Zoochat Big Year 2023

[Bisonblake]

Birds:

1/12/23
7. Black-capped chickadee Poecile atricapillus

1/16/23
8. American crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
9. Cedar waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum

Total Species: 13
Birds: 9
Mammals: 4

1/19/23

Birds:
10. Downy woodpecker Picoides pubescens
11. Rock pigeon Columba livia

Mammals:
5. White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus

Total species: 16
Birds: 11
Mammals: 5

I'm surprised it took this long for me to finally spot a white-tailed deer. I'm glad I can finally knock it off the list.

 

[Maguari]

Just realised I never added my birds from a long weekend of outings on 7th-9th.

Saturday was a weird day, after chauffeur duties took me over to Pensarn in the morning, where I took a quick look at the sea (birds 54-56) - then I spent the rest of the day at Chester Zoo, with a few incidental additions (birds 57-59, mammal 4!). On Sunday a walk around Carr Vale NR started strong before rain stopped play (birds 60-62) - but I had Monday off after working Boxing Day cover so I was able to make use of the much better weather the next day at Idle Valley NR, where a redhead Smew was the pick of the birds (birds 63-72), and some time at the feeders at Carburton in search of Marsh Tit (birds 73-74).

Haven't had any chance for birding since but hoping to get out again this weekend.

Mammals:
4. House Mouse - Mus musculus

Birds:
54. Eurasian Collared Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
55. Common Scoter - Melanitta nigra
56. Eurasian Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus
57. Rook - Corvus frugilegus
58. Redwing - Turdus iliacus
59. Eurasian Jay - Garrulus glandarius
60. Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita
61. Goldcrest - Regulus regulus
62. European Greenfinch - Chloris chloris
63. European Golden Plover - Pluvialis apricaria
64. Common Shelduck - Tadorna tadorna
65. Great White Egret - Ardea alba
66. Eurasian Treecreeper - Certhia familiaris
67. Lesser Redpoll - Acanthis cabaret
68. Northern Shoveler - Spatula clypeata
69. European Pochard - Aythya ferina
70. Smew - Mergellus albellus
71. European Bullfinch - Pyrrhula pyrrhula
72. Egyptian Goose - Alopochen aegypticus
73. European Nuthatch - Sitta europaea
74. Marsh Tit - Poecile palustris

 

[Great Argus]

Some odds and ends seen between storms, including a male Evening Grosbeak that wandered down well below their usual elevation here. Weather is finally clearing up now and am planning to do a fair bit of birding tomorrow, hopefully it'll be quite productive!

Mammals:

3. Western Gray Squirrel (Sciurus griseus)

Birds:

58. Killdeer (Charadrius vociferans)
59. Common Raven (Corvus corax)
60. Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
61. Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
62. Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)
63. Evening Grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus)
64. Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

3-64-0-0-0-3

Well due to a later than intended start the day was not quite as productive species-wise as I'd hoped, but due to what I did get I'm far from disappointed. Finally ending a seven year unlucky run, I finally properly added Greater Roadrunner to the lifelist. I've heard them a couple of times, taunting me from behind fences I couldn't cross, and made multiple attempts at every spot they're known to occur. But finally today, at the most reliable site, in chilly North winds, there was one hanging out on the hillside. About time! Seeing a Coyote on my way back across the plains made it all the better, the fellow must have been on his way to try out his latest scheme.

Mammals:

4. Coyote (Canis latrans)

Birds:

65. Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)
66. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
67. Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
68. Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

4-68-0-0-0-3

 

[Kakapo]

Yesterday 14th January 2003. A surprising find.

BIRDS

15. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos. A male and a female resting in a fountain in the very middle of the city, full of pedestrians walking and cars running. I never saw mallards before in this place. They were not even scared of people (a small area of grass separate the fountain from the pedestrians, making the ducks to be at a certain security distance).

