What is the "rarest" animals or plant that you have ever seen in the wild? In the UK or not. Obviously the definition "rarest" is not always clear but nevermind!

Mine would have the be the Red Kite that I posted about in another thread here. It was a truly amazing sight and one I will never forget.

The rarest bird I have seen--three candidates, all equally rare in their own way;

Grey phase Gyrfalcon, seen every winter here in the state of Washington, at a place called the Sammish Flats.  The Sammish Flats are one of the few places in the 'Lower 48' states where Gyrfalcons can be seen reliably every year.

Great Grey Owl, extremely rare breeder here in the state of Washington, and almost always found in designated wilderness areas.  But we managed to see one a number of years ago not more than 20 miles away from home.

Northern Hawk Owl, rarely seen as far south as Washington state, it was actually seen right on the border of British Columbia, Canada and Washington.

I should throw in my Kingfisher sighting in Wales from my last visit, too!

I can't really count the California Condor--I know I have seen it, but I have only a vague, child's memory of it.

Rarest mammal--flexibility is key here!  I have seen Woodland Caribou in British Columbia.  It's not that they are so rare (although they are not common), but one does have to be in the right place at the right time.

Rarest animal sighting, though, was probably the marten, seen in British Columbia.  Yet another one of the mustelids, it will only be seen in certain types of forest--coniferous, preferably mature growth or old growth, and in riparian habitat.

Plants--I've been lucky enough to see some orchids in the wild.  Calypso bulbosa in California, some of the Plantantheras in the state of Washington.

Kingfisher

That's a very impressive list you have there! The two owls you spotted are fantastic creatures, they must have been quite a sight.

I have to admit that I haven't heard of a Marten, do you have any pictures of one?

Here's a link: http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wil...marten.htm to a site which has not only an illustration of the American Marten, but you can find a link on the left hand side to see some of the other rare animals I listed, including the caribou.

I looked at the list in the link and was fascinated to discover than I have seen most of the animals listed, and if one goes to the link at the bottom for 'birds'--I have seen all the birds on the list!  These are not the only birds to be found in British Columbia, by the way.

Kingfisher

I don't know if these are rare or no in the UK, but probably Ring Necked Parakeets.

Around 13 years ago, I was walking with a friend through a hilltop village in Lincolnshire, yes there are some hills in Lincolnshire, when we saw growing on the roadside verge against a stonewall an untidy shrubby type plant which neither of us recognised but it was clearly some kind of bedstraw. Out came our copies of “The Wild Flower Key” by Francis Rose, from these we decided that it was wild madder (Rubia peregrina) but what was it doing there, as that only grows on the warm south and west coasts of England, Wales and Ireland not on cold eastern hilltops.

The next day my friend phoned the County Botanical Recorder for Lincolnshire, who clearly didn't believe what he said, but was prevailed upon to go and have a look at it. After looking at it she phoned my friend to say that it wasn't wild madder but madder (Rubia tinctorum) a plant originally introduced to Britain from the Mediterranean countries and grown for use in the dying industry to produce a red dye, but with the advent of chemical dyes it had no longer been needed and had gradually disappeared, the last record of it in Britain being during the 1960s. This though leaves a question, what is it doing growing where it is growing? There's no history of a cloth dying industry in the village, indeed there hardly could be because of the lack of a sufficient water supply before the introduction of piped water to the hilltop village.

I always like seeing Otters. Lots of signs down here but not seen one yet. Last one i saw was in Lincolnshire. Also seen them in Suffolk.

Otters are very sweet

An Ibis in Wales.

Was it a Glossy Ibis?

Wont only list them, but heres pics as well

Female Montagu's Harrier one of 7 territorial females in the UK allegedly.
(sorry the pics are poor it was a very hot day and they were miles away, heat haze is a nuisance with big lenses )


and a food pass


Great Bittern


Hen harrier

This post was last modified: 18-02-2008 11:04 PM by IanC_UK.

Some rare some not so rare.

Reptiles- Great crested newt and Sand lizard.

Birds- Chough, Alpine swift

Butterfly- Marsh fritillary, Small pearl and pearl-boardered fritillary
Dingy skipper, Grizzled skipper. And a species of Apolo,
found out this had escaped from a collector

Plants-Cornish moneywort

Other- Bullhead, White claw crayfish, Bee beatle.

And jury is still out for Black bog ant and Large tortoise?

I love that photo of the Great Bittern, it looks so proud of itself!

Lovely pictures.
And it was a Glossy Ibis.

Just found this thread. I must say the rarest animal I've seen was a Pine Marten up at Aber Falls in North Wales many years ago now