Lynx, Finland (1 Viewer)

[Farnboro John]

Driving around in Europe for very long periods at night would be seriously draining. It's one thing doing it in the tropics or the Western Sahara, places where I have done it before, where there's a lot of other stuff to keep you entertained. I'm probably too dude to get my cat list that much higher!

I've done it in Britain for Polecat (scored and saw Barn and Tawny Owls, Brown Hares and Rabbits) and Wildcat (scored and also saw Pine Martens, Badgers, Foxes, Hedgehogs, Tawny Owls and both Red and Roe Deer) and with Jos in the Baltics where we encountered my lifer Ural Owl and a road-crossing Raccoon Dog; so it's not impossible to see other stuff when night driving in Europe.

John

 

[Steve Babbs]

Ah but you spend hours and hours in cars going for rare birds. That's why I gave up twitching: I couldn't stand the tedium. My low boredom threshold requires the chance of other new species to keep me going! Mind you new cats are getting harder......

 

[Steve Babbs]

Just to reassure you John, it doesn't have to be strictly 'new' stuff. Stuff I've seen before such as jaguars, tapirs and giant anteaters will do the job of keeping me awake.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Driving around in Europe for very long periods at night would be seriously draining. It's one thing doing it in the tropics or the Western Sahara, places where I have done it before, where there's a lot of other stuff to keep you entertained.

If in early spring, Ural Owl and Pygmy Owl reasonably possible while driving round, plus Moose and a range of other mammals.

If in the summer season, it's light till 11 pm and the Lynx will be active before that, then there are seriously lots of things to be looking at while driving round - singing River Warblers, Common Rosefinches, Corncrakes and virtually anything else from the very rich breeding avifauna.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Tedium?

It's 9.00 pm here, the sun is shining, the forest is just yonder, a forest that Lynx do wander through on occasion. I am not looking for Lynx at the moment, I actually happen to be lying on my bed with the door open, but even lying here I can't say tedium is a word that springs to mind - Marsh Warbler, Common Rosefinch and Corncrake are all calling at this very moment, a White Stork is strutting its stuff in the meadow, loads of Whinchats flitting about, a short while ago a White tailed Eagle drifted over, calling as it tried to shake off a mobbing Buzzard. Three Black Terns also a little while ago. And all of that is from my bed - if I was actually out looking for Lynx, it would be umpteen times more productive.

 

[jurek]

Driving around in Europe for very long periods at night would be seriously draining. It's one thing doing it in the tropics or the Western Sahara, places where I have done it before, where there's a lot of other stuff to keep you entertained. I'm probably too dude to get my cat list that much higher!

I did it in several places in Germany, actually stopping and going out spotlighting whenever I passed some clearing or a forest edge meadow. It was absolutely fascinating.

There was excitement of encountering wildlife in surprising numbers: red and roe deer, wild boar, badgers, foxes, mustelids, raccoons, wildcats, tawny and long-eared owls, sometimes pygmy, Tengmalm's and eagle. But the best was that animals at night did lots of interesting things: feeding, playing, chasing, leading young, while the same species at daytime are just walking or maybe feeding. The forest in Europe is like a busy shopping district but switched 12 hours. At 11. a.m, you see hardly anybody, passing by or maybe having a quick snack. At 11 p.m. the party is in full swing.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I suspect I probably will do it. But I'm still hoping that Jos will find some cooperative ones near him and I'll do a lot of being very nice to him.

 

[aeshna5]

600-800 Lynx in Estonia these days, number correspondingly also increasing in neighbouring Latvia and here in Lithuania.

This individual was seen in various places in Tallin city centre last year, here resting on a restaurant terrace:

Lynx on a restaurant patio in Põhja-Tallinn. July 21, 2023. Source: Anton Kostjuk | ERR

ERR

news.err.ee

Amazing footage. Have visited Tallin numerous times on tours, but would have loved to have seen this!

 

[Warixenjalka]

If you count "heard only's", it´s relatively easy to hear Lynxes at March - April. But of course it´s nicer to see it

 

[Steve Babbs]

If you count "heard only's", it´s relatively easy to hear Lynxes at March - April. But of course it´s nicer to see it

I certainly wouldn't 'count' it as a lifer but it would still be great to hear.

 

[Warixenjalka]

I certainly wouldn't 'count' it as a lifer but it would still be great to hear.

Do you count birds from voice only?

 

[Steve Babbs]

Do you count birds from voice only?

I don't actually keep a list of birds I've seen but, if I did, the appropriate verb would be 'seen'. I last did that about 20 years ago for a world list and I wouldn't know my world list to the nearest thousand. I did keep a UK list for 'old times sake' but stopped counting at 500.

But basically no I don't.

 

[Farnboro John]

No for a lifer for me as well. Year tick OK.

John

 

[Warixenjalka]

I'm not sure what I would do... Maybe I would take lifer if, for example, I hear a wolf howling next night. After all, I had count many birds as lifers just by hearing them, and as well as bats based solely on the detector's data for quick fly-by of dark figure. Without the detector, it would have been impossible for me to identify the bat species in question. 🦇

 

[Steve Babbs]

I think part of the reason I'm not as 'listcentric' as a lot of other birds/wildlife watchers is because I don't want to worry about what I can 'count' or not. But, clearly, I do keep a cat list. Everyone I have seen rather than heard and every one I have seen well. I would not 'count' a briefly glimpsed view either. Of course what counts as a brief glimpse is open to discussion but luckily not relevant to me at the moment. I also do not count feral cat as some people do.

For me, a wolf howling would be a fantastic experience in the same way as hearing gibbons or howler monkeys, but if I didn't see it as well I certainly wouldn't count it. But everyone to their own rules.

 

[Owene]

I don't actually keep a list of birds I've seen but, if I did, the appropriate verb would be 'seen'. I last did that about 20 years ago for a world list and I wouldn't know my world list to the nearest thousand. I did keep a UK list for 'old times sake' but stopped counting at 500.

But basically no I don't.

If someone mentions a foreign bird species are you generally aware of whether you’ve seen it or not?

 

[Steve Babbs]

If someone mentions a foreign bird species are you generally aware of whether you’ve seen it or not?

I probably should have stuck to the simple answer to the question which is no I don't count birds that I've only heard. But, in answer to your question, yes. But tbh having been birding round the world for nearly 40 years, and having a ropy memory I may have to look at my notes/field guides I've used - where I mark the species I have seen. I am much more concerned with how much I enjoy seeing a bird rather than if it's a 'lifer' for example on a trip to Brazil seeing lots of Sunbitterns was much more exciting for me than the majority of the 'lifers' despite the fact that I had seen several before. In some ways I wish I had kept one but when I last worked it out, I couldn't help thinking about where I could go to give it a big boost and I rather like the fact that I didn't think about such things and have revisited countries like Malaysia where I was pleased to get 4 new species in six weeks. I also am just not that into lists. I last kept a year list in 1985 and I don't have a county list. Although I do have list for the local patch that I first went birding at in 1978. Maybe when I retire I will work out my world list. Probably going a bit off topic here though.

I do have a mammal list but I'm never going to get that much into rodents/bats so it is never going to be that large. I am presently keen to get my cat list over 20 but, as I prefer to do fully independent trips, and have limited finances anyway, I accept that it won't get much bigger than that.