Your Most Recent "Life" Bird (2 Viewers)

[chill6x6]

Red-Legged Honeycreeper! Tobago. I wish I had gotten a good picture. Beautiful bird!

 

[Nightjar61]

Five lifers on my fourth day in Paraguay, the last of which was Black-capped Screech Owl in the Mbaracayu Reserve. Heard and seen well.

Dave

 

[Nightjar61]

Day five in Paraguay. The last of nine lifers for the day was Little Nightjar.

Dave

 

[TicoTyler]

Currently in California, USA as my brother got married here a few days ago. Was hoping to find a decent number of lifers but far exceeded my expectations. Just hit my 50th lifer of the trip (one week) with a Verdin that showed up outside the window as I'm working remotely today.

The first lifer of the trip was a Golden-fronted Woodpecker I spotted from the airport lounge at San Salvador airport. Pure luck that it was the only potential lifer there and I saw it within about 30 seconds. Called over the wife so she could get it on her list and never saw it again in 30 minutes there.

 

[Nightjar61]

Day six in Paraguay yielded only three lifers. The last was Tataupa Tinamou, seen well at the side of the road.

Dave

 

[Nightjar61]

Yesterday was my last day in Paraguay. Although it was mostly a travel day, I managed two more lifers during a quick stop on my way to the airport in Asunción. The last was Black-backed Water Tyrant.

Dave

 

[Jacana]

Iberian Magpie, near Toro, Spain.

Takes me to 2162. Hopefully I'll get a couple more in the next few days.

 

[Jacana]

Today outside Zamora, Thekla's Lark quickly followed by a stunning Western Black-eared Wheatear took me to 2164

 

[Edward]

More than 300 new species on my first trip to India last week, highlights being Blyth's Tragopan, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Spotted Elachura, Grandala, Blood Pheasant and many more. Strangely, my last lifer was one of India's most common birds Jungle Babbler, species no. 409 on my India list.

 

[TicoTyler]

Had two recent duck lifers completely by accident. One I was exiting the highway and there was a small pond adjacent to it. I looked over and spotted a Redhead. Pulled into the park and was able to confirm what I'd seen while driving by. Then a few days later Google Maps sent us down a road that turned out not to connect through. We went to turn around in a parking lot when I spotted a pair of Buffleheads in the lake that the parking lot was adjacent to.

 

[Georgebirds]

Saw my first ever Great Bitterns today - I was thrilled enough just to hear them booming as that was a first for me too, then a few minutes later spotted two of them flying - I got to watch several long synchronised loops above a reed bed before they disappeared. Got some terrible but satisfying photos, too!

 

[Georgebirds]

A Garden Warbler for my life list.
I'm sure, like a lot of species, I've probably seen these before I started birding rather than just going for walks in naturey places, but I've never known that's what I was looking at. This one was identified by song by someone standing next to me, backed up by getting out her Merlin app to show the matching photo on the screen while it agreed on the sound ID, so even though I don't know enough to recognise the bird like an old friend yet, I trust that really was what I saw!

 

[01101001]

(Apps might sometimes confuse Blackcap with Garden Warbler, or at least that used to be the case in the past when they would hear both of them at once. It might have improved by now -- I don't know. I see it's been very cautious of identifying Lesser Whitethroats on song recently, which it didn't use to waver about, so maybe it's less prone to make mistakes now (?).)

Part 5: Hamish taught me all he knows about bird sounds - The Sound Approach

soundapproach.co.uk

 

[david kelly]

(Apps might sometimes confuse Blackcap with Garden Warbler, or at least that used to be the case in the past when they would hear both of them at once. It might have improved by now -- I don't know. I see it's been very cautious of identifying Lesser Whitethroats on song recently, which it didn't use to waver about, so maybe it's less prone to make mistakes now (?).)

Part 5: Hamish taught me all he knows about bird sounds - The Sound Approach

soundapproach.co.uk

Merlin picked up a Flammulated Owl on my walk with the dog last week. Only problem is, it was in East Lothian. I don’t know what a Flammulated Owl sounds like so I can’t tell what call it was misidentifying. Recently had Osprey, actually Nuthatch, and Grey Plover, actually Song Thrush, picked up by the app.

David

 

[Paul Chapman]

Merlin picked up a Flammulated Owl on my walk with the dog last week. Only problem is, it was in East Lothian. I don’t know what a Flammulated Owl sounds like so I can’t tell what call it was misidentifying. Recently had Osprey, actually Nuthatch, and Grey Plover, actually Song Thrush, picked up by the app.

David

A list of errata available on the App would be useful. It does Chaffinch as Chiffchaff & Chiffchaff as Redstart on the call at times. It has been cautious for me this morning on Lesser Whitethroat. I see it really as a basis of discussion and indeed, a prompt to search and listen if it says something unexpected.

All the best

Paul

 

[ColdPancake]

Jankowski's Bunting from last month. Hopefully it's not the last time I see them.

 

[Georgebirds]

(Apps might sometimes confuse Blackcap with Garden Warbler, or at least that used to be the case in the past when they would hear both of them at once. It might have improved by now -- I don't know. I see it's been very cautious of identifying Lesser Whitethroats on song recently, which it didn't use to waver about, so maybe it's less prone to make mistakes now (?).)

Part 5: Hamish taught me all he knows about bird sounds - The Sound Approach

soundapproach.co.uk

Thanks for the tip, I don't have a smartphone myself though, it was just a fellow birder showing how it worked, so no need to worry I'll be trusting every ID in future too. But I think I'm safe here, I had eyes on the bird while it sang, and it definitely didn't have the little black hat on (saw plenty of other Blackcaps that day, though - my first this year and got glorious up-close sunny views of several males being territorial from the hawthorn-tops, and females in the willows finding food)

 

[TicoTyler]

A list of errata available on the App would be useful. It does Chaffinch as Chiffchaff & Chiffchaff as Redstart on the call at times. It has been cautious for me this morning on Lesser Whitethroat. I see it really as a basis of discussion and indeed, a prompt to search and listen if it says something unexpected.

All the best

Paul

My favorite so far was a motorcycle that it IDd as a Eurasian Nightjar...in Costa Rica.

 

[jesussg]

On a recent (March 28-30) trip to Mexico's Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, I managed to observe 4 new birds, all of which are endemic of the region.

Phaeoptila sordida (Colibrí opaco) - as usual with the hummingbirds, I have no picture but it was observed zooming from one plant to another and perched in several Opuntia cacti as well as pirul trees.

Melanerpes hypopolius (Carpintero pecho gris/Carpintero del Balsas) - these are everywhere and can be easily observed perching atop the columnar cacti even in the middle of the day.


Melozone albicollis (Rascador Oaxaqueño) - at first I had thought these were Melozone fusca as they're the typical towhee across central to northern Mexico. After closely observing one of them perched on a dry tree, I noticed the rufous underparts and collar where not only brighter but also more extensive. After looking at the photos and a guide it was clear it was M. albicollis.


Campylorhynchus jocosus (Matraca del Balsas) - this bird was one of the main reasons I made this trip in the first place, and it truly is beautiful. There's no confusing this one as there's no similar birds in this zone. It was also the rarest of the three I photographed, given I only saw 2 individuals in my time there while the other two were definitely more abundant.

 

[Frank van Drogen]

I am in the Netherlands for a bit, finally got to 'officially' see a Black-tailed Godwit -- embarrassing not to have one on my list so far