R F Falcon.

[Fred Wright]

Once again it would appear that a golden opportunity for people to view a rare bird has been missed. Do we need to have a special handshake to share these finds or is it just for the chosen few? Even if it was only a fly by, why wasn't it reported ASAP and who saw it ? So many questions, Ho Hum.

[Col D]

Not a case of the chosen few, nobody seems to know anything about it. If I manage to find anything out ill post on here.

Cheers Col

[peterscops]

Why do people send in late reports of a tantalising stunning red-footed falcon.They would of been better sharing the news for everyone to see.Its all about enjoying our pastime,its not a profession.At the end of the day who cares whether Joe Bloggs has a bigger Uk and Cleveland list than anyone else?Apart from birders and people interested in wildlife,no-one would know who these people are.Instead of posting late reports such as this and the Northumberland Kentish plover it would be better to say nothing at all.

[Col D]

I disagree, whilst late reports are infuriating, I would much rather hear about them as rare birds often linger and if aware, birders can keep a keen eye out with a view to relocating them.

[peterscops]

You have a point there,but its so annoying and I think you know where I'm coming from.

[peterscops]

After reading about the red footed falcon late news and then seeing the photo of the black-winged pratincole seen days previously,my immediate thought was this has got to be a wind up.Is there anyone out there know who took this photo?If so why are they doing this?i can't believe any decent birdwatchers would do this even if it was to boost their Cleveland list to stay with the leading pack.Its all about sharing our sightings and even if you haven't a state of the art I-phone like me,I would contact someone who has to get the news out quick.The person doing this has probably fallen out with the clique and feels as though he has a point to prove.I don't think we will see the last of this.

[Col D]

Hi Peter, commenting when you are ill informed is not really helping the situation. Firstly all birders in what you refer to as 'the leading pack' not only have Red-foot on their list but would also share news immediately. Secondly if you had asked rather than just assuming then you would know that the Red-foot record is a complete mystery to us all. As for the Black-winged Pratincole, again you really need to find out the circumstances before intimating any skullduggery. The bird was seen and photographed by a 'non-birder' who kindly took the time (a couple of days) to find out where to send the photos for help with the identification. The photos were sent to our county recorder who despite been on a family holiday, took the time to immediately send them to a member of the records committee in the UK. As soon as Graeme received them he tweeted them out so people were aware of the record and could then go and look for it. If you are intent on rocking the boat, please do your research first. As a birding community, we do share information of rare birds as evidenced by recent rarities (Hoopoe, Red-throated Pipit, GW Egret, Spoonbill, etc). Perhaps your time would be better spent looking for birds for all to enjoy rather than internet sniping.

Kind regards and good birding

Col D

[peterscops]

Hi Colin,I don't intentionally go out looking to rock any boat,but to have 2 late entries when the birds have disappeared is not good.As you know I'm always out birding a pastime I've had since I was a kid.I have been speaking on behalf of a lot of people and at the end of the day it's all about sharing what we see.Your red throated pipit was a good find.Best wishes,Peter

[Fred Wright]

Hi Col. I don't think Peter is sniping, more just trying to get a reaction regarding these "late" entries (to which he has now succeeded). As an ordinary club member it is annoying , to say the least, that we appear to be in the dark so often. Fine that no-one knows anything about the RFF, that is now clear, but the information re the BWP and the circumstances should have been made known to the membership instead of leaving us groping in the dark. The whole situation seems to centre around poor communication with the "Joe Soap" member at the end of the line. Ta for the R T Pipit by the way.A tick for me. FRED

[Col D]

Hi Fred, not sure how it's poor communication, photos were tweeted out as soon as they were available and circumstances explained, again on Twitter, early next morning so certainly not a case of anybody being in the dark!

Cheers Col

PS Glad you enjoyed the pipit.

[Joe blogs]

After reading all your comments I can honestly say I totally agree with the comment from peterscops, whatever interest anyone has be it birds or wildlife it should be something u can share and enjoy and not worry about who has seen whatever and if his list is bigger than yours, at end of day its not about scoring points with each other  or acting like bunch of kids in a playground trying to have last tap, which is how your all coming across,its a hobby and something that you all by the sounds of it enjoy, so enjoy iyour hobby and stop worrying about others if someone is petty enough to moan or try gloat to get one up on other you have only got to feel sorry for them as they obviously got far too much time on their hands.

