Birthday Birding Bust? Or Bonanza? With Rare Hudsonian Godwit

[@HawkInTheLens]

Loved another series of birding adventures. Happy birthday Stu!!!

[@Twitcher999]

Good stuff! I managed to see a Hudsonian Godwit in the UK this year, MEGA rarity over here 👍🏻

[@MLJ-k4s]

From a viewer's point of view this might be your best video yet - thanks for making it!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Oh wow, thanks 👍

[@WalkingEng]

I prefer to capture the birds with my camera also before confirming them. I’m still learning so having the photo lets me take more time with checking what the bird is and giving me time to study the bird a little more. Great video, glad the new lifer diminished the sulking😂

[@BritHikesOntario]

Haha thank you. Apparently I need to take a little longer over it, I do tend to make the odd mistake here and there in the rush to get these videos out asap.

[@MrTmiket0007]

Happy birthday 🎉🙏Thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video like always ❤️🐦

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thanks and thanks! 😁

[@NathanWebb-c5h]

Happy birthday Stu! Your videos make my day.

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thank you Nathan, that's very kind. I better keep making them, then! 😁

[@davetrumbell3568]

50-70 Ruddy Ducks at LaSalle, Burlington. Great video as usual.

[@BritHikesOntario]

Great, thanks for the tip. We like that spot. Will try to get over that way.

[@TracyBirds]

Happy belated Birthday, Stu! Glad it was not a total birthday bust!!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thanks Tracy, those last couple sure turned things around.

[@ickgtib]

happy birthday Stu!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thank you!

[@cliffhawley1768]

Happy birthday! Congrats on the good shorebirds. Tough miss on the Vermilion. That's the bird that got me into birding. I found a vagrant male in full plumage on my family's ranch as a kid and I was hooked.

[@BritHikesOntario]

I bet, that's a great "spark bird". Thanks, Cliff.

[@thesetter]

Belated birthday greetings and congrats on the lifer 👍

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thank you!

[@robertlinfield2353]

Happy Belated Birthday! Sorry you missed the Vermillion, I found it that morning at Guelph Lake, was quite a surprise to see! Great video as always!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thank you. Great sighting, congrats. I'm only a LITTLE bit jealous 😉

[@kimtouesnard1766]

Great video! Keep going!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thanks, just over a month to go!

[@chrisburris1036]

American Tree Sparrows at 5:00 -- note black/yellow mismatched mandibles; Chipping has lost its rufous crown by this time of year. Good luck with your end of year scramble!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thanks for the encouragement and the correction. I really gapped out on that one, I guess. I was thrown by the black (or black-looking) eye-line and was blind to the mandibles and the chest spot. Not to mention that the Chipping Sparrows have all but left by the time of this video.

[@crabtree8822]

belated birthday wishes mate.love the videos

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thank you, appreciate it 😊

[@sylvainmathieu3887]

Happy belated birthday!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thanks 😁

[@Rockymtnchick]

Belated Happy Birthday, glad you eventually got some new birds. Sounds odd to me that you get ruddy ducks in the winter. We get them in the summer and it is so much fun to watch them “blowing bubbles!”

[@BritHikesOntario]

Haha yep. We saw some out west last year during spring, just chilling in a pond in a city park. Funny how attitudes to birds vary geographically. Some people are thrilled to see a Northern Cardinal. Here, you can't walk for tripping over them 😆

[@Rockymtnchick]

I would be over the moon to see a northern cardinal!

[@HaydenEpp]

Happy birthday! I think I tried for the Harris's Sparrow the same day that you were there. I didn't hear about it early enough - otherwise I would have made the short drive from Waterloo earlier in the week. Too bad Hespeler Mill didn't yield much either. I find that place very hit or miss depending on the time of year. Glad you got some new birds at the end! Hudsonian Godwit is awesome - I'd love to see one someday!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Haha, yeah. Another near miss to help take things down to the wire. Hudsonian is one we were glad to see for sure. We saw one last year when we went for 250 birds, so it's hard not to compare lists and hope to get most of the same ones again. Thanks for the birthday wishes.

[@chrishamilton2858]

Happy birthday!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Cheers Chris

[@92kingsly]

Sorry about your disappointing birthday -- I think we've all had a few. Now it's two months to find 18 birds. Sounds doable!

[@BritHikesOntario]

I think that if we weren't going to Sax-zim Bog, I might have given up hope. As it stands, I think it's tough but doable!

[@somsvid]

A belated Happy Birthday and good luck with the rest of your 300 Bird Challenge! 😊 You might like to take another look at your video: after the lone Dunlin, your year-bird Pec Sand, then 2 birds, one walking towards the other, a Pec & a Dunlin you say. Both show 2 parallel white braces on the back (scapular stripes) and both have a pectoral bib, one stronger patterned than the other. I think both are Pec Sands?

[@BritHikesOntario]

Thanks on both counts! You're absolutely right about the birds, that's me using the wrong video clip. They're both Pectoral. I've added a correction to the video description and this is the video clip I was supposed to use: brithikesontario.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/pecdun.jpg

[@doogery22]

Happy Birthday 🎉🎂

[@BritHikesOntario]

TA BRUV

[@richardwalker9330]

Excellent video! Cutting it kind of close, though!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Yeah, for sure. There's a lot riding on Sax-zim Bog in a couple of weeks... and maybe only 3 more weekends that we have free before Dec 31st.

[@jolindstad5948]

Happy birthday! Gratulerer med dagen from Norway

[@BritHikesOntario]

Haha, thank you for teaching me some Norwegian!

[@erniescabin4256]

😊👍🦆🧁

[@BritHikesOntario]

😁🐦🎁🎉

[@ickgtib]

Yesterday (Nov23rd) I went to several reservoirs in a region of Israel I have't been to this year which got me to 301!!!! The species I added are: Eurasian linnet Common shelduck Ruddy shelduck (lifer and also quite a rarity) Black necked grebe White headed duck Tufted duck Eurasian wigeon And Jack snipe!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Congrats, great count and some cool birds 🐦 🐦‍⬛ 😎

[@ickgtib]

15:45 these are two pectorals!!!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Yes they are, good spot. I used the wrong footage by mistake 😂 Take a look at the video description for a picture of what I was meant to use 😀

[@peggymorse1780]

I feel your pain My brother and daughter will text me I just saw a bald eagle!! I tell them. Send them my way!!

[@BritHikesOntario]

Could definitely use a "send them my way button" this year, if you happen to find a spare one 😉