The mostly mediocre birding in Bonn is occasionally interrupted by an uncommon or rare avian visitor, providing some excitement and a welcome distraction. Previous sightings I’ve had were a Wallcreeper and, more recently, a Eurasian Hoopoe. One evening in September, however, I received news of a Northern Mockingbird having been found just outside Bonn. This is a whole new world in the rarities department – it was the first record in Germany. To my knowledge, it is also only the fifth time this species has been recorded in the West Palearctic. Such a vagrant obviously warrants a fitting response, in other words rushing out the next morning, for the best chances of connecting with it. However, I was to leave for a week-long vacation the next day, making this impossible (or at least, my twitching desire was not high enough to justify changing plans).
The bird was apparently already present for several weeks by the time the news got out, having initially been found by someone who either did not recognise the species or did not know with whom to share the news. Regardless, things weren’t looking too bleak that this mega would hang around for another week and fortunately, it did. An after-work visit to the location – a small row of apple trees in an agricultural area – provided a brief and distant sighting of the Northern Mockingbird in the waning light. I was very glad about this sighting, so much that I barely noticed a nearby group of Northern Lapwings, a species I’m usually very eager to see.
Happy to have seen the bird but having hoped for a better sighting, a nagging feeling began to grow as the bird remained around over the following weeks and many birders remarked how tame it was. Being very busy with work and preparing applications for my Master’s degree, it took a while before I managed to get out again. Fortunately, the bird was present on a sunny Saturday, providing unobstructed views just metres away. As I watched it, several Eurasian Skylarks passed above, along with the usual European Goldfinches and Common Starlings. Everything seemed normal, as if there was no more straightforward place for the mockingbird to hang out.
Given its sedentary and tame behaviour, I can’t help but suspect that this bird is an escapee. No Northern Mockingbirds are apparently known to be kept in captivity in Germany, but this doesn’t mean that none are, of course. Vagrants turn up in odd places, but being in some random agricultural area far away from the coasts of Western Europe it would’ve arrived at seems extremely odd. The jury is still out (and we may never be sure), but regardless of this bird’s status, I was happy to get some fresh air at this time when I go out birding rather infrequently and enjoy a very unusual sighting.
My Zone Is Birding 