There’s fluffies everywhere on Bruny island. Possums and wallabies aplenty. Even a few albino wallabies hopping around.Go for fluffies then
Zoochat Big Year 2022
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
My year-list progress has stagnated a little in the past few weeks, partly because I'm busy with lots of things, and partly because the weather has been terrible, so no short cycling trips after work. The sandpiper was a surprise fly-over, and I picked up a single species during a three-day conference in Germany (Marsh Tit). It's funny how this species in the Netherlands is almost completely confined to mature beech forest, while they seem a lot more flexible in Germany.
Yesterday a small flock of Velvet Scoters was found on a small lake relatively close to where I live. They are very rare here, and because I had some flexibility in my schedule I decided to try to see them in between the downpours. When in site it didn't take long for me to find them, though the views were not as good as I would have liked because of the wind and rain. I accidentally also discovered a pair of red-breasted mergansers on the same lake, which are also extremely rare here, so that was nice. I also saw my first swallows of the year during this short excursion.
Next week promises better weather and more free time for me, so I expect to find a couple more species.
Birds
140. Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
141. Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris
142. Velvet Scoter, Melanitta fusca
143. Little Ringed Plover, Charadrius dubius
144. Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica
Yesterday a small flock of Velvet Scoters was found on a small lake relatively close to where I live. They are very rare here, and because I had some flexibility in my schedule I decided to try to see them in between the downpours. When in site it didn't take long for me to find them, though the views were not as good as I would have liked because of the wind and rain. I accidentally also discovered a pair of red-breasted mergansers on the same lake, which are also extremely rare here, so that was nice. I also saw my first swallows of the year during this short excursion.
Next week promises better weather and more free time for me, so I expect to find a couple more species.
Birds
140. Green Sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
141. Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris
142. Velvet Scoter, Melanitta fusca
143. Little Ringed Plover, Charadrius dubius
144. Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica
mammals
7. yellow necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis
7. yellow necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis
And some more from a quick trip up North in Pafos. I've now seen my target bird in the shape of the Cretzschmar's bunting (chosen more or less randomly), so I'll now jhave to get a new one just three days in. Otherwise the Spectacled warbler, Tawny pipit and short-toed lark were much appreciated.
65 - Common kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
66 - Greater short-toed lark, Calandrella brachydactyla
67 - Spectacled warbler, Curruca conspicillata
68 - Tawny pipit, Anthus campestris
69 - Cretzschmar's bunting, Emberiza caesia
See what I can get in the coming days...
I have been very busy lately, so I have had not a lot of time to post on this thread. Nevertheless, I've still been keeping track of what I saw, and have even seen a few new species.
Birds:
47. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)- 4/8/22
Invertebrates:
3. Three-Band Garden Slug (Ambigolimax valentianus)- 3/30/22
4. House Fly (Musca domestica)- 3/31/22
5. Rabid Wolf Spider (Rabidosa rabida)- 4/4/22
6. Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica)- 4/7/22
7. Metricus Paper Wasp (Polistes metricus)- 4/7/22
8. Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes)- 4/8/22
Total:
Mammals: 2
Birds: 47
Reptiles: 1
Invertebrates: 8
I managed a very brief walk today (got about ten minutes down my usual route before I encountered a dog of maneater size and chose life instead), but while out I did manage to see a new bird for the year that has made the headlines in British bird news in the past couple of days.
In the UK, greenfinches have seen a decline of about 62% since 1993 as a result of a severe outbreak of trichomonosis but the RSPB are reporting that this year there has been an increase in the number of sightings during the Big Garden Birdwatch which suggest that the population may be beginning to recover. On today's walk, I saw two brilliant males in the sunshine singing from the tops of neighbouring trees.
75. European greenfinch Chloris chloris
Information about the greenfinch and its potential budding recovery can be found here:
Garden bird survey gives glimmer of hope for Greenfinch - BirdGuides
A trip to Beddington to find garganey was unsuccessful, but did manage a raven cronking over, so am happy.
120. Common raven
I use cronk to refer to the call of a Raven too, but I thought it was just my own peculiarity (and I don't exactly see Ravens very often...). However a Google shows that is a pretty standard term. Thinking about it, though, I might have originally got it from Tarka the Otter and it just stuck in my mind.
Birds:
49. American White Ibis
50. Anhinga
51. Bald Eagle
52. Black-crowned Night-Heron
53. Blue-winged Teal
54. Brown Thrasher
55. Common Gallinule
56. Double-crested Cormorant
57. Eurasian Collared Dove
58. Gray Catbird
59. Green Heron
60. Mourning Dove
61. Muscovy Duck
62. Red Junglefowl
63. Roseate Spoonbill
64. Rose-ringed Parakeet
65. Swallow-tailed Kite
66. Tree Swallow
67. Tricolored Heron
68. Western Cattle Egret
69. Wood Stork
Herptiles:
1. American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) - counted 69 on a 1.5-hour drive across the state.
2. Brown Basilisk (Basiliscus vittatus)
3. Common Slider (Trachemys scripta)
4. Florida Red-bellied Cooter (Pseudemys nelsoni)
5. Florida Softshell Turtle (Aplone ferox)
6. Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)
7. Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)
8. Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei)
8. Peter’s Rock Agama (Agama picticauda)
9. Southern Toad (Anaxyrus terrestris)
Fish:
2. Amur Carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus)
3. Common Pleco (Hypostomus plecostomus)
4. Florida Gar (Lepisosteus playtyrhinchus)
5. Mayan Cichlid (Mayaheros urophthalmus)
6. Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)
Invertebrates:
1. Eastern Giant Swallowtail (Papillio cresphontes)
2. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papillio glaucus)
3. Florida Carpenter Ant (Camponotus floridanus)
4. Julia Heliconian (Dryas iulia)
5. Needham’s Skimmer (Libellula needhami)
6. Rambur’s Forktail (Ischnuria ramburii)
7. Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
8. Zebra Longwing (Heliconius charithonia)
Mammals: 7
Birds: 69
Herptiles : 9
Fish: 6
Invertebrates: 8
Total: 99
As it turns out, when your area basically only has birds and bugs, you get surprisingly invested in identifying them.
Invertebrates
30. Drugstore Beetle Stegobium paniceum
31. Pallid-Winged Grasshopper Trimerotropis pallidipennis
32. Great Black Wasp Sphex pensylvanicus
33. Black Witch Moth Ascalapha odorata
34. Ring-Legged Earwig Euborellia annulipes
Invertebrates
30. Drugstore Beetle Stegobium paniceum
31. Pallid-Winged Grasshopper Trimerotropis pallidipennis
32. Great Black Wasp Sphex pensylvanicus
33. Black Witch Moth Ascalapha odorata
34. Ring-Legged Earwig Euborellia annulipes
This would be feral chickens?
10/4/2022
Eaglehawk Neck pelagic
203. Black browed albatross
204. COMMON DIVING-PETREL**
205. GREY-BACKED STORM PETREL**
206. Indian yellow-nosed albatross
207. Providence petrel
208. Short-tailed shearwater
209. Shy albatross
210. Sooty shearwater
211. Buller’s albatross
212. Wandering albatross
213. WHITE-CHINNED PETREL**
214. WHITE-HEADED PETREL**
215. Wilson’s storm petrel
216. GREY-FACED PETREL**
Eaglehawk Neck pelagic
203. Black browed albatross
204. COMMON DIVING-PETREL**
205. GREY-BACKED STORM PETREL**
206. Indian yellow-nosed albatross
207. Providence petrel
208. Short-tailed shearwater
209. Shy albatross
210. Sooty shearwater
211. Buller’s albatross
212. Wandering albatross
213. WHITE-CHINNED PETREL**
214. WHITE-HEADED PETREL**
215. Wilson’s storm petrel
216. GREY-FACED PETREL**
It's probably an ear worm from Tarka for me too, in all honesty. It does seem to be a relatively standard description of their call, though.
Oddly enough I was walking around Baggy Point in N.Devon last week, that is where 'Kronk' the raven and his mate had their home and he would feed on the rabbits caught in gin traps tilled on the cliffs. I was also able to see (again) the two cottages where Williamson wrote the early books including Tarka and also the writing hut where he wrote all his later works.
After not being able to go to Mangere last week because of dodgy buses and having to resort to somewhere closer to home and getting nothing for the year. I was finally able to head to Mangere on Saturday for the one goal I've had the past few weeks, see a wrybill.
Arriving at around 3-4 PM I only really birded for about an hour or so, but i'd say it was a pretty productive hour. Arriving at the central lagoon thing which connects the shellbanks and Puketutu island, I spied upon a weird cluster of white perched in the middle of the lagoon (at this point the tide was starting to recede), and upon fixing my binoculars on the flock I realised it was a flock of royal spoonbills! A nice addition to the year list and a nice lifer as well although they all had their heads tucked in with the telltale bill only being flashed enough for me to get a conclusive id. (Thankfully I had much better sightings later on, seeing maybe around 20? of them, which was really nice for a lifer). Looking up I bared witness to probably one of the largest flocks of birds I've seen in my life, seeing maybe 100 or so? pied stilts all flying from Puketutu Island to the lagoon on the Ambury side was really cool. Also saw a line of what I believe were LBS/shags of some kind in a huge line-up swimming from shore to shore back and forth presumably corralling fish, too bad I didn't take any pictures. I was going to had to the shell-banks as I'd assumed it was still around high tide but seeing massive flocks all on the mudflats decided to go up to Puketutu Island instead, gazing upon lineups of shorebirds which I wouldn't be surprised if half were wrybills but never could get a conclusive id sadly. Also saw a tern shape around the size of a pied stilt which might've been a caspian but I don't know so won't count it. Nothing else happened walked up Island Rd along the canal, seeing a foraging flock of spoonbills next to the road, and picking up my second lifer a mated pair of shovelers which was neat. Heading back home at around 5 as to not be stranded at Mangere in the dark, overall considering I got 2 nice lifers it was a nice day, tough I'll have to return again to try and get wrybill and brown teal as well as they're supposed to be in the waterways on Puketutu.
Birds
51. Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia)
52. Australasian Shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis)
Yes.
The last couple of weeks have been largely scuppered for anything animally by (in order) social commitments, a visit from The Virus, then work commitments, but once I'd repelled the infection I did manage to make an excursion that turned out to be quite significant...
Made another visit to this spot, just for a quick stroll. I wasn't really expecting any improvement, but a Brown Trout where the stream enters the River Derwent was a good start, and then tracking along the stream I noticed something that immediately looked lampreyish in my binoculars. I snapped a few photos, then changed positions and looked again. Momentarily I thought I was mistaken, it was just a long leaf - but moving back to my original position it was clear this was an illusion - it was definitely a lamprey. There was a big wound in one side of it though, and it was very still - have I found a dead one? Just as this though crossed my mind it unsuckered from the rock and went for a swim, eventually resuckering in the same spot but at a different angle. All doubts were gone and as it repeated the process half-a-dozen times I was left only to curse the failing light that meant only very record-shot-y photos were possible. Wonderful creature though. Only my second-ever live jawless fish species (after the hagfish Eptatretus burgeri, which they used to have at the Deep) and whole new Class for my wild list. And all a 20 minute drive from home.
Fishes:
1. Brown Trout - Salmo trutta
2. Brook Lamprey - Lampetra planeri
Invertebrates:
13. Small White - Pieris rapae
Made another visit to this spot, just for a quick stroll. I wasn't really expecting any improvement, but a Brown Trout where the stream enters the River Derwent was a good start, and then tracking along the stream I noticed something that immediately looked lampreyish in my binoculars. I snapped a few photos, then changed positions and looked again. Momentarily I thought I was mistaken, it was just a long leaf - but moving back to my original position it was clear this was an illusion - it was definitely a lamprey. There was a big wound in one side of it though, and it was very still - have I found a dead one? Just as this though crossed my mind it unsuckered from the rock and went for a swim, eventually resuckering in the same spot but at a different angle. All doubts were gone and as it repeated the process half-a-dozen times I was left only to curse the failing light that meant only very record-shot-y photos were possible. Wonderful creature though. Only my second-ever live jawless fish species (after the hagfish Eptatretus burgeri, which they used to have at the Deep) and whole new Class for my wild list. And all a 20 minute drive from home.
Fishes:
1. Brown Trout - Salmo trutta
2. Brook Lamprey - Lampetra planeri
Invertebrates:
13. Small White - Pieris rapae