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Most memorable birding days.... (1 Viewer)

Stonefaction

Dundee Birding....(target 150 in 2024).
Scotland
As a result of one of the posts in the "Does anyone like me think twitching gives birdwatchers a bad reputation" I bought a copy of the book "Best Days With British Birds" which arrived today. Looks quite interesting, and thought a similar thread on here might also be quite interesting. No doubt there will have been similar threads in the past, but what would be your most memorable (exciting/frustrating/enjoyable) birding day, and why?
 
For sheer enjoyment it would be hard to beat birding in Hong Kong when I was 10 years old. We spent days out on Mai Po Marshes an other hot spots, sometimes just a couple of kids, other times on Hong Kong Birdwatching Society trips. When you're that age everything is new and exciting!

In the UK, our first trip to Minsmere was fabulous, we were like kids in a sweetshop. Everything came out to play that day, the spoonbill synchronised feeding was a particular highlight.

For sheer frustration - hmmm - rainforest birding can take the biscuit sometimes. You know the bird's there, you can hear it, but there is no way it's going to show (yes, Three-wattled Bellbirds, I'm referring to you) ;-)
 
Best UK days:
Feb 2015, a short trip to a wash not far from me. Stood in a tiny car park over looking the wash, and was treated to the following birds of note:- 4 Short-eared owls, 2 Barn Owls, 6 Common Cranes, 2 Hen Harriers, Red Kite, 5 Marsh Harriers, 2 Kestrels, 3 Buzzards, Sparrowhawk, 2 Stonechats, 6 Whooper Swans, 1 Bewick Swan, Kingfisher and GS Woodpecker, in just a couple of hours. They were my first Shorties and Cranes. Fantastic day :)

Oct 2015, Wells Norfolk: Isabelline Shrike, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Pallas's Warbler, Olive-backed Pipit, Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler, Red-flanked Bluetail, Siberian Chiffchaff, Northern Treecreeper(if you count that one) All Lifers on one trip. Amazing. :)

Most frustrating, Trying to find those pesky Whipbirds in the Blue Mountains of OZ, I could hear them all around me, but couldnt spot one for the life of me Grrrrrr
 
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Another vote for the Norfolk trip Hume's Yellow browed Warbler, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Olive backed Pipit, Isabelline Shrike and Red flanked Bluetail all on the same day. The Spanish Sparrow in Hampshire along with Dark eyed Junco and R C Starling was another too.
 
Recently I'd go with 14th of March 2015. Walked from Burghead to Findhorn with a mate. The weather was stunning. Great birds on the Moray Firth. Couple of pints in a decent pub in Findhorn, before heading back to Burghead to watch Wales beat Ireland in the 6 Nations. Happy days.

Rich
 
I've had many memorable birding days in the nearly 13 years since I officially started my life list. Here are some of the bigger contenders:

November 20, 2004: the day of my first pelagic trip (from Ventura Harbor around the northern Channel Islands of California), during which I saw lifer #100 (Western Grebe) in the harbor, one of 20 lifers seen that day.

March 13, 2010: birding tour of the King Ranch near Kingsville, Texas, which I visited with other wildlife students from Humboldt State University, during which I saw lifer #300 (Ovenbird) and 23 others, plus one more (White-eyed Vireo) upon returning to the Texas A&M University campus, for a still-standing personal record of 25 lifers in one day, beating the previous entry on this list.

December 9, 2010: my 22nd birthday; after finishing that day's finals at HSU, I went birding at Clam Beach north of Arcata with one of my best friends and classmates, picking up an exceptional rarity (overwintering Brown Shrike) as a lifer, plus another, less spectacular life bird as well (Snowy Plover).

January 10, 2012: first time getting a "sapsucker slam" (all 4 species) at Veterans' Park in Sylmar, Los Angeles; none were lifers by then, but after getting the 2 rarer species (Red-naped and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker) shortly after arrival, I knew such a feat was possible. Ironically, what is ostensibly the most common of the four in the L.A. area (Red-breasted Sapsucker) took the longest to find, but I eventually managed to do it.

January 16, 2012: an ordinary day of birding in the Arcata Bottoms turns extraordinary when I discover a female Lark Bunting at the Lanphere Rd. dairy; in addition to being a lifer, it's the first rare bird find I could claim as my own (the first winter record of the species in northwestern California, and it stayed in the area for several months).

March 23, 2013: after driving for 10 hours through the night with some other birders from the Humboldt area, we took a crazy trip across western Washington state: picked up 4 Snowy Owls (lifers) at dawn at Ocean Shores; Slaty-backed Gull (also a lifer) at mid-day in Tacoma; and dipped on Bohemian Waxwings (a would-be lifer) in East Wenatchee at dusk.

November 1, 2014: saw California's 2nd Olive-backed Pipit (a lifer, needless to say), found earlier that day at Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim, California. I'd chased rare birds before, and I'd seen crowds looking for them, but I'd never seen a crowd like that before.

These are but a sampling of my many memorable birding days. I keep a word document with all these dates and many others that acts as a sort of "diary" of my time as a birder, for future reference should I ever decide to write a memoir.

I'll be making my first trip to southeast Arizona in the next few weeks, during which I hope and expect to reach that #500 milestone with one of the local specialties. Another memorable day awaits soon...
 
When one doesn't have driving ability the memorably days are highly limited.

But I did have a good day on 4th January 2014, I was able to convince the superiors to drive me a bit to check on local rarities towards Santa Barbara (California), which isn't something I've had much chance to do (both travelling to Santa Barbara and looking for twitchable species). I was able to find grey hawk, tropical kingbird, Grace's warbler, Thayer's gull and baltimore oriole in the few hours I was given before the family got bored. Needless to say all of which were life birds, besides the oriole.

The trips out with Steve Davidson in Melbourne were quite memorable too.

But speaking of Arizona, I don't think I'll know a true memorable day until I've hit good ol AZ or somewhere more tropical.
 
When one doesn't have driving ability the memorably days are highly limited.

But I did have a good day on 4th January 2014, I was able to convince the superiors to drive me a bit to check on local rarities towards Santa Barbara (California), which isn't something I've had much chance to do (both travelling to Santa Barbara and looking for twitchable species). I was able to find grey hawk, tropical kingbird, Grace's warbler, Thayer's gull and baltimore oriole in the few hours I was given before the family got bored. Needless to say all of which were life birds, besides the oriole.

I also don't have my driver's license yet (I'll be carpooling to AZ with two other birders), so I'm in the same situation. Being connected with other birders who can drive certainly helps, though.

Anyway, more to the point, I saw two of those same birds (Grace's Warbler and Gray Hawk), presumably at the same locations (Camino Real Park, Ventura and Santa Claus Lane, Carpinteria) and both lifers for me, on December 22, 2012, carpooling into Ventura/Santa Barbara counties with two of my HSU classmates, also L.A.-area residents back home for winter break. I thought it was wonderful timing that we got to see the Gray Hawk on Santa Claus Lane a mere three days before Christmas.
 
A recent day springs to mind: October 16th on Ouessant, Brittany.

Up early in the morning to a big overhead passage of thrushes and finches, and picked up a Pallas's warbler that had been at the west end of the island for a few days. Among the commoner stuff going over were a hawfinch, a couple of crossbills and a redpoll, a pretty rare bird in this part of the world! There were plenty of 'common migrants' such as firecrests, black redstart and reed warbler around too.

Over lunch, 2 yellow-browed warblers in the garden!

After lunch, 2 more flyover hawfinch, a long eared owl, a self found red-throated pipit, and then to finish the day off, a twitched male Caspian stonechat!
 
Many come to mind, but just one here (inspired by Santa Claus Lane mentioned above):

Christmas morning in Tunesia, watching an older Lanner teach a younger bird what to do with a feral pigeon. Completely random chance event, no prior knowledge that any falcons would be around.

I have 3-4 times experienced finding really rare birds for the area from our own veranda, those are of course also memorable.

Niels
 
Mention of local birding and not being able to drive/having a car reminded me of my best day at my local patch, Riverside Nature Park. A good day out in the park will yield around 40 species. The record however was 53 species seen (and 1 frustratingly hidden Sedge Warbler). One day in late August 2014, the record was broken, not just by 1 or 2 birds, but by 9! Every time I thought I'd seen all I was going to see, something else showed up. Full story here -

http://stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/record-breaker-31814.html
 
My first day birding in Australia springs to mind. Picked up by an old friend of my then girlfriend's at Darwin airport at night, up till dawn socialising, then off into the surrounding suburbs and mangroves on foot, then further on a borrowed bike, being totally blown away by flocks of cockatoos and stuff. So many new birds on that first day, but even better, Australian birds. Like being on another planet.

Also I was younger back then, and less jaded with birding wonders ;)
 
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Many come to mind, but just one here (inspired by Santa Claus Lane mentioned above):

Christmas morning in Tunesia, watching an older Lanner teach a younger bird what to do with a feral pigeon. Completely random chance event, no prior knowledge that any falcons would be around.

I have 3-4 times experienced finding really rare birds for the area from our own veranda, those are of course also memorable.

Niels

I saw this young Lanner Falcon trying to kill a Helmeted Guineafowl at the waterhole in the Okaukuejo Camp, Etosha Namibia in 2013. It was unsuccessful, but came close to catching it a few times. The jackels would have stolen it if it had been successful. It's antics were quite amusing to watch. I guess not so funny for the Guineafowl.
 

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1st trip to Australia. One day I went with a friend who had a doctor's appointment. I stayed outside and sat on a log for an hour. Everything happened. Magic.
 
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