ZooChat Big Year 2020

After a long search spanning months I’ve finally found a creature that looks somewhat like what I saw on Blairgowrie pier in January.

Fish

6. Short Head Worm Eel (
Scolecenchelys breviceps)
 
Mammals

Drive-in theatre, Dandenong

29. Grey-headed flying fox Pteropus poliocephalus

Birds

A friend of the family from the UK who is a keen birder had his trip cut short and really wanted to see a superb lyrebirdm so we went to Badgers Creek weir, then drove across Mt Donna Buang and ended at Warburton.

274. Australian king parrot Alisterus scapularis
275. Crimson rosella Platycercus elegans
276. Superb lyrebird Menura novaehollandiae
277. White-throated tree-creeper Cormobates leucophaea
278. Eastern spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris
279. Yellow-faced honeyeater Caligavis chrysops
280. White-eared honeyeater Nesoptilotis leucotis
281. Brown thornbill Acanthiza pusilla
282. Black-faced cuckooshrike Coracina novaehollandiae
 
birdsandbats said:
Birds
80. Wood Duck Aix sponsa
Click to expand...
Birds
81. Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
82. Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis

The grebe is a vagrant to my area - this one appeared to be injured, its leg was sticking into the air at an odd angle. I imagine it will probably die of starvation in a few days because there is no way it will catch any prey.
 
KevinB said:
I'm never going to be a big shot at this big year thing, but here are some wildlife sightings I would like to report on - and I may again on future occassions.

12/03/2020 - Genk - Bokrijk, Limburg, Flanders, Belgium

I visited a nature reserve with large ponds, reeds, open areas with grassland and heath and moist or wet forest areas near the provincial park and open air museum Bokrijk and a recreational area with more large ponds and grassy areas on the park domain just outside the museum grounds.

MAMMALS

1 - European Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) [Note: Individual in ill health and/or injured, poor coat condition and noticeable limping]

BIRDS

1 - Great egret (Ardea alba)
2 - Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
3 - Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)
4 - Common pochard (Aythya ferina)
5 - Gadwall (Mareca strepera)
6 - Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
7 - Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
8 - Greylag goose (Anser anser)
9 - Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
10 - Common buzzard (Buteo buteo)

AMPHIBIANS

1 - European common toad (Bufo bufo)

TRACES (Presumably not counting towards tally)

MAMMALS

- European wild boar (Sus scrofa). Although the area apparently has plenty of them none were seen (maybe a good thing), but there at least a dozen locations with foot prints and/or tracks of digging and rooting as well as several trails. They sure make there presence known in that area.

BIRDS
- A nesting site of the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) was seen between fallen tree roots in a forest area near open water. No kingfishers seen though.
- Nest of a Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) seen.

AMPHIBIANS
- Frog spawn jelly seen in between reed at the edge of a pond. No frogs seen, so species unidentified. Probably either European common frog (Rana temporaria) or one of the green frog complex species (Marsh frog Pelophylax ridibundus, pool frog P. lessonae and edible frog P. kl. esculentus). Also several sites with star jelly (frog spawn eaten and regurgitated by predators) seen.
Click to expand...

KevinB said:
14/03/2020 - Heist-op-den-Berg, Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium

Today I spotted a European robin in my own backyard, within one of my chicken aviaries.

BIRDS
11 - European robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Click to expand...

Today I am adding two that I previously forgot to mention but still documented the details of so I can add them.

As I will be staying at home for the time being there probably won't be many more to add in the near future, unfortunately we generally don't see many birds or other wildlife in our garden. However I am still going to try to pay more attention to seeing what I can spot in our yard.

21-02-2021 - Heist-op-den-Berg, Antwerp province, Flanders, Belgium

I saw a male ring-necked pheasant taking off from a meadow in my own street as I cycled home.

BIRDS
12 - Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

12/03/2020 - Genk - Bokrijk, Limburg, Flanders, Belgium

One I forgot to mention in my previous post about my trip in Genk. I saw several of the mentioned butterfly species flying around in sunny areas around the edges of forest zones.

I visited a nature reserve with large ponds, reeds, open areas with grassland and heath and moist or wet forest areas near the provincial park and open air museum Bokrijk and a recreational area with more large ponds and grassy areas on the park domain just outside the museum grounds.

INVERTEBRATES
1 - Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni)
 
Crowthorne said:
Mammals
8. Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes
Click to expand...

Down by the riverside...

Birds
41. Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus
42. Coal Tit, Periparus ater
 
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Reactions: MRJ
Finding local places to get some good wildlifing in without failing at social distancing in the process is an interesting challenge, particularly with outside activities a popular option on a sunny day. Spent a couple of hours on the moors (loads of space!) and had a quick visit to Carsington today (the latter was very quiet for such a sunny day - similar numbers to the awful weather day I visited on earlier in the year that degenerated into a storm - no trouble distancing as it turned out).