Yesterday 19th January. It was a surprising day in biodiversity for a daily urban trip to workplace. The day started in a quite good way while, in my bike, I saw the first white stork of the year soaring not far from the river. So I paid special attention to any movement for complete the day. The ever present magpies, wood pigeons, common pigeons, white wagtails, unidentifiable (supposedly always spotless, that is the common one here) starlings, etc accompanied me in my way. I saw an unusual movement of black-headed gulls in the ship port of the river under the bridge, while two cormorants rested nearby. Here I saw also little egrets. In the middle of my way to work, a big silouhette was approaching over me in the sky. I was sure it was a grey heron, for the big size, slow wing beats, long trailing legs left behind... but when it was close enough it resulted to be white. So, it was a GREAT EGRET, an uncommon bird in my zone!!!!! When I was arriving to my work place, a red kite (also seen the previous day) was seen soaring from far, and after approaching quickly in straight line to me until I had it relatively close. Once finished my work, I want to go under the bridge down to the river for adding more wildlife sights and investigate why the unusual concentration of black-headed gulls. But the weather was terrible. Very cold, windy and rainy, and with quickly decreasing levels of light. The gulls have vanished, but here I gained another noteworthy sight. The unmistakable, very loud song of Cetti's warbler sounded in a nearby locust tree. Usually, Cetti's warbler is very easy to hear (from very far distances!) but extremely difficult to see. But this time, I saw the critter, and in fact, the critters, as they were a pair. I never saw before a pair of Cetti's warbler together, always solitary. They were together in the same branch of the higher part of the locust tree, well exposed. I wished I had my camera with me, altought the birds were in backlight. I wanted to add some invertebrates to the list and lifted up some plane tree barks but they were almost empty. Only a handful of ant workers under one bark, and a ladybug under another. I took a photo of the ladybug because at that distance (higher than me) and low light level I was unable to be sure of the specific ID in situ. It resulted to be a melanic form of the two-spotted ladybug. Today, checking the photo at home I see that I also caught a plane tree lace bug with it. Nice, I added another species to the day checklist!

New species for the year:

BIRDS:

16. White stork (Ciconia ciconia)
17. Little egret (Egretta garzetta)
18. Great egret (Ardea alba)
19. Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti)

INVERTEBRATES:

11. Crematogaster scutellaris
12. Adalia bipunctata
13. Corythucha ciliata

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

A very local walk to Arrowe Park; at least half a dozen gaps I could expect to fill, but only one played ball, and just one pair; I have seen 10+ in the past.
72 Mandarin Duck - Aix galericulata

 

[ThylacineAlive]

Missed one from the end of the day!

38) Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius

~Thylo

Made another (probably final) go at that warbler spot in south CT. Still no Tennessee Warbler which has been seen consistently, but I did get a couple other species. I also swung by a nearby site I'd heard about that was good for sparrows. To my surprise, the site turned out to literally be a single row of bushes planted at the corner of an amazon warehouse!

39) Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
40) Pine Warbler Setophaga pinus
41) Orange-Crowned Warbler Leiothlypis celata
----
42) Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
43) Clay-Colored Sparrow Spizella pallida
44) White-Crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii

~Thylo

 

[Great Argus]

Well due to a later than intended start the day was not quite as productive species-wise as I'd hoped, but due to what I did get I'm far from disappointed. Finally ending a seven year unlucky run, I finally properly added Greater Roadrunner to the lifelist. I've heard them a couple of times, taunting me from behind fences I couldn't cross, and made multiple attempts at every spot they're known to occur. But finally today, at the most reliable site, in chilly North winds, there was one hanging out on the hillside. About time! Seeing a Coyote on my way back across the plains made it all the better, the fellow must have been on his way to try out his latest scheme.

Mammals:

4. Coyote (Canis latrans)

Birds:

65. Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)
66. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
67. Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
68. Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

4-68-0-0-0-3

The Great Horned Owl pair was busy tonight... one got the unseen skunk (unfortunately said skunk deployed its lovely scent in the process), and then I saw the second owl swipe a dove out of their roost tree via porch light. Definitely wanted to make an impactful entry to this year's list apparently. So anyways,

Birds:

69. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginanus)

4-69-0-0-0-3

 

[boof]

20/1/2023
109. Black falcon
110. White-winged fairywren
21/1/2023
111. Brolga
112. Brown falcon
113. Eurasian coot
114. Little crow
115. Restless flycatcher
116. White-browed woodswallow

