What gives you the thrill when spotting wildlife?

[Rod Paradise]

British Red's thread about the curlew flock, and my excitement at seeing one up here (Southern Uplands, Southwest Scotland) for the first time yesterday made me think.

Wildlife spotting. When you see something what gives you the buzz?

I get an extra thrill if it's rare, or new to me, or a raptor as I'm a big fan.

But I also get an added thrill depending on location. Seeing wildlife, especially rare or unusual near where I live adds a lot to it for me. There's red kites further down the valley & I love to see them, but the first one I see up our end will be a special moment for me.

Another extra buzz is seeing something where you wouldn't expect it. An otter in the river in the middle of a big town, one of the urban peregrines, the roe deer in the necropolis in Glasgow City centre etc.

Last, but by no means least, seeing something and getting to observe behaviour, especially if you've not seen it before.

So yesterday's curlew flock, within 1 few hundred yards of my house, in a flock which they don't do up here scored high in the buzz of joy stakes for me.

Likewise the day I saw a golden eagle, within 3 miles of my house, and watched it from 50 yards away (below me from the hill) fly off into the distance, with buzzards, ravens, kestrels & jackdaws trying to mob it, well that was as close to a religious feeling as I can remember.

Anyone feel similarly, or differently?

And biggest spotting buzz stories please.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=sanquhar&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x48629eda344fc03f:0xb064eb2e0e870f7b,Sanquhar,+Dumfries+and+Galloway&gl=uk&ei=i9hSUafmH9D70gW5-IDYDg&ved=0CJgBELYD My area (google maps) - I'm lucky enough that the kitchen window looks out over an old quarry - and lots of wildlife.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Good thread.

Seeing anything is the buzz, not just the animals themselves but also the signs they leave behind.


Biggest buzzes?
Humpback whales - cow and calf dwarfing the boat as they came right up alongside, the cow even breached fully out of the water - awesome.
Jesus Lizard run across water.
Lynx tracks in the snow.
Stroking a manitee.
The head of a giant river otter poking out the water.
Watching leaf-cutter ants do their thing.

There's loads, more than I shake a stick at, all equally as good.

 

[bob_the_baker]

I think getting close to something truly wild does it for me the most.

Notable close encounters being Roe Deer, a Goldcrest and a Dolphin, all unexpected random encounters, which added to the thrill.

 

[resnikov]

Watching platypus play in a pond in Tazmannia was one of the biggest buzzes for me.

Once when driving to work I stopped less then a mile from my house and watched a bird of prey (know idea what it was) circling over a field. It just looked majestic.

Watching a Red Kite flying over my village was quite cool as well.

I never go out with the intent to watch wildlife but always enjoy it when I do see any wildlife.

 

[Rod Paradise]

Watching platypus play in a pond in Tazmannia was one of the biggest buzzes for me.

Once when driving to work I stopped less then a mile from my house and watched a bird of prey (know idea what it was) circling over a field. It just looked majestic.

Watching a Red Kite flying over my village was quite cool as well.

I never go out with the intent to watch wildlife but always enjoy it when I do see any wildlife.

The randomness of encounters is another added spice that I missed that both you and Bob have mentioned. I love catching a glimpse of something wild when just goiing about my day.

Last year I saw a red Kite near Dingwall and was buzzing, a large part because I saw it and identified it, from a bus full of hard core football fans on the way to a game (Ross co v Celtic). No-one else noticed or would have cared but I was pleased with myself that the old 'spotters eye' was working.

 

[santaman2000]

The biggest thrill? Lining up the sights and pulling the trigger.

 

[Rod Paradise]

The biggest thrill? Lining up the sights and pulling the trigger.

Very good! I enjoy hunting too, but there's still the buzz of seeing something you're not out to hunt - I'd feel dead inside if I didn't get it.

 

[santaman2000]

Very good! I enjoy hunting too, but there's still the buzz of seeing something you're not out to hunt - I'd feel dead inside if I didn't get it.

True enough if it's something that's not an everyday sighting. Watching raptors hunt would be one of my bucket list items. Seeing a black bear crossing the road always gives me a thrill.

 

[Stringmaker]

Just seeing an animal do its own thing without being disturbed is the real treat.

There is a small coastal river near me where last summer I saw a seal having a right old time as it splashed and swam about. It has been known to lie on the jetty and sun itself in the early mornings too.

 

[HeltorChasca]

Excellent thread.

