ZooChat Big Year 2019

February brings my regular long weekend in North Wales for my uni reunion and the associated tour of wildlife spots of mainly Gwynedd and Anglesey, which was blessed with frankly ludicrously fine weather this year. The Point Lynas porpoises made me wait until the second attempt, but the longer time on the cliffs produced some great seabird sightings. There were also a number of sightings of species that weren't, as it happens, year birds, but are unusual enough for me that in most years they would have been - including Hooded Crow and Common Eider. Perhaps most significantly, I finally managed to track down some Anglesey Red Squirrels!

Birds:
110. Common Ringed Plover - Charadrius hiaticula
111. Black Guillemot - Cepphus grylle
112. European Shag - Phalacrocorax aristotelis
113. Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator
114. Red-billed Chough - Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
115. European Stonechat - Saxicola rubicola
116. Northern Raven - Corvus corax
117. Brent Goose - Branta bernicla
118. Common Greenshank - Tringa nebularia
119. Slavonian Grebe - Podiceps auritus
120. Red-legged Partridge - Alectoris rufa
121. Common Guillemot - Uria aalge
122. Northern Fulmar - Fulmarus glacialis
123. Northern Gannet - Morus bassanus
124. Razorbill - Alca torda
125. Eurasian Rock Pipit - Anthus petrosus

Mammals:
9. European Red Squirrel - Sciurus vulgaris
10. Grey Seal - Halichoerus grypus
11. Harbour Porpoise - Phocoena phocoena

Fishes:
3. Lesser Sandeel - Ammodytes tobianus

Invertebrates:
1. Red Admiral - Vanessa atalanta
2. European Honey Bee - Apis mellifera
3. Peacock - Aglais io
4. Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni

:)
 
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DesertRhino150 said:
Since my last update, I have seen eight new birds and a new mammal for my year list. Half of the birds are ones I first saw within the grounds of Colchester Zoo on my visits last Friday and today: the wagtail in the stream in the lemur walkthrough, the gulls in the car park, the redwing in the blue crane paddock and the water rail on the nature reserve section viewable from the bush dog walkway. Apart from the green woodpecker, all the remaining birds and the mammal were seen while travelling to and from the zoo - the egret represents a national lifer (although I have seen the species previously in Spain and Costa Rica):

62. European green woodpecker Picus viridis
63. Grey wagtail Motacilla cinerea
64. Eurasian buzzard Buteo buteo
65. Common gull Larus canus
66. Redwing Turdus iliacus (Near Threatened)
67. Water rail Rallus aquaticus
68. Red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa
69. Cattle egret Bubulcus ibis

3. European brown hare Lepus europaeus
Click to expand...

Since I last updated my list, I have seen four new bird species, one new mammal and six identified invertebrates:

70. Eurasian wren Troglodytes troglodytes
71. Song thrush Turdus philomelos
72. Egyptian goose Alopochen aegyptiaca
73. Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis

4. Reeve's muntjac Muntiacus reevesi

2. Buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris
3. European honeybee Apis mellifera
4. Zebra spider Salticus scenicus
5. Ichneumon wasp Ophion obscuratus
6. Varied carpet beetle Anthrenus verbasci
7. Silverfish Lepisma saccharina
 
Picked up three more birds here in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.

9) Downy Woodpecker - Picoides Pubescens
10) Common Redpoll - Carduelis Flammea
11) Gray Jay - Perisoreus Canadensis

Glimpsed a large owl outside of Wasilla, Alaska...but was not able to identify the species. I am pretty sure the flock of birds flying over a park in Palmer, Alaska were Bohemian Waxwings. I'll try to confirm that this weekend.
 
Last week I went out of my way with a friend of mine to find some middle spotted woodpeckers - which we didn't. We did however find a lesser one, which is just as much worth the effort in my opinion. Other additions are all from local birding over the last week.

BIRDS
105. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)
106. Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
107. European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)
108. Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
109. White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
110. Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti)
111. Woodlark (Lullula arborea)
112. Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
113. Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
114. Common Linnet (Linaria cannabina)
115. Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)

MAMMALS
6. Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus)
7. European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
A few birds from Issen and around my house!