Birds:
138. Red Grouse - Lagopus lagopus
139. Red-crested Pochard - Netta rufina
140. Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita

Mammals:
13. Mountain Hare - Lepus timidus
14. Stoat - Mustela erminea

:)
 
Mr. Zootycoon said:
I hope to get quite a few more birds than last year. If everything keeps going according to plan, I'll go intercontinental later this year. And if that plan fails, plan B also has intercontinental travel. And plan C too. Things must go very wrong this year to prevent me from going intercontinental!
Click to expand...

I really should have knocked on wood when I said this. Naturally, all these plans and their back-ups are highly uncertain now.

Lately I've been mostly confined to my home, but I've done a bit of local birding. However, yesterday an unexpected rarity - an American vagrant - showed up close-by, so I just had to take a look. With reasonable distance to other birders of course!

Birds
137. Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros
138. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Dryobates minor
139. Western Barn Owl, Tyto alba
140. American wigeon, Mareca americana

Invertebrates
08. Common Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni
09. Small Tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae
10. Mottled Shieldbug, Rhaphigaster nebulosa
11. Scytodes thoracica

The wigeon was my first bird lifer of the year. It has never taken me this long before, but I'm glad I have found one. Even if all my plans get cancelled, at least I've added one more bird to my list this year.
 
One more from a semi-reliable local car park feeder (birding that didn't involve leaving the car seemed a good idea..!):

Birds:
141. Marsh Tit - Poecile palustris

:)
 
birdsandbats said:
Birds
81. Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
82. Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis

The grebe is a vagrant to my area - this one appeared to be injured, its leg was sticking into the air at an odd angle. I imagine it will probably die of starvation in a few days because there is no way it will catch any prey.
Click to expand...

The story of the grebe reminds me of the time when a wild sacred kingfisher somehow ended up 8 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD in my school. The kingfisher looked distraught and couldn’t find so my teacher picked him up and after a few seconds the kingfisher regained its composure and flew off. We called the teacher the bird whisperer after that.
 
birdsandbats said:
Birds
81. Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
82. Western Grebe Aechmophorus occidentalis

The grebe is a vagrant to my area - this one appeared to be injured, its leg was sticking into the air at an odd angle. I imagine it will probably die of starvation in a few days because there is no way it will catch any prey.
Click to expand...
Birds
83. Canvasback Aythya valisineria
84. American Wigeon Mareca americana
85. Whooping Crane Grus americana
86. Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos
 
lintworm said:
Went birding closeby for an hour to a newly developed nature area where multiple wader species have gathered, some to breed, others on their way north.

89. Dunlin
90. Ruff
91. Eurasian Tree Sparrow
92. Common Reed Bunting
93. Northern Pintail
94. Common Chiffchaff
Click to expand...

Went looking for my Dutch nemesis bird (again): the Middle Spotted Woodpecker. I have seen this bird abroad, but only heard it in the Netherlands. This species used to be a rare breeding bird, but in recent years numbers have exploded and there are now 4 known territories within 10 km. I went to one of them, but whereas most people seem to find it, I saw only 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and surprisingly, a Little Spotted Woodpecker, which is a species I don't see often, so it was still a nice trip.

95. Little Spotted Woodpecker
96. Green Sandpiper
97. Common Ringed Plover
98. Rook

I wouldn't be surprised if we are forced to a complete lockdown in the Netherlands soon, as most people don't really seem to get the idea of social distancing, so this might be the last update in a while...
 
22/3/2020
109. white-winged fairy wren
110. Australian hobby
111. Australasian shoveller
112. Plumed whistling duck
23/3/2020
113. White-fronted chat
114. Black swan
115. Black-faced woodswallow
116. Bar-shouldered dove
 
Mehdi said:
A rather unfructuous try at Tamri still gave me a few new species for the year (and some very good views of Sedge warbler!):

15/03/2020 (Estuaire de l'Oued Tamri, Morocco)
BIRDS:
99 - Red-knobbed coot, Fulica cristata
100 - Eurasian marsh-harrier, Circus aeruginosus
101 - Curlew sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea

(Taghazout, Morocco)
INVERTEBRATES:
3 - Red admiral, Vanessa atalanta
Click to expand...

Had to remove Greylag goose (#70) from my list as the only Greylag geese found around Parc de Capçalera are domestics (but I didn't know that at the time) so I'm at 100 bird species seen for the year right now.
 
lintworm said:
Went looking for my Dutch nemesis bird (again): the Middle Spotted Woodpecker. I have seen this bird abroad, but only heard it in the Netherlands. This species used to be a rare breeding bird, but in recent years numbers have exploded and there are now 4 known territories within 10 km. I went to one of them, but whereas most people seem to find it, I saw only 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and surprisingly, a Little Spotted Woodpecker, which is a species I don't see often, so it was still a nice trip.

95. Little Spotted Woodpecker
96. Green Sandpiper
97. Common Ringed Plover
98. Rook

I wouldn't be surprised if we are forced to a complete lockdown in the Netherlands soon, as most people don't really seem to get the idea of social distancing, so this might be the last update in a while...
Click to expand...

And with the 4th attempt I finally saw a Middle Spotted Woodpecker:

99. Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Still haven't seen a Green Woodpecker this year, though I heard 2 today (again).
 
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