Your top 3 "bogey" birds? (3 Viewers)

[Digbert Doobrey]

Living in North East London I'd say my three are;

Grasshopper Warbler
Wryneck
Firecrest

I've seen Firecrest in Spain but should've had them in SE England by now. Especially considering there is supposed to be breeding birds at my local Grovelands park. You could add Woodcock to that list too. I've seen them but never had great views.

 

[Xenospiza]

World: Sooty Tern (so widespread...)
Netherlands: Puffin (last non-rarity, but few credible sightings annually)
Patch: Great Crested Grebe (one day one will fall for the small pool)

 

[Sangahyando]

Well I think mine are still mostly the same - Grey Partridge, Bee-eater, and Barn Owl (admittedly, I didn't have time to look for the former two at the most promising sites this year). Alternatively, Little Owl, Woodchat Shrike, and Rock Bunting (have probably seen all three, but can't prove it).

Peregrine, Peregrine and Peregrine!

This one might be easier to find in major cities than in rural areas. At least here in Germany/Central Europe. I usually find them when I'm not looking for them, though (usually a bird flying around a clock tower or skyscraper).

 

[Warixenjalka]

This one might be easier to find in major cities than in rural areas. At least here in Germany/Central Europe. I usually find them when I'm not looking for them, though (usually a bird flying around a clock tower or skyscraper).

In Finland, they aren't nesting in cities. At least not yet. There was one Peregrine in Turku at August, but I didn't want to drive 300 km just for that reason. (In Helsinki, there was nesting one urban Goshawk couple at last summer.)

I have been looking for Peregrine from Barcelona, Amsterdam and several Andalucian cities (including Ronda) + Gibraltar, but never manage to see it.

I begin to believe that there is no such a species as Peregrine. It is a inside joke of more experienced birders... :king:

 

[kb57]

As a youngster it was water rail, waxwing and I guess hobby...waxwing being particularly annoying as my non-birding mother saw a flock in central Newcastle...connected with all three without really trying in my own non-birding years.
Right now (for UK & world) I'd say long-eared owl, bean goose and Montagu's harrier, although I've yet to make any real effort to see the latter two species.

 

[Sangahyando]

In Finland, they aren't nesting in cities. At least not yet. There was one Peregrine in Turku at August, but I didn't want to drive 300 km just for that reason. (In Helsinki, there was nesting one urban Goshawk couple at last summer.)

I have been looking for Peregrine from Barcelona, Amsterdam and several Andalucian cities (including Ronda) + Gibraltar, but never manage to see it.

I begin to believe that there is no such a species as Peregrine. It is a inside joke of more experienced birders... :king:

Should you happen to visit Frankfurt (Main), there's apparently pair breeding near the distinctive Messeturm (convention tower). Seen them around there a couple times. Also seen them in Dresden and a few other cities. And apparently New York City has a decent population of them, too.

 

[trw]

In the UK; Wryneck, Hawfinch and my all time bet noir in Costa Rica; King Vulture.

Almost certain to see a Hawfinch at Sizergh Castle car park near Kendal before 10 am most mornings between December and March.
It isn't far off the M6 junction for Kendal[junction 36 I think] so if you are ever up this way you could call in on the way.The castle is well signposted but you turn left at the big roundabout to Barrow and take the first right to the castle.Lots of parking space and twitchers.
Many travel from far and near to see them there.

 

[Farnboro John]

In the UK; Wryneck, Hawfinch and my all time bet noir in Costa Rica; King Vulture.

Stuart: if you don't want to go quite as far as Sizergh Castle (which is a good site, I agree with pratincol), then a winter afternoon visit to Blackwater Arboretum in the New Forest is as near a dead cert as you will get in birding. Very easily doable from Surbiton!

Cheers

John

 

[Bokmakierie99]

My biggest misses in the US are
1. Great Horned Owl - still have never seen or heard one.
2. Upland Sandpiper - have gone hunting for them on airports where they're supposed to be reliable countless times but never seen one.

 

[Alexjh1]

To do this in terms of most attempts to see vs. not ever actually seeing them... I think probably:

1) Crossbill
2) Grasshopper Warbler
3) Caspian Gull

Goshawk would probably be 4th.

 

[Nutcracker]

Siberian Accentor . . .

 

[trw]

To do this in terms of most attempts to see vs. not ever actually seeing them... I think probably:

1) Crossbill
2) Grasshopper Warbler
3) Caspian Gull

Goshawk would probably be 4th.

I presume you have heard a Grasshopper Warbler-as you say seeing them is another matter.
When you start to go deaf you are lucky to actually hear one.

 

[McMadd]

Siberian Accentor . . .

Well if you got off yer backside...

 

[Nutcracker]

Siberian Accentor . . .

Well if you got off yer backside...

Well, that was the shortest-lived 'bogey' . . . . seen within a few hours of posting 8-P

 

[McMadd]

Well, that was the shortest-lived 'bogey' . . . . seen within a few hours of posting 8-P

and a bit of fresh, clean air to boot...all good then!

 

[Nutcracker]

Hmmm . . . dunno about the "fresh, clean air" – this was Sunderland, after all :-O

 

[Alexjh1]

I presume you have heard a Grasshopper Warbler-as you say seeing them is another matter.
When you start to go deaf you are lucky to actually hear one.

Nope, not even that! What's more annoying is I have heard Savi's warbler in this country and seen fleeting views of them in Spain, which should on paper be far harder to get hold of than Grasshopper.

The general pattern seems to be, I hear about somewhere local that they've been reeling one year, I make a mental note of it and try the next Spring, go there the next year and not the slightest "reel" to be heard.

 

[trw]

Nope, not even that! What's more annoying is I have heard Savi's warbler in this country and seen fleeting views of them in Spain, which should on paper be far harder to get hold of than Grasshopper.

The general pattern seems to be, I hear about somewhere local that they've been reeling one year, I make a mental note of it and try the next Spring, go there the next year and not the slightest "reel" to be heard.

Not surprising-they are not generally the most reliable bird to find.
They are,however,usually a dead cert at the Foulshaw Moss nature Reserve in Cumbria around May so if you are up here then call in.
It is easy to locate, although here is a hair-raising turn, off the main Barrow road, with cars and lorries tearing up the road at 70 mph,right on your tail.
In the past I have often heard them there-I've even seen a couple there[wonders will never cease].

 

[Chris-Leeds]

They can be a nightmare especially if two are reeling at the same time as you can't tell which way to look with the ventriloquist act they do. The first ones I ever saw weren't reeling and I had no idea what they were until I got the books out.

 

[Ram One]

I still need Radde's Warbler and have dipped on 6 in the last fortnight.