ZooChat Big Year 2021

Najade said:
Helgoland, main island
(pretty slow day)

Birds
61. Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla)
62. Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret)
63. Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)

Also Pomarine Skua, Common Scoter & Common Gull; but views too distant to make it on the list.
Click to expand...
Last one for this trip:
Rehdener Geestmoor, Diepholz

Birds
64. Common Crane (Grus grus)
 
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Quick trip to Hampstead Heath today - everything was rather quiet but four hours of birding got me a couple nice birds, not least the last two remnants (a breeding pair) of a large flock of around 36 Mandarin ducks that had been hanging around the park as well as a Kingfisher. Other than that, a pair of Little grebes, a Gadwall and at least 30 different Jay sightings made for a nice day :).

84. Common kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
85. Mandarin duck, Aix galericulata

That should probably be more or less it for this year now unless I manage to get to the Weltand Centre in the next week. 15 over my benchmark, so I'm happy :).
 
Mehdi said:
Discovered a new spot today that looks super promising for marsh birds (especially crakes, which I'll look for hopefully when spring comes). A lot of birds today as well but the mammals were more exciting this time:

02/10/2021 (Mares d'El Jouaber, Morocco)
BIRDS:
187 - Ferruginous duck, Aythya nyroca

MAMMALS:
6 - Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon
7 - Moroccan jird, Meriones grandis
Click to expand...

Two nice migrants getting me closer to 200! The first one was one of the highlights of a great day and my first observation for the species since 2018. The second one was probably the most common species I had been missing still for the year.

19/10/2021 (Champs d'Ifentar, Morocco)
BIRDS:
188 - Eurasian wryneck, Jynx torquilla
189 - Whinchat, Saxicola rubetra
 
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One more from Adwick Washlands this morning - always a good site for this species. I spent 2 hours walking around mainly to look for one and of course finally found one a minute's walk from being back in the car park.

Birds:
192. Grey Partridge - Perdix perdix

(UK: 187)

:)
 
Hix said:
Birds
209. Dusky Woodswallow
210. Leaden Flycatcher


Mammals
12. Koala

:p

Hix
Click to expand...

Birds
211. Pacific Golden Plover
212. Sooty Oystercatcher
213. Brown Gerygone
214. Pacific Baza
215. Australian Brush Turkey
216. Rainbow Bee-eater
217. Azure Kingfisher


Mammals
13. Common Ringtail Possum

Reptiles
4. Eastern Water Skink

:p

Hix
 
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One of those days today that would be a real stonker early in the year for list-building. Spent the day in Norfolk, mostly at Titchwell Marsh - Snow Bunting, Purple Sandpiper, two species of godwit, multiple Red-throated Divers on the sea, guillemots and Razorbills, Grey and Golden Plover, Sanderling, Knot, Pintail, Water Rail, Marsh Harrier, three species of deer, two species of seal... and my second-ever Grey Phalarope. Because it is the end of October, however, a spectacular day of birding translates into just two new additions. :D

Birds:
193. Grey Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicarius
194. Bar-tailed Godwit - Limosa lapponica

(UK: 189)

:)
 
herptiles
1. eastern red-backed salamander
2. dekay's brown snake

birds
1. blue jay
2. northern cardinal
3. black-capped chickadee
4. dark-eyed junco
5. red-winged blackbird
6. mallard duck
7. Canada goose
8. blue heron

mammals
1. eastern Gray squirrel
2. chipmunk

fish
1. goldfish
 
Field work in southeastern Spain is great for an autumn push of my year lists! Quite ironically, a vagrant from southern Europe - a black-winged kite - turned up in my local area just before I went. In Spain, we have mainly visited a number of arid and semi-arid sites and encountered a nice range of Iberian species. At this moment I think to have seen most of the really common birds here, so now time will tell whether I'll also stumble upon a few less common ones. One I expect to have seen already is Thekla's Lark, but I've been unable to confirm the ID. There's also a lot of subspecific lifers, including the gorgeus irbii subspecies of the long-tailed tit.

