Worst thing to happen to you when Birding? (3 Viewers)

[Vincent van der Spek]

In 2011, I went to Suriname. In Kabalebo you're not allowed to go out on you're own: you can only join the organised, non-birding walks that start late. I illegally walked a good trail behind the lodge every day.

On my last morning I was watching an antbird flock. After ten minutes or so I turned around - only to see something big walking towards me. It stopped some 12-15 metres away from me. I was looking at the most beautiful predator of the continent: a jaguar.

I couldn't believe it! I was euphoric about the sighting, but stayed remarkably focussed as well. I remember observing details about the eye colour, the pattern of the fur and the leg muscles. I was impressed, yes, but I wasn't really worried, as Jaguar attacks are so rare.

So there I was, in a stare off with a big cat. What was it? Eight, ten seconds?

It then twisted its head a little, presumably to estimate distance.

Then it suddenly moved towards me. Fast. My heart was in my throat. I was stuck to the ground, but I remember thinking: don't run, only food runs (I don't know where that wisdom came from, given the circumstances). At about an estimated 7-8 metres it suddenly stopped. It looked at me for maybe another second and then left the trail, never to be seen again.

I can assure you I was pretty scared when I walked back to the lodge (looking over my shoulder all the time!). The thing is that I was mainly thrilled about the sighting: it took me some time to realise that I've probably been luckier than I thought back then - no matter how rare Jaguar attacks are. It decided that I was a bit to smelly to chew on, but given its behaviour it really must have been in doubt.

So what could have been the worst thing while birding (with a pregnant girlfriend back in the lodge - can you imagine?), turned out to be the best sighting I ever had in South America.

It turned into a good story for social gatherings (non-birders tend to ask: did you make any photos?). But it was certainly was the scariest moment of my birding life - worse than the guys that followed me during a high speed car race in Peru!

The thing is that even I (and many birders with me), despite having more knowledge of the natural world than most humans, are still a little naive about walking through all these forests in remote places.

 

[jurek]

This jaguar story reminds me of another. Nothing very bad happened to me so far, but a day before we came to Araras in Pantanal, a waitress in the pub (short little girl) went out after dark and right at the doorsteps encountered a puma. The girl screamed and fainted, lots of blokes ran out of the pub to see what happened, the puma, unsurprisingly, ran away.

The poor girl received no compassion - minority of people were jealous of her puma sighting, while most cursed her that she surely scared the puma out of the area. Naturalists can be terrible sometimes.

 

[halftwo]

I was once in a car that overturned on the way to the Scillies - two of four of us had to go to hospital (not me).

I almost got arrested by armed military on Crete while birding on an airfield - after a chase and my concealment in a bamboo thicket I made it back to the hotel.

I was once sleeping rough in Greece when half the island burnt - I had to run for the coast a few miles away.

I nearly drowned on the same Greek trip when I went into the sea after my carrymat which blew out to sea - having not caught up with the mat I found I was too far out and the very strong wind was pushing me further. I swam at ninety degrees to the wind and made it to a cliff which I had to scramble up to get out of the waves.Very scary.

I was in a hotel in Costa Rica which caught fire - I put it out largely single-handedly - and then went birding later than planned. (an earthquake later destroyed the area that year)

I left my binoculars on the roof of my car and drove off, in Dorset, a couple of years ago - £1500 Swaros too!

But perhaps the most foolish thing I've done is to get lost in the rainforest in Oz - and had no idea how to get back the the road. After many frantic minutes of exploratory forays with absolutely no sign of which way I'd come, nor which way was back, I decided to stay put & start shouting as loud as I could. After a time a bloke at the road heard me and I followed his shouts out of the Outback. He told me what an idiot I'd been - I could only agree. Never been so relieved to be told I was stupid!
I did manage to see the Chowchilla that had given me the runaround though!

I'm sure Jos is reading these and thinking - 'Nah, those are nothing!'

 

[Maffong]

I didn't know Birding was such a risky hobby! One thing is certain, I'll never let my girlfriend read this thread, as she is a rather fearful person and would like it if I stayed in secure areas through the rest of my life! Can't blame her after reading all those stories here

Maffong

 

[MJB]

I was once in a car that overturned on the way to the Scillies - two of four of us had to go to hospital (not me).

I almost got arrested by armed military on Crete while birding on an airfield - after a chase and my concealment in a bamboo thicket I made it back to the hotel.

I was once sleeping rough in Greece when half the island burnt - I had to run for the coast a few miles away.

I nearly drowned on the same Greek trip when I went into the sea after my carrymat which blew out to sea - having not caught up with the mat I found I was too far out and the very strong wind was pushing me further. I swam at ninety degrees to the wind and made it to a cliff which I had to scramble up to get out of the waves.Very scary.

I was in a hotel in Costa Rica which caught fire - I put it out largely single-handedly - and then went birding later than planned. (an earthquake later destroyed the area that year)

I left my binoculars on the roof of my car and drove off, in Dorset, a couple of years ago - £1500 Swaros too!

