 16:30. Anyway, we managed to charter a sailing boat (who warned us that the shipping channel might not be deep enough), took some transport-less birders along and drove at slightly excessive speed to Den Helder (I set my Dutch land speed record that day). We ended up having great views of the kite as well. Two days later, people also visited the two islands in one day but dipped both birds...
(5) A mid-summer visit to Odaesan in Korea, where I found a family of Tristram’s Buntings. Apparently, they had only been discovered breeding in Korea at another park that same year! Other lifers that day included Siberian Blue Robin (a juvenile), Brown Flycatcher, White’s Thrush, Eastern Crowned Warbler and White-throated Needletail. Any of these would be welcome additions to my Dutch list.
(6) North East India, with a string of great birding places, especially Eaglenest and Kaziranga. Those Indian Rhinoceroses are amazing too (my first safari experience), but the top stars of the trip must have been the very cooperative wren-babblers.
(7) Crossing a barbed wire fence in Brazil onto a police officer’s property (we had asked a local girl if we could do this and she said yes). One of my travel companions got visions of Brazilian prisons, decided it was not in his book and didn't join us. We looked for a bird that was only described a few days ago. Playing the tape of its sister taxon worked (athough the bird came in quietly).
(8) Seeing the most beautiful bird in the world displaying on a chigger-infested island. I had never thought I'd see that...
(9) Twitching an Olive-backed Pipit at Stiffkey Meals which showed beautifully, while huge numbers of migrants kept on coming in, with exhausted Goldcrests everywhere. Not surprisingly, a Radde’s Warbler turned up nearby which I managed to see well. The experience was improved even more by a famous British birder in panic over it being a neap tide (there are few tidal rivers in Bucks) and calling out Continental Song Thrushes and Continental Blackbirds (I did feel at home, haha).
(10) My favourite page in the Birds of South America is the one with the obligate ant followers, so seeing a small flock near Mitú stands out. The attending bare-eye had a rather odd plumage...

This is more top ten birding experiences than memories and I could add loads more. These are top of the head ones, I'm sure there are some, worthy of inclusion, tucked away in old notebooks:

1. American Redstart – Gibraltar Point, November 1982; a great bird I can recall vividly; I’ve seen a lot since but this one was very special – it was only about my fifth rarity!
2. Upland Sandpiper – 3rd December, Sandbach Flashes Cheshire 1983; my first rarity find and what a find; a first for Cheshire – and still the only record; I’m not sure Geoff L could believe it when I called him. Luckily it stayed 5 days and hundreds were able to see it.
3. Steller’s Eider – South Uist – May 1984 – I did this by National Express, Manchester-Oban at half term! I got cripping views of it feeding along the shoreline in the early morning. Later in the day I was watching my first Corncrake in iris beds on Benbecula.
4. Scillies 1985 – real rarity excitement with Yellow-rumped Warbler, Bobolink, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and both Cuckoos on the first day of a long weekend trip with a team from UEA. If I was hooked on rarities before UEA, there was no stopping after I started!
5. Needle-tailed Swift – Hoy; Farnborough John’s post sums this twitch up perfectly; what a bird and a great twitch.
6. Giant Pitta – Danum Valley – 1991 – I managed to whistle this in; it was true rarity – a TAME Giant Pitta. I managed to whistle it onto the end of same log I was sitting on! I still don’t think there has been “an easy one” anywhere.
7. Jerdon’s Courser - 1994? - After 4 days of trespass at night, being caught by the forest police and sent to Hyderabad to get permit, Richard R and I were punching the air when we got close views of this at night with the official guide, Including the travel and permit time, it took 12 days to see this bird!
8. Antarctic Petrels + Emperor Penguin – 2003 – On the Atlantic Odyssey, on the drive through the pack ice, surrounded by 1000s of Antarctic Petrels when 3 large lumps were scoped on a flow infront of the ship. We approached and slowed and shortly there were 3 ADULT Emperor Penguins right by the boat!
9. Baer’s Pochard - Honshu Feb 2012 – the daftest trip I’ll ever do; a weekend trip to Japan to see a staked out male of this Critically Endangered Species. Perhaps not a top ten birding experience but certainly a top ten relief!
10. Banded Ground Cuckoo, Ecuador - January 2013 – After a great morning at Paz de Aves including a Giant Antpitta, we received a call that the Ground-cuckoo was back at Poco del Choco_ we had already spent a day and a half at the site with no success. We were flying the next morning so we had to go straight away. An hour later and we watching this superb bird at the head of the ant swarm.

cheers, a