Birds
227. Black-winged Kite, Elanus caeruleus
228. Black Wheatear, Oenanthe leucrura
229. Spotless Starling, Sturnus unicolor
230. Eurasian Crag Martin, Ptyonoprogne rupestris
231. Blue Rock Thrush, Monticola solitarius
232. Rock Sparrow, Petronia petronia
233. Eurasian Griffon, Gyps fulvus
234. Red-legged Partridge, Alectoris rufa
235. Red-billed Chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
236. Crested Lark, Galerida cristata
237. Dartford Warbler, Curruca undata
238. Corn Bunting, Emberiza calandra
239. Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos
240. European Serin, Serinus serinus
241. Iberian Green Woodpecker, Picus sharpei
242. Rock Bunting, Emberiza cia

Mammals
16. Southeastern Spanish Ibex, Capra pyrenaica hispanica

Herptiles
8. East Iberian Sand Racer, Psammodromus edwardsianus
9. Large Psammodromus, Psammodromus algirus

Butterflies
29. Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus
00. Small Orange Tip, Colotis evagore*

*I'm almost sure it is this species, but there's very little information about it. From what I can find online no orange tip is supposed to fly this late in the year, yet there are plenty on one of the field sites. I don't have my butterfly guide on my, but based on location and time of year (as well as appearance, but I never saw it before so I could be wrong) I think it is the only eligible species. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
Mammal:
11. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus)

Bird:
93. Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)

Insect/Invertebrate:
197. Cicada-parasite beetle (Sandalus niger)
198. Japanese burrowing cricket (Velarifictorus micado)
199. Carolina grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina)
200. Planthopper (Anotia kirkaldyi)
Click to expand...

New autumn birds and some I missed from the spring are bringing me closer to 100, and well past my initial goal of 80.

Birds:
94. Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
95. White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
96. Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)
97. Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)

Insect/Invertebrate:
201. Two-spotted longhorn bee (Melissodes bimaculatus)
 
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Vision said:
BIRDS:
322) Spotless starling, Sturnus unicolor
323) Mediterranean flycatcher, Muscicapa tyrrhenica
324) Black-crowned night heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
325) Common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos
326) Marbled duck, Marmaronetta angustirostris
327) Red-knobbed coot, Fulica cristata
328) Audouin's gull, Ichthyaetus audouinii
329) Eleonora's falcon, Falco eleonorae
330) Thekla's lark, Galerida theklae
331) Balearic shearwater, Puffinus mauretanicus
332) Balearic warbler, Curruca balearica

000) Eurasian penduline tit, Remiz pendulinus
000) Iberian chiffchaff, Phylloscopus ibericus
000) Common grasshopper warbler, Locustella naevia
000) Savi's warbler, Locustella luscinioides
000) Icterine warbler, Hippolais icterina
000) European nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus
000) Baillon's crake, Zapornia pusilla
000) River warbler, Locustella fluviatilis
000) Boreal owl, Aegolius funereus
000) Grey-headed woodpecker, Picus canus
000) Hazel grouse, Tetrastes bonasia
000) Rock ptarmigan, Lagopus muta
000) Indian Silverbill, Euodice malabarica

MAMMALS:
24) Domestic goat, Capra hircus
25) North African hedgehog, Atelerix algirus

HERPS:
8) Mediterranean house gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus
9) Lilford's wall lizard, Podarcis lilfordi
10) Ibiza wall lizard, Podarcis pityusensis

FISH:
4) Mediterranean three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus gymnurus
5) Mirrorwing flying fish, Hirundichthys speculiger
6) Common two-banded seabream, Diplodus vulgaris
7) White seabream, Diplodus sargus
8) Saddled seabream, Oblada melanura
9) Mediterranean chromis, Chromis chromis

