ZooChat Big Year 2018
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
It's not like didn't have enough mammals yet!
I on the contrary, found a fish! And a few inverts. That's it. No bats, no squirrels, no tapirs.
Fish
4. Common rudd [Scardinius erythrophthalmus]
Invertebrates
187. Ground beetle [Carabus granulatus]
188. Rhododendron leafhopper [Graphocephala fennahi]
189. Grass moth [Agriphila tristella]
190. Migrant hawker [Aeshna mixta]
Spent the entire morning seawatching for some long-awaited additions! At noon the seawatching slowed down a little and it started raining, so then me and my friends decided to have a look at a buff-breasted sandpiper and pectoral sandpiper right across the border, in the Netherlands. Got wonderful views of both, even saw both through my scope at the same time at one point. Definitely a very nice day! The buff-breasted sandpiper definitely left me very fascinated, what a wonderful and subtly unique bird!
311) Northern gannet, Morus bassanus
312) Arctic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus
313) Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus
314) Sooty shearwater, Ardenna grisea
315) Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima
316) Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea
317) Buff-breasted sandpiper, Tryngites subruficollis
311) Northern gannet, Morus bassanus
312) Arctic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus
313) Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus
314) Sooty shearwater, Ardenna grisea
315) Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima
316) Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea
317) Buff-breasted sandpiper, Tryngites subruficollis
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172. Superb Lyrebird
173. Grey-crowned Babbler
174. Eastern Whipbird
175. Masked Woodswallow
176. White-browed Woodswallow
177. Crested Shrike-tit
178. Golden Whistler
179. Olive-backed Oriole
180. Rufous Songlark
181. Diamond Firetail
17. Common Wombat
I had no work today (as from this year, every Wednesday) and decided to go to a part of Oued Souss I hadn't visited yet that is only 10 minutes away by car and as usual, when birding near Souss Massa NP or Oued Souss, it was amazing!
9 additions for this year's list (of which nearly all were identified by @Vision , who I thank very much) including 5 lifers, my 2nd ever identified tern, some species I've always wanted to see etc...
Other highlights include some Ruddy shelducks, loads of Greater flamingos at two different spots (100+ at each spot), White storks, both Cattle and Little egrets, European spoonbills, Sanderlings and a lot of European bee-eaters too.
89 - European honey buzzard, Pernis apivorus
90 - Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
91 - Dunlin, Calidris alpina
92 - Black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus
93 - Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos
94 - Curlew sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea
95 - Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia
96 - Osprey, Pandion haliaetus
97 - Little tern, Sternula albifrons
All-in-all, a great day and I hope to return soon.
My first ever Hummingbird hawk-moth, and it wasn't near flowers but in an office!
INVERTEBRATES:
18 - Hummingbird hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum
Yesterday I did a life-trap excursion with experienced “life-trappers” in the morning to increase my mammal totals. It was the first time for me and it was brilliant. We found six mice and voles in four species, three of which were new for the year list. Best of all was the harvest mouse, which was my personal goal. Upon release, they often climbed into the grass, holding themselfs with their teeny tails, and jumping off towards another patch of grass, like the tiny grass monkeys they are. I tried again in the evening for shrews, but we only found one bank vole and two mice. On the upside, those mice were harvest mice! I may try again for shrews someday.
Mammals
21. Wood mouse [Apodemus sylvaticus]
22. Common vole [Microtus arvalis]
23. Harvest mouse [Micromys minutus]
Mammals
21. Wood mouse [Apodemus sylvaticus]
22. Common vole [Microtus arvalis]
23. Harvest mouse [Micromys minutus]
And back from Ethiopia:
335. Pink-backed pelican
336. Great white pelican
337. Long-tailed cormorant
338. White-breasted cormorant
339. African darter
340. Black-crowned night heron
341. Black heron
342. Little egret
343. Yellow-billed stork
344. Sacred ibis
345. Wattled ibis
346. Greater flamingo
347. Blue-winged goose
348. Ruddy shelduck
349. Spur-winged goose
350. Fulvous whistling duck
351. Yellow-billed duck
352. African fish eagle
353. Egyptian vulture
354. Western marsh harrier
355. Great sparrowhawk
356. African harrier hawk
357. Golden eagle
358. Booted eagle
359. Martial eagle
360. Peregrine falcon
361. Chestnut-naped francolin
362. Rouget’s rail
363. Red-knobbed coot
364. Lesser moorhen
365. Wattled crane
366. African jacana
367. Spot-breasted lapwing
368. Gull-billed tern
369. White-collared pigeon
370. Namaqua dove
371. Black-winged lovebird
372. Verreaux’s eagle owl
373. Montane nightjar
374. White-rumped swift
375. Pied kingfisher
376. Malachite kingfisher
377. Blue-breasted bee-eater
378. Abyssinian roller
379. Hoopoe
380. Silvery-cheeked hornbill
381. Hemprich’s hornbill
382. Black-billed barbet
383. Cardinal woodpecker
384. Thekla lark
385. African rock martin
386. Brown-throated martin
387. Mountain wagtail
388. Abyssinian longclaw
389. Ruppell’s robin-chat
390. African stonechat
391. Moorland chat
392. Mocking cliff-chat
393. Groundscraper thrush
394. Mountain thrush
395. Red-faced crombec
396. Ethiopian cisticola
397. Abyssinian slaty flycatcher
398. Northern black flycatcher
399. Western black-headed batis
400. Montane white-eye
401. Tacazze sunbird
402. Scarlet-chested sunbird
403. Beautiful sunbird
404. Ethiopian boubou
405. Abyssinian oriole
406. Red-billed chough ssp: baileyi
407. Thick-billed raven
408. Cape crow
409. Fan-tailed raven
410. Slender-billed starling
411. Swainson’s sparrow
412. Ruppell’s weaver
413. Yellow-crowned bishop
414. Northern red bishop
415. Red-collared widowbird
416. Common waxbill
417. Yellow-bellied waxbill
418. Pin-tailed whydah
419. African citril
420. Yellow-crowned canary
421. Ethiopian siskin
422. Brown-rumped seedeater
Mammals:
57. Hamadryas baboon
58. Grivet monkey
59. Mountain nyala
60. Common duiker
61. Ethiopian wolf
62. Starck's hare
63. Blick's grass rat
+ new subspecies for the year of Guereza and Bohor reedbuck
I said I'd come back to Oued Souss soon enough and I did so yesterday! An even better session than two weeks ago, with two new tern species bringing my life list from zero terns identified last year to four this year, a surprising sighting of a very large Bonelli's eagle and quite some other interesting birds as well!
BIRDS:
98 - Pied avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta
99 - Slender-billed gull, Larus genei
100 - Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
101 - Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica
102 - Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola
103 - Black-tailed godwit, Limosa limosa
104 - Bonelli's eagle, Aquila fasciata
105 - Caspian tern, Hydroprogne caspia
Other highlights included a few flamingos (much less than last time), quite some Black-winged stilts and even a Western subalpine warbler! Definitely had a great day and I'm of course planning to get back as soon as possible again.
Some very rare species seen over the last few days: (not really)
1062) Red Kite
1063) Carrion Crow
1064) Rose-ringed Parakeet
1065) Canada Goose
196) Eastern Grey Squirrel
Species from my limited time in Madrid:
Mammals
32) European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus
33) Eurasian Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris
Birds
162) Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca
163) European Wood-Pigeon Columba palumbus
164) Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
165) Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula
166) Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis
167) Eurasian Magpie Pica pica
168) Coal Tit Periparus ater
169) Little Egret Egretta garzetta
170) Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
171) Spotless Starling Sturnus unicolor
172) Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
173) Jackdaw Coloeus monedula
174) Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus
175) Eurasian Green Woodpecker Picus viridis
176) Great Tit Parus major
177) Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
175) Eurasian Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca
176) Long-Tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus
~Thylo
Birds:
82. Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
83. Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)
84. Suburb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)
85. Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)
86. Red wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
87. Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)
88. Collared Sparrowhawk (Accipiter cirrocephalus)
89. Little Raven (Corvus mellori)
90. Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea)
91. Blackbird (Turdus merula)
92. Spotted Pardolotte (Pardalotus punctatus)
Mammals:
9. Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
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Went to Oued Souss (again
) for a 30 minutes session and although on site, it didn't seem like I had any new addition (I did see some Glossy ibises which are quite rare here but otherwise, it was too dark to clearly identify most species) but with the tremendous help of @Anton for the identifications, I managed to add two species to my list!
BIRDS:
106 - Western marsh harrier, Circus aeruginosus
107 - Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
This concludes the month of September, which has been downright amazing with 14 lifers, 3 new species of tern for me, loads of Charadriiformes and especially great experiences and finally the discovery of a local pond where I can bird at quite often. I really do hope October will be as good but it will be hard to top!
BIRDS:
106 - Western marsh harrier, Circus aeruginosus
107 - Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
This concludes the month of September, which has been downright amazing with 14 lifers, 3 new species of tern for me, loads of Charadriiformes and especially great experiences and finally the discovery of a local pond where I can bird at quite often. I really do hope October will be as good but it will be hard to top!
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Went to Oued Souss (again
BIRDS:
106 - Western marsh harrier, Circus aeruginosus
107 - Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
This concludes the month of September, which has been downright amazing with 14 lifers, 3 new species of tern for me, loads of Charadriiformes and especially great experiences and finally the discovery of a local pond where I can bird at quite often. I really do hope October will be as good but it will be hard to top!
And I thought I was finished! While looking back at my pictures, I noticed that one of the sandpiper-like creature flying that were identified as Green sandpipers was way larger than the others and had a very distinctive orange head. Turns out that it was another lifer and a species I've always wanted to see: a Ruff!
BIRDS:
108 - Ruff, Philomachus pugnax
So when I was going through my Madrid birds I did not realize that the Iberian population of green woodpeckers had been split into a separate species:
177) Iberian Green Woodpecker Picus sharpei
I am keeping proper Picus viridis on the list, though, as I saw them in Poland.
~Thylo
This has to be one of the most incredible posts ever on zoochat. You saw 1064 species of birds before you saw a Canada Goose? Surely not? Are they rare in Poland?
The Canada Goose is a North American native with some introduced populations in Northern Europe and New Zealand so it makes perfect sense that someone from Central Europe who spent much of the year in Southeast Asia and Australia would have a hard time seeing one. Based on the rest of the species @LaughingDove listed, I suspect he is in England (probably London area) now, where the parakeet and squirrel are both also introduced.
~Thylo