ZooChat Big Year 2018

Hix said:
Birds
103. Oriental Dollarbird
104. Rose-ringed Parrot
105. Red-breasted Parrot
106. Long-tailed Parrot
107. Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo
108. Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker
109. White-breasted Sea Eagle
110. Rusty-breasted Cuckoo
111. Blue-throated Bee-eater
112. Sunda (Collared) Scops Owl
113. Pin-striped Tit-babbler
114. White-crested Laughing Thrush
115. Crimson Sunbird
116. Crested Goshawk
117. Oriental Pied Hornbill
118. Taninbar Corella
119. Painted Stork

Mammals
13. Sunda Colugo
14. Slender Squirrel
15. Lesser Dog-faced Fruit bat

Reptiles
8. Saltwater Crocodile
9. Oriental Whip Snake
10. Oriental Garden Lizard
11. Sumatran Flying Dragon
12. Green Crested Lizard
13. Many-lined Sun Skink

Inverts
42. Mangrove Horseshoe Crab
43. Vinegar Crab

Fish
340. Common Snakehead

:p

Hix
Click to expand...
Quite a few updates to make:
Fish
341. Blue-spotted Razorfish
342. Fusilier Damsel
343. Dragon Moray
344. Black-lined Glidergoby
345. Greasy Rockcod
346. Red Parrotfish
347. Piano Fangblenny
348. Coral Croucher
349. Marbled Stingray
350. Humphead Wrasse
351. Redbanded Shrimp Goby
352. Blue Trevally
353. Purple Firegoby

Inverts
44. Debelius Cleaner Shrimp
45. Swallowtail Moth (Lyssa zampa)
46. Sculptured Slipper Lobster

Birds
120. Milky Stork
121. Tropical Shearwater
122. White-faced Heron
123. Olive-backed Sunbird
124. Crimson-breasted Flowerpecker
125. Horsefield's Bronze-cuckoo

:p

Hix
 
Last edited:
ThylacineAlive said:
As stated before I counted Red-Shouldered Hawk twice so:

Birds
160) Purple Martin Progne subis
161) Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Reptiles
6) Northern Red-Bellied Cooter Pseudemys rubriventris
7) Eastern Racer Coluber constrictor

~Thylo
Click to expand...

Reptiles
8) Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta

Is there a reason this thread was split into three separate threads? Seems incredibly unnecessary and makes it pretty difficult to reread through and, more importantly, check back through one's own list. Sorry if this was asked before, but I wasn't subbed to the new thread so haven't been able to follow it until now.

~Thylo
 
Birds
126. Common Sandpiper

:p

Hix
 
LaughingDove said:
Yesterday:

New birds:

930) Crested Treeswift
931) Rufescent Prinia
932) Grey-eyed Bulbul
933) Great Eared-nightjar

Mammals:
175) Indian Giant Flying Squirrel
176) Common Palm Civet

Today:
New birds:
934) Heart-spotted Woodpecker
935) Blue-beared Bee-eater
936) Chestnut-tailed Starling
937) Great Iora
938) Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher
939) Puff-throated Babbler
940) Rufous Treepie
941) Green-billed Malkoha
942) Vernal Hanging-parrot
943) Asian Woolly-necked Stork
944) Red-vented Barbet
945) Common Woodshrike
946) Pale-headed Woodpecker
947) Sooty-headed Bulbul

Mammals
177) Buff-cheeked Gibbon
178) Slender-tailed Treeshrew
179) Cambodian Striped Squirrel
180) Red-cheeked Squirrel
181) Black-shanked Douc
182) Burmese Hare
Click to expand...

New birds:
948) Great Hornbill
949) Oriental White-eye
950) Cinnamon Bittern
951) Black Bittern
952) Yellow-vented Green-pigeon
953) Indochinese Swamphen
954) Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
955) Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
956) Germain’s Peacock Pheasant

Mammals:
183) Annamese Silvered Langur
184) Small Indian Civet

New birds:
957) White-crested Laughingthrush
958) Orange-breasted Trogon
959) Shikra
960) Indochinese Green Magpie
961) Grey-faced Tit-babbler
962) Siamese Fireback
963) Brown Hawk-owl

New birds:
964) Indian Roller
965) Yellow-legged Buttonquail
966) Green Peafowl
967) Rufous-winged Buzzard
968) White-rumped Falcon
969) Blossom-headed Parakeet
970) Collared Scops Owl
971) Large-tailed Nightjar

Mammals:
185) Small Asian Mongoose
186) Northern Pigtailed Macaque
187) Northern Treeshrew
188) Pygmy Slow Loris
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Updates from today's morning outing by the Potomac River:

277. Double-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
278. Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
279. Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
280. Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
281. Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

The terrain was too muddy and mosquitoes too painful and relentless for me to stay for long... and the cormorant I didn't even see at the river, I saw it flying overhead as I was passing a shopping plaza on the way back!
Click to expand...