 

[Kakapo]

Yesterday 19th January. It was a surprising day in biodiversity for a daily urban trip to workplace. The day started in a quite good way while, in my bike, I saw the first white stork of the year soaring not far from the river. So I paid special attention to any movement for complete the day. The ever present magpies, wood pigeons, common pigeons, white wagtails, unidentifiable (supposedly always spotless, that is the common one here) starlings, etc accompanied me in my way. I saw an unusual movement of black-headed gulls in the ship port of the river under the bridge, while two cormorants rested nearby. Here I saw also little egrets. In the middle of my way to work, a big silouhette was approaching over me in the sky. I was sure it was a grey heron, for the big size, slow wing beats, long trailing legs left behind... but when it was close enough it resulted to be white. So, it was a GREAT EGRET, an uncommon bird in my zone!!!!! When I was arriving to my work place, a red kite (also seen the previous day) was seen soaring from far, and after approaching quickly in straight line to me until I had it relatively close. Once finished my work, I want to go under the bridge down to the river for adding more wildlife sights and investigate why the unusual concentration of black-headed gulls. But the weather was terrible. Very cold, windy and rainy, and with quickly decreasing levels of light. The gulls have vanished, but here I gained another noteworthy sight. The unmistakable, very loud song of Cetti's warbler sounded in a nearby locust tree. Usually, Cetti's warbler is very easy to hear (from very far distances!) but extremely difficult to see. But this time, I saw the critter, and in fact, the critters, as they were a pair. I never saw before a pair of Cetti's warbler together, always solitary. They were together in the same branch of the higher part of the locust tree, well exposed. I wished I had my camera with me, altought the birds were in backlight. I wanted to add some invertebrates to the list and lifted up some plane tree barks but they were almost empty. Only a handful of ant workers under one bark, and a ladybug under another. I took a photo of the ladybug because at that distance (higher than me) and low light level I was unable to be sure of the specific ID in situ. It resulted to be a melanic form of the two-spotted ladybug. Today, checking the photo at home I see that I also caught a plane tree lace bug with it. Nice, I added another species to the day checklist!

New species for the year:

BIRDS:

16. White stork (Ciconia ciconia)
17. Little egret (Egretta garzetta)
18. Great egret (Ardea alba)
19. Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti)

INVERTEBRATES:

11. Crematogaster scutellaris
12. Adalia bipunctata
13. Corythucha ciliata

I always tend to forget some critters when making lists. This time I forgot to include in the previous message, two snails seen when abandoning the zone under the bridge for pass over it.

14. Trochoidea elegans
15. Otala punctata

 

[Coelacanth18]

The birding trip to southeast Arizona (with a productive stop at Salton Sea along the way) was fairly successful, easily pushing me over my target of 100 birds for the first month. Overall I picked up 14 bird lifers and 3 mammal lifers, including the majority of my targets for the trip. I also added a few birds and mammals locally before and since the trip, including another lifer on my target list that I ended up seeing just incidentally!

Also one note on my previous list: Red-breasted Sapsucker should actually be Red-naped Sapsucker.

Birds
Arizona:
Aquatic Birds
71. Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
Raptors
72. Gray Hawk (Buteo plagiatus)
Woodpeckers
73. Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis)
74. Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris)
75. Arizona Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus arizonae)
Hummingbirds
76. Costa’s Hummingbird (Calypte costae)
77. Violet-crowned Hummingbird (Ramosomyia violiceps)
78. Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris)
79. Magnificent (Rivoli’s) Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens)
Songbirds
80. American Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii)
81. Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
82. Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
83. Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps)
84. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
85. Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
86. Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)
87. Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre)
88. Townsend’s Warbler (Setophaga townsendi)
89. Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)
90. Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
91. Abert’s Towhee (Melozone aberti)
92. Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)
93. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
94. Northern Beardless Tyrannulet (Camptostoma imberbe)
95. Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi)
96. Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi)
97. Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus)
98. Yellow-eyed Junco (Junco phaeonotus)
99. Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)
100. Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava)
101. Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus)
Other
102. Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii)
103. Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
104. White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)

