ZooChat Big Year 2017

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While I do not keep a list of birds, I did see an unusual form a couple weeks ago from Interstate 17 south of Flagstaff (Arizona, USA). A look on an Arizona bird forum when I got home confirmed that it was a leucistic (white) red tailed hawk that has been seen in that same area over the last three years or so.
 
Fish
308. Greenfin Parrotfish
309. Undulated Moray

Inverts
52. Pontifical Mitre (Mitra stictica)
53. Ribbon Worm
54. Commensal Shrimp (Periclimenes tenuipes)

:p

Hix
 
Though I don't really track my bird sightings, I just got home from a bike ride and saw my first wild kingfisher, which is kind of cool. It is a belted kingfisher, seen in a section of the usually dry Santa Cruz River (Tucson, Arizona) that has a small stream from water released from a wastewater treatment plant (directly north of Sweetwater Wetlands). I also saw a coyote, but that is not unusual here.
 
For the past 2 weeks, a desert wheatear has been hanging around the Belgian coast. I've been meaning to go see it, but never had enough time with school projects etc. Finally got round to doing so today, and I'm so happy it stayed around long enough for me to see it! I made excellent use of the opportunity to finally go see some waders, as well. :D
I believe this is only the fourth ever desert wheatear in Belgium, with the third ever being only a few weeks before this, and it would appear a fifth (an adult male, opposed to the juvenile female I saw) was discovered today as well.

BIRDS:
275) Desert wheatear, Oenanthe deserti
276) Red knot, Calidris canutus
277) Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica
278) Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola
279) Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
280) Spotted redshank, Tringa erythropus

Last year my total score was 139, so that means that after passing 278, I have officially more than doubled that score! :D
 
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animal_expert01 said:
Birds:
55. Dollar Bird (Eurystomus orientalis)

Fish:
21. Estuary Cod (Epinephelus coioides)
22. Mangrove Jack (Lutjanus argentimaculatus)
23. Longfin Eel (Anguilla reinhardt)

Amphibians:
4. Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)
Click to expand...
Birds:
56. Budgie (Melopsittacus undulatus)
57.Red-Rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus)
58. Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)

Fish:
24. Eye-Striped Surgeonfish (acanthurus dussumieri)
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Repeated problems with my account meant I have been unable to put the single new bird I saw nearly two weeks ago on my list - although it wasn't a lifer it was by far the best view of the species I have ever had:

161. Red-throated diver Gavia stellata
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Another new bird for my year list turned up in my garden yesterday with the arrival of the snow. A very pleasant surprise, considering I haven't seen one in probably close to a decade:

162. Brambling Fringilla montifringilla
 
animal_expert01 said:
Birds:
56. Budgie (Melopsittacus undulatus)
57.Red-Rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus)
58. Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)

Fish:
24. Eye-Striped Surgeonfish (acanthurus dussumieri)
Click to expand...
Birds:
59. Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster)
60. Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides)
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Another new bird for my year list turned up in my garden yesterday with the arrival of the snow. A very pleasant surprise, considering I haven't seen one in probably close to a decade:

162. Brambling Fringilla montifringilla
Click to expand...

Went out to Minsmere for my birthday. Managed to pick up three new species for my year list:

163. Great bittern Botaurus stellaris
164. Mandarin duck Aix galericulata
165. Dartford warbler Sylvia undata (Nt)
 
Birds:
61. Yellow-Billed Spoonbill

Invertebrates:
12. Mudcrab (Scylla serrata)

Reptiles:
11. Olive Sea Snake (Aipysurus laevis)
 
With just a couple of weeks to go and no plans to travel outside Alaska, I’ve probably seen my last new bird species for the year. Might get lucky with an owl or two...but probably not. I did spend a few days in New England in October and that helped me pick up a couple of common birds from back east.

1. Greater White-fronted Goose
*Greater White-fronted Goose and Canada Goose Hybrid
2. Snow Goose
*Blue Goose morph
3. Brant
4. Canada Goose
5. Cackling Goose
6. Tundra Swan
7. Trumpeter Swan
8. Mute Swan
9. Mallard
10. Green-winged Teal
11. American Wigeon
12. Northern Pintail
13. Northern Shoveler
14. Greater Scaup
15. Common Eider
16. King Eider
17. Spectacled Eider
18. Long-tailed Duck
19. Common Goldeneye
20. Barrow’s Goldeneye
21. Common Merganser
22. Red-breasted Merganser
23. Spruce Grouse
24. Willow Ptarmigan
25. Rock Ptarmigan
26. Red-necked Grebe
27. Rock Pigeon
28. Rufous Hummingbird
29. Sandhill Crane
30. Black-bellied Plover
31. American Golden-plover
32. Semipalmated Plover
33. Semipalmeted Sandpiper
34. Baird’s Sandpiper
35. Greater Yellowlegs
36. Red-necked Phalarope
37. Pomarine Jaeger
38. Parasitic Jaeger
39. Long-tailed Jaeger
40. Black Guillemot
41. Sabine’s Gull
42. Bonaparte’s Gull
43. New Gull
44. Herring Gull
45. Glaucous-Winged Gull
46.Glaucous Gull
47. Arctic Tern
48. Red-throated Loon
49. Pacific Loon
50. Common Loon
51. Double-crested Cormorant
52. Great Blue Heron
53. Turkey Vulture
54. Osprey
55. Golden Eagle
56. Bald Eagle
57. Northern Harrier
58. Rough-legged Hawk
59. Red-tailed Hawk
60. Great-horned Owl
61. Short-eared Owl
62. Belted Kingfisher
63. Hairy Woodpecker
64. Downy Woodpecker
65. Three-toed Woodpecker
66. Merlin
67. Peregrine Falcon
68. Alder Flycatcher
69. Steller’s Jay
70. Blue Jay
71. Black-billed Magpie
72. Northwestern Crow
73. American Crow
74. Tree Swallow
75. Violet-green Swallow
76. Cliff Swallow
77. Black-capped Chickadee
78. Boreal Chickadee
79. Common Raven
80. Red-breasted Nuthatch
81. American Robin
82. Varied Thrush
83. European Starling
84. Bohemian Waxwing
85. House Sparrow
86. White-winged Crossbill
87. Pine Siskin
88. Common Redpoll
89. Lapland Longspur
90. Snow Bunting
91. Orange-crowned Warbler
92. Yellow Warbler
93. Yellow-rumped Warbler
94. Savannah Sparrow
95. White-crowned Sparrow
96. Dark-eyed Junco
97. Rusty Blackbird
* Chukar Partridge (escaped farm-birds)
* Indian Peafowl (escaped farm-bird)
 
Spent a lot of time on a bike in the rain just for a very short but close glimpse of this species, but it was well worth it in the end. What absolute stunning birds! There were several males and females hanging around a group of mallards, which made for a very good size comparison. Unfortunately they didn't stay long, a couple speeding cars scared them off.

BIRDS:
281) Smew, Mergellus albellus
282) Whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus
 
animal_expert01 said:
Birds:
61. Yellow-Billed Spoonbill

Invertebrates:
12. Mudcrab (Scylla serrata)

Reptiles:
11. Olive Sea Snake (Aipysurus laevis)
Click to expand...
Birds:
62. Australian Pied Ostyercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)
63. Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)
64. Curlew Snadpiper (Calidris ferruginea)
 
KevinVar said:
167. Smew (Mergellus albellus)
Click to expand...
Decided to hop on the train with a friend of mine earlier this week to twitch a bird I wasn't expecting to see this year: a splendid male long-tailed duck in full winter plumage! Along with two other very nice additions, albeit in less interesting coloration.
168. Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
169. Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
170. Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta)
 
Quickly went over my pictures of treecreepers this summer after totally forgetting to check them in the field, and figured out that some of them had a very white belly, longer back toe, shorter bill and different wing pattern, meaning that we actually did see Eurasian treecreepers!

BIRDS:
283) Eurasian treecreeper, Certhia familiaris
 
One quick addition from a day trip to London yesterday:

215. Ring-necked Parakeet - Psittacula krameri

200th British bird of the year as well!
 
This is probably my final mammal count for 2017. Wolves, Lynx, or Wolverines still have a few weeks to wander by, but figuring it’s been 2009, 2014, & 2012 since I’ve last spotted those species...I’m not going to hold my breath. We’ve not received a report of a Black-tailed Deer in the Anchorage area since about 2010. Maybe a Flying-squirrel will hit my bird feeders in daylight, but probably not. As with the bird count, a brief trip to New England in October gave me three common species to add to my list.

1. Little Brown Bat
2. Common Shrew
3. Pygmy Shrew
4. Canadian Beaver
5. Common Muskrat
6. Arctic Ground Squirrel
7. Northern Red-backed Vole
8. Tundra Vole
9. Northern Collared Lemming
10. North American Brown Lemming
11. North American Porcupine
12. American Red Squirrel
13. Eastern Grey Squirrel
14. Eastern Chipmunk
15. House Mouse
16. Ermine
17. American Mink
18. Northern River Otter
19. Sea Otter
20. Spotted Seal
21. Ringed Seal
22. Beluga Whale
22. Harbor Porpoise
23. Arctic Fox
24. Red Fox
25. American Black Bear
26. Brown Bear (Barren-ground and Toklat Grizzly subspecies)
27. Polar Bear
28. Caribou
29. Moose
30. Musk Ox
31. Dall Sheep
32. Rocky Mountain Goat
33. Northern Raccoon
34. Snowshoe Hare

Not too bad.
 
savethelephant said:
24. Common Bottlenose Dolphin

97. Great Black Backed Gull
98. Ring billed Gull
99. Laughing Gull

Just one more...
Click to expand...

And finally:
100. Tufted Titmouse

Well I must say I'm very satisfied with my lot this year, much thanks to my Costa Rica visit in January. However I think I set bit of a bar for myself for next year so we'll see how things turn out!
 
KevinVar said:
168. Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
169. Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
170. Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta)
Click to expand...
As Anton mentioned earlier we misidentified some treecreepers on our trip to the Czech republic. Luckily we managed to identify them correctly with the help of our photographs! Possibly the last addition I'll post here this year, despite the fact that I will go out birding a few more times before New Year's I don't expect I will be getting any new species for the year.
171. Eurasian Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
 
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