Birds

Starting at 280 because of list editing, here are several odds and ends that I have seen in the last few weeks:

At the Chesapeake Bay:

280. Osprey, Pandion haliaetus
281. Common Tern, Sterna hirundo

Then in North Carolina:

282. White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

Then from Oklahoma to Arizona:

283. Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus
284. Mississippi Kite, Ictinia mississippiensis
285. Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperii
286. Common Raven, Corvus corax

Then since being back in California:

287. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
288. Red-crowned Parrot, Amazona viridigenalis

Mammals

Only 2 new ones to add:

49. Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus
50. Pronghorn, Antilocapra americana

My plan to see wild American bison was foiled by a Biblical-level storm at Homolovi State Park where I was trying to spot them, in addition to pronghorn, mule deer and prairie dogs. Might be able to get some more mammals in during school breaks before year's end. A trip to the beach should nab me sea lions and dolphins, at least.
 
I just had the most amazing 5-day birding trip I could ever image. Birding through the north of the Netherlands, we found 137 species of birds, 6 species of mammals and lots of cold-blooded creatures. The number of "year species" doesn't do the trip justice, as we saw several species I've only recently seen for the first time (like black tern and ruddy shelduck) and lot of species I've only seen a few times in my life (like white-tailed eagle, golden plover and caspian gull), sometimes in astounding numbers. Still, I reached 21 year birds, about half of which were lifers and several are (very) rare in the Netherlands. I not only reached my new goal of 250 species, but I also finally found the bird I dreamed of for years, the dotterel. Birding the north means missing out on a lot of forest and heath birds, but the numbers of waders, gulls and ducks were almost unbelievable for someone whose local patch contains just a handfull of those species in very low numbers.

Birds
232. Gull-billed tern [Gelochelidon nilotica]
233. Little stint [Calidris minuta]
234. Common ringed plover [Charadrius hiaticula]
235. Buff-breasted sandpiper [Calidris subruficollis]
236. Bar-tailed godwit [Limosa lapponica]
237. Podiceps nigricollis [Black-necked grebe]
238. Common nightingale [Luscinia megarhynchos]
239. Whimbrel [Numenius phaeopus]
240. Arctic tern [Sterna paradisaea]
241. European turtle dove [Streptopelia turtur]
242. Hen harrier [Circus cyaneus]
243. Great skua [Stercorarius skua]
244. Northern gannet [Morus bassanus]
245. Curlew sandpiper [Calidris ferruginea]
246. Velvet scoter [Melanitta fusca]
247. Caspian tern [Hydroprogne caspia]
248. Temminck's stint [Calidris temminckii]
249. Red-necked phalarope [Phalaropus lobatus]
250. Eurasian dotterel [Charadrius morinellus]
251. Black-winged kite [Elanus caeruleus]
252. Cackling goose [Branta hutchinsii]

Mammals
20. Harbour seal [Phoca vitulina]

Invertebrates
184. Tineoid moth [Nemapogon granella]
185. Little conch [Cochylis dubitana]
186. Garden carpet [Xanthorhoe fluctuata]

A question for reptile experts, I've seen grass snakes in Northern Italy and in the north of the Netherlands. Do they both fit within N. (n.) helvetica or other (sub)species?
 
lintworm said:
A small update, though I have hardly been out at all recently. I saw the martins from the train the other day and it surprises me it took this long to see them this year...

323. Eurasian crag martin

Invertebrates
26. Gryllus terrestris
27. Painted lady
28. Meadow brown
29. Marbled white
30. Heath fritillary
31. Green hairstreak
32. Adonis blue
33. Icarus blue
34. Eurasian white admiral
35. Comma
36. Helicogona lapicida
37. Cornu aspersum
38. Black-tailed skimmer
39. Lesser stag beetle
Click to expand...

I see I haven't posted in quite a while here, not that there are many updates.... I saw a few extra birds, though the main target: Wallcreeper was not seen.... A highlight was a Water rail foraging out in the open, the first time I got a really good look on this species....

324. Eurasian bullfinch
325. Crossbill
326. Red-backed shrike
327. Firecrest
328. European honey buzzard
329. Water pipit
330. Yellow-billed chough
331. Citril finch
332. Water rail

Mammals

54. Bank vole

I am not counting the feral Chipmunks on the Wuppertal zoo grounds.

