Rare birds in the University Park
”Rare birds are not found in the cities… You have to get out into the real nature – far away from the stress of the city.”
This is at least the idea that many people have when you talk about rare animals. Rare animals must be by definition rare, because there are certain conditions for their habitats. These are often requirements, which the city cannot accommodate. There is some truth to this general idea, but occasionally it is possible to see rare species just outside your window in the middle of the city.
For example, this was what happened on a January day in 2012 in the University Park. Amongst all the herring gulls, there was suddenly a grey winged gull. This gull is very rarely seen in Denmark and it actually belongs on the North American continent. However, it does happen that they make the trip over the Atlantic Ocean and thus end up visiting Denmark. This is not something that happens a lot, and this is why ornithologists rushed to the park when they heard about the newest visitor.
The grey winged gull stuck around for several days and on top of that, no more than three days later, a white winged gull appeared in the same place, which is just as rare.
As January and February can be somewhat of a cold and semi-uneventful time for nature lovers, it is nice that you can merely look out your window and still spot rare animals.