As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday 26 October 2012

Rare bird rediscovered after 83 years


It may not look like much but this is one of the world's rarest birds.

Sillem's mountain finch was first spotted in Aksai Chin, Xinjiang, by Dutch ornithologist Jerome Sillem in 1929. It was not seen again until this June, when another was snapped by a French nature photographer, Yann Muzika, in the Yenigou valley, Qinghai, 1,500 kilometres away. 

Writing on his blog, Yann revealed that he 'did not venture into the upper reaches of Yenigou Valley... with any scientific goal, and it was not a birdwatching nor a photography expedition either'. He added: "It was just a trek with 2 friends, that was about to fail since Bertrand and myself were struggling hard with a food poisoning.

No comments:

Post a Comment