twitching-megas

Ruby Tuesday

Thumbnail image for Ruby Tuesday by Rebecca Nason 21 October 2011

MALE SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT – SHETLAND, UK It has been a while since I have posted on Birdingblogs and what better way of returning than to mention a particularly rare and stunning bird which is at this very moment sculking in the undergrowth of a small garden in Gulberwick on the Shetland mainland – the cream [...]

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Scilly – day 4

Thumbnail image for Scilly – day 4 by TomMckinney 17 October 2011

Two boat loads of birders, including some of our party, were disappointed and frustrated on a trip to the island of St.Martin’s where they dipped on Blyth’s Reed Warbler (reported late yesterday) and narrowly missed the long staying American Golden Plover. Back on St.Mary’s we mega-serious-hardcore birders were thrilled by a trip to Hugh Town [...]

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Flaparazzi – is that a new word?

Thumbnail image for Flaparazzi – is that a new word? by Gunnar 13 June 2011

A new word has been coined for the UK Twitchers. And it is not very nice. Flaparazzi. In two The Telegraph articles about the British Birdwatching scene – describes the mad recent twitch at Hartlepool where a White-throated Robin turned up in the Garden of Dr Michaal Reece behind his 3m walls. That would not stop the Flaparazzi.

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Swallow from Africa in my patch. 1st South America record. Probably NOT!

Thumbnail image for Swallow from Africa in my patch. 1st South America record. Probably NOT! by Gunnar 8 March 2011

Black-and-rufous Swallow? About a month ago, my friend Fabrice Schmitt posted a picture of a swallow on Birding Peru. Very weird with chestnut underparts. No South American Swallow looks this way.

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What A Turdus!

Thumbnail image for What A Turdus! by Rebecca Nason 21 January 2011

I have just seen a new post ‘ A Tremendous Turdus’ uploaded today by Ian McKerchar on the Manchester birding website. This post is an account of the incredible sighting and gripping IMAGES of a stunning Dusky Thrush – seen briefly by non-birding plane spotter Ian Reynolds in his garden in Leigh on the 8th [...]

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‘The Glorious Twelfth’ Hot Bird Pursuits in 2010

Thumbnail image for ‘The Glorious Twelfth’ Hot Bird Pursuits in 2010 by Rebecca Nason 6 January 2011

The ‘Glorious Twelfth’ for me refers to the 12 British ‘ticks’ I saw during 2010! I am only now starting to think back what 2010 was like for me, and on all accounts it was a pretty good year! I always find birds good subjects to get the memory clogs turning, if I can remember [...]

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Long-legged Buzzard twitching mega rarity

Long-legged Buzzard by DaleForbes 2 January 2011

“Is this really a Long-legged Buzzard?” was the question from Reinhard Hölzl, a friend and local photographer (check out Reinhard’s website here) with two photos attached to the message (top and below). My gut said yes, Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus) and everything I could tell from the photos and the books seemed to suggest so, [...]

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An interview with Lee Evans

Thumbnail image for An interview with Lee Evans by Gunnar 11 November 2010

I – Lee Evans So everyone is STILL talking about that documentary on BBC4? One of the main characters in the documentary, Lee Evans, divides opinion, something he’ll freely acknowledge. But whatever your own opinion, one thing is for certain – British birders just can’t get enough of him! By the end of the programme [...]

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Pied-billed Grebe in the UK

Thumbnail image for Pied-billed Grebe in the UK by Gunnar 10 November 2010

In the wake of  finally being able to see the documentary about British Twitchers, a true MEGA bird is discovered. (Don’t laugh if you are west of the pond) A Pied-billed Grebe!  It is a bit amazing the it first was mis-identified as a Little Grebe. The BBC article below speculares it would have hitched [...]

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Want to see BBC 4:s Birds Britannia and Twitchers outside Britain?

Thumbnail image for Want to see BBC 4:s Birds Britannia and Twitchers outside Britain? by Gunnar 10 November 2010

BitTorrent for birders! Were you a bit annoyed the other day when that program about the British Twitchers was streamed on the BBC 4 web-site – and you, when trying to watch it, were getting the message: Not available in your area? Same thing with the Birds Britannia series: “Not available in your area!” Yet, [...]

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Arabian Shearwater – or something else – in Australian waters.

Thumbnail image for Arabian Shearwater – or something else – in Australian waters. by Gunnar 8 November 2010

Arabian Shearwater on bird-o.com This is good opportunity to both introduce readers of birdingblogs.com  about a surprising observation of Arabian Shearwater in Australian waters as well as the great Australian web-site bird-o.com (which actually aims to cover the whole world). Bird-o.com is a fine example how a birding-site use new techniques of web 2.0 more [...]

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Thumbnail image for MEGA breaking news from Norfolk

MEGA breaking news from Norfolk

by TomMckinney 8 November 2010

The International Journal of Avian Science proudly presents… A Prisoner of Birds by Jeffrey Archer 1) The ceiling fan rotated slowly as a hovering fly lethargically dodged each approaching blade. The air felt thick with malaria in the sticky Rangoon heat, it slowly drew life out of every pore in your skin. Outside the hotel [...]

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Ivory Gull in California.

Thumbnail image for Ivory Gull in California. by Gunnar 5 November 2010

Sensational finding at Pismo Beach in Central California on Thursday November 4. Mike Stensvold writes on Christopher Taylor’s Photography – Bird | Wildlife | Nature: It was on the beach just north of the north drive-in entrance to Pismo Beach/Oceano Dunes…the one where the boardwalk path to the Monarch Butterfly Grove starts… When I first saw [...]

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A date with a ‘Horny Man’

Thumbnail image for A date with a ‘Horny Man’ by Rebecca Nason 4 November 2010

One of the most enjoyable ‘groups’ of birds to photograph & get to grips with during a good Autumn on Fair Isle are the various Redpoll sub-species which can arrive on the Island in good numbers during October. Although the number of Redpoll’s present varies year to year as with any influx from the North, this year saw a [...]

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AMERICAN BITTERN still at Walmsley Sanctuary

Thumbnail image for AMERICAN BITTERN still at Walmsley Sanctuary by Gunnar 4 November 2010

AMERICAN BITTERN now at Walmsley Sanctuary CBWPS Reserve in Cornwall Well this is how one really wants to see an AMERICAN BITTERN – stunning photographs taken on November 1 at Walmsley Sanctuary – perhaps the Trewey Common bird relocating……… Just gone through my inbox and discovered why the AMERICAN BITTERN was not seen at Trewey [...]

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Twitchers: A Very British Obsession!

Thumbnail image for Twitchers: A Very British Obsession! by Gunnar 3 November 2010

TV documentary show the extremes in UK birdwatching Yesterday (Nov 1)  on prime time UK Television there was a documentary about Twitching. (thanks Tom McKinney for the thumbs up about this). You can see the birding documentary on the BBC page (if your country is not blocked like Peru is) The page says: Documentary about [...]

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