What's the rarest bird you've seen

[StuartDH]

What's the rarest bird you've ever seen? It can either be rare for your local area, or rare across the world.

[John]

The rarest bird I have seen is one of the rarest in the world. A Slender billed Curlew on mainland Greece, near the Albanian border. It was on a wetland which actually lies opposite Corfu.

It has been unofficially recognised by Birdlife International as a valid find. They couldn't officially accept it as I had no back up proof of the find (Photo's, other birders etc) but my description together with a description of its behaviour was enough to satisfy them that I had seen the bird.

John

[Tanny]

An Eyrian Grass Wren and a Scarlet-breasted Parakeet on the same day.

[John]

I have just come back from 12 days in Turkey and found some impressive birds including:-

Lammergeier
See See partridge
Spur-winged Lapwing
Desert Finch
Dead Sea Sparrow
Black-bellied sandgrouse
Black Francolin
Armenian Gull
Pied Kingfisher
Graceful Prinia
Little Swift
Laughing Dove
Eastern Rock Nuthatch
Alpine Chough
Radde's Accentor
Citrine Wagtail
Caspian Snowcock
Red-fronted Serin
Snowfinch
Syrian Woodpecker
Spectacled Bulbul
Finsch's Wheatear
Krupers Nuthatch
Chestnut sided Petronia
Menetrie's Warbler

All 25 new lifers for me. Alltogether we had 203 species for the trip but the above 25 lifers will satisfy me for many a year to come.

The very first one (Lammergeir) is a bird that has been top of my wanted list for years and we had the privilege of one gliding fairly close to us for almost ten minutes. Brilliant.

John

[Imaginos]

Nordmann's Greenshank is (I think) the rarest bird I've seen. I did see the 'Slender billed Curlew' that turned up at Minsmere a couple of years back but remain to be convinced it wasn't just a funny juvenile.