How do they know!

Lemaildetom

Lemaildetom

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thomas
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Hi there!

I do like wildlife photography and I follow a few local wildlife and birding page on facebook. But today i was wondering how to the birder know! How do they know that this rare bird is there!

Today near my home in Kirkwall, there was a 5-6 birdwatcher with scope and bins so I went for a nosey chat while having a stroll with my little boy. Turned out they were spotting a red rumped swallow which apparently is pretty rare up here in orkney. A spanish visitor that can only be seen every few years. There was a lot of swallow swooping around having a fly festin and between all these white rumps little guys was one little fellow with ginger rump. The pretty rare and handsome red rumped swallow! So I manage to get a quick glance and went. I thanks the birder for the tip and wish them good luck that the horrible light would turned better to get a good shot.

Other storie, last week we had on north ronaldsay a very rare red winged blackbird a bird extremely rare in the uk. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-39769825/birdwatchers-flock-to-orkney-for-rare-bird). As a concequence the population of the island doubled with a income of birdwatchers.

Again the question is how did they know? Because i have seen nothing on different local facebook group, and i think there was nothing on the rspb facebook page? Where do birder get their rare bird happening alert from? Is it all hear to mouth sort of things? Do you have to know a guy that know a guy which heard a guy whish has seen something...
 
They often get alerts on their phones. The twitchers (an abusive term for those who count birds rather than enjoy them) will often confirm the rare bird and their phone will go off and half a dozen of them will disappear to the next twitch. There is a site called Rare Bird Alert which we use that gives you a grid reference for many rare birds - Bestbeloved often plans our days out with this in mind but I rarely have anything to do with twitches. I prefer to do as I did today and went to Bempton Cliffs and looked at the far-from-rare gannets, kittiwakes and guillemots.
 
Its not what ya know but who :D

It took me about 12 months but I'm now in a local group where everything of interest comes through by text, get around a dozen a day, obviously not just the rare stuff but first Swallow, first Cuckoo, ect.

Good one the other week was 3 Dotterel dropped into a local field, only managed a few heavy crops but was good to be there.
 
john.margetts said:
They often get alerts on their phones. The twitchers (an abusive term for those who count birds rather than enjoy them) will often confirm the rare bird and their phone will go off and half a dozen of them will disappear to the next twitch. There is a site called Rare Bird Alert which we use that gives you a grid reference for many rare birds - Bestbeloved often plans our days out with this in mind but I rarely have anything to do with twitches. I prefer to do as I did today and went to Bempton Cliffs and looked at the far-from-rare gannets, kittiwakes and guillemots.
Click to expand...

Not that i've ever used it but sounds a bit like pokemon go!
 
Lemaildetom said:
Thanks, i had a look and registered today. The red rumped swallow sighting in orkney in up to date too! With a sighting yesterday! https://www.birdguides.com/species/species.asp?sp=117057
Then it look that more advanced search and alert are paid only. Still this site seems like a minefield of info.
Click to expand...

Birdguides is very good, I paid for it last year but wouldn't again.

Also, check the website/blog for your county. The Kent Ornithological Society's page is a great resource with all the local birders recording their findings. It's a very handy way. Also, twitter (the irony! :) ) is very good for rarities.

Then again, I don't go chasing after them, if there's one within a short drive I might but not too bothered. There are maniacs though that will drive 10+ hours for a tick! :D
 
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