Your Most Recent "Life" Bird (1 Viewer)

[Peter C.]

This almost went into the "worst dip" thread.

For just over a week, there's been a hatch-year male Phainopepla here in southern Ontario. It's a very big rarity for here, being only the second record for the province (and one of very few for the whole country). It has been seen reliably, but only intermittently, in the same small area of the Toronto suburb of Brampton over the last eight days. Fortunately, there's a lot of wild food around there for it to eat, so it seems content to stay where it is - unfortunately, it spends a lot of its time roosting out of sight! So, I managed to dip on it four times - sometimes by only 30 minutes:storm: - before finally getting it yesterday.

<*whew*>

Worth it though, he's a great-looking bird!

Peter C.

 

[Edward]

This almost went into the "worst dip" thread.

For just over a week, there's been a hatch-year male Phainopepla here in southern Ontario. It's a very big rarity for here, being only the second record for the province (and one of very few for the whole country). It has been seen reliably, but only intermittently, in the same small area of the Toronto suburb of Brampton over the last eight days. Fortunately, there's a lot of wild food around there for it to eat, so it seems content to stay where it is - unfortunately, it spends a lot of its time roosting out of sight! So, I managed to dip on it four times - sometimes by only 30 minutes:storm: - before finally getting it yesterday.

<*whew*>

Worth it though, he's a great-looking bird!

Peter C.

Glad that your persistence paid off, Peter. Phainopepla is not exactly the first bird that comes to mind when you think of Ontario in November.

Only one lifer for me in 2009, Grasshopper Warbler in Denmark in July and only one Iceland tick, Least Sandpiper.

 

[Peter C.]

Glad that your persistence paid off, Peter. Phainopepla is not exactly the first bird that comes to mind when you think of Ontario in November.

No kidding! A long way from home, this fellow.

It was a near thing too (my getting it, that is) ... pelting with rain today, don't think it will have showed at all.

Curiously, this is my third lifer in Ontario this year – which is about three times as many as I get in an average year, these days! It's been a very nice year for vagrants.

Thanks,

Peter C.

 

[virgo10]

A brown pelican, spotted on the way to a Tampabay Rays game last July. We have a lot of white ones in the area I live in but I had never seen a brown one until we were almost in St. Pete.

 

[Fozzybear]

Found my first Common Gulls at a local farm this morning. Most likely a species I've been seeing for years but it's the first time I've actually spotted and identified them.

 

[Nightjar61]

Yesterday (November 22) I drove to southwest Michigan where a vagrant Ancient Murrelet has been seen for the last week or so on Lake Michigan. It was world lifer number 2,215 and ABA area lifer number 629.

Dave

 

[Phil Hill]

At last yesterday after many hours of seawatching over the last few months Pomarine Skua and Leach's Storm Petrel finally gave them self up.
Now where's the Long Tailed Skua :C.

 

[csanchez7]

My last life bird was Lovely Fairywren, which I got on Stewart Creek Road near the Daintree Village in northern Queensland -- my last life bird in Australia.

Carlos

 

[Reuven_M]

This almost went into the "worst dip" thread.

For just over a week, there's been a hatch-year male Phainopepla here in southern Ontario. It's a very big rarity for here, being only the second record for the province (and one of very few for the whole country). It has been seen reliably, but only intermittently, in the same small area of the Toronto suburb of Brampton over the last eight days. Fortunately, there's a lot of wild food around there for it to eat, so it seems content to stay where it is - unfortunately, it spends a lot of its time roosting out of sight! So, I managed to dip on it four times - sometimes by only 30 minutes:storm: - before finally getting it yesterday.

<*whew*>

Worth it though, he's a great-looking bird!

Peter C.

Same bird as my latest lifer.

 

[Jacana]

20ish Balearic Shearwaters off Pendeen today, quickly followed by Grey Phalarope my first lifers since coming back from Thailand

now on 659

 

[Enji]

Went out for some birding in the forest today, and thanks to some other birders around I got to see my first Grey-headed Woodpecker. Nice! (Although the Pygmy Owl that came flying looking rather cross when we whistled like one was actually even better... not a lifer, but I've never seen one so well...)

 

[John P]

Spotted Sandpiper; and hats off to the original finder, at first glance in poor light it would just have been dismissed as a Common by most of us.

 

[dafi]

I had parakeets in London the other day, i dont ken if that counts...but i am ticking them any way!!

Yesterday we had two adult Little gulls over Sapa Flow....im a well chuffed wee duck!

 

[Reader]

Well I am just back from a three week stint in South Africa and so far I am up to 274 Lifers out of at least 342 species. I still have a fair few photos that I have to work through and I suspect there will be a few more lifers there for me as well.

It was a brilliant ending to the vacation with Wattled Crane in the Dullstrrom area. This following sightings of Blue Swallow and Taita Falcon the previous day to make it a hat-trick of good birds on those two days.

John

 

[Damon]

On Sunday I went to a favorite local spot, Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge,for the first time in about a month. It turned out to be a good day; along with some good sightings of familiar birds I saw 5 lifers. The first was an Eastern Meadowlark. Then at a pond I saw a diverse group of birds swimming about, and spotted some of the winter ducks I'd been hoping to see. I identified a Green-Winged Teal(male and probably a female), Hooded Merganser (male and female), and a Ring-Necked Duck (at least three males). I think I may have seen a female Blue-Winged Teal, but I'm waiting for a more positive sighting. In the same area, I also saw a Sora.

 

[SueO]

I got two lifer's yesterday at Lake Skinner, Temecula, California:
Feruginous Hawk #695
Vermilion Flycatcher #696
According to my Sibley's, the Vermilion is supposed to be rare here. I googled and came away not knowing if it was particulary rare or not. I have a pm to someone who can tell me whether I should report the sighting to somebody. I am really thrilled to get these two especially since today is the last day of my visit home to Southern Cal. My husband and I leave to re-join Peregrine in tomorow.
Sue
__________________

 

[Reader]

I have had some more ID's from South Africa which are Lappet Faced Vulture, Dusky Indigobird & Sabota Lark.

John

 

[htcdude]

Great Northern Diver has started appearing now at Staines Reservoir which was new for me

Now waiting to catch the Red-brested Mergansers that once popped up

 

[djleahy]

Wayward Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

A nice surprise, "Menlo Yellow" showed recently just walking distance from my office at Stanford, in the Allied Arts neighborhood of Menlo Park, CA. She may be lonely, but she seems very pleased with her new home.

Menlo Yellow

 

[Fozzybear]

On Sunday I went to a favorite local spot, Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge,for the first time in about a month. It turned out to be a good day; along with some good sightings of familiar birds I saw 5 lifers. The first was an Eastern Meadowlark. Then at a pond I saw a diverse group of birds swimming about, and spotted some of the winter ducks I'd been hoping to see. I identified a Green-Winged Teal(male and probably a female), Hooded Merganser (male and female), and a Ring-Necked Duck (at least three males). I think I may have seen a female Blue-Winged Teal, but I'm waiting for a more positive sighting. In the same area, I also saw a Sora.

Nice - saw a captive female Hooded Merganser at a wildfowl collection this week... great bird although they do rather look like they've been electrocuted! :-O

Up on the north Norfolk coast over the last week and doing my usual fairly casual birdwatching I saw a lot of new birds - Golden Plover (in their thousands at Blakeney Point!), Grey Plovers, Ruff, Snow Buntings (gorgeous!), White-fronted Geese and Pink-footed Geese. Amazing to see all the flocks up there, I love going in the early summer during the breeding season but getting up this time of year was quite an experience! So many Barn Owls around too, we saw them pretty much every day and often saw more than one (one day we had five sightings!). :t: