Birds you've seen, but not 'properly' (1 Viewer)

[bongofury]

I'm a relatively new birder and have managed to see some great birds, but there's a few that I've seen and am pleased to 'tick' off. However, although I'm 100% certain I've seen them, I still want to see some of them again to feel thoroughly satisfied.

An example of this was a female Smew I saw earlier this year. Doesn't quite beat a male does it! Then today I had a brief glimpse of a Jay in flight - lovely bird in flight, but a perched one would be better still.

 

[dantheman]

You haven't been reading the rarity threads have you? ...

I'd say your examples count as 'seen properly', although maybe not quite the full package you'd be wanting in an ideal world. People tick birds on far poorer views/briefer encounters sometimes. I'm sure there's a few on my list for which views, whilst adequate for id purposes, could have been better/closer.

I've also seen the scottish 'mainland specialities'; Crested Tit, Capercaillie etc, but it was over 15 years ago now, so it probably would be rather nice to see them again before tooooo long ...

 

[bongofury]

You haven't been reading the rarity threads have you? ...

I see Nutcrackers all the time round here. Don't get what all the fuss is about!

 

[ammadoux]

1- kigfisher which i am not sure if it is a common or malachite.

2- Yemen warbler, just as i saw it in front of me at a low bush he got inside to find a snack waiting for it, then bye bye to bird heaven.

3- pair of Gray Hypocollius, at the top one a very long desert tree facing the rising sun from the east, it was about 8:00 am on April 2008, then they moved to the eastern side was determine to take the shot regardless i was facing the sun, but by the time i focused they were gone.

 

[nickderry]

My only penduline tit was visible for just a few seconds before disappearing, I've only ever seen merlins dashing past, apart from one that perched up very distantly. Never been able to enjoy a jack snipe properly either, and my only long-tailed skua just flew in front of me and then off back out to sea. Would be nice to see all these again!

 

[bitterntwisted]

Lots of birds on trips I'd want more time to see well and close, but in the UK of the local and scarce species, similar to Nick,...

Jack snipe - Only ever distant or flushed
Long-tailed skua - Never properly scoped and studied
Velvet scoter - Distant only
Long-tailed duck - never adult male in a decent pluamge state

Graham

 

[LabradorDuck]

I caught a brief glimpse of a female Harlequin Duck from a moving vehicle, just enough to be sure what it was but not enough to be satisfied.

 

[Jane Turner]

Fea's type petrel about a year ago from home....but about 2 miles out would qualify if I'd added it to my list.

I think the worst view I've had of a bird which I have ticked was of an Isabelline Shrike. It was silhouette for 99% of the time, on the wrong side of a thick bush. I saw a 50p piece-sized section of its tail (where I could see the colour) for about a second. 100s of people had seen it well.

I've not seen another.

 

[fugl]

Capercaillie--glimpses of females many years ago at 3 three different places--Loch Garten, Loch an Eilein & Rothiemurchus on different occasions--but never a decent look at one. I was reasonably sure of the ID in all cases, and I put the species on my life list, but sometimes wish I hadn't.

 

[bongofury]

Clearly some much better species listed here than my common ones, but still, its reassuring to know my feelings are shared!

 

[Mysticete]

off the top of my head

Sprague's Pipit
Stejneger's Petrel
Gray-faced Buzzard
Lewis's Woodpecker
Cassin's Sparrow

 

[Enji]

The one I've actually seen but don't count is Red-rumped Swallow. Amongst hundreds of Barn Swallows I could finally pick out the one people were pointing at, but I only knew it was the right one because it flew exactly as people said... I could not see any markings or anything on it since it was to far away. No tick even though I was 100% certain I was watching the bird.

Ones that I have seen well enough to tick but would like to see again are:
Green-winged Teal - far away, although very obviously one I would like to see it a bit closer.
Hazel Grouse - only seen them flying off when I flush them.
Glaucous Gull - also a bit far away.

Would be nice to see an adult male Pallid Harrier as well...

 

[Microtus]

Sprague's Pipit, Tropical Parula, and Connecticut Warbler off the top of my head. I'm sure there are others.

 

[chowchilla]

Pale-vented Bush Hen.

In fact I heard one just a few hours ago at dawn as they occur minutes from home. On a couple of occasions I've seen a 'shape' disappear into the forest from the direction of the call, which could surely only be the bird, but nothing I could tick!

 

[njlarsen]

There are probably quite a few of these, but I don't keep a list of them, not to drive myself bonkers! The one I want to tell about was the Broad-billed Sandpiper I saw while on a field trip with the university where I was a student; I were an extremely new birdwatcher so did not feel sure, and the rest of the group did now want to wait for me to grab the much better birder in the group to go back and check it out. It took about 10 more years before I saw the next one, which I could id comfortably, and by comparing to my inner memory of the previous one, I could elevate the previous observation to certain as well.

Niels

 

[Reuven_M]

I've had glimpses of rough-legged hawk, yellow-breasted chat and american pipit, but I only knew what they were because someone else had been watching them. Not on my list.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

I'm a relatively new birder and have managed to see some great birds, but there's a few that I've seen and am pleased to 'tick' off. However, although I'm 100% certain I've seen them, I still want to see some of them again to feel thoroughly satisfied.

An example of this was a female Smew I saw earlier this year. Doesn't quite beat a male does it! Then today I had a brief glimpse of a Jay in flight - lovely bird in flight, but a perched one would be better still.

I would say that if you have seen enough of the bird to be sure of its identification, no matter for how short a time, you have seen it. You can always try for a better view another time.

In 1997 I once watched a petrel off a headland in Madeira but was not sure whether it was Zino's or Fea's, another variation on this theme, perhaps?

Looking at your name BF, do you play the bongos, and, er, play them furiously?

Allen

 

[Birdingcraft]

Two that immediately come to mind are Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo and Red-fronted Parrotlet. Both in Costa Rica at Quebrada Gonzalez in Braulio Carrillo National Park (my favorite birding site or patch).

For the ground-cuckoo, all I saw was a long, brown tail of a bird that scurried away into the undergrowth before I could see any other part of it. By process of elimination, it could have only been the ground-cuckoo (a much shyer rain forest roadrunner thing) but I didnt count it.

The parrotlet is one of my most wanted birds and I am pretty sure I have seen it on two occasions but just not well enough to count it. Once was the briefest glimpse of two silhouetted small parakeets near the Arenal Observatory Lodge and the other was a whole flock that flew past and out of sight just as I was washing my hands (and therefore couldnt grab my binos in time) at the outdoor sink of a small restaurant backed by beautiful rain forest.

 

[tomjenner]

Little Tinamou. I have heard them many times, but never been able to sneak up and get a proper look. The best I have had was a bird that was walking along a bank at eye height about 1m in front of my face! The outline between the grasses and brief views of its legs were all I got. I've had plenty of great views of other Tinamous, but this one has managed to stay hidden from view - though not well enough hidden to stop me ticking it.

Tom

 

[tomjenner]

Looking at your name BF, do you play the bongos, and, er, play them furiously?

My guess would be that he's a Zappa/Beefheart fan.

My question is where in Scotland has he been seeing all these Nutcrackers?

Tom