The last day of 2024 brought an extraordinary surprise – Mirka Horová discovered an Emberiza cia near Karlovy Vary, a rare visitor to our region. As soon as I heard the news, I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity. Unfortunately, the first free slot in my schedule was Saturday, January 4, 2025. Until then, I anxiously followed reports from other birders, hoping the bunting would stay around. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast, I crossed my fingers that luck would hold.
On Friday, I arranged a trip with Martin, who kindly agreed to join me. We set off at 8:00 on Saturday morning. Martin, familiar with the terrain, guided me through the area, setting up feed under a bush as we began our search. At first, there were only tits, jays, and blackbirds – no sign of the bunting. Soon, Luboš L. joined us, and the three of us scoured the area together.
Finally, on a nearby cycling path, we spotted it! The bunting was perched on a fence. But before most of us could react and grab our cameras, it flew off. With the help of a thermal camera, we managed to find it again. A stealthy “five-step tactic” followed as the bunting moved through dense vegetation, occasionally revealing itself amidst the grass and bushes.
In the end, we captured a few photos – Luboš even managed excellent documentation. A huge thanks to Martin for his guidance and to Mirka for her incredible discovery.
For a brief moment, the Emberiza cia became species number 301 on my bird list. But on Monday, a reclassification of redpolls brought me back to 300 – the Arctic Redpoll was merged with the Common Redpoll, leaving me with just one species.
Foto: Luboš Klikař
