ZooChat Big Year 2020

[MRJ]

Bunyip State Park. We went there tonight as it is the closest place to home where I thought we might see both greater and yellow-bellied gliders. Heard yellow-bellies but no luck otherwise. A good place for mammals, other than macropods also saw a sambar deer.

Mammals

38. Bare-nosed wombat Vombatus ursinus
39. Sugar glider Petaurus breviceps

Birds
308. Pied currawong Strepera graculina
309. Scarlet robin Petroica boodang

Strange coincidence with the numbers.

 

[Vision]

INVERTS:
67) Small fan-footed wave, Idaea biselata

This ended up being a misidentified small dusty wave, so I'll continue listing from #67. The new #67 is called "Common corona moth" in Dutch, which is coincidental!

INVERTS:
67) Elderberry pearl, Anania coronata
68) Inlaid grass-veneer, Crambus pascuella

 

[Mehdi]

After exactly 3 months without birding at all because of the lockdown, the lifting of this latter means I've finally been able to bird. What better way to spend my first session back at Issen to try and get as many spring/summer migrants that I missed during those three months as possible?

13/06/2020
(Road from Agadir to Issen, Morocco)
BIRDS:
103 - European bee-eater, Merops apiaster
104 - European turtle-dove, Streptopelia turtur
105 - Rufous-tailed scrub-robin, Cercotrichas galactotes

(Issen, Morocco)
BIRDS:
106 - Fulvous babbler, Argya fulva

INVERTS:
7 - Lang's short-tailed blue, Leptotes pirithous

14/06/2020:
BIRDS:
107 - Western olivaceous warbler, Iduna opaca
108 - Crested lark, Galerida cristata
109 - African blue tit, Cyanistes teneriffae
110 - Common linnet, Linaria cannabina
111 - Western black-eared wheatear, Oenanthe hispanica
112 - Booted eagle, Hieraaetus pennatus

HERPS:
6 - Sahara frog, Pelophylax saharicus
7 - Bibron's agama, Agama impalearis

INVERTS:
8 - Clouded yellow, Colias croceus
9 - Small white, Pieris rapae
10 - Small copper, Lycaena phlaeas
11 - Red-veined dropwing, Trithemis arteriosa
12 - Orange-winged dropwing, Trithemis kirbyi

All-in-all, the perfect way to come back with the uncontested highlight of this weekend being the two Booted eagles seeing circling in the sky, a totally unexpected addition and only my second and third ever Booted eagles in Morocco!

The other birds were basically all the species I wished to get barring maybe Western bonelli's warbler. The Crested lark and African blue tit were especially good to get as I was afraid of missing them this year.

First time birding at my local spot since the end of lockdown and I truly had a fantastic session after a rather slow start, embodied by my third Bonelli's eagle there in three straight years, an early tern and finally a lark lifer!

113 - Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica
114 - Bonelli's eagle, Aquila fasciata
115 - Common tern, Sterna hirundo
116 - Greater short-toed lark, Calandrella brachydactyla
117 - Barbary partridge, Alectoris barbara

 

[Najade]

Depends on what you want. There is a reliable location for European Eagle Owl in the former stone quarry of the St. Pietersberg on the SW of the city. There are also a few calcereous species-rich meadows, with high abundance of rare plants and inverts there, as well as the former stone quarry itself, which is now open for visitors. There is a very high number of smaller nature reserves between Maastricht and the German border. Former quarries often host Midwife Toad and Yellow-bellied Toads (though seeing the former is very difficult). In general a night-drive on smaller country roads there gives you a good chance of seeing European Badger and Beech Marten (and in the area around the Vijlenerbos there is a small chance of seeing European Wild Cat, this is also the only place in the country where Hazel Dormouse occurs, for which careful scanning of thickets at forest edges is needed).

Furthermore the city of Maastricht itself is imo the prettiest in the country and some of the old city walls are great for rare inverts and flora. The Hooge Fronten area is one of the very few places in the NL where Common Wall Lizards are found.

You can look up recent observation of basically all species on www.waarneming.nl, but note that the exact location of some rarities is obscured.

Thanks. I'll have a look at that website.
It's a family trip so I probably won't be able to do too much but maybe I can convince everyone to have a go at them Eagle Owls. Is it fairly obvious where to find them at that location?

 

[Vision]

Thanks. I'll have a look at that website.
It's a family trip so I probably won't be able to do too much but maybe I can convince everyone to have a go at them Eagle Owls. Is it fairly obvious where to find them at that location?

I've seen them there twice now, both times from an observation 'wall' which should be fairly straightforward to find (the observation point is labelled "Oehoe Vallei" on google maps, and has a rather prominent wooden eagle-owl statue in real life). From that point you look into the quarry, and the owls should be against one of the quarry walls, usually on the western wall which would be on your right. It can be quite difficult to see them with just binoculars though, and I dragged my telescope all the way up the hill last time I was there to get better views. There is a mounted telescope there as well, but like mounted public telescopes everywhere I don't know to what degree it still works.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

From a short walk after work the other day:
Birds
51) Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
52) Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
53) Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana

~Thylo

Went for a walk around sunset and found a little nature preserve area I never knew existed. Saw a good few birds, most I already had but was able to add two more:

54) Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus
55) Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina

~Thylo

 

[ZooBinh]

Birds:

4. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Mammals:

1. White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Birds:

5. Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
217. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
218. White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
219. Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus

Fish
6. Shortnose Gar Lepisosteus platostomus
7. Longnose Gar Lepisosteus osseus

Fish
8. Round Goby Neogobius melanostomus

 

[Vision]

A fairly late individual of this increasingly regular, but ever difficult to connect with vagrant showed uncharacteristically well, and was my first ever in Belgium!

