Yep 1983 sounds about right to me, i would of been 13 then, i am now showing my age, i was in the YOC (Young orithologists club) at leigh and the LOS took us youngsters to penny to find and see the Shrike, a great memory
Ian McKerchar wrote:
By my records the last Great Grey Shrike at Pennington was in 1983. So make that 27 years ago (atleast)!
Dave Thacker said
Tue Apr 27 8:34 PM, 2010
Dennis atherton wrote:
seeing a great grey shrike at penny about 20 yrs ago, still remember it now, i know Dave thacker saw that passing rarity too
Ian McKerchar wrote:
By my records the last Great Grey Shrike at Pennington was in 1983. So make that 27 years ago (atleast)!
Dennis, Ian's records are a lot more accurate than my memory In my old Hamlyn Bird guide book which I had in the 70's and early 80's I wrote beside the GG Shrike, Norfolk 1974 , Morecambe and Pennington. The 3 locations where I have seen the bird in Britain but not the dates unfortunately.
Adrian Drummond-Hill said
Tue Apr 27 7:39 AM, 2010
If we can count foreign lands, my best moment was spotting a house bunting in Bahrain it was a country first. When I phoned the country recorder about it, he came out with a can of ice cold beer for me. The beer never touched the sides.
It's always great when I go to the tern colonies in July/August. Unfortunately the heat is unbearable and often it's accompanied by high humidity but it's worth it to be in the midst of thousands of terns.
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Apr 26 11:51 PM, 2010
By my records the last Great Grey Shrike at Pennington was in 1983. So make that 27 years ago (atleast)!
Dennis atherton said
Mon Apr 26 11:37 PM, 2010
seeing a great grey shrike at penny about 20 yrs ago, still remember it now, i know Dave thacker saw that passing rarity too
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Apr 26 10:04 PM, 2010
alex lewis-gough wrote:
goshawk at pennington flash was another good one.
I should say so. I might have to speak to you privately about that one Alex s it's a serious county rarity
alex lewis-gough said
Mon Apr 26 10:00 PM, 2010
tough one. probably seeing 17 waxwings around the corner from my house. i was on my way out and did not expect it at all. came back the next day and there was one waxwing left. watched it for a while before it flew off.
also bittern at leighton moss. heard it throughout the day but couldnt see it, then just as we had given up and were heading back to the car we saw 1 flying over the reeds for about 10 seconds then it dipped down again.
goshawk at pennington flash was another good one.
Phil_Oldham said
Tue Mar 31 12:55 AM, 2009
Last night :D
I left Leez Priory in Essex having just shot a wedding...between there and the M11 I saw 3 barn owls...it's about 10 minutes to drive. The last one, I saw in plenty of time to stop the car next to. He was on my passenger side, about 3ft away from the glass...just sat there peering in and watching me while I watched him.
Bliss :)
Mike Chorley said
Tue Mar 31 12:23 AM, 2009
I'd say not......................................but,then, I'm biased
Mark Rigby said
Mon Mar 30 11:03 PM, 2009
06/03/07 Cornwall
Gyr Falcon at first light, roosting on a cliff at Stepper Point before flying over the estuary.
Then, White Billed Diver, Franklins Gull and Spotted Sandpiper at Hayle Estuary followed by Firecrest and a Lesser Whitethroat on fat balls in a Lelant garden.
It doesnt get much better on mainland Britain-or does it....................................?
Rob Thorpe said
Mon Mar 30 2:26 PM, 2009
May 2007, Bowness-on-Solway. Watching 39 Pomarine Skuas fly past in the space of a couple of hours, in flocks of 17, 11 and 11! Add to that 20 Arctic Skuas, 1 Bonxie, several Red-throated Divers and hundreds of Terns... Great stuff!
Joey Eccles said
Thu Mar 26 8:49 PM, 2009
I'm only in my teens so i haven't had too many but there are a couple i can think of...
1) when i was little i went to pennington flash, it was winter and pretty cold and i remember watching a gsw on a nut feeder. It must have been quite windy because the feeder spun round only to have on the other side a green woodpecker! i was amazed. The ground must have been too hard for the grn woodpecker to feed and it was forced to the feeders.
2) not sure if this better than 1) but i was in the new forest down south and i was following deer tracks into some bushes. on seeing what i thought was a crow i promptly walked towards it and it flushed, flying onto a branch not to far away. i left the bushes to rejoin my family, only to find them transfixed with their bins on a really big bird perched no more than 10m away . I asked what it was instantly knowing that this was the bird i had flushed. but they ingnored me, and after looking through my own bins i quickly found out why. It was only a female goshawk! I couldn't believe my eyes and we watched it for a few more seconds before it flew off. A truly magical moment.
3) although not much of a spectacle, the first time i saw a gsw on a feeder in my garden (only about 7x8 metres) felt amazing.
Mike Passant said
Wed Mar 25 10:44 PM, 2009
I suppose there are many ways to try to define one's best birding moments, but it is nearly impossible to choose between instances after 40 years of birding and involving every continent. Some memorable instances are cemented by being in the company of good companions, when the shared experience is enhanced. Other times are marked by long planning, working hard beforehand in researching near mythical rarities (often anticipated for decades before that magical encounter). Others hinge entirely on the sheer charisma of the bird itself. But chance encounters are possibly the best? It seems sacrilege to try and single out any one instance, but I'll try. For an outrageous encounter, (with an almost surreal element), the following takes the biscuit for me. During a month long trip to PNG with my older son (also a birder) we were watching a displaying Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise "doing its thing" on the top of a tree stump; - something in itself that was going to be a hard act to top, - but we did! I just happened to glance down the dirt road some 50 yards away, and saw a large clumsy looking giant rail suddenly appear out of the undergrowth and clomp across the track, flapping its little stumpy wings. I exclaimed quietly but excitedly, "that looks like a Flightless Rail!" Sure enough, it was; and within seconds followed by a second bird! New Guinea Flightless Rail had then been seen in life by only about 35 people, - ever. Its scientific name is most apt : Megacrex inepta! It was almost certainly the rarest bird I'll ever see, and it really felt like a gift from the birding gods.
Judith Smith said
Wed Mar 25 9:30 PM, 2009
I am counting on you lot to monitor the nest - perhaps best from the S stand as the nest is on the edge of the canopy of the N stand?
dave broome said
Wed Mar 25 7:25 PM, 2009
dave broome wrote:
Birding at the Match: During those lulls in play, there's occasionally something more than the odd Pied Wag, hoping to quietly drop on to its favourite turf, only to be startled to find thousands of people present. In particular I fondly recall a Peregrine passing over the JJB Stadium during Wigan Athletic v Cardiff City and down at Craven Cotage a Ring-Necked Parakeet flying around the stands during Fulham v Wigan. I remember going to find Mr Jimmy Meadows at half-time during the latter, to check it wasn't just the pre-match beers kicking in.
From the news of Ravens at the JJB Stadium it appears that this previous entry will need updating.............
-- Edited by dave broome on Wednesday 25th of March 2009 08:59:54 PM
Brian Harding said
Thu Oct 18 1:31 AM, 2007
best birding moment from this year was at the dee estuary Feb/March I think, cant remember exactly when. Im still only a novice so had to look into other peoples scopes and stuff because i havent got my own, but i got a lot on my year list. Im sure the more advanced birders got a lot more with their scopes, but couldnt be bothered showing me or telling me everything they had lol.
as the tide came in all the birds and voles got flushed out and all the predators came along to see what they could pick off. saw around 5 short eared owls, female hen harrier, merlin, kestrel, a few water rail (one of which flew into the crowd of birders and hid under someones bag), lots of little egrets, scandinavian rock pipit, jack snipe, curlew, snipe, merganser and shelduck. and a corn bunting in the field opposite, all in the space of about half an hour. im sure i missed a lot of things because im a newbie, it was all happening pretty fast and i didnt want to keep pestering people with what they were seeing.
pete berry said
Tue Oct 16 8:14 PM, 2007
I've had a few good moments in my birding life,but seeing Diamed Sandpipe Plover in the Andes in Chile at 16,000ft was breathtaking in every sense of the word,especially after dipping it in Peru and Chile previously.
Sue Malynn said
Fri Oct 12 4:50 PM, 2007
Scillies
1981
All of it
...but especially a certain Warbler with an evil eye...
....and the Porthcressa disco...
*sighs... twitchers knew how to party
Thanks for the pics of the Keets Pete
dave broome said
Thu Oct 11 1:30 PM, 2007
Apologies, but I thought I'd resurrect this thread.
A few highlights/significant moments:
Birding at the Match: During those lulls in play, there's occasionally something more than the odd Pied Wag, hoping to quietly drop on to its favourite turf, only to be startled to find thousands of people present. In particular I fondly recall a Peregrine passing over the JJB Stadium during Wigan Athletic v Cardiff City and down at Craven Cotage a Ring-Necked Parakeet flying around the stands during Fulham v Wigan. I remember going to find Mr Jimmy Meadows at half-time during the latter, to check it wasn't just the pre-match beers kicking in.