Crossbills last Easter (yes in Somerset!)
Butterflies snuck into my World last Summer and pepper my dreams. Large Blue was one of my first.
Dragonflies too. There's something about the darters.
I've set up a feeding station in my garden and I've got 11 ticks so far (only a month or so in)
I also do conservation work for Barn Owls and Otters, so any encounter tickles my fancy.
Raptors are high on my list. Hobbys in the summer and Harriers over the Somerset Levels have me buzzing.

I grew up in Africa so I've had some high adrenaline thrills: Wild camped in the sand 50 yards from a pride of lions mucking about with a baboon corpse. In a mountain forest I walked out into a clearing and a leopard crossed the other side (an hour before I needed to set up camp). Charged on foot by an elephant. Tent jumped on by a spotted hyaena with me slumbering inside. Pecked in the side of my knee my a white backed vulture. (rescue centre) Had the flies of my jeans busticated by a Great Dane sized lion cub (rescue centre) Loads of other fun encounters. Spoilt me...!

 

[Zingmo]

Wifey & I were sat under a tree one day when a herd of roe deer came by. Most of the herd didn't seem to notice us, but one doe did and was inquisitive. She slowly approached, eventually stooping to sniff at my boots. Then a stag came crashing along and the herd had to trot off after him. For a moment we had been allowed into the doe's world, no longer a threat, just part of the wild. I felt honoured.

Z

 

[Harvestman]

I think people have covered it all. I got a huge thrill just from seeing a mouse living under my shed, when it came out to nibble on the bird food we had thrown into the garden.

Last weekend it was seeing the first butterfly of the year. Before that it was hearing frogs calling at spawning time. Today it was the incredible sound of a large flock of redwings all calling and chittering.

Just being outside is a nature encounter if you have your eyes and ears open.

 

[santaman2000]

Just remembered a bit of nostaglia I get when hearing quail calling. it always reminds me of when i was a little kid sitting on the front porch with my Grandmother. She could always call them up. i still remeber her whistling "Bobb-White----Bob-White" and they's answer her and come close until they eventually were well in sight.

 

[Shewie]

When I last visited Canada a couple of years ago we went out on a boat trip at the crack of dawn in Tofino, we saw Bald Eagles, Sea Lions, Wolves with cubs and over a dozen separate Black Bear sightings, I'll never forget that day.

I need to get the rest of my pics up some day, forgot about this one ...
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=77753&highlight=canada

 

[Niels]

I got very close to a roe deer once. It was rainy, and it shook it's coat dry just like a dog right in front of me. Awesome

 

[Stringmaker]

Just being outside is a nature encounter if you have your eyes and ears open.

Nailed it.

 

[Rod Paradise]

Just being outside is a nature encounter if you have your eyes and ears open.

Nailed it.

Yep - best 1 sentence summing up. And lovely descriptions of wildlife thrills.

 

[Harvestman]

Thanks guys for the above.

I was thinking about this sort of thing the other day. Something that fascinates me is how creatures like mice can be so small, and yet have all the same basic organs and functions as me. For insects and spiders, they are even smaller, and using completely different systems for being alive, and yet they are just as alive as I am. I just find that amazing, and so I can sit and watch wildlife of whatever sort for hours.

Once you start thinking about plants, and how incredibly resilient they are (cut a branch off a tree and the tree just keeps growing. Do that to most animals and they die), and suddenly everything is just amazing.

Or maybe that's just me.

 

[RonW]

Just being outside is a nature encounter if you have your eyes and ears open.

There's nothing more to add...

Thanks guys for the above.

I was thinking about this sort of thing the other day. Something that fascinates me is how creatures like mice can be so small, and yet have all the same basic organs and functions as me. For insects and spiders, they are even smaller, and using completely different systems for being alive, and yet they are just as alive as I am. I just find that amazing, and so I can sit and watch wildlife of whatever sort for hours.

Once you start thinking about plants, and how incredibly resilient they are (cut a branch off a tree and the tree just keeps growing. Do that to most animals and they die), and suddenly everything is just amazing.

Or maybe that's just me.

It isn't just you. I feel that same amazement. Sometimes I feel like a child, looking at the world and it's wonders in awe....

Best wildlife encounter I had so far was standing next to a cowmoose with nothing between us but 15 meters of distance. We stood there for a while, just looking at each other untill she got spooked by something else and trotted off through the undergrowth. Moose hold a special meaning for me, so I felt really thrilled!

 

[British Red]

I get a variety of emotions - its always thrilling to see "new" things. The first time I was sitting quietly and a stoat ran up to investigate really pleased me - my first kite did too.

Never seen a wild golden eagle - that would be a two whisky day

Small things too for sure, the tame robin that perches on me, even watching the bees wake up in Spring - its all great - and a strangely calm and gentle pleasure