California:
Aquatic Birds
105. Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)
106. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
107. American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
108. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
109. Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
110. Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Owls
111. Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
Songbirds
112. Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
113. White-throated Swift (Aeronautes saxatalis)
114. Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
115. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
116. LeConte’s Thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei)
Other
117. Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
118. Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina)

Mammals
Arizona:
4. Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus)
5. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (Coues’ ssp)
6. Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu)
7. White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica)
8. Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis)

California:
9. Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
10. Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)
11. Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)

And I don't normally keep track of plants, but with the strong winds I've seen plenty of these lately

Plants:
1. Western Tumbleweed (Locomophytus cowboii)

 

[oflory]

A belated report of a lesser scaup at Staines Reservoirs (the bird has apparently been there since before Christmas, and only identified yesterday evening), and I had to make the trip - a wild lifer for me.

60. Lesser scaup
61. Black-necked grebe

Quite a few more from Leigh-on-Sea, in glorious weather today.

Mammals
4. Common seal

Birds
62. Song thrush
63. Rock pipit
64. Dunnock
65. Common chiffchaff
66. Common redshank
67. Dunlin
68. Sanderling
69. Red knot
70. Ruddy turnstone
71. Black-tailed godwit
72. Eurasian curlew
73. Common ringed plover
74. Grey plover
75. Eurasian oystercatcher
76. Pied avocet
77. Eurasian wigeon
78. Brent goose

 

[Maguari]

A few from a rather frosty (when not outright frozen) South Yorkshire today - the first two from RSPB Old Moor, and the second two from Thrybergh Country Park, where the duck has been a fixture for some days now.

Birds:
75. Stock Dove - Columba oenas
76. Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
77. Fieldfare - Turdus pilaris
78. Greater Scaup - Aythya marila

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

A trip to Parkgate and Burton Mere to try to fill some gaps; very frosty!
Birds
73 Reed Bunting Emberiza schoenichlus
74 Coal Tit Parus ater
75 Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis
76 Green Woodpecker Picus viridis

Mammals
4 Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes

 

[birdsandbats]

The birding trip to southeast Arizona (with a productive stop at Salton Sea along the way) was fairly successful, easily pushing me over my target of 100 birds for the first month. Overall I picked up 14 bird lifers and 3 mammal lifers, including the majority of my targets for the trip. I also added a few birds and mammals locally before and since the trip, including another lifer on my target list that I ended up seeing just incidentally!

Also one note on my previous list: Red-breasted Sapsucker should actually be Red-naped Sapsucker.

Birds
Arizona:
Aquatic Birds
71. Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
Raptors
72. Gray Hawk (Buteo plagiatus)
Woodpeckers
73. Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis)
74. Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris)
75. Arizona Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus arizonae)
Hummingbirds
76. Costa’s Hummingbird (Calypte costae)
77. Violet-crowned Hummingbird (Ramosomyia violiceps)
78. Broad-billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostris)
79. Magnificent (Rivoli’s) Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens)
Songbirds
80. American Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii)
81. Bewick’s Wren (Thryomanes bewickii)
82. Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
83. Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps)
84. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
85. Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
86. Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus)
87. Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre)
88. Townsend’s Warbler (Setophaga townsendi)
89. Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)
90. Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
91. Abert’s Towhee (Melozone aberti)
92. Pine Siskin (Spinus pinus)
93. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
94. Northern Beardless Tyrannulet (Camptostoma imberbe)
95. Bridled Titmouse (Baeolophus wollweberi)
96. Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma wollweberi)
97. Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus)
98. Yellow-eyed Junco (Junco phaeonotus)
99. Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)
100. Hepatic Tanager (Piranga flava)
101. Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus)
Other
102. Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii)
103. Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
104. White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)

California:
Aquatic Birds
105. Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)
106. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
107. American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
108. Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
109. Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
110. Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus)
Owls
111. Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
Songbirds
112. Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
113. White-throated Swift (Aeronautes saxatalis)
114. Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)
115. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
116. LeConte’s Thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei)
Other
117. Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
118. Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina)

Mammals
Arizona:
4. Rock Squirrel (Otospermophilus variegatus)
5. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) (Coues’ ssp)
6. Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu)
7. White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica)
8. Arizona Gray Squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis)

California:
9. Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
10. Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)
11. Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)

And I don't normally keep track of plants, but with the strong winds I've seen plenty of these lately

Plants:
1. Western Tumbleweed (Locomophytus cowboii)

Most tumbleweeds are Russian Thistle (Salsola australis).