Canary Island: Not birding for endemics in the Atlantic archipelago, but an escaped cagebird on Marus Bridge roundabout, Wigan, which livened up a Sunday afternoon as a kid. Circa 1979/1980, after a morning fishing I remember excitement among my mates when I arrived back home. A Canary had been seen around the then heavily-shrubbed A49 roundabout. Of course we were going to catch it! We failed on that respect - probably the rustling of our jumbo cordorouys was enough to scare it. However, I did manage to stalk it to within a few feet on a gate - I didn't realise at the time, but my field craft was finely honed that day.
A Night at Jenny's: I saw the Lundy Ancient Murrelet in its third summer on the island. I didn't go in its first year there, went in its second but dipped! In 1992 I was to see it on another visit out in to the Bristol Channel. We set off on a chartered fishing boat at the strange hour of about 11:30 pm. The skipper assured us that due to the tides it would be about 3am before we got there - I think he was having a laugh. We were landed on to the island not long after 1:00am, being taken ashore in two's via an inflatable Zodiac boat, under the mist and lighthouse beams. With a distinct lack of late-night curry houses on Lundy we pondered what to do. There was little else but to make our way to Jenny's Cove, where the Murrelet was residing and wait for first light. Half-way across the island a silhouette of a bull in the mist resulted in everyone suddenly shuffling along in a tight pack! Cue a surreal couple of hours sitting in the dark on the cliftop turf, with rocks for pillows. Thankfully the Murrelet did perform among the seabird colony, before retiring to its chosen hole in the rocks. It then transpired that we weren't the only arrivals in the night on Lundy, as a good fall had taken place, including around 1000 Willow Warblers.
Craig Higson said
Sat Jun 16 10:40 PM, 2007
Ian McKerchar wrote:
Tom McKinney wrote: But Craig says we can't do foreign birding!
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:14, 2007-06-15
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:19, 2007-06-15
I'm sure Craig won't mind really, if it'll keep this great thread going then why not?
No I dont mind - I just knew though that somebody would have to mention seeing a Quetzal spp though . A real birding trip to central america would be a dream for me -maybe someday when I've managed to pay the motgage, pay for the kids at uni......
Anyway. If birding abroads included I'll have a go. I wont mention the trips to spain cause I've already done them in a reply to Geoffs thread.
1992 - Kenya and I was in a 'I like birds but i'm not just birding phase' when I went so didnt take a field guide. BIG MISTAKE. But I still remember seeing Secretary Bird, Dark Chanting Goshawk and Ostrich less than 10 feet away and within 10mins of each other. How weird is it seeing Ostriches when they're not in a Zoo or on TV? Very, let me tell you. Impressive birds but weird nonetheless seeing them in their own habitat. Its almost like they're a made up species. Also a flock of weaver birds that would put our big starling flocks to shame.
1997 - Mexico. Bit difficult to do much birding as I was on Honeymoon. But when we arrived at the hotel, the first thing I saw when I opened our window was hordes of Magnificent Frigate Birds. I could sit on the balcony and watch these, Brown Pelicans and Brown Booby's (thats birds people, tsk tsk) every evening. Best bit though was persuading my newlywed wife that she really did want to go on a boat trip to the Marietas Island Nature Reserve. The place was like a tropical St Kilda and we (well I did she was being sick) saw Brown, Blue footed and Red footed Boobys, Brown Noddys, Terns, Heermans Gulls and all sorts of other species topped off with Dolphins around the boat.
Biggest regret from this holiday (other than not swimming with Dolphins) was the Field Guide I ordered on Mexican Birds really did only contain Mexican birds and none of the North American species that are equally as common as residents or on migration. Hence I saw loads of stuff I couldnt identify . Be warned if your planning a trip!!
-- Edited by Craig H at 22:40, 2007-06-16
Henry Cook said
Sat Jun 16 11:18 AM, 2007
I haven't done much foreign birding so far, but one trip I wont forget was Morocco this easter. My favourite moment was an experience of armchair birding at its best. We were hoping to see a well known Egyptian Nightjar out in the desert which is known to visit an auberge pool after dusk near Erfoud. After being turned away one night as the place was full we were gutted but had a good days birding in the area picking up Desert Sparrow, Barbary Falcon, a flock of Spotted Sandgrouse and quite a few other lifers. We were persistant and it payed off as the next night we were allowed into the auberge under the false pretense of having a meal. We had the (rather expensive) meal sat in comfy seats by the side of the illuminated pool, surrounded by palm trees, under the star-filled sky and were onto the desert, just hoping and hoping before we saw something! This crazy beast flew in like a thing possessed and swooped over the pool sipping up a bit of water before heading back out into the dunes. An amazing experience and was celebrated with traditional Moroccan mint teas before hitting the road. It was only this wonderful sight that kept me going for the next 10 hours as we made ground northwest for the next days birding in the snow-capped atlas mountains! Top country. Cheers Henerz
Tom McKinney said
Sat Jun 16 10:09 AM, 2007
Well if we can do foreign birding...
Our first afternoon in India was insane. After arriving at Bharatpur we set off immediately into the Keoladeo reserve and in just over four hours managed to see 4 species of Eagle, 3 species of Owl, 4 species of Stork, 4 species of Cormorant/Darter, plus other amazing things like Black Bittern, Painted Snipe, Bluethroats and Red-breasted Flycatchers absolutely everywhere, trees literally filled to overspilling with nesting Storks, Spoonbills & Ibises, Bronze-winged & Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Long-tailed Shrike, Brown-headed Barbet, not to mention White-tailed Plovers which were pretty common... and bags and bags of other stuff... just absolutely amazing. Finished the day walking back along the main track and watched an enormous Dusky Eagle Owl sat at the top of a dead tree barking at us.
I've never seen birds in such number as at Bharatpur, our luck was in and we got it just right with the monsoon the year we went, and when people say it is the finest reserve in the world you can see what they mean!
Dean Macdonald said
Fri Jun 15 11:50 PM, 2007
The Wryneck up at Middlebrook was a memorable one. All us birders looking at a small section of path must've been hilarious for the workers on the retail park. The security guards couldn't resist checking it out they must have thought we'd found Shergar or Lord Lucan. I never thought i'd see my first Wryneck on a little path behind Currys at a huge retail park
Dean.
Geoff Hargreaves said
Fri Jun 15 10:29 PM, 2007
tom,it,s a hard and harsh life birding in g m but one of my best birding momments was back in winter on a saturday afternoon and went on to your website/pages , i,d had a beer or two and inadverdently ripped a couple of stomach muscles giggling at them ,i,m almost better now and might take the parental lock off your site but the doc says i should abstain
thanks for the pain but i still smile at the best laugh i,ve had in years cheers geoff
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Jun 15 10:23 PM, 2007
Tom McKinney wrote: But Craig says we can't do foreign birding!
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:14, 2007-06-15
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:19, 2007-06-15
I'm sure Craig won't mind really, if it'll keep this great thread going then why not?
Tom McKinney said
Fri Jun 15 9:10 PM, 2007
This is easy. October 2005. My friend Lyndon decided to organise a surprise weekend for his girlfriend Emma's 30th birthday ... in Ireland... in County Cork... in Clonakilty. Well if you're going to be anywhere in Europe during October it may as well be County Cork!
On Saturday we started drinking just before midday and finally got home at god knows what time the next morning. Sunday started very badly. All of us were pretty ill, many of us still drunk. My mobile had been going off with text messages for a while but I was too ill to find it. Eventually I rooted it out of the bottom of a bag and the first text message I checked was from my Irish mate Harry Hussey, and it actually said:
Chimney Swift. Clonakilty. Flying around church.
I grabbed my bins and just ran out of the cottage in only my AC/DC T-shirt and jeans that I was still wearing from the night before and had passed out in, not quite able to explain to my non-birding friends what was happening. I had no idea where I was going but just running like mad into the town. Suddenly I looked up and there were church spires everywhere - bloody Ireland! I phoned Harry - he was on Cape Clear watching 3 Chimney Swifts, there had been a bit of an influx into south-west Ireland the day before and I had absolutely no idea! Harry gave me the finder Paul Moore's number and I was soon stood by his side just outside the town watching a Chimney Swift zooming about over the town. Absolute magic!!! Now how's that for luck!
Best ever bit of birding was probably our first afternoon in India at Bharatpur in 1999, totally unbelievable. But Craig says we can't do foreign birding!
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:14, 2007-06-15
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:19, 2007-06-15
Steven Astley said
Fri Jun 15 6:47 PM, 2007
Dean Mac wrote:
Ian Woosey wrote:
I`ve thought about this long and hard, but I`ve come back to the one that first sprang to mind. It doesn`t involve exotic birds nor tales of epic twitches, but for me it was simply `magic`. Last May I went to Mull with Frank Obertelli (the Bolton birders will know him ) and we`d gone over to Iona to look for Corncrake, which was one of my `target birds` (Frank had seen the top half of one briefly the previous year with Barry Hulme). As soon as we got off the ferry and walked up the `main street` towards the Nunnery we heard one - well, I did - Frank is a bit deaf ! I located it in the small paddock behind the `shops`, and we set up our gear next to a gate. It now sounded to be further away so I left Frank there and went to search the other side of the paddock - telling him to `phone me if he saw it and if I saw it, then vice versa. I went up the side of the General Store and squeezed past some refuse bins and scanned over the fence. Almost immediately the Corncrake appeared in a small clearing and climbed onto a little boulder and proceeded to `rasp` its head off ! - I stood absolutely transfixed ! - it was an amazing view - I then remembered Frank ! - I frantically `phoned him BUT HE`D NOT SWITCHED THE BLOODY THING ON ! ! ! - I thought `sod it` and carried on feasting my eyes Anyway, a moment later I ran back up the street to tell him and in typical Frank fashion there he was,chewing the ears off a complete stranger. We got back to my viewpoint where luckily it was still showing, bold as brass ! In fact this was what made it so special I think - I`d always read that they were very hard to see - but this one was a champion !
LOL... nice story Ian. I worked with Frank for a while a good few years ago and this sounds typical I bumped into him a couple of months ago at Belmont res and had my ear bent severely Seriously though a nice bloke, please send him my regards.
Dean Macdonald.
Agree typical Frank. Reminds of last year when I went to looking for the Red-Necked Grebe at Pennington, everybody I met had seen it. I was starting to feel a bit sour, thats when if I haven't seen the bird I start cynically and irrationally start disbelieving peoples sightings. Then I bumped into Frank at the ruck, he hadn't seen it aswell. Soon forgot about it as we chatting away for ages (typical on seeing frank). Then we went our separate ways and low and behold I looked back to where we had been chatting and there it was, the grebe which had I later found out had been there all along A great bloke Frank.
Les Steele said
Fri Jun 15 8:15 AM, 2007
Hi all
My best moment`s a bit of a cliche really...
As a teenager back in the sixties, I used to do a bit of fishing. I was on the Shropshire Union canal with me fishing rod poking out from the reeds when a kingfisher landed on it. (No I didn`t look like Bill Oddie with a twig in his hand) It stayed there for perhaps 10 seconds but that`s all it took to get me hooked. (pardon the pun)
Regards Les
Adrian Dancy said
Thu Jun 14 11:57 PM, 2007
As a young boy I was given some pocket money to go and watch The Sound of Music. I got on my bike with my sketch pad and went down to Peakirk Wild Fowl Trust instead. OK the birds were captive but I didn't care.
Not affording bins as young boy I went to Castor Hanglands near Peterborough and made natural hides in ditches and places next to ponds and saw warblers (I did not know what kind then) and all three woodpeckers up close and may more species. I still think it is the best way to see birds. Patience is always rewarded.
I went to photograph a greenshank last year at Elton Res. I covered myself and gear with scrim netting , I was under a bush. The birds were about 50 yards away and I was hoping eventually the greenshank would walk toward me. It didn't. A kingfisher in a pool behind me was disturbed by something and flew around my part of the res. It decided to perch up in the bush I was hiding in. It landed about 2ft away from my face made a few call sounds (quite loud when your'e up close) and flew off. I would'nt change that experience for anything!
I love spot flys and one landed on my lens at Holcombe Village.
Photographing a juv wheatear on Holcombe hill.
A Juv swallow landing on my camera bag at Martin Mere...OK no big deal but it put a big smile on my face
Photographing juv kestrels at holcombe village.
Rescuing a swan (darvic ring problem) one winter morning I got a call from Pete and Norma Johnson , I was told waxwings here you better get yourself down here. I ran home , got my photographic gear (which was new and I hardly knew how to use it ...still don't!) and got a lift with Ivan Ellison ..Saw these birds for the first time. The birds amazed me ...I took a few shots and they made the papers. Judith Smith sent my pics off to the BBC.A day or so later I was wiring up my new computer next to telly. Suddenly the waxwing pictures were on the TV screen and I thought I had wired up my computer wrong!. I was baffled for a moment till I heard Gordon Burns saying pictures by Adrian Dancy. I was knocked out!
My best birding moment has lasted about 3 years and I hope it continues: it is my involvement with our urban peregrines. To quote Ruttgar Hougher in Blade Runner (forgive spelling) "i've seen things you people wouldn't believe": these birds have provided some thrilling moments some of which I have been able to capture on camera.
Dean Macdonald said
Thu Jun 14 10:06 PM, 2007
Way back in 1990 me and my girlfriend(now wife) spent a week on the Isle of Skye. We'd already had a fortnight in the highlands earlier in the year, where we saw Golden Eagle, Osprey, Slavonian Grebe and Snow Buntings at the peak of Ben Nevis! She was beginning to get the idea what she was getting into Anyway, it rained every single day on Skye and i mean rained! Woke up with no power one morning as the lines had blown down. As a result we spent most of the week driving round the island trying to sneak a bit of walking between the weather. We went to look at an old water mill on a particularly bleak day, which was interesting. When we came out we decided to follow the track, it couldn't go any further than the sea, which it didn't. We parked up and we where amazed at the place. A beautifull bay Wild seas, lovely rocky outcrops so we sat awhile to take in the atmosphere of the place. Then a Gannet appeared wow! If i'd been a painter i would have been in my element. The Gannet was diving into the rough sea and was soon joined by another and then another. We counted 12 in the end. It was the sheer atmosphere of the place and the Gannets appearing out of nowhere that made it so special. We'd seen loads of Gannets before but not like this. We sat for about an hour watching them diving. A magical moment which we still talk about today.
Dean.
Ian Woosey said
Thu Jun 14 9:35 PM, 2007
Will do Dean. Yes, he is a belting bloke !
Dean Macdonald said
Thu Jun 14 9:33 PM, 2007
Ian Woosey wrote:
I`ve thought about this long and hard, but I`ve come back to the one that first sprang to mind. It doesn`t involve exotic birds nor tales of epic twitches, but for me it was simply `magic`. Last May I went to Mull with Frank Obertelli (the Bolton birders will know him ) and we`d gone over to Iona to look for Corncrake, which was one of my `target birds` (Frank had seen the top half of one briefly the previous year with Barry Hulme). As soon as we got off the ferry and walked up the `main street` towards the Nunnery we heard one - well, I did - Frank is a bit deaf ! I located it in the small paddock behind the `shops`, and we set up our gear next to a gate. It now sounded to be further away so I left Frank there and went to search the other side of the paddock - telling him to `phone me if he saw it and if I saw it, then vice versa. I went up the side of the General Store and squeezed past some refuse bins and scanned over the fence. Almost immediately the Corncrake appeared in a small clearing and climbed onto a little boulder and proceeded to `rasp` its head off ! - I stood absolutely transfixed ! - it was an amazing view - I then remembered Frank ! - I frantically `phoned him BUT HE`D NOT SWITCHED THE BLOODY THING ON ! ! ! - I thought `sod it` and carried on feasting my eyes Anyway, a moment later I ran back up the street to tell him and in typical Frank fashion there he was,chewing the ears off a complete stranger. We got back to my viewpoint where luckily it was still showing, bold as brass ! In fact this was what made it so special I think - I`d always read that they were very hard to see - but this one was a champion !
LOL... nice story Ian. I worked with Frank for a while a good few years ago and this sounds typical I bumped into him a couple of months ago at Belmont res and had my ear bent severely Seriously though a nice bloke, please send him my regards.
Dean Macdonald.
Ian Woosey said
Thu Jun 14 9:13 PM, 2007
I`ve thought about this long and hard, but I`ve come back to the one that first sprang to mind. It doesn`t involve exotic birds nor tales of epic twitches, but for me it was simply `magic`. Last May I went to Mull with Frank Obertelli (the Bolton birders will know him ) and we`d gone over to Iona to look for Corncrake, which was one of my `target birds` (Frank had seen the top half of one briefly the previous year with Barry Hulme). As soon as we got off the ferry and walked up the `main street` towards the Nunnery we heard one - well, I did - Frank is a bit deaf ! I located it in the small paddock behind the `shops`, and we set up our gear next to a gate. It now sounded to be further away so I left Frank there and went to search the other side of the paddock - telling him to `phone me if he saw it and if I saw it, then vice versa. I went up the side of the General Store and squeezed past some refuse bins and scanned over the fence. Almost immediately the Corncrake appeared in a small clearing and climbed onto a little boulder and proceeded to `rasp` its head off ! - I stood absolutely transfixed ! - it was an amazing view - I then remembered Frank ! - I frantically `phoned him BUT HE`D NOT SWITCHED THE BLOODY THING ON ! ! ! - I thought `sod it` and carried on feasting my eyes Anyway, a moment later I ran back up the street to tell him and in typical Frank fashion there he was,chewing the ears off a complete stranger. We got back to my viewpoint where luckily it was still showing, bold as brass ! In fact this was what made it so special I think - I`d always read that they were very hard to see - but this one was a champion !