INVERTS:
75) Silver-ground carpet, Xanthorhoe montanata
76) Purple bar, Cosmorhoe ocellata
77) Northern spinach, Eulithis populata
78) Brindled pug, Eupithecia abbreviata
79) Wormwood pug, Eupithecia absinthiata
80) Tawny speckled pug, Eupithecia icterata
81) Maple pug, Eupithecia inturbata
82) Tawny-barred angle, Macaria liturata
83) Swallow-tailed moth, Ourapteryx sambucaria
84) Banded pine carpet, Pungeleria capreolaria
85) Pale shining brown, Polia bombycina
86) Smoky wainscot, Mythimna impura
87) Scarce dagger, Acronicta auricoma
88) Denisia similella
89) Bee moth, Aphomia sociella
90) Little grey, Eudonia lacustrata
91) Ground-moss grey, Eudonia truncicolella
94) Olive pearl, Udea olivalis
94) Long hoverfly, Sphaerophoria scripta
95) Scarce swallowtail, Iphiclides podalirius
96) Small elephant hawk-moth, Deilephila porcellus
97) Japanese leafhopper, Orientus ishidae
98) Cymus claviculus
99) Small tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae
100) Light knot grass, Acronicta menyanthidis
101) Painted lady, Vanessa cardui
102) Common darter, Sympetrum striolatum
103) Rusty tussock moth, Orgyia antiqua
104) Dark strawberry tortrix, Celypha lacunana
105) Lesser marsh grasshopper, Chorthippus albomarginatus
106) Common field grasshopper, Chorthippus brunneus
107) Roesel’s bush cricket, Roeseliana roeselii
108) Two-tailed pasha, Charaxes jasius
109) Hummingbird hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum
110) Migrant hawker, Aeshna mixta
Click to expand...

While Belgium's fall has been one of the saddest excuses for a fall season in the past 10 years, with almost no good rarities despite quite a few people searching, I've had plenty reasons to go to the Netherlands for birds (and mammals) instead! These birds represent 8 trips to the Netherlands over the past month, 5 seawatching sessions, a pelagic, a lot of rarity-searching (with selffound/cofound Yellow-browed warbler, Little bunting and Red-throated pipit) and a lot of twitching.

Biggest highlights this month were:
- A day on Texel with 2 American waders (American golden plover & White-rumped sandpiper);
- A Walrus twitch in Harlingen in the Northern Netherlands, that we turned into a big day of sorts by going to Texel again, scoring 107 species in a day in October;
- A day on the Maasvlakte with 4 Asian passerines (Siberian stonechat, Two-barred warbler, Red-breasted flycatcher and 6 Yellow-browed warblers);
- A day on the Belgian coast with 5 Asian passerines (Rustic bunting, Little bunting, Red-throated pipit, Siberian chiffchaff and 2 Yellow-browed warblers), of which all but the Rustic bunting a friend and I found ourselves;
- My absolute dream bird for my Benelux list, a Cream-colored courser being twitchable for just over a day, shortly followed by us seawatching (for a Humpback whale that was reported, sadly didn't connect with that) and seeing an Atlantic puffin, a bird I was missing for my Benelux list still;
- A pair of really nice twitches for Radde's warbler and Red-flanked bluetail (the two biggest siberian "holes" in my Benelux list), and a really nice twitch of the Netherlands' first ever Eastern olivaceous warbler.

BIRDS:
333) Pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos
334) White-rumped sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis
335) Whooper swan, Cygnus cygnus
336) Red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus
337) Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea
338) Pomarine jaeger, Stercorarius pomarinus
339) Leach's storm petrel, Hydrobates leucorhous
340) Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus
341) Yellow-browed warbler, Phylloscopus inornatus
342) Radde's warbler, Phylloscopus schwarzi
343) Siberian stonechat, Saxicola maurus
344) Two-barred warbler, Phylloscopus plumbeitarsus
345) Red-breasted flycatcher, Ficedula parva
346) Rustic bunting, Emberiza rustica
347) Little bunting, Emberiza pusilla
348) Red-throated pipit, Anthus cervinus
349) Black-winged kite, Elanus caeruleus
350) Red-flanked bluetail, Tarsiger cyanurus
351) Eastern olivaceous warbler, Iduna pallida
352) Cream-colored courser, Cursorius cursor
353) Atlantic puffin, Fratercula arctica
354) Pygmy cormorant, Microcarbo pygmaeus

[+13 heard only (367 total)]