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
72. Varied Thrush Ixoreus naevius
73. Purple Finch Haemorhous purpureus

Birds
74. Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus

 

[Great Argus]

Most tumbleweeds are Russian Thistle (Salsola australis).

He's joking, given Locomophytus isn't a real genus. Though the rough translation of 'cowboy's moving plant' is not a half bad name.

 

[birdsandbats]

He's joking, given Locomophytus isn't a real genus. Though the rough translation of 'cowboy's moving plant' is not a half bad name.

I got that it was a joke, but that's probably the actual species ID if he was interested.

 

[Coelacanth18]

I actually didn't know what species tumbleweeds were, interesting to hear that most are an invasive plant!

Birds

118. Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerina)

Addendum: went birding at a lake this afternoon to knock off an easy pickup (the wigeon) and got 3 more in the process.

Birds
119. California Towhee (Melozone crissalis)
120. Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
121. American Wigeon (Mareca americana)
122. California Quail (Callipepla californica)

 

[Kakapo]

I always tend to forget some critters when making lists. This time I forgot to include in the previous message, two snails seen when abandoning the zone under the bridge for pass over it.

14. Trochoidea elegans
15. Otala punctata

Yesterday 21th January I was walking at night with my boyfriend by the river side. A big grey heron appeared flying from not very far distance so despite the low light I was able to see it very well.

20. Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)

 

[Junklekitteb]

The bulbuls are back to their boisterous selves, and the puff-throated babblers are as innocently bold of humans as ever, but that doesn’t ease the fact that I haven’t got a chance to go out much to look for birds. I wanted to go visit the Botanical Gardens this weekend to tick off the common resident water birds at the lake there, but my attempts were in vain. I have also not got a single chance to twitch the 4 types of thrushes currently living simultaneously at the Agricultural Sciences University, including the super-rare Eyebrowed Thrush.
Seen Birds
A few I missed reporting from last week
40. Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata
41. Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri
42. White-browned Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis
And a few new ones
43. Indian Robin Copsychus fulicatus
44. Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops
45. Red Spurfowl Galloperdix spadicea
46. Painted Spurfowl Galloperdix lunulata
Heard Only Birds
4. Spotted Owlet Athene brama
Insects
5. Lime Butterfly Papilio demoleus
6. Yellow Orange-tip Ixias pyrene
7. Striped Tiger Danaus genutia

This week was quite exciting. In and around my school, I got to go on a nocturnal walk, yielding not only the typical inverts, loris and sleeping birds but also a family of civets up in the trees. I also went on my regular weekly bird walk, where we were all surprised by the sight of a huge Aquila eagle being mobbed by, of all things, three honey-buzzards!
Seen Birds
47. White-naped Woodpecker Chrysocolaptes festivus
48. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
49. Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum
50. Tawny-bellied Babbler Dumetia hyperythra
51. Oriental Honey-buzzard Pernis ptilorhyncha
- Eagle Aquila sp., probably Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax
52. Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus
I also finally got to head down to the botanical garden to scout around the lake there for water birds. While it does tend to be devoid of migratory ducks and such, it usually allows me tick off the common species early in the year and not have to worry about them later. It was a good little jaunt, with a fair number of new species for the year, but there were some species that were strangely missing: Eurasian Moorhen, Grey Heron, Spot-billed Pelican, Painted Stork and Black-crowned Night-heron. I did see a bird that could have been Striated Heron (which would have been a lifer for me). However I am not familiar enough with the differences between it and the night-heron to take a call on what it was.
If I am lucky I will be able to make it to Srirangapatna next weekend to visit the bird sanctuary, which should allow me to make up for a few of those deficits and add a few new species.
Seen Birds
53. Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis
54. Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger
55. Little Egret Egretta garzetta
(I saw them in this specific order, I swear)
56. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
57. Grey-headed Swamphen Porphyrio poliocephalus
58. White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus
59. Indian Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha
60. Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
61. Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster