ZooChat Big Year 2019

[Pleistohorse]

Why?

To me the biggest challenge would be being sure the animal sighted was a full on feral animal, living wild with no supplemental feeding or sheltering with humans.

But ultimately, it’s your list.

 

[Vision]

Where have you seen the crow?

It's an individual that has been hanging around in Leeuwarden, the Northern Netherlands since May now, that I know @Mr. Zootycoon and @KevinVar have seen as well, though as far as I remember they both made the decision not to count it yet.

It definitely does probably require a bit of an explanation, though, as this very likely constitutes the first genuinely wild Northwestern European bird of this species, and very likely also the Northernmost record of this species in general. This specific bird was originally found migrating South over the sea on June 2018, off the coast of Spurn, near Hull, England (near a big port, but Spurn is also a very well known autumnal migrant trap). It was then refound around 150km South of that location, and then hung around multiple coastal cities all over England and Wales for the rest of the year, until it disappeared and was refound in the Netherlands in May 2019. They know the Dutch bird is the same individual as the UK bird because the UK bird lost a few feathers in one of its wings during its stay, and the exact same feathers are missing from the Dutch bird.

This species is, of course, commonly kept in European collections, but in contrast to many other records this bird has been taken relatively seriously by both the BBRC (British Birds Rarities Committee) and the CDNA (Commissie Dwaalgasten Nederlandse Avifauna - the Dutch rarity committee) and by birders in the UK and the Netherlands. This is because the bird was originally found while migrating, and has proved to be capable of flying very long distances all over England, Wales, The Netherlands and even one of the Dutch Wadden Islands. A recent Northern expansion in vagrancy potential has also been shown, with many records including a breeding record in Morocco, and additional records in the Canary Islands, Portugal, Spain and Italy, though until now the respective rarity commissions of the European countries haven't taken them seriously yet.
Another potential argument pro this bird being wild is that its belly was completely orange on arrival in England, not dissimilar to known individuals of 'orange' White storks which are known to migrate over the Sahara that get blasted by sandstorms of very orange desert sand. Also relevant in this discussion are birds of this species in ports in India (!), that are in a similar situation location-wise as us in that they don't know whether to treat the bird as if it got here by its own force or if it lifted across using a boat. A handful of records of birds in ports in Brazil also demonstrate that this species, like House crows, can occur as ship-assisted birds well outside of its range - which starts another debate altogether but I'm generally of the opinion that ship-assisted birds should count for listing purposes - ignoring boats exist and have an effect on bird migration in today's day and age would be very optimistic and unrealistic, and the birds that use the boats have definitely never stopped being 'wild'.

There's an article about this bird here, including a picture of the bird with the orange belly and a map to demonstrate the great lengths this bird has travelled - either by boat or by flight, but in my opinion that doesn't matter and it has definitely demonstrated that it doesn't _need_ the boats either.

Long story short: it might or might not be countable, but in my opinion it's looking very likely that it will be - if the CDNA decides not to accept this bird because it is an escapee I'll be very surprised, but if they decide not to accept this bird because it is ship assisted I'll still be very glad I saw it, as those are definitely wild birds in my opinion. An impressive bird it definitely is!

 

[Chlidonias]

I think it can't be signed

Why?

To me the biggest challenge would be being sure the animal sighted was a full on feral animal, living wild with no supplemental feeding or sheltering with humans.

But ultimately, it’s your list.

If it's feral then it can count, if it was sitting on someone's doorstep then it doesn't count. How you'd determine if it was a true feral cat is for your conscience to decide...

 

[birdsandbats]

If it's feral then it can count, if it was sitting on someone's doorstep then it doesn't count. How you'd determine if it was a true feral cat is for your conscience to decide...

It was skinny and starving next to a farm house. If the cat lived on the farm it would be much more healthy.

 

[Vision]

It was skinny and starving next to a farm house. If the cat lived on the farm it would be much more healthy.

If it was feral it'd have established a way of surviving - that's kind of what feral means. To me this sounds more like an indoor cat that escaped/was thrown out and doesn't know how to live on its own...

 

[birdsandbats]

If it was feral it'd have established a way of surviving - that's kind of what feral means. To me this sounds more like an indoor cat that escaped/was thrown out and doesn't know how to live on its own...

I don't get to count cats most years due to being unsure, let me have this one!

 

[Chlidonias]

I don't get to count cats most years due to being unsure, let me have this one!

You can count it if you genuinely think it was feral - but as said above the fact that it was skinny and starving tells you that it was just a dumped pet.