MAMMALS:
26) Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus

FISH:
10) Common dab, Limanda limanda
11) Rock gunnel, Pholis gunnellus

INVERTS:
111) Hornet mimic hoverfly, Volucella zonaria
112) Clouded yellow, Colias crocea
113) Old World swallowtail, Papilio machaon
114) Green-veined white, Pieris napi
115) Meadow brown, Maniola jurtina
116) Wall brown, Lasiommata megera
117) Willow emerald damselfly, Chalcolestes viridis
118) Bedstraw hawk-moth, Hyles gallii
119) Red underwing, Catocala nupta
120) Setaceous hebrew character, Xestia c-nigrum
121) Lunar underwing, Agrochola lunosa
122) Angle shades, Phlogophora meticulosa
123) Large wainscot, Rhizedra lutosa
124) Dark strawberry tortrix, Celypha lacunana
125) Rusty dot pearl, Udea ferrugalis
126) Barrel jellyfish, Rhizostoma pulmo
127) Grey dagger, Acronicta psi
128) Holly blue, Celastrina argiolus
129) Snout, Hypena proboscidalis
 
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Coelacanth18 said:
Birds
129. American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
130. American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchus)
131. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
132. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
Click to expand...

A small update before another short trip that might yield new species, with another local bird that I had heard but not seen until last week:

Birds
133. Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Since my last update, I have seen some new species on a couple of excursions. The majority of these latest sightings are from walking locally, with bird number 78 and invertebrates 25-26 being seen in our nearest RHS botanical garden:

76. Cetti's warbler Cettia cetti
77. Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis
78. Common reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus

2. Viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara

18. Green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi
19. Large red damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula
20. Small heath butterfly Coenonympha pamphilus
21. Banded demoiselle damselfly Calopteryx splendens
22. Common blue damselfly Enallagma cyanthigerum
23. Red admiral butterfly Vanessa atalanta
24. Holly blue butterfly Celastrina argiolus
25. Common carder bumblebee Bombus pascuorum
26. Early bumblebee Bombus pratorum
Click to expand...

Just realised that I haven't actually updated this thread since June (odd, I don't seem to get notifications on this thread anymore). Over that time I have added ten new birds (including a lifer offshore at Titchwell in Norfolk), two mammals, my first amphibian and nine invertebrates, including a lifer found living in my windowframe:

79. Eurasian hobby Falco subbuteo
80. Pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus
81. Common teal Anas crecca
82. Northern shoveler Spatula clypeata
83. Dark-bellied brent goose Branta bernicla
84. Dunlin Calidris alpina
85. Common redshank Tringa totanus
86. Little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
87. Black-throated diver Gavia arctica
88. Sanderling Calidris alba

9. West European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
10. Brown rat Rattus norvegicus

1. European common toad Bufo bufo

27. European hornet Vespa crabro
28. Blue-tailed damselfly Ischnura elegans
29. Essex skipper Thymelicus lineola
30. Comma Polygonia c-album
31. Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
32. Meadow brown Maniola jurtina
33. White-letter hairstreak Satyrium w-album
34. Silver-washed fritillary Argynnis paphia
35. Noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Just realised that I haven't actually updated this thread since June (odd, I don't seem to get notifications on this thread anymore). Over that time I have added ten new birds (including a lifer offshore at Titchwell in Norfolk), two mammals, my first amphibian and nine invertebrates, including a lifer found living in my windowframe:

79. Eurasian hobby Falco subbuteo
80. Pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus
81. Common teal Anas crecca
82. Northern shoveler Spatula clypeata
83. Dark-bellied brent goose Branta bernicla
84. Dunlin Calidris alpina
85. Common redshank Tringa totanus
86. Little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
87. Black-throated diver Gavia arctica
88. Sanderling Calidris alba

9. West European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
10. Brown rat Rattus norvegicus

1. European common toad Bufo bufo

27. European hornet Vespa crabro
28. Blue-tailed damselfly Ischnura elegans
29. Essex skipper Thymelicus lineola
30. Comma Polygonia c-album
31. Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
32. Meadow brown Maniola jurtina
33. White-letter hairstreak Satyrium w-album
34. Silver-washed fritillary Argynnis paphia
35. Noble false widow spider Steatoda nobilis
Click to expand...
I find likewise, if I don't post for a while I don't get notifications. It must be something in the algorithm and we probably don't notice it in other threads because they only tend to be active for a couple of weeks.
 
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