Rarest sightings on your local patch!

[Bushcraft]

Hi,

I thought it may be good to add this thread. Our local patches are usually only special to us but they are often where we have our most memorable wildlife sightings, be it birds, mammals or plants.

I thought we could all put our rarest sightings on our local patches here. They don't have to be rare on a wide scale but rare for your patch!

Best wishes
Kris

[Alan]

Ok here's a few of mine:

Birds: American Robin, Waxwing, Buzzard, Little Owl, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Mammals: Water Shrew, Roe deer.

[UB4 gardener]

the rarest "possible" thing i have had in my garden is a sawfly larvae, possible Zaraea aenea, photos & foodplantmatched alas no specimen retained to really confirm. Could have been 2nd or 3rd British record.

Other "good" records are Macrophya albicincta (a Nb notable sawfly) Eulophus bicolor (a parasitic wasp) Mangora acalypha (a pretty heathland spider)

not as obvious as birds but as insect week is coming up......

[henrya]

Quote
not as obvious as birds but as insect week is coming up
Endquote

Coming up? It's here! 19th - 25th June.

henrya

[UB4 gardener]

insect weekend then?

[henrya]

nice one!

henrya

[Willow]

Great idea, Kris!

Along the river that runs past our house, we get loads of Scarce Chaser dragonflies, Libellula fulva at this time of the year. They're found in very few other places, so are one of my local patch's claims to fame! I saw a beautiful male Scarce Chaser just last Saturday....on a stretch of the river bank only ten minutes' walk from my house! Makes me feel a right lucky so-and-so that does!

My most memorable sighting along the same stretch of river, was watching (for well over half an hour!) a parent kingfisher feeding her two chicks! The young were sitting on one of the kingfisher feeding perches, waiting whilst mum dived again and again, bringing back fish to feed them. Magical!

Last year, a friend of mine spotted Waxwings outside the pub on our High Street - after he'd watched them for a while, he was just about to race to the phone to let me know (would have been a first for me) and then realised I was away on holiday! As far as I know, that was the first time Waxwings had been seen here for years and years....and I wasn't here!!!! What timing!

[Gill Catton]

hmmm barn owl, ring ouzel, Lesser Horseshoe and Barbestelle bats.........

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

hmmm barn owl, ring ouzel, Lesser Horseshoe and Barbestelle bats.........

Oh Ring Ouzel! Forgot about them. Only seen a couple here, usually along the estuary/coast.

[rlchew]

From my records, mine are ....

Wat Tyler Country Park

Slavonian Grebe (summer plumaged adult) - 14th April 2001
Red-backed Shrike (juvenile) - 13th October 2001
Grasshopper Warbler (heard "reeling") - 2nd May 2004
White-fronted Goose (20) - 6th February 2005
Mediterranean Gull (8 including 4 adults) - 8th July 2005
Marsh Harrier - 30th May 2006

Vange Marsh

Grey Phalarope (1st winter) - 23rd October 2004
Pectoral Sandpiper (juvenile) - 11th September 2005

I am still learning flowers, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. so who knows what else I may have seen which may have been rare!

Richard

[SittingFox]

I've seen a firecrest in the garden a couple of times. (Southern UK)

(Actually, if anyone's interested, I've got a photo record of birds, mammals etc in my area, although it's heavily under construction and is best viewed a relaxed side-project to my blog that is unlikely to be ever completed! )

The rarest sighting I've ever had was probably a pair of Canadian lynx, but that definitely wasn't on my local patch

[Bushcraft]

Well, as I started the threat I suppose I should make a contribution.

Hanningfield resv is one of my locals and we have had some rare sightings there. This includes, glossy ibis, med gulls, all kinds of pippers, hobbys, lesser spotted woodpecker, slov and black necked grebes, whimbrel, breeding buzzards, osprey, wasp beetles, black turns, kitiwake, wood spurge, the list goes on.

As for my nature reserve where im warden we get lots of bee orchids, Osprey, Kingfishers, Marsh-marigolds, Otters!!! and we even had a sighting of a BLACK CAT (See my other thread).

Best wishes
Kris

[Fourwings]

Star sighting on my local patch has to be Lesser Emperor Dragonfly, we had single males turn up for two years running.

[snowdrop]

Gosh guys, what I wouldn,t give to see half of the sightings you have.
I did see a common house sparrow last week though, the first time in years. I was first alerted by its distinctive cheep before spotting it on a nearby roof. Lets hope its a sign of recovery.
I,ve also seen a couple of bats flying across my garden at dusk but I couldn,t tell you what type. Smashing!

[Oy]

The official blurb on my "local patch" says...

Over 230 bird species recorded on site including such as Black-Faced Bunting, Nightingale, Marsh Harrier, Spoonbill and Leach’s Petrel

Not that I've seen those!

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Originally Posted by Alan

Ok here's a few of mine:

Birds: American Robin, Waxwing, Buzzard, Little Owl, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Mammals: Water Shrew, Roe deer.

Where did you see the LS Alan? i've been trying to find somewhere around here where i could see one

My rarest are probably Widgeon what took up residence on the lake for a few days and a Mealy Redpoll

[nightshade]

238 pipistrelles,going out on the town,most of them straight towards me!

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

Where did you see the LS Alan?

I saw the Lesser Spotty a couple of years ago at Irby Dales Wood John.

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Originally Posted by Alan

I saw the Lesser Spotty a couple of years ago at Irby Dales Wood John.

Oooo, thanks Alan, i'll have to have a trip up there come the winter, i have skirted the edge of the woods when i've walked up the Aylesby paths looking at Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

Oooo, thanks Alan, i'll have to have a trip up there come the winter, i have skirted the edge of the woods when i've walked up the Aylesby paths looking at Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer

John, although Irby is 20 min drive out of town for me. I've been going there for 15 years or more, so class this area as my local patch so to speak. Let us know if you want a guide, as I have access to areas away from the footpaths/bridleways, that are not really open to the public!

.....don't think there's much chance of an LS all the same!

[Gill Catton]

YOu know that's one of the best things about my local patch I've been going there since I was a kiddie so I can make sure now that If I want the rarest thing I'll see is another human being Nothing quite like feeling like you have the whole place to yourself for a while!!!

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Originally Posted by Alan

John, although Irby is 20 min drive out of town for me. I've been going there for 15 years or more, so class this area as my local patch so to speak. Let us know if you want a guide, as I have access to areas away from the footpaths/bridleways, that are not really open to the public!

.....don't think there's much chance of an LS all the same!

I'll definatly take you up on that offer later in the year and will give you a guided tour of the lake aswell

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Lincs Yellowbelly

I'll definatly take you up on that offer later in the year and will give you a guided tour of the lake aswell

You're on!

[Tornado]

Rarest sightings on our local patch
Birds: Turtle Dove (in the garden) Waxwing and Raven.
Mammals: Weasel (in the garden log pile!)
Tornado

[Lincs Yellowbelly]

Oh i forgot about the 17 Waxwing i saw during the winter