But perhaps the most foolish thing I've done is to get lost in the rainforest in Oz - and had no idea how to get back the the road. After many frantic minutes of exploratory forays with absolutely no sign of which way I'd come, nor which way was back, I decided to stay put & start shouting as loud as I could. After a time a bloke at the road heard me and I followed his shouts out of the Outback. He told me what an idiot I'd been - I could only agree. Never been so relieved to be told I was stupid!
I did manage to see the Chowchilla that had given me the runaround though!

I'm sure Jos is reading these and thinking - 'Nah, those are nothing!'

Looking at these escapades, are you sure you're not related to Compo?
MJB
PS For our younger readers, Holmfirth was one of the principal filming locations for the long-running BBC series Last of the Summer Wine

 

[halftwo]

I can't claim his sartorial elegance, but, hmm....

 

[Andy Adcock]

A while ago I read a trip report about a pelagic in Peru, where they had awesome sightings and when the tour leader turned around to talk with the crew one of them was suddenly missing never to be found again. That would kind of ruin my whole trip...

Ruined the crewman's day a bit more I reckon!!!

Surprised no-one has recounted the tale of the luckless David Hunt, killed and half eaten by a Tiger, the classic cautionary note for birders.

Andy

 

[halftwo]

Amongst the worst things to happen to me was the loss of three biros on a solo birding trip to Turkey and Georgia in 2011.[/QUOTE]


OK. You win, Dan!

 

[Monahawk]

6 of us went out to the Gambia in 1984 & the 700 tonne boat did capsize, 4 people drowned out of 90 people on board but 3 of them were our group from Coventry but only 2 bodies were recovered in Crocodile infested waters. We did spend 6 hours on the upturned hull of the boat till we were rescued.

Mike.

My best mans parents were on that trip. His dad has since passed away, but his mum who I still contact now and then, still has nightmares about that trip. She was talking to one of the victims just seconds before the boat capsized.

My worst incident happened at an old stomping ground of mine at Amberley Wild brooks in Sussex. Having frequented the place many times in my early birding days, I knew the place inside out and its many pitfalls, most notably the deep drainage ditches straddled with slippery and uneven pathways, which I was always wary of. I dreaded falling into one of these ditches and not being able to get out or summons help, as often the wildbrooks can be deserted of humans.
And so came the day I did fall into one of these ditches. I slipped on some mud, my legs going like Billy The Whizz in all directions and I headed straight off the path and plunged in what seemed like slow motion into the turgid water. I seemed to recall as I was heading for the water thinking, ' I hope the bottom is solid'! Splash, in I went and then a pause and relief, the ditch bottom though muddy was solid and I didn't sink. Luckily too, I was near the bank so I was able to scramble out with nothing more than hurt pride, wet boots and trousers. Another thing I recall in this madness was a nearby little owl seemingly laughing at me as I stool momentarily shocked in the ditch.
It was a long wet John Wayne type walk back to the car. Nobody was around and I was glad of that, as it looked like I had suffered a nasty accident in my trousers!!

Si.

 

[Euan Buchan]

Happened on Tuesday actually it was my 14th anniversary as a Birder so I thought I'd go to my first ever local patch The Botanic Gardens I gor off the bus and felt in my pocket and noticed my notebook of bird records starting from 2014 was missing it must have slipped out my pocket I have contacted the bus company about it I'm really upset about it.

 

[Pris Ris Scott]

worst thing for me fortunalty doesn't involve personal injury, guns or anything life threatening... hopefully it'll stay that way

last summer, my first visit to the camargue

I had treated myself to an upgrade of lens for my scope, for the trip - a nice baader hyperion lens - may not be in the region of the price of some peoples equipment but it was an extravagance for my budget - the very first morning of the first day of the visit, I set my scope up next to a sign saying 'welcome to the camargue' and as I stepped back to take the photo a gust of the famous wind mistral wind blew the tripod over right in front of me and in slow motion, crashing to the ground directly on the lens sending bits of the it rolling across the road. the scope survived with only a slight dent and a scratch to the body of it - which makes a nice reminder now that I'm well and truly over it.

needless to say the lens was destroyed, but so was my bank account when I shelled out again for a replacement on my return home - thus an extravagant purchase ended up being an obscenity!

