ZooChat Big Year 2019

Today I finally arrived in Sicily and now I'm in the city of Cefalù.
On the ferry I had my binocular because I wanted to watch gulls and birds of prey.
I failed, but I had the luck to see for some seconds a very interesting animal!

Fishes

59. Sunfish - Mola mola
 
Today I visited Trapani's salt pans, in Sicily, where I saw a lot of birds (grey herons, yellow-legged gulls, egrets), but without any lifer.
I saw a very nice species in great numbers, though.

Birds

60. Greater flamingo - Phoenicopterus roseus

And yesterday...

Invertebrates

45. Spechid wasp - Sceliphron spirifex

 
Fall birding is probably my favourite kind of birding, and it seems like it is finally back! A 2 hours excursion to my local spot two days ago to look for early Little terns yielded those latter indeed but also some very interesting and seeked for additions. Notably one of the species I was looking to see the most in Morocco (no, not Marbled teal, not yet at least :P ), another lifer and two species I've only seen once before (the larger tern and the eagle)!

Definitely a great way to start fall, and I can officially say I've tied the number of birds I've seen last year with 4 months to go still.

28/08/2019 (Oued Souss Estuary, Morocco)
BIRDS:
138 - Curlew sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea
139 - Little tern, Sternula albifrons
140 - Purple heron, Ardea purpurea
141 - Common tern, Sterna hirundo
142 - Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres
143 - Red knot, Calidris canutus
144 - Bonelli's eagle, Aquila fasciata
 
Birds

This morning, while I was swimming...

61. Common kingfisher - Alcedo atthis








Also, I managed to see an owl today, probably an Athene noctua, but it was dark and I didn't identified it correctly.
 
Californian odds and ends

Birds

Monterey

304. Barn swallow Hirundo rustica
305. Savannah sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis

Pismo Beach

306. Northern goshawk Accipiter gentilis
307. Song sparrow Melospiza melodia

Madrona Marsh LA

308. Little blue heron Egretta caerulea
309. Red-shouldered hawk Buteo lineatus
310. American goldfinch Spinus tristis
311. Magnolia warbler Setophaga magnolia

Reptiles - Madrona Marsh

14. Western fence lizard Sceloporus occidentalis
 
Been neglectful of updating my list on here... still been keeping track but neglected updating... am I still allowed to compete if I aim to finish out the year with more consistent updates? Certainly not winning anyway.

MRJ said:
Pismo Beach

306. Northern goshawk Accipiter gentilis
Click to expand...

Are you sure on this one? Cooper's Hawk would be far more likely in that area as an Accipiter.
 
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Great Argus said:
Been neglectful of updating my list on here... still been keeping track but neglected updating... am I still allowed to compete if I aim to finish out the year with more consistent updates? Certainly not winning anyway.
Click to expand...
It's not actually a competition. It's really just a public place to keep track of your sightings and to share them with others; and additionally to keep up motivation to go out looking for animals, if that is needed. The tallies aren't for winners and losers, it's just sharing what everyone has succeeded in seeing. Basically, everyone is the winner no matter how many or few species they have seen.
 
Great Argus said:
Are you sure on this one? Cooper's Hawk would be far more likely in that area as an Accipiter.
Click to expand...
Yes. The bird sat on a power pole staring down at me for a couple of minutes, and the unique head markings were clearly evident. Definitely not a Coopers. It surprised me as the location seemed most unlikely. Interested if you have any other options.
 
lintworm said:
A bird update will have to wait for some time, as I gave away my field guide to a group of rangers in a remote Kenyan conservancy. They profit more from it than I do...

Mammals

48. Unstriped ground squirrel
49. Heart-faced bat
50. Nubian (Rotschildt's) giraffe
51. Guenther's dikdik
52. (Black-necked) rock hyrax

+ an as yet unidentified free-tailed bat.
Click to expand...

I finally have the opportunity to explore more of Kenya than just my work place. In the past 4.5 years I have been to Kenya 10 times, but the only national park I have ever visited there was Nakuru National Park. Now I have 6 days to explore the area around Mt. Kenya. The start was successful with a fruitful day in Aberdare National Park, which gave me a new antelope, as well as some old friends. Today I will spend the afternoon and the night in the National Park, where I hope to see Giant forest hog and maybe some nice carnivores...