 

[Dannelboyz]

BIRDS
310 - Oriental Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis)
311 - Turquoise Parrot (Neophema pulchella)
312 - Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)
313 - Leaden Flycatcher (Myiagra rubecula)
314 - Western Gerygone (Gerygone fusca)
315 - Buff-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza reguloides)
316 - White-bellied Cuckooshrike (Coracina papuensis)

Guess who's back on Norfolk Island...

BIRDS
Norfolk Island, Australia
317 - Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
318 - Pacific Long-tailed Cuckoo (Urodynamis taitensis)
319 - Morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae)

INVERTEBRATES
Norfolk Island, Australia
46 - American Cockroach (Periplaneta americana)*

 

[carl the birder]

this is a list of birds that i saw in mongolina during oktober i will probebly do a trip treport sometime during the year

174 bar-heded gosse
175 swan goose
176 rubby shelduck
177 manadrin duck
178 red-crested pochard
179 ferruginous duck
180 white heded duck
181 haze grouse
182 Altai snowcock
183 chukar partrige
184 daurian partrige
185 japanese quail
186 black-necked grebe
187 eurasian spoonbill
188 dalamatian pelican
189 bearded vulture
190 cinerreus vulture
191 booted eagle
192 steepe eagle
193 japannese sparowhawk
194 pailde harrier
195 black kite
196 upland buzzard
197 eastern buzzard
198 white naped
199 grey plower
200 soletary snipe
201 red phalarope 4 record for monoglia
202 pallas gull
203 vega gul
204 pallas sandgruse
205 hill pigeon
206 oriental tutel dove
207 eurasian collard dove
208 ureal owl
209 little owl
210 eurasian theww toed woddpeker
211 lesser spoted woodpeker
212 white -backed woodpeker
213 grey heded woodpeker
214 saker falcon
215 chinese grey shrike
216 azur wingd magpie
217 henderson ground jay
218 red billed chough
219 daurian jackdraw
220 azur tit
221 horned lark
222 mongolian short toed lark
223 mongolian lark
224 asian short toed lark
225 dusky wabler
226 pallas leaf warbler
227 yellow browed warbler
228 humes leaf warbler
229 white cheeked starling
230 whites thursh
231 black throted thrush
232 red throted thrush
233 naumans thrush
234 bluethrot
235 red flanked bluetail
237 taiga flycatcher
238 daurian redstart
239 eversmann redstart
240 black redstart
241 guldensäds redstart
242 dessert wheater
243 rock sparow
244 white-winged snowfinch
245 perr davids snowfinch
246 siberian accentor
247 brown accentor
248 black thrtoted acentor
249 tawny pitpit
250 water pinpit
251 mongolian finch
252 brands mouantin finch
253 asian rosy finch
254 redmantel rose finch
255 great rosy finch
256 long taild rosefinch
257 pine bunting
258 godlewskis bunting
259 medow bunting
260 littel bunting
261 pallas red bunting
262 lapaland longspur

 

[carl the birder]

so i wisted maurtius for a holyday as well i have ben ther once before thats why thy are not al lifer
i saw 5 of the 8 endmick only misng the olive white eye fody and the kestesl. thout i have sen the olive withe eye and fody before.
i-intorduced e-endemick
birds
263 grey francoin i
264 spotted dove i
265 zebra dove i
266 madagaskar turtel dove i
267 pink pidegon e
268 madagaskar fody i
269 Common waxbill i
270 yellow fronted canary i
271 scarly brested munja i
272 house weaver i
273 mascarene martin e
274 mascarene swift e
275 maurritus grey white eye
276 eco paraket
277 ring neckt parakit i
278 maurtius bullbul i
279 red whiskerd bulbul e
280 maurtius cukoo shirke e
281 mauritus paradise flychatsher e
282 white tailde tropickbird
283 greater sandplower
284 ruddy turnstone
285 sanderling
286 red taild tropickbird
287 wedge-taild shearwater
288 flesh footed shearwater
289 brown noddy
290 leser noddy
291 whimbrel
292 sooty tern
293 masked boody
294 trinidad petrel? i am not shure obout this one the round isand has a weird poulation whit may hyberise withe two others petrils but this one lock pure to me
i wonder if i am going to get ot 300 bird this year

 

[carl the birder]

mamals
38 mauritus flying fox
39 crab eating macque
i have som fish aswel

 

[carl the birder]

i aslo saw som reptiels and anfibians on mauritus
9 mascarene grass frog Ptychadena mascareniensis
10 guttural toad Sclerophrys gutturalis
11 mauritus ornenat day gecko Phelsuma ornata
12 upland forest day gecko Phelsuma rosagularis
12 wattel-necked sofft shell turtel Palea steindachneri I

 

[MRJ]

Montford, north of Brisbane, Qld

Mammals

50. Short-beaked echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus
51. Black flying-fox Pteropus alecto

Birds

359. Australian darter Anhinga novaehollandiae
360. Australian brush-turkey Alectura lathami
361. Australian king parrot Alisterus scapularis
362. Southern boobook Ninox boobook
363. Forest kingfisher Todiramphus macleayii
364. White-throated treecreeper Cormobates leucophaea
365, Red-backed fairywren Malurus melanocephalus
366. Blue-faced honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis
367. Lewin's honeyeater Meliphaga lewinii
368. Noisy friarbird Philemon corniculatus
369. Fairy gerygone Gerygone palpebrosa
370. Eastern whipbird Psophodes olivaceus
371. Olive-backed oriole Oriolus sagittatus
372. Australasian figbird Sphecotheres vieilloti
373. Eastern golden whistler Pachycephala pectoralis
374. Spangled drongo Dicrurus bracteatus
375. Pale-yellow robin Tregellasia capito
376. Bassian thrush Zoothera lunulata

Reptiles

17. Pink-tounged skink Cyclodomorphus gerrardii
18. Australian water dragon Intellagama lesueurii

Amphibians

2. Cane toad Rhinella marina
3. Eastern dwarf tree-frog Litoria fallax
4. Red-eyed tree-frog Ranoidea chloris

Invertebrates

7. Chequered swallowtail Papilio demoleus

 

[carl the birder]

and a forgot that i have not sen a willow tit this year before mongolia
and also black stork was a lifer for me
295 willow tit
296 black stork

 

[carl the birder]

i saw a new mammal of the year at my work this wek
also i put the wrog numers last time on the two mamass they shud be 36 and 37
) so my 38 is house mouse Mus musculus

 

[Chlidonias]

One month left. Who will be in the top places...? It's anybody's guess.


BIRDS:

Vision – 699
lintworm – 574
MRJ – 376
Chlidonias – 326
Dannelboyz – 319
carl the birder – 296
akasha – 251
Maguari – 250
Mr. Zootycoon – 243
Coelacanth18 – 231
boof – 207
Hix – 187
birdsandbats – 186
Ituri – 183
KevinVar – 183
TeaLovingDave – 179
Great Argus – 170
Birdlover – 169
Mehdi – 158
LaughingDove – 145
animal_expert01 – 138
BeardsleyZooFan – 121
Najade – 117 [only listing Australian lifers]
DesertRhino150 – 116
ThylacineAlive – 97
Macaw16 – 93
WhistlingKite24 – 89
Luca Bronzi – 66
Pleistohorse – 65
Mbwamwitu – 57
amur leopard – 56
Ursus – 38
Jambo – 29
Marcoh – 28
Moorish – 16
Hipporex – 16
OstrichMania – 2


MAMMALS:

lintworm – 92
Najade – 87
MRJ – 51
Chlidonias – 45
Vision – 42
Maguari – 36
carl the birder – 38
Coelacanth18 – 34
Dannelboyz – 30
LaughingDove – 26
amur leopard – 22
birdsandbats – 21
TeaLovingDave – 20
Mr. Zootycoon – 20
ThylacineAlive – 18
Mbwamwitu – 17
Great Argus – 16
Birdlover – 16
Pleistohorse – 14
BeardsleyZooFan – 14
akasha – 14
KevinVar – 14
Hix – 12
animal_expert01 – 12
DesertRhino150 – 12
WhistlingKite24 – 10
Macaw16 – 8
Mehdi – 7
Marcoh – 6
Luca Bronzi – 6
Hipporex – 6
James54321 – 4
Ituri – 4
Ursus – 4
Moorish – 2
Jambo – 1


HERPTILES:

Najade – 131 Herptiles total (108 Reptiles, 23 Amphibians)
Vision – 35 Herptiles total (24 Reptiles, 11 Amphibians)
animal_expert01 – 22 Herptiles total (18 Reptiles, 4 Amphibians)
MRJ – 22 Herptiles total (18 Reptiles, 4 Amphibian)
Dannelboyz – 17 Herptiles total (14 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
WhistlingKite24 – 14 Herptiles total (11 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
birdsandbats – 13 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 8 Amphibians)
carl the birder – 13 Herptiles total (11 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
James54321 – 12 Herptiles total (10 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
ThylacineAlive – 12 Herptiles total (10 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
Birdlover – 12 Herptiles total (7 Reptiles, 5 Amphibians)
LaughingDove – 11 Herptiles total (2 Reptiles, 9 Amphibians)
Mr. Zootycoon – 11 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 8 Amphibians)
Great Argus – 10 Herptiles total (7 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
Maguari – 10 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 7 Amphibians)
Luca Bronzi – 9 Herptiles total (7 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
akasha – 9 Herptiles total (9 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Mehdi – 8 Herptiles total (6 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
BeardsleyZooFan – 8 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
Hix – 8 Herptiles total (8 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
TeaLovingDave – 7 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 4 Amphibians)
lintworm – 7 Herptiles total (7 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Marcoh – 5 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
KevinVar – 4 Herptiles total (0 Reptiles, 4 Amphibians)
Macaw16 – 4 Herptiles total (2 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
DesertRhino150 – 4 Herptiles total (1 Reptile, 3 Amphibians)
Jambo – 3 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Hipporex – 2 Herptiles total (1 Reptile, 1 Amphibian)
Moorish – 1 Herptile total (0 Reptiles, 1 Amphibian)


FISH:

carl the birder – 135
Luca Bronzi – 61
animal_expert01 – 23
Vision – 18
Dannelboyz – 14
James54321 – 12
Maguari – 11
birdsandbats – 10
MRJ – 10
DesertRhino150 – 9
BeardsleyZooFan – 7
Mr. Zootycoon – 6
WhistlingKite24 – 3
Ursus – 2
Jambo – 1
Birdlover – 1


INVERTEBRATES:

Mr. Zootycoon – 189
Birdlover – 99
Vision – 104
WhistlingKite24 – 91
DesertRhino150 – 84
Maguari – 83
Luca Bronzi – 49
Dannelboyz – 46
Great Argus – 27
Mehdi – 16
Ursus – 15
KevinVar – 10
birdsandbats – 8
BeardsleyZooFan – 7
MRJ – 7
carl the birder – 3
Hipporex – 3
Moorish – 1
animal_expert01 – 1

 

[Hix]

Birds
179. Brown Pigeon (aka Brown Cuckoo-dove)
180. Wonga Pigeon
181. Shining Bronze-cuckoo
182. Rainbow Bee-eater
183. White-throated Gerygone
184. Dollarbird
185. Scarlet Honeyeater
186. Peregrine Falcon
187. Topknot Pigeon

Mammals
12. Common Wombat

Reptiles
8. Red-bellied Black Snake



Hix

Birds
188. Australasian Pipit
189. Brown-headed Honeyeater
190. Square-tailed Kite

Mammals
13. Fallow Deer
14. Eastern Wallaroo

Reptiles
9. Eastern Brown Snake



Hix

 

[Maguari]

Kept me waiting this year, but I was finally able to plug an obvious gap at Old Moor yesterday:

Birds:
251. Great Bittern - Botaurus stellaris

(UK: 202*)

*UK total increases by two owing to a post-Twycross twitching of some Cattle Egrets in Notts last week!

 

[MRJ]

Missed from Montford list:

Birds

377. Australian logrunner Orthonyx temminckii
378. Spectacled monarch Symposiachrus trivirgatus
379. Torresian crow Corvus orru

Mary Cairncross Reserve - a 55ha remnant rainforest in the nearby town of Maleny.

Mammals

52. Red-legged pademelon Thylogale stigmatica
53. Red-necked pademelon Thylogale thetis
54, Fawn-footed melomys Melomys cervinipes

Birds

Entering the rainforest at 6am I was assaulted by what seemed like thousands of bird calls. Catbird and wompoo pigeon calls followed me throughout the walk, unfortunately I saw neither. In the end only two birds added to the list.

380. Yellow-throated scrubwren Sericornis citreogularis
381. Rufous fantail Rhipidura rufifrons

 

[lintworm]

A few updates from Eastern Germany (mammals) and Jihlava zoo (bird)

574. Hawfinch


Mammals

91. Red fox
92. Striped field mouse

I have also uploaded the remaining pictures from Kenya:
Kenya - Wildlife - ZooChat

I haven't updated for months now, but there is not much news:

575. Crested tit
576. Sanderling

The Crested tit is also a new species for my tiny garden.

And my first invertebrate listing of the year is mainly noteworthy because it was one of the last Land snail species from the Netherlands I had not seen yet.

1. Craven door snail (Clausilia dubia)