Tony Coatsworth said
Thu Jun 14 8:16 PM, 2007
Where do you start ?
A cold windswept Minsmere in February - not a bird in sight then an Avocet appears out of nowhere - 3 of us swear it just materialised out of thin air.
A WT Eagle on Gruinard Island dwarfing a flock of Greylag Geese it put up.
A very wet Woodcock skimming in over the sea at Lindesfarne then sitting on a beach in front of us giving minor palpatations as we struggled to ID it !
The mythical LS Woodpecker along the River Bollin in Hale.
As for exotic climes - the Gommatong Bat Cave in Borneo has to be smelt to believe it. The floor is a mass of cockroaches, and there was a Pygmy Kingfisher perched on a stick grabbing one every so often, totally oblivious to us.
Best bird is probably Respendant Quetzal in Costa Rica. With it's long tail streamers poking out of a nest hole it then popped out to do a fly-by. Also the Humming Birds at Rancho Naturalista were just amazing.
James Walsh said
Wed Jun 13 9:48 AM, 2007
Internationally - in no particular order, and I'll keep it brief otherwise I'll be writing for days:
Seeing Gurneys Pitta at Khao Nor Chuchi, Thailand, a very stunning highlight of a superb Asia trip
Golden Bowerbirds at their bower in Tropical North Australia, and birding Cairns, especially the Esplanade
Northwest England:
Marbury CP near Northwich in Cheshire - between October 95 & March 98 I found American Wigeon, Long billed Dowitcher & Alpine Swift, all memorable for different reasons - the wigeon because it was a "long term" id challenge full eclipse drake (I spent about 5 hours watching it at distance umming and ahhing, and then clinched it on my next visit when it was only 100 yards off the boathouse on Budworth Mere), the dowitcher because it was only around for about 2 hours and I had to do a lot of dashing around to phone boxes to manage to get some of the locals onto it (and because it was unmemorable for ex patcher Dave Walters who had been to the same spot for weeks every day but had decided to have a lie in that morning) and the swift a) for obvious reasons and b) because i had to go to Northwich Royal Infirmary after taking a chunk out of my leg whilst running around looking skywards keeping up with the bird (perhaps a little karma payback for "findgripping" Dave off so much !)
Birdwatching on the Salford Mosses and seeing so many farmland species such as Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Grey Partridge, Lapwings, etc, etc
Nice finds in the Timperley area such as Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Green Sandpiper, Lesser Whitethroat, & just recently, seeing female Pochard with 2 ducklings for the first time here
Craig Higson said
Wed Jun 13 8:42 AM, 2007
Simon Johnson wrote:
2, 4th Oct 1998 was only 18 at the time and managed to talk my dad into taking me to Spurn point for the day. Think there had been E or NE wind over night with rain and there were birds everywherewhen we got there! Goldcrests seemed to be in there thousands along with loads of Robins, Finches and thrushes. Birds were tired and seemed to be landing on anything....Goldcrests landing on People, a craking male siskin and Golden Plover round peoples feet and in all this were Pied Wheatear, Red-Backed and Great-Grey Shrikes, Redstarts, Ring Ouzel and a Palla's warbler. It was only a week earlier at Spurn that Id had RB Fly, Subalpine, Barred and Yellow-browed Warbler's and a Rustic Bunting all on the same day. Not been on a day like them again (but i know thay have happened) Fantastic place.
.
I left the day before all that started happening
Andrew Newall said
Tue Jun 12 11:17 PM, 2007
With me still being in my first 12 months of birding everything is a best moment !!!!!, im sure i will add some absolute crackers over the years to come.
Andrew
Simon Johnson said
Tue Jun 12 11:11 PM, 2007
Wow this is quite hard to actually pick a best one, theres loads that pop into mind here's a few:-
1, Has to be the raptor roost at Horsey mere. We went this Feb spent the day in the Horsey area in Norfolk and ended the day at Stubb Mill looking out over the marsh and watching Marsh Harrier after Marsh Harrier come in from the surrounding area to roost. In all i counted 36 Marsh Harrier's in the air at once along with a Hen Harrier, 2 Merlin, Spahawk, Kestrel, 3 Barn owl and a Harris Hawk. It was a cold,crisp,clear evening and just as the sun set with the golden glow behind us 30 Common Cranes flew over niosley to roost. For me it really was an amazing winters days birding in England.
2, 4th Oct 1998 was only 18 at the time and managed to talk my dad into taking me to Spurn point for the day. Think there had been E or NE wind over night with rain and there were birds everywherewhen we got there! Goldcrests seemed to be in there thousands along with loads of Robins, Finches and thrushes. Birds were tired and seemed to be landing on anything....Goldcrests landing on People, a craking male siskin and Golden Plover round peoples feet and in all this were Pied Wheatear, Red-Backed and Great-Grey Shrikes, Redstarts, Ring Ouzel and a Palla's warbler. It was only a week earlier at Spurn that Id had RB Fly, Subalpine, Barred and Yellow-browed Warbler's and a Rustic Bunting all on the same day. Not been on a day like them again (but i know thay have happened) Fantastic place.
3, Vis Mig has to get a mention here! Back home in Bradford each autumn i watch a place called Denholme clough, its a North South runnig clough on the edge of the Pennines and all though it wasnt a day of huge numbers i'll always remember It! Was back in 2000 the autumn of the Honey Buzzards and for the last few weekends in September we hadnt been able to do Vis Mig cause it had been foggy but on the morning of the 1st October our look was in as the mist lifted and was eventually burnt off by the sun, we started with a 1st Winter kittiwake then waves of mpipts, started coming south big groups of them then Swallows, Pied wagtails, siskin's, Goldfinches big flocks with the likes of Yellow wags, Skylarks and Tree Pipts all added in all heading south too then over the nearby Hill side a big raptor appeared a dark phase Honey Buzzard also heading south it eventually flew about house hieght right above over our heads! Not bad for a local patch.
Dean Macdonald said
Mon Jun 11 10:51 PM, 2007
I'd just bought my first scope, still got it. Wanted to try it out at distance so we(wife and kids) went to Hest Bank near Morecambe. Parked up on car park just over the level crossing, with the intention of looking at waders in the distance. We got out of the car and i set up my new scope right next to the car. I was eager to try it out. I picked up a "Gull" and watched it fly closer, looks like a first or second winter plumage something or other, gulls are not my strong point. Then i think, hang on a minute this baby has got very distinctive white wing patches! I managed to follow it for a few minutes and it was a deffinate Great Skua. I was so chuffed a lifer with my new scope The wife and kids had wandered off ,thinking i was just playing about with my new scope. But i had a Great Skua, Fantastic
Dean.
Simon Warford said
Mon Jun 11 10:26 PM, 2007
Yeah that was abit spooky to say the least, i guess theres now 2 records in Derbys now at the same place, booo.
Ian McKerchar said
Mon Jun 11 9:04 PM, 2007
warfy wrote: Finding a Caspian Tern at Willington GP in Derbys 11/5/1993, I was at uni in Derby for 3 years and did this place an aweful lot and persistance paid. This was a county first and still remains the only record.
Coincidence One briefly at Willington GP's this morning..............
Steven Astley said
Mon Jun 11 8:13 PM, 2007
Never found anything that rare so I don't know what that would feel like, my best birding moment is looking for Little Owl without much success until being woken in the dead of night by 1 staring at me on telegraph pole outside my bedroom.
Simon Warford said
Sun Jun 10 10:37 PM, 2007
Ive had many memorable moments varying from seeing many rare birds, good days at Spurn or finding my own birds on local patches. Ive listed 5 which I thought of straight away but have probably missed some :-
1 - Without doubt the highlight. Finding a Caspian Tern at Willington GP in Derbys 11/5/1993, I was at uni in Derby for 3 years and did this place an aweful lot and persistance paid. This was a county first and still remains the only record. Found at 5pm over 100 birders managed to see the bird before dark! It was also a new bird for me at the time so all the more sweeter.
2 - My first trip to Scilly October 1996 with Judith, arriving on St Marys and to see a Black and White Warbler within an hour of landing was amazing, followed shortly after by Semi P Sandpiper,Bobolink and a 2nd Black and White Warbler.
3 - Portland Bill 30/9/2000 - After successfully twitching a Cliff Swallow the rest of the day was spent watching the most unbelievable visible migration of raptors i have ever seen. No fewer than 35 Honey Buzzards flew south of Portland Bill while i was there, seeing them flying out to sea towards France was amazing. Also many common buzzards and 3 Ospreys were also seen. At one point there were 7 Honey Buzzards and 2 Opsreys circling together over the sea just of the bill, i doubt this will be repeated for a long time.
4 - Finding my first Osprey in Gtr Man at my local patch Elton Res
5 - Western Isles in May 2005 - this place is truly wonderful birding. At one point on south Huist we had a pair of Golden Eagles being mobbed by 2 Merlins and a male Hen Harrier and there was a spectacular arial battle for about 10 mins and yes the the Merlins looked like minute comapred to the Eagles, It was pretty funny.
Henry Cook said
Sun Jun 10 1:55 PM, 2007
Can we include Ireland in this thread?? I hope so.
Seawatching last autumn from the Bridges of Ross in Co.Clare was my best ever birding moment so far. This was my ever experience of seawatching, and what an introduction. Late one cloudy evening after a near full day at the site, all apart from 2 hardy souls and our group had departed as passage was slow (still there were skuas and the odd Great Shearwater flying by). It was going dark fast, then one of our group said "Oh My God", then a looooooooong gap...... "FEA'S". The next few moments trying to get onto the bird were crazy. After what seemed like forever I found it flying slowly on its way. We noted some of the features including the pretty slow flight action, white body and the 'v' like pattern on its wings. I'd never had an adrenaline rush quite like that!!
Next morning, and the other birders had heard of our discovery, most not wanting to talk about it in anger!
To top it off, a couple of days later we saw another. I'd hardly heard of this bird species before the trip but knew of its mythical status as a British bird which made the experience all the more exciting.
Going back this autumn for another adrenaline fix...
Geoff Hargreaves said
Sat Jun 9 9:53 PM, 2007
i,m suprised this thread hasn,t run and run but that may be cosit,s so hard to nail your best one ,luckily i,ve only got a few thousand to ponder on so i can pick out a favourite fairly easyly,went on a boy,s only camping weekend in southport(sounds very 'camp'but promise i,m not)got up crack of dawn and walked to back of camp site with me bins in the half light not expecting much but ever hopefull ,then a barn owl flew 50yrds in front of me ,i think it saw me and decided i didn,t matter.it then continued to hunt over the fields in front of me for 20 mins before it left,stunning,gobsmacked,expletive wonderous. and despite my best efforts at rindle rd,lightshaw,etc have failed to get my manchester barnie on the list,might be why i still get up at silly o,clock to go birding
cheers geoff
Ian McKerchar said
Fri Jun 8 12:16 AM, 2007
I'm not sure it's entirely my best birding moment but a very memorable day nevertheless
Anyway, I'm on my annual October hols in south-west Cornwall in 2001 and I've just got my young son off to sleep by driving around in the car, with him fast asleep I see an opportunity for a spot of guilt free birding and call in to Porthgwarra. I park in the bottom car park and typically it starts pouring with rain, but hey, both son and wife are now asleep in the car and I have afew hours to myself so no rain, no matter how hard, is going to deter me from some seriously hard birding. I set out and pass several birders making their way quickly past me back down the valley to thier cars and the sanctuary from the pelting rain they offer and am greeted by each one with a 'what the hell are you doing going out in this weather' look, but like I say, I don't care...
I finally make it to the 60ft cover at the top of the valley (so called because it takes a 60foot mist net to cross the valley) and try to take some cover from the relentless, soaking drizzle, amongst the trees and bushes there. I hear a flock of tits approaching noisily throught the cover and get ready to give the flock a scanning, after all there had been little else to look at all day! There they are.. Great Tit, Great Tit, yep another...ooh, Blue Tit...Great Tit, Great Tit...what the...
A pale looking, large warbler sized bird flies quickly overhead though the tree tops afew feet overhead. Garden Warbler? No, it didn't seem right and I can't put a name to it, usually a good sign of something interesting. With still persistent drizzle all around and the tit flock moving off infront, I purse my lips and ...psssshhhhh...psssshhhhh ...psssshhhh. 'Pishing' has always been a favourite of mine and has attracted some decent birds in the past but after only afew attempts 'the bird' pops out just above head hight only 6 or so feet away and only for literally 2 seconds but in that time, despite seeing only the face 'head-on' I know fully what it is. Not the rarest of birds but my first American passerine find and I stare at the space occupied only seconds ago by a Red-eyed Vireo.
Do I attempt to go after the bird and obtain better views (afterall it really was only 2 seconds) or do I go and 'raise the alarm'? A quick scan for the bird and I can't even find the tit flock it was associating with so off I go back down the valley and quickly I come across the previously car-cowering birders coming back up the now rain-free valley. I take great pleasure as 'the plonker going birding in the p***ing rain' informs them of the Vireo he has just found and sees the envy in their eyes that follows. I return to the 60ft with a small gathering and we have decent views of the very elusive bird as it circuits around with the tit flock, eventually staying for a week or so and attracting a small army of admirers.
There is one thing above all about finding rarities though. Admit it or not, there's nothing like meeting another birder and them asking have you seen the...(in this instance, Red-eyed Vireo at Porthgwarra)... only to be able to reply.."oh yes, I found it!". Marvellous
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 00:17, 2007-06-08
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 00:18, 2007-06-08
Dean Macdonald said
Thu Jun 7 11:42 PM, 2007
Well as you've mentioned Redstarts in the garden, this springs to mind.... A few years ago(without checking my notes don't know date) i had a Redstart in the garden, well next door really, but it did cross the border. I spent all morning watching it, venturing outside very quietly to put rubbish out etc. I couldn't believe it a Redstart in the garden! It later turned into "worst birding moment" as my sister in law and her boyfriend turned up. Youv'e guessed it, to have a look at our recently improved and replanted back garden. The Redstart didn't seem to like the company and promptly dissapeared never to be seen again. A great bird as for the sister in law
Craig Higson said
Thu Jun 7 11:21 PM, 2007
As its a quiet time of year, and because replying to Geoffs post has inspired me I thought I'd start a topic to see what peoples best birding experiences have been. Just to add a bit of spice though, and because I cant compete with all those who've been to Panama looking at Quetzals, I thought I'd limit it to best UK birding moments.
Also, its not a best birding day but actual things that have happend whilst birding if you see what I mean. To give you an idea what I'm on about ( I can hear you all shouting shut up and get on with it) I thought I'd start with the ones that come to the top of my head.
1. Undoubtedly THE most impressive ornithological sight I've seen happened at Spurn two or three years ago. A storm front funnelled what must have been all yorkshires migrating hirundines down the peninsular. Literally thousands of birds went past in the space of 15 minutes. And I do mean thousands. The total count of swallows that day was (if I'm looking at the right entry in the report) 45,000. At one point all you could see was hirundines.Regulars to the site who see migration on a large scale fairly often were impressed. Its difficult to explain. One of those 'you should have been there' moments.
2. Doing the National Bird race in 2003 and winning best new team. I dont think I've ever been as tired or laughed as much in my life. Some of the discussions (read arguments) were truly spectacular for their stupidity factor alone.
3. Again at Spurn in Oct 2005. A huge fall of Goldcrests. We ringed ....lots. You had to watch where you put your feet cause they were everywhere. And the noise, yes from goldcrests, it was like white noise and drove you mad (no comments please from those who know me).
4. Adding Redstart to my garden list (which still doesnt include greenfinch/goldfinch or chaffinch).
Dennis, Ian's records are a lot more accurate than my memory
In my old Hamlyn Bird guide book which I had in the 70's and early 80's I wrote beside the GG Shrike, Norfolk 1974 , Morecambe and Pennington. The 3 locations where I have seen the bird in Britain but not the dates unfortunately.
It's always great when I go to the tern colonies in July/August. Unfortunately the heat is unbearable and often it's accompanied by high humidity but it's worth it to be in the midst of thousands of terns.
I should say so. I might have to speak to you privately about that one Alex s it's a serious county rarity
also bittern at leighton moss. heard it throughout the day but couldnt see it, then just as we had given up and were heading back to the car we saw 1 flying over the reeds for about 10 seconds then it dipped down again.
goshawk at pennington flash was another good one.
I left Leez Priory in Essex having just shot a wedding...between there and the M11 I saw 3 barn owls...it's about 10 minutes to drive. The last one, I saw in plenty of time to stop the car next to. He was on my passenger side, about 3ft away from the glass...just sat there peering in and watching me while I watched him.
Bliss :)
Gyr Falcon at first light, roosting on a cliff at Stepper Point before flying over the estuary.
Then, White Billed Diver, Franklins Gull and Spotted Sandpiper at Hayle Estuary followed by Firecrest and a Lesser Whitethroat on fat balls in a Lelant garden.
It doesnt get much better on mainland Britain-or does it....................................?
Watching 39 Pomarine Skuas fly past in the space of a couple of hours, in flocks of 17, 11 and 11!
Add to that 20 Arctic Skuas, 1 Bonxie, several Red-throated Divers and hundreds of Terns... Great stuff!
1) when i was little i went to pennington flash, it was winter and pretty cold and i remember watching a gsw on a nut feeder. It must have been quite windy because the feeder spun round only to have on the other side a green woodpecker!
i was amazed. The ground must have been too hard for the grn woodpecker to feed and it was forced to the feeders.
2) not sure if this better than 1) but i was in the new forest down south and i was following deer tracks into some bushes. on seeing what i thought was a crow i promptly walked towards it and it flushed, flying onto a branch not to far away. i left the bushes to rejoin my family, only to find them transfixed with their bins on a really big bird perched no more than 10m away . I asked what it was instantly knowing that this was the bird i had flushed. but they ingnored me, and after looking through my own bins i quickly found out why. It was only a female goshawk! I couldn't believe my eyes and we watched it for a few more seconds before it flew off. A truly magical moment.
3) although not much of a spectacle, the first time i saw a gsw on a feeder in my garden (only about 7x8 metres) felt amazing.
It seems sacrilege to try and single out any one instance, but I'll try.
For an outrageous encounter, (with an almost surreal element), the following takes the biscuit for me.
During a month long trip to PNG with my older son (also a birder) we were watching a displaying Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise "doing its thing" on the top of a tree stump; - something in itself that was going to be a hard act to top, - but we did!
I just happened to glance down the dirt road some 50 yards away, and saw a large clumsy looking giant rail suddenly appear out of the undergrowth and clomp across the track, flapping its little stumpy wings. I exclaimed quietly but excitedly, "that looks like a Flightless Rail!" Sure enough, it was; and within seconds followed by a second bird!
New Guinea Flightless Rail had then been seen in life by only about 35 people, - ever. Its scientific name is most apt : Megacrex inepta!
It was almost certainly the rarest bird I'll ever see, and it really felt like a gift from the birding gods.
From the news of Ravens at the JJB Stadium it appears that this previous entry will need updating.............
-- Edited by dave broome on Wednesday 25th of March 2009 08:59:54 PM
as the tide came in all the birds and voles got flushed out and all the predators came along to see what they could pick off. saw around 5 short eared owls, female hen harrier, merlin, kestrel, a few water rail (one of which flew into the crowd of birders and hid under someones bag), lots of little egrets, scandinavian rock pipit, jack snipe, curlew, snipe, merganser and shelduck. and a corn bunting in the field opposite, all in the space of about half an hour. im sure i missed a lot of things because im a newbie, it was all happening pretty fast and i didnt want to keep pestering people with what they were seeing.
1981
All of it
...but especially a certain Warbler with an evil eye...
....and the Porthcressa disco...
*sighs... twitchers knew how to party
Thanks for the pics of the Keets Pete
A few highlights/significant moments:
Birding at the Match:
During those lulls in play, there's occasionally something more than the odd Pied Wag, hoping to quietly drop on to its favourite turf, only to be startled to find thousands of people present. In particular I fondly recall a Peregrine passing over the JJB Stadium during Wigan Athletic v Cardiff City and down at Craven Cotage a Ring-Necked Parakeet flying around the stands during Fulham v Wigan. I remember going to find Mr Jimmy Meadows at half-time during the latter, to check it wasn't just the pre-match beers kicking in.
Canary Island:
Not birding for endemics in the Atlantic archipelago, but an escaped cagebird on Marus Bridge roundabout, Wigan, which livened up a Sunday afternoon as a kid. Circa 1979/1980, after a morning fishing I remember excitement among my mates when I arrived back home. A Canary had been seen around the then heavily-shrubbed A49 roundabout. Of course we were going to catch it! We failed on that respect - probably the rustling of our jumbo cordorouys was enough to scare it. However, I did manage to stalk it to within a few feet on a gate - I didn't realise at the time, but my field craft was finely honed that day.
A Night at Jenny's:
I saw the Lundy Ancient Murrelet in its third summer on the island. I didn't go in its first year there, went in its second but dipped! In 1992 I was to see it on another visit out in to the Bristol Channel. We set off on a chartered fishing boat at the strange hour of about 11:30 pm. The skipper assured us that due to the tides it would be about 3am before we got there - I think he was having a laugh. We were landed on to the island not long after 1:00am, being taken ashore in two's via an inflatable Zodiac boat, under the mist and lighthouse beams. With a distinct lack of late-night curry houses on Lundy we pondered what to do. There was little else but to make our way to Jenny's Cove, where the Murrelet was residing and wait for first light. Half-way across the island a silhouette of a bull in the mist resulted in everyone suddenly shuffling along in a tight pack! Cue a surreal couple of hours sitting in the dark on the cliftop turf, with rocks for pillows. Thankfully the Murrelet did perform among the seabird colony, before retiring to its chosen hole in the rocks. It then transpired that we weren't the only arrivals in the night on Lundy, as a good fall had taken place, including around 1000 Willow Warblers.
No I dont mind - I just knew though that somebody would have to mention seeing a Quetzal spp though
Anyway. If birding abroads included I'll have a go. I wont mention the trips to spain cause I've already done them in a reply to Geoffs thread.
1992 - Kenya and I was in a 'I like birds but i'm not just birding phase' when I went so didnt take a field guide. BIG MISTAKE. But I still remember seeing Secretary Bird, Dark Chanting Goshawk and Ostrich less than 10 feet away and within 10mins of each other. How weird is it seeing Ostriches when they're not in a Zoo or on TV? Very, let me tell you. Impressive birds but weird nonetheless seeing them in their own habitat. Its almost like they're a made up species. Also a flock of weaver birds that would put our big starling flocks to shame.
1997 - Mexico. Bit difficult to do much birding as I was on Honeymoon. But when we arrived at the hotel, the first thing I saw when I opened our window was hordes of Magnificent Frigate Birds. I could sit on the balcony and watch these, Brown Pelicans and Brown Booby's (thats birds people, tsk tsk) every evening. Best bit though was persuading my newlywed wife that she really did want to go on a boat trip to the Marietas Island Nature Reserve. The place was like a tropical St Kilda and we (well I did she was being sick) saw Brown, Blue footed and Red footed Boobys, Brown Noddys, Terns, Heermans Gulls and all sorts of other species topped off with Dolphins around the boat.
Biggest regret from this holiday (other than not swimming with Dolphins) was the Field Guide I ordered on Mexican Birds really did only contain Mexican birds and none of the North American species that are equally as common as residents or on migration. Hence I saw loads of stuff I couldnt identify
-- Edited by Craig H at 22:40, 2007-06-16
We were persistant and it payed off as the next night we were allowed into the auberge under the false pretense of having a meal. We had the (rather expensive) meal sat in comfy seats by the side of the illuminated pool, surrounded by palm trees, under the star-filled sky and were onto the desert, just hoping and hoping before we saw something! This crazy beast flew in like a thing possessed and swooped over the pool sipping up a bit of water before heading back out into the dunes. An amazing experience and was celebrated with traditional Moroccan mint teas before hitting the road. It was only this wonderful sight that kept me going for the next 10 hours as we made ground northwest for the next days birding in the snow-capped atlas mountains! Top country.
Cheers
Henerz
Our first afternoon in India was insane. After arriving at Bharatpur we set off immediately into the Keoladeo reserve and in just over four hours managed to see 4 species of Eagle, 3 species of Owl, 4 species of Stork, 4 species of Cormorant/Darter, plus other amazing things like Black Bittern, Painted Snipe, Bluethroats and Red-breasted Flycatchers absolutely everywhere, trees literally filled to overspilling with nesting Storks, Spoonbills & Ibises, Bronze-winged & Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Clamorous Reed Warbler, Long-tailed Shrike, Brown-headed Barbet, not to mention White-tailed Plovers which were pretty common... and bags and bags of other stuff... just absolutely amazing. Finished the day walking back along the main track and watched an enormous Dusky Eagle Owl sat at the top of a dead tree barking at us.
I've never seen birds in such number as at Bharatpur, our luck was in and we got it just right with the monsoon the year we went, and when people say it is the finest reserve in the world you can see what they mean!
The Wryneck up at Middlebrook was a memorable one. All us birders looking at a small section of path must've been hilarious for the workers on the retail park. The security guards couldn't resist checking it out they must have thought we'd found Shergar or Lord Lucan. I never thought i'd see my first Wryneck on a little path behind Currys at a huge retail park
Dean.
thanks for the pain but i still smile at the best laugh i,ve had in years cheers geoff
I'm sure Craig won't mind really, if it'll keep this great thread going then why not?
On Saturday we started drinking just before midday and finally got home at god knows what time the next morning. Sunday started very badly. All of us were pretty ill, many of us still drunk. My mobile had been going off with text messages for a while but I was too ill to find it. Eventually I rooted it out of the bottom of a bag and the first text message I checked was from my Irish mate Harry Hussey, and it actually said:
Chimney Swift. Clonakilty. Flying around church.
I grabbed my bins and just ran out of the cottage in only my AC/DC T-shirt and jeans that I was still wearing from the night before and had passed out in, not quite able to explain to my non-birding friends what was happening. I had no idea where I was going but just running like mad into the town. Suddenly I looked up and there were church spires everywhere - bloody Ireland! I phoned Harry - he was on Cape Clear watching 3 Chimney Swifts, there had been a bit of an influx into south-west Ireland the day before and I had absolutely no idea! Harry gave me the finder Paul Moore's number and I was soon stood by his side just outside the town watching a Chimney Swift zooming about over the town. Absolute magic!!! Now how's that for luck!
Best ever bit of birding was probably our first afternoon in India at Bharatpur in 1999, totally unbelievable. But Craig says we can't do foreign birding!
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:14, 2007-06-15
-- Edited by Tom McKinney at 21:19, 2007-06-15
Agree typical Frank. Reminds of last year when I went to looking for the Red-Necked Grebe at Pennington, everybody I met had seen it. I was starting to feel a bit sour, thats when if I haven't seen the bird I start cynically and irrationally start disbelieving peoples sightings. Then I bumped into Frank at the ruck, he hadn't seen it aswell. Soon forgot about it as we chatting away for ages (typical on seeing frank).
Then we went our separate ways and low and behold I looked back to where we had been chatting and there it was, the grebe which had I later found out had been there all along
A great bloke Frank.
My best moment`s a bit of a cliche really...
As a teenager back in the sixties, I used to do a bit of fishing. I was on the Shropshire Union canal with me fishing rod poking out from the reeds when a kingfisher landed on it. (No I didn`t look like Bill Oddie with a twig in his hand) It stayed there for perhaps 10 seconds but that`s all it took to get me hooked. (pardon the pun)
Regards
Les
Not affording bins as young boy I went to Castor Hanglands near Peterborough and made natural hides in ditches and places next to ponds and saw warblers (I did not know what kind then) and all three woodpeckers up close and may more species. I still think it is the best way to see birds. Patience is always rewarded.
I went to photograph a greenshank last year at Elton Res. I covered myself and gear with scrim netting , I was under a bush. The birds were about 50 yards away and I was hoping eventually the greenshank would walk toward me. It didn't. A kingfisher in a pool behind me was disturbed by something and flew around my part of the res. It decided to perch up in the bush I was hiding in. It landed about 2ft away from my face made a few call sounds (quite loud when your'e up close) and flew off. I would'nt change that experience for anything!
I love spot flys and one landed on my lens at Holcombe Village.
Photographing a juv wheatear on Holcombe hill.
A Juv swallow landing on my camera bag at Martin Mere...OK no big deal but it put a big smile on my face
Photographing juv kestrels at holcombe village.
Rescuing a swan (darvic ring problem) one winter morning I got a call from Pete and Norma Johnson , I was told waxwings here you better get yourself down here. I ran home , got my photographic gear (which was new and I hardly knew how to use it ...still don't!) and got a lift with Ivan Ellison ..Saw these birds for the first time. The birds amazed me ...I took a few shots and they made the papers. Judith Smith sent my pics off to the BBC.A day or so later I was wiring up my new computer next to telly. Suddenly the waxwing pictures were on the TV screen and I thought I had wired up my computer wrong!. I was baffled for a moment till I heard Gordon Burns saying pictures by Adrian Dancy. I was knocked out!
My best birding moment has lasted about 3 years and I hope it continues: it is my involvement with our urban peregrines. To quote Ruttgar Hougher in Blade Runner (forgive spelling) "i've seen things you people wouldn't believe": these birds have provided some thrilling moments some of which I have been able to capture on camera.
Way back in 1990 me and my girlfriend(now wife) spent a week on the Isle of Skye. We'd already had a fortnight in the highlands earlier in the year, where we saw Golden Eagle, Osprey, Slavonian Grebe and Snow Buntings at the peak of Ben Nevis! She was beginning to get the idea what she was getting into
It was the sheer atmosphere of the place and the Gannets appearing out of nowhere that made it so special. We'd seen loads of Gannets before but not like this. We sat for about an hour watching them diving. A magical moment which we still talk about today.
Dean.
LOL... nice story Ian. I worked with Frank for a while a good few years ago and this sounds typical
Seriously though a nice bloke, please send him my regards.
Dean Macdonald.
Last May I went to Mull with Frank Obertelli (the Bolton birders will know him ) and we`d gone over to Iona to look for Corncrake, which was one of my `target birds` (Frank had seen the top half of one briefly the previous year with Barry Hulme). As soon as we got off the ferry and walked up the `main street` towards the Nunnery we heard one - well, I did - Frank is a bit deaf ! I located it in the small paddock behind the `shops`, and we set up our gear next to a gate. It now sounded to be further away so I left Frank there and went to search the other side of the paddock - telling him to `phone me if he saw it and if I saw it, then vice versa. I went up the side of the General Store and squeezed past some refuse bins and scanned over the fence. Almost immediately the Corncrake appeared in a small clearing and climbed onto a little boulder and proceeded to `rasp` its head off ! - I stood absolutely transfixed ! - it was an amazing view
A cold windswept Minsmere in February - not a bird in sight then an Avocet appears out of nowhere - 3 of us swear it just materialised out of thin air.
A WT Eagle on Gruinard Island dwarfing a flock of Greylag Geese it put up.
A very wet Woodcock skimming in over the sea at Lindesfarne then sitting on a beach in front of us giving minor palpatations as we struggled to ID it !
The mythical LS Woodpecker along the River Bollin in Hale.
As for exotic climes - the Gommatong Bat Cave in Borneo has to be smelt to believe it. The floor is a mass of cockroaches, and there was a Pygmy Kingfisher perched on a stick grabbing one every so often, totally oblivious to us.
Best bird is probably Respendant Quetzal in Costa Rica. With it's long tail streamers poking out of a nest hole it then popped out to do a fly-by. Also the Humming Birds at Rancho Naturalista were just amazing.
Seeing Gurneys Pitta at Khao Nor Chuchi, Thailand, a very stunning highlight of a superb Asia trip
Birding on the River Nile
Doing an Antarctica Trip (with Comfy Sofa), seeing Penguin chicks, Humpback Whales, Leopard Seals, Wandering, Grey headed, Light mantled Sooty & Black browed Albatrosses
Golden Bowerbirds at their bower in Tropical North Australia, and birding Cairns, especially the Esplanade
Northwest England:
Marbury CP near Northwich in Cheshire - between October 95 & March 98 I found American Wigeon, Long billed Dowitcher & Alpine Swift, all memorable for different reasons - the wigeon because it was a "long term" id challenge full eclipse drake (I spent about 5 hours watching it at distance umming and ahhing, and then clinched it on my next visit when it was only 100 yards off the boathouse on Budworth Mere), the dowitcher because it was only around for about 2 hours and I had to do a lot of dashing around to phone boxes to manage to get some of the locals onto it (and because it was unmemorable for ex patcher Dave Walters who had been to the same spot for weeks every day but had decided to have a lie in that morning) and the swift a) for obvious reasons and b) because i had to go to Northwich Royal Infirmary after taking a chunk out of my leg whilst running around looking skywards keeping up with the bird (perhaps a little karma payback for "findgripping" Dave off so much !)
Birdwatching on the Salford Mosses and seeing so many farmland species such as Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Grey Partridge, Lapwings, etc, etc
Nice finds in the Timperley area such as Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Green Sandpiper, Lesser Whitethroat, & just recently, seeing female Pochard with 2 ducklings for the first time here
I left the day before all that started happening
Andrew
1, Has to be the raptor roost at Horsey mere. We went this Feb spent the day in the Horsey area in Norfolk and ended the day at Stubb Mill looking out over the marsh and watching Marsh Harrier after Marsh Harrier come in from the surrounding area to roost. In all i counted 36 Marsh Harrier's in the air at once along with a Hen Harrier, 2 Merlin, Spahawk, Kestrel, 3 Barn owl and a Harris Hawk. It was a cold,crisp,clear evening and just as the sun set with the golden glow behind us 30 Common Cranes flew over niosley to roost. For me it really was an amazing winters days birding in England.
2, 4th Oct 1998 was only 18 at the time and managed to talk my dad into taking me to Spurn point for the day. Think there had been E or NE wind over night with rain and there were birds everywherewhen we got there! Goldcrests seemed to be in there thousands along with loads of Robins, Finches and thrushes. Birds were tired and seemed to be landing on anything....Goldcrests landing on People, a craking male siskin and Golden Plover round peoples feet and in all this were Pied Wheatear, Red-Backed and Great-Grey Shrikes, Redstarts, Ring Ouzel and a Palla's warbler. It was only a week earlier at Spurn that Id had RB Fly, Subalpine, Barred and Yellow-browed Warbler's and a Rustic Bunting all on the same day. Not been on a day like them again (but i know thay have happened) Fantastic place.