Herptiles

3. Alpine newt
4. European fire salamander
5. Agile lizard
6. Common midwife toad

Next month I will be travelling half the month, but except the inside of hotels and zoos I am unlikely to see much wildlife, though the Ethiopia meeting is next to a rift-valley lake...
 
Mr. Zootycoon said:
I just had the most amazing 5-day birding trip I could ever image. Birding through the north of the Netherlands, we found 137 species of birds, 6 species of mammals and lots of cold-blooded creatures. The number of "year species" doesn't do the trip justice, as we saw several species I've only recently seen for the first time (like black tern and ruddy shelduck) and lot of species I've only seen a few times in my life (like white-tailed eagle, golden plover and caspian gull), sometimes in astounding numbers. Still, I reached 21 year birds, about half of which were lifers and several are (very) rare in the Netherlands. I not only reached my new goal of 250 species, but I also finally found the bird I dreamed of for years, the dotterel. Birding the north means missing out on a lot of forest and heath birds, but the numbers of waders, gulls and ducks were almost unbelievable for someone whose local patch contains just a handfull of those species in very low numbers.

Birds
232. Gull-billed tern [Gelochelidon nilotica]
233. Little stint [Calidris minuta]
234. Common ringed plover [Charadrius hiaticula]
235. Buff-breasted sandpiper [Calidris subruficollis]
236. Bar-tailed godwit [Limosa lapponica]
237. Podiceps nigricollis [Black-necked grebe]
238. Common nightingale [Luscinia megarhynchos]
239. Whimbrel [Numenius phaeopus]
240. Arctic tern [Sterna paradisaea]
241. European turtle dove [Streptopelia turtur]
242. Hen harrier [Circus cyaneus]
243. Great skua [Stercorarius skua]
244. Northern gannet [Morus bassanus]
245. Curlew sandpiper [Calidris ferruginea]
246. Velvet scoter [Melanitta fusca]
247. Caspian tern [Hydroprogne caspia]
248. Temminck's stint [Calidris temminckii]
249. Red-necked phalarope [Phalaropus lobatus]
250. Eurasian dotterel [Charadrius morinellus]
251. Black-winged kite [Elanus caeruleus]
252. Cackling goose [Branta hutchinsii]

Mammals
20. Harbour seal [Phoca vitulina]

Invertebrates
184. Tineoid moth [Nemapogon granella]
185. Little conch [Cochylis dubitana]
186. Garden carpet [Xanthorhoe fluctuata]

A question for reptile experts, I've seen grass snakes in Northern Italy and in the north of the Netherlands. Do they both fit within N. (n.) helvetica or other (sub)species?
Click to expand...
Very nice list of some very nice species, including a bunch of vagrants indeed! Really jealous about the buff-breasted sandpiper and red-necked phalarope, definitely considering I twitched and dipped a phalarope ealier this month... :P

I personally don't think cackling goose are countable though... As far as I know the population mainly consists of escapees, and the ones that do breed often hybridize with other... But of course there's a thin line in what exotics are and aren't countable!
 
LaughingDove said:
New birds:
948) Great Hornbill
949) Oriental White-eye
950) Cinnamon Bittern
951) Black Bittern
952) Yellow-vented Green-pigeon
953) Indochinese Swamphen
954) Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
955) Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
956) Germain’s Peacock Pheasant

Mammals:
183) Annamese Silvered Langur
184) Small Indian Civet

New birds:
957) White-crested Laughingthrush
958) Orange-breasted Trogon
959) Shikra
960) Indochinese Green Magpie
961) Grey-faced Tit-babbler
962) Siamese Fireback
963) Brown Hawk-owl

New birds:
964) Indian Roller
965) Yellow-legged Buttonquail
966) Green Peafowl
967) Rufous-winged Buzzard
968) White-rumped Falcon
969) Blossom-headed Parakeet
970) Collared Scops Owl
971) Large-tailed Nightjar

Mammals:
185) Small Asian Mongoose
186) Northern Pigtailed Macaque
187) Northern Treeshrew
188) Pygmy Slow Loris
Click to expand...

New birds:
972) Blue-rumped Pitta
973) Golden-fronted Leafbird
974) Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush
975) Blue-throated Flycatcher
976) Bar-bellied Pitta
977) Banded Kingfisher
978) Red-throated Flycatcher

Mammal:
189) Indochinese Ground Squirrel
 
Vision said:
Very nice list of some very nice species, including a bunch of vagrants indeed! Really jealous about the buff-breasted sandpiper and red-necked phalarope, definitely considering I twitched and dipped a phalarope ealier this month... :p
Click to expand...

Thanks, though the black-winged kite and the dotterel were personal highlights, I truly enjoyed finally seeing a phalarope. The sandpiper was more or less just an extra addition we could twitch on our way to the island of Texel.