53. Sykes' monkey ssp. kolbi
54. Guereza ssp. kikuyensis
55. Bohor reedbuck
56. Defassa waterbuck
57. Common duiker
58. Harvey's red duiker
59. Black-fronted duiker
60. Common eland
61. Bushbuck
62. African buffalo
63. African elephant
64. Scrub hare
65. Spotted hyena
66. Striped ground squirrel
67. Ochre bush squirrel
68. Southern tree hyrax
xx. Epauletted fruit bat spec. (likely Wahlberg's)


Additionally I saw one of my most-wanted African birds:

445. Red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis)
 
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DesertRhino150 said:
Doing an update on my last night of a four-day trip to the Dorset/Hampshire area. The first day, in the New Forest, gave me one new bird, a new mammal and a lifer invertebrate. Rain meant that nothing was added on the second day but today, exploring around Hengistbury Head and the surrounding area gave three new fish, five new invertebrates and allowed me to start my amphibian list with three species, one of them a lifer:

111. Eurasian siskin Spinus spinus

10. European fallow deer Dama dama

1. Natterjack toad Epidalea calamita
2. European brown common frog Rana temporaria
3. Smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris

7. Thick-lipped grey mullet Chelon labrosus
8. European flounder Platichthys flesus
9. Chub Squalius cephalus

73. Silver-washed fritillary Argynnis paphia
74. Red-banded digger wasp Ammophila sabulosa
75. Kite-tailed robberfly Machimus atricapillus
76. Common shore crab Carcinus maenas
77. Brown hawker dragonfly Aeshna grandis
78. Hornet hoverfly Volucella zonaria
Click to expand...

Just realised how long its been since my last update. The new mammal and first new invertebrate listed here were actually seen on my returning from the Dorset/Hampshire trip, the bird was from my trip to BirdFair and the last three insects have been seen in my garden, around the flowering ivy (along with probably twenty other species that have escaped identification):

112. Western osprey Pandion haliaetus

11. Western roe deer Capreolus capreolus

79. Poplar hawkmoth Laothoe populi
80. Rose chafer Cetonia aurata
81. Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
82. Ivy bee Colletes hederae
83. European beewolf Philanthus triangulum *

* A very unusual species that I have only ever seen once before, at a coastal heathland site at Minsmere. I have now found out that several sightings have been made in my area.
 
lintworm said:
I finally have the opportunity to explore more of Kenya than just my work place. In the past 4.5 years I have been to Kenya 10 times, but the only national park I have ever visited there was Nakuru National Park. Now I have 6 days to explore the area around Mt. Kenya. The start was successful with a fruitful day in Aberdare National Park, which gave me a new antelope, as well as some old friends. Today I will spend the afternoon and the night in the National Park, where I hope to see Giant forest hog and maybe some nice carnivores...

53. Sykes' monkey ssp. kolbi
54. Guereza ssp. kikuyensis
55. Bohor reedbuck
56. Defassa waterbuck
57. Common duiker
58. Harvey's red duiker
59. Black-fronted duiker
60. Common eland
61. Bushbuck
62. African buffalo
63. African elephant
64. Scrub hare
65. Spotted hyena
66. Striped ground squirrel
67. Ochre bush squirrel
68. Southern tree hyrax
xx. Epauletted fruit bat spec. (likely Wahlberg's)


Additionally I saw one of my most-wanted African birds:

445. Red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis)
Click to expand...

69. Giant forest hog
70. Suni
71. Slender mongoose
72. Rusty-spotted genet (Genetta maculata)

A night in the Aberdares was successful in finding the Giant forest hog, which were smaller than expected, and I saw some interesting carnivores as well. I had secretly hoped for a Zorilla or Leopard, but no such luck. The most impressive sight was a pack of 20+ Spotted hyena hunting (and killing) an African buffalo. Next stop are two of the most heavily guarded animals on earth...
 
Looks like fall is really back now! After too many frustrating failed attempts at both rare crakes, I finally got a stroke of luck with Rallidae - I specifically went for little crake a few days ago and Baillon's crake today, but I also got lucky with water rails and spotted crakes, which was great. A flyover honey buzzard and a relatively closeby rare shrike twitch (in full summer plumage, no less!) combined with a very early winter gull that I hadn't seen since 2017 made for a fantastic day! :D

BIRDS:
640) Little crake, Porzana parva
641) Baillon's crake, Porzana pusilla
642) European honey buzzard, Pernis apivorus
643) Lesser grey shrike, Lanius minor
644) Glaucous gull, Larus hyperboreus

Benelux: 193

INVERTS:
80) European earwig, Forficula auricularia
81) Tree damsel bug, Himacerus apterus
 
Coelacanth18 said:
July update, change in geographical location:
Birds
223. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
224. Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)
225. Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
226. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
227. Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
228. Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) (NT)
229. Dickcissel (Spiza americana)

Mammals
31. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus)
Click to expand...

Haven't done much birding, so just have a couple of overdue July updates:

Birds
230. Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

Mammals
32. North American Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)
 
During the snorkeling I did the last days...

Invertebrates

- Marine invertebrates

46. Stony cup coral - Astroides calycularis
 
A few additions from birding on the Yorkshire coast this weekend - unfortunately a planned boat trip was scuppered by high winds but Spurn Point took up the birding slack admirably. The bird of the day ought to have been the sandpiper, but it only put in a brief appearance so the most showy dotterel I've seen probably takes that title. As well as the below additions I also picked up my first UK sightings of Whinchat and Yellow Wagtail this year, drawing the UK total ever-closer to the magical 200 mark.

Birds:
241. White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis
242. Caspian Gull - Larus cachinnans
243. Eurasian Dotterel - Charardius morinellus
244. Purple Sandpiper - Calidris maritima

(UK: 194)

:)
 
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