3, Vis Mig has to get a mention here! Back home in Bradford each autumn i watch a place called Denholme clough, its a North South runnig clough on the edge of the Pennines and all though it wasnt a day of huge numbers i'll always remember It! Was back in 2000 the autumn of the Honey Buzzards and for the last few weekends in September we hadnt been able to do Vis Mig cause it had been foggy but on the morning of the 1st October our look was in as the mist lifted and was eventually burnt off by the sun, we started with a 1st Winter kittiwake then waves of mpipts, started coming south big groups of them then Swallows, Pied wagtails, siskin's, Goldfinches big flocks with the likes of Yellow wags, Skylarks and Tree Pipts all added in all heading south too then over the nearby Hill side a big raptor appeared a dark phase Honey Buzzard also heading south it eventually flew about house hieght right above over our heads! Not bad for a local patch.
I'd just bought my first scope, still got it. Wanted to try it out at distance so we(wife and kids) went to Hest Bank near Morecambe. Parked up on car park just over the level crossing, with the intention of looking at waders in the distance. We got out of the car and i set up my new scope right next to the car. I was eager to try it out. I picked up a "Gull" and watched it fly closer, looks like a first or second winter plumage something or other, gulls are not my strong point. Then i think, hang on a minute this baby has got very distinctive white wing patches! I managed to follow it for a few minutes and it was a deffinate Great Skua. I was so chuffed a lifer with my new scope
The wife and kids had wandered off ,thinking i was just playing about with my new scope. But i had a Great Skua, Fantastic
Dean.
1 - Without doubt the highlight. Finding a Caspian Tern at Willington GP in Derbys 11/5/1993, I was at uni in Derby for 3 years and did this place an aweful lot and persistance paid. This was a county first and still remains the only record. Found at 5pm over 100 birders managed to see the bird before dark! It was also a new bird for me at the time so all the more sweeter.
2 - My first trip to Scilly October 1996 with Judith, arriving on St Marys and to see a Black and White Warbler within an hour of landing was amazing, followed shortly after by Semi P Sandpiper,Bobolink and a 2nd Black and White Warbler.
3 - Portland Bill 30/9/2000 - After successfully twitching a Cliff Swallow the rest of the day was spent watching the most unbelievable visible migration of raptors i have ever seen. No fewer than 35 Honey Buzzards flew south of Portland Bill while i was there, seeing them flying out to sea towards France was amazing. Also many common buzzards and 3 Ospreys were also seen. At one point there were 7 Honey Buzzards and 2 Opsreys circling together over the sea just of the bill, i doubt this will be repeated for a long time.
4 - Finding my first Osprey in Gtr Man at my local patch Elton Res
5 - Western Isles in May 2005 - this place is truly wonderful birding. At one point on south Huist we had a pair of Golden Eagles being mobbed by 2 Merlins and a male Hen Harrier and there was a spectacular arial battle for about 10 mins and yes the the Merlins looked like minute comapred to the Eagles, It was pretty funny.
Seawatching last autumn from the Bridges of Ross in Co.Clare was my best ever birding moment so far. This was my ever experience of seawatching, and what an introduction. Late one cloudy evening after a near full day at the site, all apart from 2 hardy souls and our group had departed as passage was slow (still there were skuas and the odd Great Shearwater flying by). It was going dark fast, then one of our group said "Oh My God", then a looooooooong gap...... "FEA'S". The next few moments trying to get onto the bird were crazy. After what seemed like forever I found it flying slowly on its way. We noted some of the features including the pretty slow flight action, white body and the 'v' like pattern on its wings. I'd never had an adrenaline rush quite like that!!
Next morning, and the other birders had heard of our discovery, most not wanting to talk about it in anger!
To top it off, a couple of days later we saw another. I'd hardly heard of this bird species before the trip but knew of its mythical status as a British bird which made the experience all the more exciting.
Going back this autumn for another adrenaline fix...
and despite my best efforts at rindle rd,lightshaw,etc have failed to get my manchester barnie on the list,might be why i still get up at silly o,clock to go birding
cheers geoff
Anyway, I'm on my annual October hols in south-west Cornwall in 2001 and I've just got my young son off to sleep by driving around in the car, with him fast asleep I see an opportunity for a spot of guilt free birding and call in to Porthgwarra. I park in the bottom car park and typically it starts pouring with rain, but hey, both son and wife are now asleep in the car and I have afew hours to myself so no rain, no matter how hard, is going to deter me from some seriously hard birding. I set out and pass several birders making their way quickly past me back down the valley to thier cars and the sanctuary from the pelting rain they offer and am greeted by each one with a 'what the hell are you doing going out in this weather' look, but like I say, I don't care...
I finally make it to the 60ft cover at the top of the valley (so called because it takes a 60foot mist net to cross the valley) and try to take some cover from the relentless, soaking drizzle, amongst the trees and bushes there. I hear a flock of tits approaching noisily throught the cover and get ready to give the flock a scanning, after all there had been little else to look at all day! There they are.. Great Tit, Great Tit, yep another...ooh, Blue Tit...Great Tit, Great Tit...what the...
A pale looking, large warbler sized bird flies quickly overhead though the tree tops afew feet overhead. Garden Warbler? No, it didn't seem right and I can't put a name to it, usually a good sign of something interesting. With still persistent drizzle all around and the tit flock moving off infront, I purse my lips and ...psssshhhhh...psssshhhhh ...psssshhhh. 'Pishing' has always been a favourite of mine and has attracted some decent birds in the past but after only afew attempts 'the bird' pops out just above head hight only 6 or so feet away and only for literally 2 seconds but in that time, despite seeing only the face 'head-on' I know fully what it is. Not the rarest of birds but my first American passerine find and I stare at the space occupied only seconds ago by a Red-eyed Vireo.
Do I attempt to go after the bird and obtain better views (afterall it really was only 2 seconds) or do I go and 'raise the alarm'? A quick scan for the bird and I can't even find the tit flock it was associating with so off I go back down the valley and quickly I come across the previously car-cowering birders coming back up the now rain-free valley. I take great pleasure as 'the plonker going birding in the p***ing rain' informs them of the Vireo he has just found and sees the envy in their eyes that follows. I return to the 60ft with a small gathering and we have decent views of the very elusive bird as it circuits around with the tit flock, eventually staying for a week or so and attracting a small army of admirers.
There is one thing above all about finding rarities though. Admit it or not, there's nothing like meeting another birder and them asking have you seen the...(in this instance, Red-eyed Vireo at Porthgwarra)... only to be able to reply.."oh yes, I found it!". Marvellous
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 00:17, 2007-06-08
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 00:18, 2007-06-08
Well as you've mentioned Redstarts in the garden, this springs to mind....
A few years ago(without checking my notes don't know date) i had a Redstart in the garden, well next door really, but it did cross the border. I spent all morning watching it, venturing outside very quietly to put rubbish out etc. I couldn't believe it a Redstart in the garden! It later turned into "worst birding moment" as my sister in law and her boyfriend turned up. Youv'e guessed it, to have a look at our recently improved and replanted back garden. The Redstart didn't seem to like the company and promptly dissapeared
A great bird
Also, its not a best birding day but actual things that have happend whilst birding if you see what I mean. To give you an idea what I'm on about ( I can hear you all shouting shut up and get on with it) I thought I'd start with the ones that come to the top of my head.
1. Undoubtedly THE most impressive ornithological sight I've seen happened at Spurn two or three years ago. A storm front funnelled what must have been all yorkshires migrating hirundines down the peninsular. Literally thousands of birds went past in the space of 15 minutes. And I do mean thousands. The total count of swallows that day was (if I'm looking at the right entry in the report) 45,000. At one point all you could see was hirundines.Regulars to the site who see migration on a large scale fairly often were impressed. Its difficult to explain. One of those 'you should have been there' moments.
2. Doing the National Bird race in 2003 and winning best new team. I dont think I've ever been as tired or laughed as much in my life. Some of the discussions (read arguments) were truly spectacular for their stupidity factor alone.
3. Again at Spurn in Oct 2005. A huge fall of Goldcrests. We ringed ....lots. You had to watch where you put your feet cause they were everywhere. And the noise, yes from goldcrests, it was like white noise and drove you mad (no comments please from those who know me).
4. Adding Redstart to my garden list (which still doesnt include greenfinch/goldfinch or chaffinch).
What's yours
-- Edited by Craig H at 23:47, 2007-06-07
-- Edited by Craig H at 23:49, 2007-06-07