 

[SandhillCrane02]

Nothing extremely terrible has happened to me..but the worst thing that happened was when I was on a bike ride and I saw a Sandhill crane pecking at a snake. I noticed that it was just a rat snake and parked my bike. The crane saw me and flew off as I walked over to it so I just turned around, forgetting about the snake. It for some reason slithered after me and bit my shin. It hurt pretty bad but at least it wasn't a rattlesnake or a water moccasin

There was also this other time that I was at a lake that had a wooden dock with benches on it. I saw a green heron (they are pretty rare around here ) in some reeds, but I couldn't get a good view of it so I stood on one of the benches. Unfortunately, there was a nest of hornets under it, and they felt me move the bench, so they flew out and attacked me. Luckily I'm not allergic to hornets so the stings went away after a few days

 

[rosbifs]

Nothing extremely terrible has happened to me..but the worst thing that happened was when I was on a bike ride and I saw a Sandhill crane pecking at a snake. I noticed that it was just a rat snake and parked my bike. The crane saw me and flew off as I walked over to it so I just turned around, forgetting about the snake. It for some reason slithered after me and bit my shin. It hurt pretty bad but at least it wasn't a rattlesnake or a water moccasin

There was also this other time that I was at a lake that had a wooden dock with benches on it. I saw a green heron (they are pretty rare around here ) in some reeds, but I couldn't get a good view of it so I stood on one of the benches. Unfortunately, there was a nest of hornets under it, and they felt me move the bench, so they flew out and attacked me. Luckily I'm not allergic to hornets so the stings went away after a few days

Luckily not a rattlesnake....not allergic to hornets!!!!

 

[sicklebill]

My school group was in Kafue National Park and we were out on a night drive in the Toyota bus; nearing the river we passed a hippo on the landward side, but got by OK, however coming back I suddenly saw two red eyes reflected in my spotlight, and the hippo coming right at us- it crashed into the side of the bus, buckling the doors, shook its head and trotted off to the river. It was an amazingly helpless feeling to see it coming and be unable to do anything except brace! That same year another trip here had a head-on with a hippo which badly damaged the 4WD, and knocked out driver and passenger, so it was an eventful year there and ZCCM which loaned us the vehicles was probably less than thrilled.

 

[Andy Adcock]

We were told of a fatal accident in South Africa last year invloving a Hippo. Apparently in some places they like to sleep on tarmac roads at night, a speeding motorist hit one, neither survived.

We witnessed an almost fatal buffalo attack in South Africa last year and there are I'm sure many other instances of tourists and birders coming unstuck against nature.

The unfortunate guy killed in India by the Elephant a few years ago and famously the sound recordist Peter Boersman I think, lost a leg to a bite from a Bushmaster of Fer de lance being just two I can recount.

My missus was seriously stung by a Scorpion in Namibia a few years ago, the worst species it could have been too, Parabuthus vilosus.

I myself was nipped by an adder last year. Pic of my hand attached for anyone not familiar with the effects, the swelling extended in to my armpit and the whole area was extremely painful for three weeks.

Andy

 

[Jonno52]

On 25 Feb 1990 I drove from S London to Brogborough Lake for Iceland Gull. Duly saw the bird, though it was raining continuously. I'd left the car in the only remaining place in a parking area, which had been very muddy. As dusk approached, I returned to the car, but the mud was worse and on trying to move away, the wheels spun uselessly. Every trick I tried failed. Luckily there were some non-birders parked where the ground was more solid. They had a tow rope and pulled me out. I'm immensely grateful to them, as mobiles weren't around and a cold night in the car wouldn't have been much fun.

At Arundel once (for a Pec, I think) I felt what seemed a heavy hand being clapped on my shoulder from behind. But no cop's voice said "You're nicked, son". Instead, a large dollop of green Canada Goose poop had fallen from a considerable height onto my shoulder. No harm done!

This next doesn't really count as it didn't bother me at all, but on 29 May 1989 I went to Little Paxton GP for a Red-footed Falcon. It was a warm, windless, idyllic sunlit evening. Firstly one Hobby appeared, then another, hawking for dragonflies. And possibly a third, can't remember. Then a beautiful male Redfoot joined them. It was an enchanting experience. Watched the birds until it was nearly dark and set off back to the car. But where was it? I was pretty confident and started walking. After about a mile (or so it seemed) it was clear I'd gone in completely in the opposite direction. Walked back in nearly complete darkness. But I was still under the spell of those falcons and didn't care. (If someone's about to say the Redfoot was later found to be an escape, please don't!).

This last is different and something I really wish hadn't happened at all. At Barn Elms Res, as it was then, I was approached by a Thames Water guy who wanted to know what to do about a bird he'd seen on the banks of one basin. "Can you tell me what sort of bird this is?" seemed innocent enough, and an opportunity to show off my (limited) expertise. But an awful sight. The bird had clearly got into some kind of industrial waste pool of corrosive liquid but somehow managed to get to the reservoir and was slithering about helplessly. Told the guy it was a duck, but no plumage colours could be seen: the poor thing was black and raw red. I had to say nothing could be done to help it. I've never had to do it, but if necessary would put a bird out of its misery with a heavy blow to the back of the neck: this one was simply inaccessible. There's no need for sentimentality when a Magpie is eating (messily) a naked blind nestling, but this was different.

Sorry for a sobering end to all this. It's not something that happened to me, exactly, but it's the worst experience I've had when birding.