Vision said:
I personally don't think cackling goose are countable though... As far as I know the population mainly consists of escapees, and the ones that do breed often hybridize with other... But of course there's a thin line in what exotics are and aren't countable!
Click to expand...

I have been thinking about this for some time. They do hybridize often with barnacle geese*, but the Dutch population was up to 400 pairs strong in 2012 and has grown ever since. I'm going to do some more research, so I may still take it off the list.

* I actually did see a hybrid that probably was a barnacle x cackling goose, but it was at another location.
 
Mr. Zootycoon said:
A question for reptile experts, I've seen grass snakes in Northern Italy and in the north of the Netherlands. Do they both fit within N. (n.) helvetica or other (sub)species?
Click to expand...

although the original 2017 paper that split N.helvetica didn't seem to include any specimens from Italy, a later 2018 study by the same lead author states that grass snakes from the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia belong to helvetica.

Burton Mere Wetlands 27/08/18:
Birds:
163. Eurasian Spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia
164. Western Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava
165. Meadow Pipit, Anthus pratensis
 
Swampy said:
although the original 2017 paper that split N.helvetica didn't seem to include any specimens from Italy, a later 2018 study by the same lead author states that grass snakes from the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia belong to helvetica.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Given that, as far as I know, the Dutch grass snakes are also included in helvetica, this one is incorrect:

Mr. Zootycoon said:
13. Grass snake [Natrix natrix]
Click to expand...

The last few herptiles should then be:

Herptiles
13. Barred grass snake [Natrix (n.) helvetica]
14. Moor frog [Rana arvalis]
15. Viviparous lizard [Zootoca vivipara]
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
Saw some cool birds today even though I wasn't birdwatching at all. Those included my first ever urban Woodchat shrike, yet another thick-knee doing thick-knee stuff on a roundabout and a new addition to my list:

BIRDS:
82 - Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides

Third species of falcon this year and I'm precising the subspecies because depending on the taxonomy, Falco (peregrinus) pelegrinoides is either a subspecies of the Peregrine falcon or a species of its own (the Barbary falcon).
Click to expand...

I went to Tifnit and I had, once again, one of my best birdwatching session this year and one of my best session concering Charadriiformes in my life.

Highlights included loads (~60-100) of Northern bald ibises, some Moroccan great cormorants, many Audouin's gulls, a few Common ringed plovers and one Eurasian oystercatchers.

From the four bird additions, three of them were lifers as well and all of them were Charadriiformes, including my first identified tern!

BIRDS:
83 - Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres
84 - Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
85 - Sanderling, Calidris alba
86 - Common tern, Sterna hirundo

MAMMALS:
4 - Striped ground squirrel, Xerus erythropus

I also decided to follow IOC so the Peregerine falcon should be listed as a Barbary falcon.
 
LaughingDove said:
New birds:
972) Blue-rumped Pitta
973) Golden-fronted Leafbird
974) Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush
975) Blue-throated Flycatcher
976) Bar-bellied Pitta
977) Banded Kingfisher
978) Red-throated Flycatcher

Mammal:
189) Indochinese Ground Squirrel
Click to expand...

New birds:
979) Green-backed Tit
980) Chestnut-vented Nuthatch
981) Vietnamese Greenfinch
982) White-faced Jay
983) Long-tailed Shrike
984) Orange-headed Thrush
985) Langbian Sunbird (distinctive local race of Black-throated. I’m not sure that any lists actually split it, it almost qualified under HBW’s Tobias Criterion. Given it’s a distinctive geographically isolated population of an otherwise widespread species, I don’t think there’s any clinal variation, I think it’s a good split. If you think I shouldn't list it, then I'll remove it)
986) Blue Whistling-thrush
 
LaughingDove said:
985) Langbian Sunbird (distinctive local race of Black-throated. I’m not sure that any lists actually split it, it almost qualified under HBW’s Tobias Criterion. Given it’s a distinctive geographically isolated population of an otherwise widespread species, I don’t think there’s any clinal variation, I think it’s a good split. If you think I shouldn't list it, then I'll remove it)
Click to expand...
I've never seen it actually split by anyone, only proposed, but it's your list. It's not really geographically isolated, the species is widespread in Vietnam; it is visually distinctive though.
 
Chlidonias said:
I've never seen it actually split by anyone, only proposed, but it's your list. It's not really geographically isolated, the species is widespread in Vietnam; it is visually distinctive though.
Click to expand...

I mean, geographically isolated as in by altitude. I believe it's a form endemic to the Dalat Plateau and one that's visually very distinctive too.
 
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