[chip f]

I think its worth bearing a few things in mind :

1) More people ever thanks to mobile technology are taking photos of birds and wildlife who have only a passing interest. Because friends and family know I have an interest in birds from time to time I get sent photos of birds with a request to identify " something I saw last week and I think its rare because I cant find it on the internet " and its nearly always a crow or blackbird with some form of albinism. These people aren't suppressing information, they just happen to have taken a photo of a bird, and spent a few days looking in books and on the web to identify it themselves before giving up. That's sometimes how the biggest rareities are uncovered, total amateurs taking a photo without knowing what they are looking at.

2) There's a lot of us who are interested but are not experts. We know the common birds and that's about it, we also don't have hundreds of pounds worth of kit, and it can actually be quite intimidating if you pitch up somewhere in normal clothes with a 40 quid pair of bins to find folk that look like they are in the Territorial Army and are carrying about what looks like enough equipment to pitch a tent and survive in the wild for a week. As a consequence most of us assume if there was a rare bird hanging about it would have been picked up by the experts.

3) As a non-expert you are damned if you do and damned if you don't a lot of the time. Most people don't want to make an idiot of themselves and therefore the temptation is to say nothing. I saw a couple of birds I didn't recognise in Hartlepool in January. I had the dog with me and only have aforementioned ?40 bins, but got enough of a view to suggest that the only possibilities given size and the bright yellow and black heads were corn bunting or shore lark. I posted on the forum within an hour. A couple of people chipped in with suggestions, but it was only by chance that someone what knows their onions picked them up a few days later and confirmed them as shore larks, otherwise I would never have been any the wiser.

4) A late sighting is better than nothing, because chances are the bird will re-surface somewhere else at some point. If I know there's a red footed falcon about I will look it up in my book, make a note of the distinguishing features, and may take a lot more interest in what I might ordinarily just take a glance at and assume is a kestrel

[Dave Taylor]

  Good points Chip and well put. The Yellow-rumped Warbler at Shincliffe prompted all sorts of accusations regarding "suppression" which were totally unfounded. The bird was discovered by inexperienced people, identified later from photographs and responsible birders then put the wheels in motion to ensure that as many people as possible could appreciate the bird. Job done.

[Fred Wright]

I thought we had put this matter to bed on 31st. Nobody knows owt about the RFF and not everybody has twitter. Aint life a bitch, live with it. It appears however that some have grabbed the wrong end of the stick and shot off at a tangent. Nobody will condemn you for only having a 40 quid pair of bins and the many people who have paid thousands of pounds for optics to enhance their enjoyment have worked hard to do so and that is their choice. These same people would not hesitate to let you share that equipment if you were having difficulty seeing a particular bird and it was probably one of these "TA" members who put you right on your Shore Lark ( nice find by the way ). At a "twitch" many people will have travelled a long way, so they probably bring a flask of tea and some sarnies in a knapsack, possibly some waterproofs because our weather is so wonderful. Bear this in mind before you condemn people who will not condemn you.
ps. If your book tells you that a Corn Bunting and a Shore Lark are similar because they both have a yellow head, get a new book.
Enjoy the hobby, enjoy the company and most of all. ENJOY THE BIRDS.
Cheers n beers . FRED

[chip f]

Fred I wasn't condemning anyone, most of us newbies and folk with a passing interest are in awe of the blokes who can tell warblers apart in a matter of seconds.

The point I was trying to make, probably not very well, is that not everyone looking at birds and taking photos of birds does it to the extent and level some on this forum do. The majority of people I've met while out and about have been lovely people and like you say really helpful. At the same time I've met a few that were not- I remember speaking to a couple of guys 2 years back looking for the Richards Pipit at Spion Kop, and I told them they were at the wrong end of the cemetery if they wanted to see it. The response I got was basically if they wanted my advice they would ask for it, and they were experts who didn't need it. They then carried on looking in the wrong place.

I guess you get that in all walks of life.

My comments about corn buntings was a typo, I did of course mean cirl buntings.