Do you ever...... (1 Viewer)

[RaptorMan]

see a bird that is maybe- semi-rare to rare but don't tell anyone you are with as if it flys off they will think your seeing things. As several times ive failed to mention things iv'e seen in fear of looking incompetant msot times i check back at the place to see if it really was what i thought it was... Anyone have anything similar happen to them ><

 

[Corax67]

Sure do RaptorMan - earlier in the year I was standing in a car park next to the estuary at Penclawdd with 2 friends after a joint birding club outing on North Gower, we had had a great day & everyone had departed for home other than us.

We were looking for a Green Sandpiper when an Egret flew past (little Egret is really common on this stretch of the coast) and all 3 of us called the same thing - Great White Egret!!!

The only problem was that it was early February, the light was fading and by the time we got to an ID guide to make sure the bird was long gone.

After much deliberation we decided this was a very 'iffy tick and thought no more of it until 3 weeks later when I happened to bump into one of the birders from the other bird club we had been with that day. His opening question was not "how are you?", but " Well, did you see the Great White Egret then?".

It turns out he had gone no further than quarter of a mile when he noticed an odd Egret, got out to check and confirm it's ID and watched it fly towards us at the car park. Reports of the bird had been circulating for weeks as it made it's way between both sides of the estuary, frequently showing up at the WWT reserve near Llanelli.

 

[Steven Astley]

This appears to be one of the problems, especially in Britain, which in my opinion is bad for our hobby. I think:

1. You should never be afraid to make an ID mistake. Every birder does it. If a birder says they never have they are either lying or they haven't done much birding and I would keep away from them.
2. Never be scared to question someones ID of a bird no matter how much of an expert they appear to be. You maybe right, they maybe right it doesn't really matter. What matters is everybody will learn whether reaffirming the Id characteristics or learning how to ID a new bird or even possibly the discovery of a rarity which otherwise would have been missed. Its all part of the fun of birding. As long as its done politely of course.

 

[JeffMoh]

It happens to us all

I think we all go through stages of not daring to point out or identify a bird when we're with other (more experienced) birders.

Pete Dunne (or someone like him) says that the difference between novice and highly experienced birders is that novice birders have misidentified a few birds while very experienced birders have misidentified thousands of birds!

 

[KC Foggin]

That's why I try to get a photo before I say anything. It worked out quite well when I found the Lark Sparrow in an area that I frequent. The Lark Sparrow is extremely rare for my area. Once I sent the photo to our local expert and he gave the nod I then let the word outt on the rare bird alert listserve here. Thankfully the sparrow was extremely obliging and hung around til spring migration so a good many got a look.

 

[buckskin hawk]

My mother-in-law collects little ceramic turtles because she says they remind her that to get anywhere the turtle must stick it's neck out. We are the same way--Stick out your neck and go somewhere, learn something. There is no such thing as a bad question or even a bad answer.

 

[tf1044x]

Hi
I was always taught, that if you see a bird that you are not quite sure of and you are with an experienced birder to shout it out, then it give other birders time to get onto it and maybe ID it before it disappears.

It's no good saying to anyone, I think I have just had a so-and-so fly by but I am not sure.

 

[nessie]

This appears to be one of the problems, especially in Britain, which in my opinion is bad for our hobby. I think:

1. You should never be afraid to make an ID mistake. Every birder does it. If a birder says they never have they are either lying or they haven't done much birding and I would keep away from them.



I'm great at making ID mistakes but thats how I'm learning; if I mention a bird out loud, usually more knowledgable people put me straight.

Natalie