What was your first found rare and how old were you? (1 Viewer)

[Andy Adcock]

Black-bellied Sandgrouse, or broad-billed or Buff-breasted Sandpiper? (Maybe other options?)

I think there would have been a few ripples had a Sandgrouse of any kind, been found in Notts or anywhere else in the UK.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

I think there would have been a few ripples had a Sandgrouse of any kind, been found in Notts or anywhere else in the UK.

But at 32 you could easily have not been in the UK when you found an extralimiral B-b Sand(grouse) 🤩

 

[Andy Adcock]

But at 32 you could easily have not been in the UK when you found an extralimiral B-b Sand(grouse) 🤩

Has anyone else on this thread, reported finding an 'extralimiral' rarity, outside of the UK though I have indeed found a few..

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Has anyone else on this thread, reported finding an 'extralimiral' rarity, outside of the UK though I have indeed found a few..

Sadly not (considering its supposed to be an international forum)

 

[Andy Adcock]

Sadly not (considering its supposed to be an international forum)

Well it can't be blamed on anyone else if our international contingent don't contribute.

It's undoubted of course that this forum is now international however, it was founded by Brits and an at it's inception, was used mainly by Brits I believe though I stand to be corrected on both points.

I'd be interested to hear from the site owner as to who the target audience was, when the site was launched?

 

[Hotspur]

My first BB rarity (still in circ) was a flyby RT Pipit in Somerset when aged 38 so not a whippersnapper. Found quite a few of the former BBs mentioned (Pallas', AGP x2, Bee-eater, RF Falcon x 2, Cory's in Yorks, WB Diver etc). Rarest bird was a Lanner in Spain this summer though.

 

[davewalters]

Little Egret when I was five or six (earlyish 70's) on a small pool at Penrhos car park on Angelsey. I don't know if any birders saw it all. I didn't actually tick that one though waiting until I started birding seriously in my late teens.

 

[Scridifer]

Laughing Dove (the first documented record for Bulgaria) at the not so tender age of 56!

Chris

 

[Andy Adcock]

Laughing Dove (the first documented record for Bulgaria) at the not so tender age of 56!

Chris

That's still a very good WP record isn't it?

I'd actually wondered where, it is reliable in the WP, it's now common in Cyprus.

 

[Richard Prior]

That's still a very good WP record isn't it?

A great record for Bulgaria at the time Andy, but representative of the spread north of this species in recent decades.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

That's still a very good WP record isn't it?

I'd actually wondered where, it is reliable in the WP, it's now common in Cyprus

That's still a very good WP record isn't it?

I'd actually wondered where, it is reliable in the WP, it's now common in Cyprus.

Great record for mainland Europe but common enough in some parts of WP (in North Africa and middle East)

 

[Scridifer]

That's still a very good WP record isn't it?

I'd actually wondered where, it is reliable in the WP, it's now common in Cyprus.

Becoming more frequent here, (that was 2016) off the top of my head perhaps half a dozen sightings this year including a possible nesting pair.

Chris

 

[Andy Adcock]

Great record for mainland Europe but common enough in some parts of WP (in North Africa and middle East)

I looked at my old trip report for Morocco, we didn't see it in 1998.

 

[Steve Babbs]

My first was a little egret, then a BB rarity, in 1982. I was a very excited teenager. It's fair to say it has become somewhat devalued.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Considering I didn't start birding until I was 38, I don't have any high school or college stories.

My first found rarity was an American Avocet at a flooded field in Bethlehem, PA, when I was in my early 40's. Certainly not rare for the USA, but a good bird for PA.

 

[lgonz1008]

Late January of 2018, I was 21 and I found what I originally thought was a Horned Grebe, turned out it was a much rarer for Miami-Dade county (and Florida) Eared Grebe.

I didn't even consider it was a rarity until the eBird reviewer of the time told me otherwise. Here is the checklist with a picture of the bird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S42329043

Ironically, to this day, I'm still missing Horned Grebe from my life list (only Grebe species I'm missing from North America too).

 

[David Ferguson]

Scarlet Tanager in the hotel garden in Tobago in 1978. It was the 2nd record for T&T. I was 36.

 

[KenM]

Scarlet Tanager in the hotel garden in Tobago in 1978. It was the 2nd record for T&T. I was 36.

Was it a male Dave, being perhaps preferable to a Scarlet female?😂

 

[David Ferguson]

Was it a male Dave, being perhaps preferable to a Scarlet female?😂

It was a breeding plumage male.

 

[Kibet]

Rosy Starling in 2018 in Postojna, Slovenia. I probably had come across rare unknowingly visiting other places but may not have spotted on my own. As breakfast was served at a late time of 0800 where I was staying, I was getting up for sunrise in the garden and spending a couple of hours just seeing what was around. on the 5th or 6th day, I was getting bleary eyed and debating on whether it was worth getting up to see the same old shadows of backlit birds. That was when I spotted a flock of what appeared to be Starlings (about 20) but were funny patterned. With grainy photo and looking through a scope, I guessed at Rosy starling and did a search (yay for internet in the garden). So was definitely happy that I did force myself up that morning.

I also realised that I had deleted a weird plumaged starling a few days earlier. Age wise, I would have been 38 (only started bird watching at about 31-32)