BIRDS:
214) Eurasian thick-knee, Burhinus oedicnemus

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
217. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
218. White-faced Ibis Plegadis chihi
219. Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus

Fish
6. Shortnose Gar Lepisosteus platostomus
7. Longnose Gar Lepisosteus osseus

Birds
220. Acadian Flycatcher Empidonax virescens
221. Hooded Warbler Setophaga citrina

 

[Maguari]

A new butterfly today at Twycross and a couple of birdy stops on the way home - Willington Gravel Pits for a summery duck and Alvaston Park for Britain's only wild (albeit naturalised) parrot.

Birds:
176. Garganey - Spatula querquedula
177. Ring-necked Parakeet - Psittacula krameri

Invertebrates:
46. Ringlet - Aphantopus hyperantus

 

[Junklekitteb]

Birds
93. Black-crowned Night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax

Mammals
6. Norway Rat Rattus norvegicus

Research failure on my part, this would be a brown morph of the roof rat Rattus rattus since Norway rats are only found on the coast and on islands.

 

[Shorts]

A new butterfly today at Twycross and a couple of birdy stops on the way home - Willington Gravel Pits for a summery duck and Alvaston Park for Britain's only wild (albeit naturalised) parrot.

Birds:
176. Garganey - Spatula querquedula
177. Ring-necked Parakeet - Psittacula krameri

Willington's just down the road from me and I didn't know there were gravel pits there (in my mind I only think about a couple of good pubs and the monstrous, remnant, cooling towers).

Alvaston Park's less than three miles as the crow flies and I had no idea there were parakeets there (though I saw one in my garden once and assumed it was a, more local, escaped pet -now I'm wondering). Is this a known colony of birds there, just a one off or just a nice surprise for you?

 

[Maguari]

Willington's just down the road from me and I didn't know there were gravel pits there (in my mind I only think about a couple of good pubs and the monstrous, remnant, cooling towers).

It's a former-gravel-pit-turned-nature-reserve situation: Willington Wetlands | Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

It's also the proposed site for the first soft release of beavers in Derbyshire; the Wildlife Trust was fundraising for this before lockdown with the plan for it to happen this year (not sure how it's been affected by... *gestures vaguely at whole world*).

Good site for egrets, terns etc as well as bittern and waterfowl. It's also where I saw the biggest starling murmuration I have ever seen.

Alvaston Park's less than three miles as the crow flies and I had no idea there were parakeets there (though I saw one in my garden once and assumed it was a, more local, escaped pet -now I'm wondering). Is this a known colony of birds there, just a one off or just a nice surprise for you?

No, I went there on information received.

There's a colony of at least a dozen birds there, mostly reported from the area around the lake/tennis courts - only took me 10 minutes or so to find some of them yesterday.

Not sure if they're breeding at this site yet. By far the furthest north I've encountered them.

 

[Najade]

Went out looking for White-throated Dipper today, but was unsuccessful. At least I got this little guy:

Birds
102. Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris)


I'm gonna be in Maastricht over the weekend. Anyone know if there's any wildlife-y stuff out that way that I should have a look for?

Brachter Wald

Birds
103. Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)
104. Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)

Anyone know if the Fallow Deer there are countable?

 

[Shorts]

It's a former-gravel-pit-turned-nature-reserve situation: Willington Wetlands | Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

It's also the proposed site for the first soft release of beavers in Derbyshire; the Wildlife Trust was fundraising for this before lockdown with the plan for it to happen this year (not sure how it's been affected by... *gestures vaguely at whole world*).

Good site for egrets, terns etc as well as bittern and waterfowl. It's also where I saw the biggest starling murmuration I have ever seen.



No, I went there on information received.

There's a colony of at least a dozen birds there, mostly reported from the area around the lake/tennis courts - only took me 10 minutes or so to find some of them yesterday.

Not sure if they're breeding at this site yet. By far the furthest north I've encountered them.

Many thanks for this clarification, whilst not a birder I really don't have any excuse for not going to check out these places now. Who knew such wonders were on my doorstep?

 

[Maguari]

Many thanks for this clarification, whilst not a birder I really don't have any excuse for not going to check out these places now. Who knew such wonders were on my doorstep?

Yeah, get out there! South Derbyshire actually has quite a lot to offer in terms of wildlife, perhaps counter-intuitively as the north of the county is notionally 'wilder'.

 

[boof]

22/6/2020
127. Little Raven

 

[Maguari]

It's also the proposed site for the first soft release of beavers in Derbyshire; the Wildlife Trust was fundraising for this before lockdown with the plan for it to happen this year (not sure how it's been affected by... *gestures vaguely at whole world*).

Just to update myself, for anyone interested, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust posted on their social media yesterday that they'd secured the funding needed for phase one (construction of the beaver-proof fence) and are now fundraising for the actual costs of transporting, health-checking etc the beavers. So the project progresses well enough.

 

[Crowthorne]

Birds
51. Sand Martin, Riparia riparia

Took a walk to the local country park. The Chiffchaff was a nice spot as I've been hearing them all lockdown but they've been very good at hiding. The Bank Vole was a complete surprise!

Mammals
9. Bank Vole, Myodes glareolus

Birds
52. Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita
53. Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus