1. On a street journey within the Portuguese inside, we stopped on the Penedo Durão viewpoint. I had simply checked out a tree for some motion, and my spouse was standing on the cliff edge, asking, “So, the place are all these birds you mentioned had been right here?”. At that exact same second, half a dozen Eurasian Griffons rose on the thermals behind her, so shut it appeared she was a part of the kettle (PeterPenning).
2. I used to go to the cemetery close to our former dwelling. It wasn’t as manicured and perfect-looking as it’s now. That made it an ideal place for birding. I particularly preferred the pond space, which had been left to go wild. At some point in spring, I wandered over to the pond. Whereas standing there, immediately I had firm. Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows had been interested in the flying bugs, which had risen from the pond. These birds flew low, turning, twisting, and twittering round me to get these bugs. They made me really feel as if I used to be one with them. It was a dizzying, exhilarating feeling, earlier than they flew off, as immediately as they got here (Leslie Kinrys).
3. Seeing seabirds of their atmosphere are a few of my most memorable experiences. Albatross, shearwaters, skuas, and different seabirds stay such a distinct life from mine that I can not assist however be fascinated. One of the vital unimaginable occasions I’ve had with seabirds was throughout a pelagic journey out of Westport, Washington, with Westport Seabirds. It was a number of months after COVID-19 first struck, and the primary group birding I had completed since lockdowns. This additionally meant fewer contributors had been on the boat resulting from social distancing, so that you had much more house to maneuver and see birds.
We had been shifting from Grey’s Canyon in direction of Grey Harbor simply earlier than midday, after we noticed a Black Cod longliner and a shrimp trawl fleet. Across the boats had been hundreds of shearwaters floating within the water, hoping for a snack. Most had been Sooty Shearwaters, however 500 Pink-footed Shearwaters had been combined in and vocalizing and diving beneath the boat. They had been shut sufficient to succeed in out and contact. It was straightforward to neglect the world and luxuriate in this particular second with these stunning birds (Hannah Buschert).
4. I as soon as was alone in one of many Nanhui microforests, within the days when this was nonetheless practical. I discovered a Northern Boobook, which was undisturbed by my presence, sitting in a tree about 5 meters excessive and ten meters away from me. So I simply sat down and quietly watched the chook. It sometimes checked out me, however principally simply appeared to loosen up. Then, a aircraft flew excessive above each of us, and we each checked out it. By some means, that made me really feel the owl and I had been fairly shut (Kai Pflug).
5. If I needed to title the one most memorable birding expertise, it will in all probability need to be a pelagic boat journey I undertook round 25 years in the past out of the harbour of Simonstown close to the tip of South Africa’s Cape Peninsula. Now, being so way back, I’m a bit not sure in regards to the specifics, however I keep in mind that we met very early on the harbour after little sleep (for concern of oversleeping). We had been all a bit nervous because the climate had been a bit unstable the times earlier than with respectable winds, so there was a sure probability the journey can be cancelled. We had been all somewhat relieved when the captain gave the “inexperienced gentle”, and off we went by means of the sheltered False Bay to around the Cape of Good Hope, the place we had been met by important winds and a formidable swell. We had been instructed later that the journey would have been cancelled had the captain recognized about this sort of climate, however after all, it was too late now to show again, and so forth we went. The winds and the waves made for wonderful sea watching as all of the tube noses had been lively and on the wing, and shortly we had been surrounded by a relentless stream and whirlwind of Big Petrels and White-chinned Petrels, varied prions, after which, after all, the albatrosses. The smaller the final tip of land of the Cape Peninsula on the horizon obtained, the extra widespread these elegant giants of the ocean turned, crossing the bow, zooming previous alongside the boat, or typically even circling round to see what we had been as much as. The captain and the skilled chook guides, nonetheless, had a distinct plan than simply criss-crossing the ocean: they checked their radar for one of many fishing trawlers that frequent these waters. And sure, we managed to not solely discover but additionally catch as much as one and be there the second it raised his web. The spectacle is one thing I’ll always remember: actually hundreds of albatrosses had been swarming the trawler, and thus swarming our little boat proper subsequent to it, consistently being at an arm’s size and flying round us in such abundance and variety it was troublesome to focus and never lose one’s thoughts. By the point we headed again to land, we had seen seven species of albatross, the highlights being a suspiciously brown and really small Wandering, which is suggestive of the uncommon Tristan Albatross, a Gray-headed, and a Northern Royal. Toss in an Antarctic Fulmar and a Comfortable-plumaged Petrel, prime it off with a Bryde’s Whale proper subsequent to the boat, and it’s troublesome to not title such an expertise as probably the most memorable of 1’s birding life (Jochen Roeder).
6. Each birding expertise is memorable in a method or one other, and, after having been a birder for almost half a century, nobody second stands above the remainder. Nevertheless, I had a heck of lots of highlights whereas volunteering for Rainforest Expeditions within the Peruvian Amazon. Blue and Gold Macaws screaming in our ears as they flew too shut for binocular views. Seeing a pair of fearless Harpy Eagles at such shut vary, I felt a deep intuition to get the heck out of there. Extraordinarily shut seems at Amazonian Parrotlets (the unique “parrot and not using a title”) at a small clay lick, witnessing the multi-sensory din and emotion of 1,000s of parrots and parakeets, and macaws visiting a bigger clay lick…the listing goes on.
Different unimaginable reminiscences embrace sharing large fall migration with associates at Cape Might (a weedy subject the place Frequent Yellowthroats flushed with each step, warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, cuckoos and extra in each bush and tree), being 8 and seeing a dozen Ruffed Grouse flush from raspberry thickets in Pennsylvania woods as my 6 foot 6 uncle outstretched his arms and excitedly exclaimed, “Ruffed Grouse! Ruffed Grouse!”. From that very same 1979 journey, I nonetheless clearly recall and cherish the primary time I noticed a surprising Jap Bluebird hovering over a meadow, blue plumage shining sapphire within the morning solar. I can nonetheless see my younger self realizing that sure (!) Indigo Buntings and Black-throated Inexperienced Warblers had been actual. I’m grateful that there are too many chook reminiscences to take that prime spot (Patrick O’Donnell).
7. Would you stroll by means of a minefield to see a chook? I did so as soon as, and didn’t assume lots about it on the time. I used to be on a birding journey to Zimbabwe, not lengthy after the tip of the civil warfare. I used to be staying at Victoria Falls and was instructed that if I walked down a path to one of many decrease gorges, there was a great probability of seeing a pair of Taita Falcons that had been nesting there. The Taita Falcon is somewhat like a small Peregrine, and is a extremely localised resident in jap and southern Africa. My informant did inform me precisely the place to go to see the falcons, however added that the bottom surrounding the trail had been closely mined. There have been sinister-looking warning indicators telling you to maintain to the trail. I obeyed and did see the falcons.
Although I’ve watched birds on each continent besides Antarctica, it’s Africa the place I’ve had probably the most memorable experiences. I’ve been charged by a younger bull elephant whereas strolling in Botswana’s Okavango Delta and had a companion tossed by a buffalo whereas on the lookout for Water Thick-knees alongside the Mara River in Kenya (he survived). However maybe my favorite birding recollection from Africa is from the West African nation of Ghana. Our guides had taken us to a small village deep within the forest, and it was from right here that we trekked for an hour to a nesting web site of the legendary Picathartes – the Naked-necked Rockfowl. We arrived on the web site at 4 pm, then sat down on arduous wood benches to await the birds’ arrival. Nothing occurred in any respect for the subsequent hour – not a chook moved or referred to as, nothing. The one sound was the distant sound of a chainsaw, the cry of the rainforest. One among my companions managed to drop off to sleep. We sat in absolute silence. The subsequent hour was equally clean, and I used to be starting to wonder if we’d ever see our quarry. The guides who had escorted us had assured us that they’d by no means failed. One other half-hour handed, and the sunshine was beginning to fade. Evening falls rapidly within the tropics, so it was now or by no means. After which, fairly immediately, there they had been. Three, or maybe 4, improbable-looking birds, operating round on the forest ground. Picathartes! The lengthy wait had been worthwhile (David Tomlinson).
