Your Most Recent "Life" Bird (1 Viewer)

[Farnboro John]

Two tick day!!!! My first in Britain since 1989. Up until today Ron Johns had had a two tick day more recently than I had (which is ridiculous) but not any longer.....

Taiga Flycatcher first winter at Trow Quarry South Shields

Rufous Bushchat on the saltmarsh at Stiffkey

760 mile round trip from Farnborough. Absolutely awesome day out, this was a once in a generation day in the field. Great to see so many friends and fellow-twitchers (including some that were at both sites....). Two great birds, one long anticipated (and a grudge match after a previous dip), one beyond dreams.

John

 

[solarrobor]

4 lifers during a 9 day trip to Caprivi in Namibia:
- Collared Palm-thrush
- Greater Swamp Warbler
- Rosy-throated Longclaw
- Thick-billed Cuckoo

 

[Jacana]

My last one was last month, and from my office window!

2080. Syrian Woodpecker

 

[WACCOE]

Stejneger's Stonechat.

 

[MikeInPA]

Evening Grosbeak.

http://mikes-photographs.blogspot.com/2020/10/evening-grosbeak.html

 

[Mr.Wascall]

A Merlin. Watched this shape streak past and as I followed it, it just didn't look like a Cooper's hawk. Out of the blue, I said, "You know, I've never seen a Merlin". Looked it up when we got home and there wasn't a doubt. Looked at recent sightings and there were two in that same location during the previous week. Mighty fine.

 

[bonxie2003]

White-winged Scoter at Fisherrow. Pointed out to me by one of WWS heroes.

 

[kevinsl06]

My latest is Wilson's snipe.

 

[birdmeister]

Common Redpoll. 65+ flew past Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, during what is shaping up to be an amazing year for irruptive finches.

 

[raymie]

White-winged Crossbill a couple weeks ago.

 

[raymie]

White-winged Crossbill a couple weeks ago.

 

[kevinsl06]

Common Redpoll. 65+ flew past Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, during what is shaping up to be an amazing year for irruptive finches.

Yeah, I have been checking every finch I see looking for a purple.

 

[tonyfenn]

Greater yellowlegs

 

[lgonz1008]

Greater Scaup on Merritt Island NWR

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Pied-billed Grebe at Chelmarsh Reservoir today.

Really good to meet James and his two boys today - Archie and Sam. Two lovely young lads.

 

[Tom Mc85]

Red-necked Grebe at Lodmoor a few days ago.

 

[Nightjar61]

With the recent split of Lesser Short-toed Lark (now renamed Mediterranean Short-toed Lark), I picked up an armchair tick in the form of Turkestan Short-toed Lark.

Dave

 

[Zackiedawg]

I forgot about this thread...looking back, I don't think I've made any updates since 2013! Lots of firsts in the years since.
2020 has been a little slow with just two lifers: Barn owl (my most recent, in September 2020), and orange-crowned warbler (February 2020)

In general, first sightings from around my local areas have gone down over the years, as to be expected as the list grows longer, and leaves fewer species left unseen! But this year with the Covid lockdowns and many birding parks and spots closed for at least 1/2 of the year made it even more difficult to land any lifers.

In 2019, I had 5 firsts: Bufflehead, short-tailed hawk, scarlet tanager, western tanager, and Tennessee warbler.
2018 had just two: Golden-winged warbler and vermillion flycatcher
2017 I had 4: white-faced whistling duck, least grebe, Acadian flycatcher, and indigo bunting
2016 had 9: Ruddy duck, lesser scaup, common nighthawk, American oystercatcher, scissor-tailed flycatcher, eastern wood peewee, cave swallow, eastern kingbird, and yellow-billed cuckoo.
2015 had 10: American white pelican, swallow-tailed kite, reddish egret, Virginia rail, short-billed dowitcher, long-billed dowitcher, whimbrel, blue-crowned parakeet, budgerigar, Blackburnian warbler.
2014 had 18: Mute swan, northern pintail, peregrine falcon, whip poor will, spotted sandpiper, neotropical cormorant, American goldfinch, yellow-headed blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, eastern meadowlark, black-throated green warbler, Cape May warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, ruby-crowned kinglet, bank swallow, tufted titmouse, cedar waxwing, Swainson's thrush
2013 had 18: White-cheeked pintail, red-tailed hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, American flamingo, yellow-breasted chat, northern parula, Carolina wren, black-whiskered vireo, La Sagra's flycatcher, savannah sparrow, barn swallow, American robin, northern waterthrush. That fills in everything since my last post in this thread which was in early 2013 after listing magnolia warbler, great crested flycatcher, blue grosbeak, Connecticut warbler, and red-eyed vireo.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Not a world lifer, but a new ABA bird...Tundra Bean Goose. It's hanging out in suburban Philadelphia, most recently on a snow-covered golf course. A first state record for PA, and I read it's only the second record for the eastern US, so a serious mega.

I twitched it Thursday morning, which was challenging in and of itself, because we had 9" of snow overnight.

 

[lgonz1008]

Yesterday and today I got two lifers in Common Loon and Purpler Sandpiper, both thanks to CBC in the Miami area