10/02/2019 (Issen)
BIRDS:
*58 - Fulvous babbler, Argya fulva
59 - Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis

(Agadir)
BIRDS:
60 - Pallid swift, Apus pallidus

(*Noticed after posting my last update that I had already seen Northern raven in Spain but completely forgot about it and couldn't edit my post anymore, as such; I should be on 60 not 61 :D )
Click to expand...

A quick search in my usual go-to spot gave me some nice additions including an unexpected lifer!

28/02/2019 (Agadir)
BIRDS:
61 - Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis

28/02/2019 (Issen)
*BIRDS:
62 - Subalpine warbler, Sylvia cantillans
--) - Western yellow wagtail, Motacilla flava (ssp. flava)
63 - Red-rumped swallow, Cecropis daurica

HERPS:
1 - Bibron's agama, Agama impalearis

*I have already seen Western yellow wagtail before but I thought it would be interesting to mark that one of the individuals seen today was of the flava subspecies which is a lifer!
 
Great Argus said:
Update, and somehow all three birds start with H...

Birds:

102. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
103. Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus)
104. Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)

Invertebrates:

5. Western Boxelder Bug (Boisea rubrolineata)
6. Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata)
7. Pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare)
8. Western Fire Centipede (Scolopocryptops gracilis)
Click to expand...

Got out for a good part of the day, and fair number of additions!

Birds:

105. Green Heron (Buteroides virescens)
106. Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)
107. Sora (Porzana carolina)
108. Mew Gull (Larus canus)
109. Lewis’s Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis)
110. Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)
111. Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)

Reptiles/Amphibians:

3. Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata)

Invertebrates:

9. Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus)
 
birdsandbats said:
Everyone sees rails but me. :(

By the way, has anyone on ZC seen the Invisible Rail?
Click to expand...

Rails aren't easy... I see one for like every 30 I hear, at best. I've had Virginia Rails sit and call two feet in front of me in the reedbed, and I can't see a darn thing because the reeds are too thick. That's really frustrating, but often how it goes. I got lucky today and had Virginia Rail, Sora, bittern, and snipe turn up today, I figured that was pretty darn good!
 
Great Argus said:
Rails aren't easy... I see one for like every 30 I hear, at best. I've had Virginia Rails sit and call two feet in front of me in the reedbed, and I can't see a darn thing because the reeds are too thick. That's really frustrating, but often how it goes. I got lucky today and had Virginia Rail, Sora, bittern, and snipe turn up today, I figured that was pretty darn good!
Click to expand...
I've gotten American Bittern and snipe on the same day, but I've never gotten that lucky.
 
Finally, I have some entries for February!

BIRDS:
37. Red-naped ibis (Pseudibis papillosa)
38. Black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)

I had to go to another city for two days, and left behind the camera that I usually use to take bird pics and then work on ID (I'm new to birding). Rookie mistake - turns out there were new species all over the place and my very old phone just couldn't capture them well enough to get definitive ID. All I could get off of brief eye views are these two.

Here's hoping I'm smarter with this in March than I was in Feb!
 
February round-up:


BIRDS:

Dannelboyz – 192
boof – 139
Mr. Zootycoon – 136
Vision – 126
Maguari – 125
Coelacanth18 – 116
KevinVar – 115
Great Argus – 111
lintworm – 91
animal_expert01 – 86
Hix – 82
Ituri – 78
Birdlover – 78
DesertRhino150 – 73
carl the birder – 67
Zoo Tycooner FR – 63
LaughingDove – 58
WhistlingKite24 – 56
Macaw16 – 52
Chlidonias – 44
Mbwamwitu – 38
birdsandbats – 34
Jambo – 29
Ursus – 26
ThylacineAlive – 19
Moorish – 16
Pleistohorse – 11
Hipporex – 4
OstrichMania – 2
TeaLovingDave – 1


MAMMALS:

Dannelboyz – 22
Maguari – 11
carl the birder – 10
Great Argus – 9
lintworm – 8
Coelacanth18 – 8
Mr. Zootycoon – 7
Birdlover – 7
KevinVar – 7
Mbwamwitu – 6
LaughingDove – 5
Pleistohorse – 5
birdsandbats – 5
Vision – 5
James54321 – 4
ThylacineAlive – 4
Ituri – 4
Macaw16 – 4
DesertRhino150 – 4
WhistlingKite24 – 3
Hix – 3
animal_expert01 – 3
Moorish – 2
Jambo – 1
Chlidonias – 1
Zoo Tycooner FR – 1


HERPTILES:

animal_expert01 – 16 Herptiles total (14 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
James54321 – 12 Herptiles total (10 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
Dannelboyz – 7 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
WhistlingKite24 – 7 Herptiles total (6 Reptiles, 1 Amphibians)
carl the birder – 4 Herptiles total (4 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Hix – 4 Herptiles total (4 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Jambo – 3 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Great Argus – 3 Herptiles total (2 Reptiles, 1 Amphibians)
Vision – 2 Herptiles total (2 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Moorish – 1 Herptiles total (0 Reptiles, 1 Amphibians)
Zoo Tycooner FR – 1 Herptiles total (1 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)


FISH:

carl the birder – 128
James54321 – 12
animal_expert01 – 11
Dannelboyz – 4
Maguari – 3
WhistlingKite24 – 2
Jambo – 1
Vision – 1


INVERTEBRATES:

WhistlingKite24 – 51
Dannelboyz – 37
Mr. Zootycoon – 19
Great Argus – 9
DesertRhino150 – 7
Vision – 6
Zoo Tycooner FR – 4
KevinVar – 4
Maguari – 4
Birdlover – 2
Moorish – 1
animal_expert01 – 1
birdsandbats – 1
 
Hix said:
Birds
70. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
71. Superb Lyrebird
72. Green Catbird
73. Lewin's Honeyeater
74. White-browed Scrubwren
75. Golden Whistler
76. Silvereye
77. Silver Gull
78. New Holland Honeyeater
79. Sacred Kingfisher
80. Crimson Rosella
81. Rufous Fantail
82. Black-faced Monarch

Reptiles
1. Eastern Water Skink
2. Eastern Water Dragon
3. Lace Monitor

:p

Hix
Click to expand...

Birds
83. Australian Pied Oystercatcher
84. Little Wattlebird
85. Australasian Darter
86. Australian Pelican
87. Striated Heron
88. White-cheeked Honeyeater
89. Australasian Figbird
90. Australian Brush Turkey
91. Brown Gerygone
92. Bell Miner
93. Sooty Oystercatcher
94. Pacific Golden Plover
95. Red-necked Stint
96. Grey-tailed Tattler
97. Crested Tern
98. White-bellied Sea-Eagle
99. White-eared Honeyeater

Reptiles
4. Copper-tailed Skink
5. Diamond Python

:p

Hix
 
Another session at Issen, and yet another long awaited lifer!

02/03/2019 (Issen)
BIRDS:
64 - Hoopoe, Upupa epops
65 - Corn bunting, Emberiza calandra
66 - European serin, Serinus serinus
67 - Crested lark, Galerida cristata
68 - Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis

HERPS:
2 - Greek tortoise, Testudo graeca
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
Invertebrates
51. Fruit-piercing Moth Eudocima materna
Click to expand...
Invertebrates
52. Mango Planthopper Colgaroides acuminata
53. Brown Huntsman Spider Heteropoda jugulans
54. Evening Brown Melanitis leda
55. Dome-backed Spiny Ant Polyrhachis australis
56. Brown Flower Beetle Glycyphana stolata
 
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Great Argus said:
Got out for a good part of the day, and fair number of additions!

Birds:

105. Green Heron (Buteroides virescens)
106. Virginia Rail (Rallus limicola)
107. Sora (Porzana carolina)
108. Mew Gull (Larus canus)
109. Lewis’s Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis)
110. Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)
111. Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)

Reptiles/Amphibians:

3. Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata)

Invertebrates:

9. Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus)
Click to expand...

Birds:

112. Hairy Woodpecker (Dryobates villosus)
113. Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli)
114. Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
 
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