ZooChat Big Year 2017

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Brum said:
I assume so, their numbers go up and down in between my visits but I don't know if they're given a helping hand. They are the towns most well known factor but according to Wikipedia they are part of an "urban sanctuary" but I'm not quite sure what that means? @gentle lemur may know as he lives locally.
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I think they are almost certainly pinioned to keep them in situ.

They have been on the river/stream at Dawlish for many years and feature on postcards from the 1950's etc. A few years go they were down to two males(cobs) though and a couple of females(pens) were donated by someone to re-pair the two single males. Since then there has definately been more breeding as it was reported on the local news a year or so back when three small cygnets were washed away by the current downstream into a storm drain. They were all rescued safely though and a safety net installed to prevent a recurrence. I think they have probably bred again since then.

'Feral' Black Swans frequently turn up in other places such as park boating lakes etc if they are not wing-clipped. I once saw a group of four flying over the sea, then landing on the water. Strange sight.
 
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lintworm said:
Ruaha National Park

Birds

120. Variable sunbird
121. Lesser masked weaver
122. Crowned lapwing
123. Goliath heron
124. Mourning collared dover
125. Glossy ibis
126. White-headed buffalo weaver
127. Abyssinian scimitarbill
128. African paradise flycatcher
129. Purple-crested turaco
130. Bohm's spinetail
131. Rufous chatterer
132. Wattled starling
133. Green-winged pytillia
134. Slate-coloured boubou
135. Blue-naped mousebird
136. Dark-backed weaver
137. African pygmy kingfisher
138. Pearl-spotted owlet
139. Crowned hornbill
140. Crested francolin
141. White-browed scrub robin
141. (African) Hoopoe
142. Nubian woodpecker
143. Blue-cheecked bee-eater
144. Red-eyed dove
145. Lesser kestrel
146. Jameson's firefinch
147. Yellow-collared lovebird
148. Abdim's stork
149. Speckle-fronted weaver
150. Von-der-Decken's hornbill
151. Lesser striped swallow
152. Wahlberg's eagle
153. Red-billed buffalo weaver
154. Buff-crested bustard
155. D'arnauds barbet
156. Grey-capped social weaver
157. White-bellied bustard
158. European roller
159. Pygmy falcon
160. Isabelline shrike
161. Giant kingfisher
162. Greater painted snipe
163. Pied kingfisher
164. Lesser honeyguide
165. Superb starling
166. White-browed sparrow-weaver
167. Ashy starling


Mammals
26. Greater kudu
27. Black-backed jackal
28. Thomas's dikdik
29. Grant's gazelle
30. Lesser kudu
31. Ochre bush squirrel
32. Yellow-spotted bush hyrax
33. Bat-eared fox
34. Neumanns grass rat
35. Lesser free-tailed bat
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Time to sort out the remaining Tanzanian sightings and then I am ready to start with the rest of the year since January 16th :p The full story is off course in the Tanzania forum ;)

Birds
168. Silvery-cheeked hornbill
169. African palm swift
170. Brown-hooded kingfisher
171. Trumpeter hornbill
172. Pin-tailed whydah
173. Orange-breasted waxbill
174. Speckled mousebird
175. Common waxbill
176. Brown mannikin
177. Tambourine dove
178. Striated heron
179. Striped kingfisher
180. Southern citril
181. Retz's helmetshrike
182. Fan-tailed widowbird
183. Crowned eagle
184. House crow
185. Marabou stork
186. Collared sunbird

Mammals
36. Udzungwa red colobus
37. Checkered sengi
38. Sykes's monkey
39. Zanj sun squirrel
40. Sanje mangabey
41. Zanzibar dwarf galago
42. Southern tree hyrax
... Crawshay's zebra
43. Straw-colored fruit bat
 
And now the rest of the mammals of this year, this includes 2 short work trips to Kenya and 1 to Ethiopia (where I am now) and includes European sightings from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Czechia and Croatia:

44. European hare
45. European rabbit
46. Bank vole
47. Common shrew
48. European red squirrel
49. Edible dormouse
50. Common pipistrelle
51. Serotine
52. European hedgehog
53. European roe deer
54. Fallow deer
55. Wild boar
56. European chamois
57. House mouse
58. Brown rat
59. Black rat
60. Red fox
61. Southern white rhino
62. Savannah hare
63. Thomson's gazelle
64. Gunther's dikdik
65. Baringo giraffe
66. Olive baboon
67. Black-necked rock hyrax
68. Unstriped ground squirrel
69. Heart-faced bat
70. Hamadryas baboon
71. African grass rat

Birds will follow, but I am currently in Ethiopia, so I don't have the relevant books and notes with me ;)
 
More birds from Paris :

140 - Eurasian magpie (Note : I'm splitting Maghreb magpie which I've also seen), Pica pica pica
141 - Carrion crow, Corvus corone - Pictured
142 - Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus - Pictured (weirdly still in winter plumage)
143 - European herring gull, Larus argentatus

I've also seen European rabbits, domestic mouse and a lot (and I really mean it) of wood pigeons which are great species but I've already seen them before. :)
 
lintworm said:
Time to sort out the remaining Tanzanian sightings and then I am ready to start with the rest of the year since January 16th :p The full story is off course in the Tanzania forum ;)

Mammals
36. Udzungwa red colobus
37. Checkered sengi
38. Sykes's monkey
39. Zanj sun squirrel
40. Sanje mangabey
41. Zanzibar dwarf galago
42. Southern tree hyrax
... Crawshay's zebra
43. Straw-colored fruit bat
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did you miss Angolan black-and-white colobus off this year's list, or did I miss it when totalling mammals? You mention it in your last trip post, but the only colobus I have down is the Udzungwa red colobus above.

And is your Heart-faced Bat Cardioderma cor?
 
Chlidonias said:
did you miss Angolan black-and-white colobus off this year's list, or did I miss it when totalling mammals? You mention it in your last trip post, but the only colobus I have down is the Udzungwa red colobus above.

And is your Heart-faced Bat Cardioderma cor?
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Heart-faced bat is indeed C. cor

And Angolan black-and-white colobus is indeed missing so:

72. Angolan black-and-white colobus
73. Abyssinian rock hyrax
 
An assortment of fun things from a weekend in East Anglia - spent most of Saturday at Colchester zooing, then most of Sunday at RSPB Minsmere (and Dunwich Heath) with a few other stops around and in between. Really enjoyed the burrowing wasps at Minsmere, who have their own attendants to point them out and make sure they aren't harmed as they are in the habit of nesting on the path edge. Still a bit miffed not to see a Pantaloon Bee - but can hardly complain!

Birds:
195. Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus
196. Sandwich Tern - Thalasseus sandvicensis
197. Great Bittern - Botaurus stellaris
198. Dartford Warbler - Sylvia undata
199. Little Gull - Hydrocoloeus minutus

Mammals:
26. European Otter - Lutra lutra
27. Chinese Water Deer - Hydropotes inermis

Reptiles:
4. European Grass Snake - Natrix natrix (not new-fangled helvetica!)

Fishes:
9. Common Minnow - Phoxinus phoxinus

Invertebrates:
110. Ruddy Darter - Sympetrum sanguineum
111. Common Darter - Sympetrum striolatum
112. Bee-wolf - Philanthus triangulum
113. Ornate-tailed Digger Wasp - Cerceris rybyensis
114. Ruby-tailed Wasp - Hedychrum niemelai
115. Common Grayling - Hipparchia semele
116. Green Shore Crab - Carcinus maenas
117. European Hornet - Vespa crabro

:)
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
More birds from Paris :

140 - Eurasian magpie (Note : I'm splitting Maghreb magpie which I've also seen), Pica pica pica
141 - Carrion crow, Corvus corone - Pictured
142 - Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus - Pictured (weirdly still in winter plumage)
143 - European herring gull, Larus argentatus

I've also seen European rabbits, domestic mouse and a lot (and I really mean it) of wood pigeons which are great species but I've already seen them before. :)
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One more!

144 - Common starling, Sturnus vulgaris - Pictured

I can also add to that some good pictures of Common moorhen (which I've seen before) and European herring gull (my first pictures of them this year); plus the usual bits such as Carrion crow and Wood pigeon.
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
One more!

144 - Common starling, Sturnus vulgaris - Pictured

I can also add to that some good pictures of Common moorhen (which I've seen before) and European herring gull (my first pictures of them this year); plus the usual bits such as Carrion crow and Wood pigeon.
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Bird-watching around Paris area, once again :

145 - Canada goose, Branta canadensis
146 - Mute swan, Cygnus olor
147 - Dunnock, Prunella modularis
148 - European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis

And I'm now in Berlin!

149 - Hooded crow, Corvus cornix

:)
 
Couple of new birds from Frampton Marsh today:

Birds:
200. Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus
201. Wood Sandpiper - Tringa glareola

(UK-only total = 185)

:)
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
Bird-watching around Paris area, once again :

145 - Canada goose, Branta canadensis
146 - Mute swan, Cygnus olor
147 - Dunnock, Prunella modularis
148 - European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis

And I'm now in Berlin!

149 - Hooded crow, Corvus cornix

:)
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From Tierpark Friedrichsfelde today!

150 - Coal tit, Periparus ater
151 - European robin, Erithacus rubecula
 
DesertRhino150 said:
22. Common house mouse Mus musculus
23. Western roe deer Capreolus capreolus

8. Sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus

13. Emerald damselfly Lestes sponsa
14. Brown hawker dragonfly Aeshna grandis
15. Common darter dragonfly Sympetrum striolatum
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Over the past couple of days, I have added another mammal, another fish and two more dragon and damselflies to my year list:

24. Leisler's bat Nyctalus leisleri

9. European eel Anguilla anguilla (Cr)

16. Migrant hawker dragonfly Aeshna mixta
17. Small red-eyed damselfly Erythromma viridulum
 
Wasn't planning on heading out today but reports of a potential lifer sat in a field about 45min away proved impossible to resist. Fortunately not a wasted journey!

Birds:
202. Eurasian Dotterel - Charadrius morinellus

:)
 
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