Zoochat Big Year 2023

Mammals
January
1. Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
2. Fox squirrel (Sciurus niger)
3. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
4. Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
5. Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)
April
6. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
7. Groundhog (Marmota monax)

Birds
January
1. Golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus satrapa)
2. Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
3. House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
4. Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus)
5. Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
6. Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis)
7. Downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)
8. European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
9. White-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
10. Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
11. Tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
12. Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis)
13. Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
14. American tree sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)
15. Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
16. American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
17. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
18. Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
19. American goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
20. Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
21. Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
22. Hairy woodpecker (Dryobates villosus)
23. Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
24. Gadwall (Mareca strepera)
25. Ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis)
26. American kestrel (Falco sparverius)
27. Song sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
28. Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
29. American robin (Turdus migratorius)
30. Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
31. Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
32. House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)
33. Barred owl (Strix varia)
February
34. Common merganser (Mergus merganser)
35. Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
36. American wigeon (Mareca americana)
37. Hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
38. Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
39. Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus)
40. Green-winged teal (Anas crecca)
41. Rock dove (Columba livia)
42. Snow goose (Anser caerulescens)
43. Horned lark (Eremophila alpestris)
44. White-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
45. Harris’s sparrow (Zonotrichia querula)
46. Lesser scaup (Aythya affinis)
47. Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris)
48. Ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
49. Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
50. Redhead (Aythya americana)
51. Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
52. Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)
53. Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
54. American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
55. Double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum)
56. Eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
57. Northern harrier (Circus hudsonius)
58. Northern pintail (Anas acuta)
59. Greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons)
60. Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)
61. Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
62. American pipit (Anthus rubescens)
63. Common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
March
64. Northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata)
65. American coot (Fulica americana)
66. Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura)
67. Wood duck (Aix sponsa)
68. Common loon (Gavia immer)
69. Pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)
70. Horned grebe (Podiceps auritus)
71. Great blue heron (Ardea herodias)
72. Eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)
73. Ross’s goose (Anser rossii)
74. Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
75. Belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
76. American woodcock (Scolopax minor)
77. White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
78. Red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator)
79. Brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater)
April
80. Baird’s sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
81. Bonaparte’s gull (Chroicocephalus philadelphia)
82. Blue-winged teal (Spatula discors)
83. Brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
84. Pectoral sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
85. Lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
86. Greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
87. Great egret (Ardea alba)
88. Trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator)
89. Wilson’s snipe (Gallinago delicata)
90. Chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina)
91. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
92. Northern parula (Setophaga americana)
93. Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
94. American avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
95. Ruby-crowned kinglet (Corthylio calendula)
96. Yellow-rumped warbler (Setophaga coronata)
97. Spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
98. Forster’s tern (Sterna forsteri)
99. Eastern towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)
100. Blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
101. Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
102. Northern rough-winged swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
103. Savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)

Invertebrates
January
1. Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys)
2. Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis)
February
3. Western honeybee (Apis mellifera)
4. American winter ant (Prenolepis imparis)
5. Zora pumila
March
6. Garden ghost spider (Hibana gracilis)
April
7. Lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum)
8. American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
9. Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea)
10. Pondmussel (Sagittunio subrostratus)
11. Odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile)
12. Cabbage white (Pieris rapae)
13. Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
14. Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
15. Zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus)
16. Two-lined leatherwing (Atalantycha bilineata)
17. Enoclerus nigripes

Herps
March
1. Pond slider (Trachemys scripta)
2. Boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata)
3. Spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)
April
4. Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)
5. Eastern racer (Coluber constrictor)
6. Eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
7. Dekay’s brownsnake (Storeria dekayi)
8. Common five-lined skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)
9. American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
10. Blanchard’s cricket frog (Acris blanchardi)
11. American toad (Anaxyrus americana)

Fish
March
1. Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
April
2. Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
3. Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
4. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
 
Bisonblake said:
4/21/23
Birds:
41. Great blue heron Ardea herodias
42. Brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater
43. Fox sparrow Passerella iliaca

Total Species: 54
Birds: 43
Mammals: 8
Herptiles: 3

Also, I'd like to note some heard-only species that aren't on my year list:
1. Northern flicker Colaptes auratus
2. Great horned owl Bubo virginianus
3. Swamp sparrow Melospiza georgiana
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the rainy and windy weather cut my birding adventure short today. Still glad to add another lifer.

4/21/23
Birds:
44. Belted kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon

Total Species: 55
Birds: 44
Mammals: 8
Herptiles: 3
 
Chlidonias said:
You should be on 133.
Click to expand...
Birds
134. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
135. Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
136. Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
137. Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
138. Purple Martin Progne subis
139. Palm Warbler Setophaga palmarum
140. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
141. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
142. American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus
143. Virginia Rail Rallus limicola
144. Yellow-headed Blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
145. American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
146. Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
147. Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
148. Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

American Avocet is a new state bird for me!
 
A catchup with some species seen around Moonlit.

Birds
619..Eastern great egret Ardea modesta
620. White-faced heron Egretta novaehollandiae
621. Little pied cormorant Microcarbo melanoleucos
622. Little black cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
623. Brown goshawk Accipiter fasciatus
624. Grey goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae
625. Galah Eolophus roseicapilla
626. Red-browed finch Neochmia temporalis
627. Common mynah Acridotheres tristis

Insects
27. Banded sugar ant Camponotus consobrinus

From Mission Beach

Reptiles
20. House gecko Hemidactylus frenatus
 
ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
I've gotten some good spring wildlife watching in.

Mammals
Both seen on the side of the road at night, same road, different nights. The opossum was actually eating roadkill in the middle of the road, dangerously close to becoming some itself. I also saw my first ever shrews, a whole family of them, but I'll write more about that if I manage to ID them.
15. Common Racoon (Procyon lotor)
16. Virginia‌ ‌Opossum‌ ‌(‌Didelphis‌ ‌virginiana)‌
​
Birds
I'm really happy with this group of birds, including many I haven't seen frequently, and a couple county or total lifers

Busey woods, Wednesday morning
148. Purple finch (Haemorhous purpureus)
149. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
150. Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
​
Harper's ferry road brush and fluddle. This is an area of undeveloped land, part of a growing subdivision and likely soon to be developed, next to a corn field that frequently produces a massive fluddle that has attracted the likes of Black-necked stilts and White-faced ibises, local rarities. This is also where I found the shrews, and in general, there are a lot of very interesting and locally uncommon animals, like insects, found here. I'd hate for it to be developed, but I'm not sure what I can do about it.
151. Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
152. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
153. Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) (Lifer)
154. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
155. Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) (Lifer)​

Insect/Inverts
45. Ground beetle (Lebia viridipennis) (Lifer)
46. Flea jumping spider (Naphrys pulex)
47. Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina)
48. Rove beetle (Astenus discopunctatus) (Lifer)
49. Eastern calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus)
50. Transverse-banded flower fly (Eristalis transversa)
51. Wedgling moth (Galgula partita)
52. Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica)​
Click to expand...

Birds
State rarity at weaver park. I might've seen these in Florida or SC before, but more likely they were snowy egrets instead, which I know I've seen down there. New to my species list either way.
156. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) (Lifer)
​
Some early(er) migratory songbirds at crystal lake park
157. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)
158. Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
159. Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)
​
One sandpiper, where a local rarity black-necked stilt also was (Seen this year already)
160. Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
​
Both seen outside the car window on the same short drive home, both much to my surprise!
161. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
162. Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)
​
Seen near the university
163. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
164. Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)​

Fish
In crystal lake
2. Blackstripe topminnow (Fundulus notatus)
​
Insect/Inverts
53. Indian-meal moth (Plodia interpunctella) (Lifer)
54. Two lined leatherwing (Atalantycha bilineata)
55. Ground beetle (Anisodactylus sanctaecrucis) (Lifer)
56. Four-spotted sap beetle (Glischrochilus quadrisignatus)
​
birdsandbats said:
American Avocet is a new state bird for me!
Click to expand...
They're coming through this way right now, interestingly enough a small group was just spotted today here in Champaign Co. as well, although I haven't visited yet because they were on private property essentially and I've seen them already this year.
 
Again a very diverse set of additions, including mammals, amphibians, birds, a reptile, butterflies, moths, the first dragonflies, and bees (which I have decided to keep track of this year).

Viviparous lizard is the most widespread and adaptable of all Dutch reptiles, especially in my region. Here, even the smallest leftovers of once vast heaths, structure-rich forests or traditional agricultural areas of old house (relict) populations of this species, even if densities are often very low. Given how well my herptile year was going I had set my mind on seeing this species as well this year. From the end of Februari onward I have used basically any opportunity I got to search for them in my local area. I searched through every heather field, throughout open forests and nearby any mere I could find, but bar a handful of rustling sounds which may or may not have been made by lizards, I didn't find any sign of them. I knew their densities had plummeted (my best guess is that they suffered greatly during the dry spell that lasted from 2018 to 2020), but I had not expected them to be so hard to find. On the positive side, several of the other species in this list - birds, butterflies, dragonflies - were seen when looking for lizards!

So today I went a bit further afield to a place that by all accounts should have a reasonably high density of lizards. Hardly ten minutes in the field, whilst pondering how to approach my search, I glimpsed a small animal scuttling down a pile of dead wood. Given the size and shape it could only have been a lizard, but I could barely call it a sighting. After flicking the many ticks of my trousers I made my way towards a the wood pasture nearby. It seemed perfect for lizards: open, grassy, slightly moist, a few sandy spots, with lots of dead wood and other structural elements. It did not take long for me to get a better sighting of a lizard walking around in the leaf litter. Easy. If only I had visited this place earlier! I continued along the track, finding a spot I deemed perfect for one of my favourite butterfly species, the green hairstreak. And to my surprise, within a minute or so multiple green hairstreaks came fluttering by and soon they landed on the young birches and rowans in front of me.

Other particularly memorable sightings of the last two weeks or so include a few very well-showing great crested newts, another grass snake, two fighting male redstarts, a moth that just hatched and was still drying its wings, and the first dragonflies of the year. But I've been rambling on for long enough now, so I'll won't go in detail.

Birds
168. Northern Wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe
169. Common Redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus
170. European Pied Flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca
171. Common Whitethroat, Curruca communis
172. Sand Martin, Riparia riparia

Mammals
16. Bank Vole, Myodes glareolus
17. Common Wood Mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus

Reptiles
15. Viviparous Iizard, Zootoca vivapara

Amphibians
18. Great Crested Newt, Triton cristatus
19. Edible Frog, Pelophylax kl. esculentus

Butterflies
08. Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines
09. Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria
10. Green-veined White, Pieris napi
11. Green Hairstreak, Callophyrs rubi

Moths
2. Brindled Beauty, Lycia hirtaria
3. Green Silver-lines, Pseudoips prasinana

Dragonflies
1. Common Winter Damselfly, Sympecma fusca
2. Downy Emerald, Cordulina aenea

Bees
1. Common Carder Bee, Bombus pascuorum
2. Early Bumblebee, Bombus pratorum
3. Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius
4. Garden Bumblebee, Bombus hortorum
5. Red Mason Bee, Osmia bicornis
6. Tawny Mining Bee, Andrena fulva
7. Orange-tailed Mining Bee, Andrena haemorrhoa

Side-note: I will not be counting lifers in the bees and moths department, because this is the first year I keep designated lists for both groups.
 
Spent this morning bat box checking at Lea Wood with the county bat group - last year we found a few dozen Soprano Pipistrelles and a single Brown Long-eared Bat, whereas this year... we found a few dozen Soprano Pipistrelles and a single Brown Long-eared Bat. Wildlife can be consistent when it chooses..!

Mammals:
17. Soprano Pipistrelle - Pipistrellus pygmaeus
18. Brown Long-eared Bat - Plecotus auritus

:)
 
birdsandbats said:
Birds
134. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
135. Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
136. Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
137. Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
138. Purple Martin Progne subis
139. Palm Warbler Setophaga palmarum
140. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
141. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
142. American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus
143. Virginia Rail Rallus limicola
144. Yellow-headed Blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
145. American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
146. Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
147. Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
148. Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

American Avocet is a new state bird for me!
Click to expand...
Birds
149. Eared Grebe Podiceps nigricollis
 
Today my family and I drove to one of the most southern parts of Finland, in the hopes of seeing some outer archipelago species. We saw a lot of Common eiders and a couple of Long-tailed ducks (lifer for me), plus as we were leaving, we spotted a pair of White-tailed eagles soaring above (another lifer for me).

Birds

58. Common eider, Somateria mollissima 23/4/23
59. Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis 23/4/23
60. White-tailed eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla 23/4/24

Reptiles

1. Grass snake, Natrix natrix 23/4/23
 
Mehdi said:
Probably my last additions from Morocco until at least April as I'm returning to the UK tomorrow. Capped off with a very nice (and unexpected!) lifer that I've been meaning to see for quite a while now.

BIRDS:
28/01/2023 (Plage Abouda, Morocco [#355], Estuaire de l'Asif n'Srou [#356-363], Imi Ouaddar [#364])
355 - Audouin's gull, Ichthyaetus audouinii
356 - Northern raven, Corvus corax
357 - Zitting cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
358 - Black wheatear, Oenanthe leucura
359 - Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
360 - Eurasian spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia
361 - Golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos
362 - Song thrush, Turdus philomelos
363 - Northern gannet, Morus bassanus
364 - Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis
Click to expand...

BIRDS:
364 - Carrion crow, Corvus corone
365 - Redwing, Turdus iliacus
366 - Eurasian magpie, Pica pica
367 - European herring gull, Larus argentatus
368 - Mute swan, Cygnus olor
369 - Mistle thrush, Turdus viscivorus
370 - Long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus
371 - European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis
372 - Dunnock, Prunella modularis
373 - Eurasian blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus
374 - Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes
375 - Western jackdaw, Coloeus monedula
376 - Great tit, Parus major
377 - Common buzzard, Buteo buteo
378 - Northern lapwing, Vanellus vanellus
379 - Canada goose, Branta canadensis
380 - Little grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis
381 - Rook, Corvus frugilegus
382 - Eurasian jay, Garrulus glandarius
383 - Common pheasant, Phasianus colchicus
384 - Western black-eared wheatear, Oenanthe hispanica
385 - Willow warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus
386 - Spectacled warbler, Curruca conspicillata
387 - Fulvous babbler, Argya fulva
388 - Common redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus
389 - Iberian chiffchaff, Phylloscopus ibericus
390 - Barbary partridge, Alectoris barbara
391 - Rufous-tailed scrub robin, Cercotrichas galactotes
392 - Corn bunting, Emberiza calandra
393 - Western olivaceous warbler, Iduna opaca
394 - Woodchat shrike, Lanius senator
395 - European turtle dove, Streptopelia turtur
400 - Cirl bunting, Emberiza cirlus
401 - Great egret, Ardea alba
402 - Western orphean warbler, Curruca hortensis
403 - Red-rumped swallow, Cecropis daurica
404 - Western subalpine warbler, Curruca iberiae
405 - Ruff, Calidris pugnax
406 - Red knot, Calidris canutus
407 - Little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius
408 - Common ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula
409 - Cetti's warbler, Cettia cetti
410 - Western Bonelli's warbler, Phylloscopus bonelli
411 - Sand martin, Riparia riparia
412 - Common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
413 - Black kite, Milvus migrans
414 - Black-crowned night heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
415 - Common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos

MAMMALS:
24 - Eastern grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis
25 - Brown rat, Rattus norvegicus
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Update time! First, the non-birds:

Mammals
9) House Mouse Mus musculus
10) Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus
11) American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Reptiles
6) Eastern Painted Turtle Chrysemys picta

This past weekend I finally had both mornings free to go birding. My initial plan was to make another attempt for the elusive Ruffed Grouse at Aton Forest Saturday morning and then visit Hammonasset Beach on Sunday to try and find passing Red-Necked Grebe and pick up some early shorebirds.

As I believe I've touched on before, Aton Forest is a privately-owned land trust of pristine pine forests which is intended to be kept as absent of human presence as possible. This preserve is also surrounded by a couple other areas of privately owned forest with few residents living along the few roads that run between them. This remote area is an excellent place to find some birds and mammals otherwise rare or absent throughout the rest of the State. These include the grouse, crossbills, creeper, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, porcupine, and red squirrel. Oddly, Sandhill Cranes are semi-regularly attracted to the few open spaces here. Access into the forest itself is by permission only. In the past, the organization running the forest hosted events to search for porcupine, owls, grouse, etc. a few times per year. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they've continued that this year, and their last grouse search was quite some years ago now. Despite having spoken to some representatives of the forest and having been given permission earlier in the year to visit, I've suddenly found them to be difficult to contact now that it's the time to actually visit... As I said, though, there are roads which run through the forest from which some lucky few have encountered grouse before. In the end, I chose to spend both Saturday and Sunday on a grouse hunt (I learned the grebe only pass through CT for a couple of weeks, and by April they're pretty much all gone, with no sightings reported to eBird since mid-March). I managed to hear multiple grouse booming across both days, but despite my best efforts I could not actually find one. I hope to still manage to find one at some point, though with April being the best season for them in this region, I'm not holding out much hope. The two days were not a total bust, however, as I did find myself surrounded by a plethora of birds. Many of the birds I saw were ones I've picked up already this year, though some, such as the aforementioned nuthatch and Golden-Crowned Kinglet, would have been lifers for me any other year.

152) Purple Finch, Haemorhous purpureus
153) Winter Wren, Troglodytes hiemalis

Yesterday I had a little more success with picking up some new species. I hit up three spots briefly yesterday after work, all nearby one another. The first was a small pond along a road through a large farm. Oddly enough, this single small pond seems to be good at attracting shorebirds. Pectoral Sandpiper was among those reported yesterday, however it seems it moved elsewhere before I arrived. My second stop was at Milford Point, the State's top spot for migratory shorebirds. It's still early in migration, but I was still met with hundreds of Dunlins and Sanderlings, about a dozen oystercatcher, breeding displays of Piping Plovers, and a single lifer and seasonal rarity. The final stop was a nearby pond behind some office space that serves as an impressive roost for dozens of night-herons. I visited this spot earlier in the year when both natives were first reported (southwestern CT is the northernmost extent of Yellow-Crowned), but I only managed Black-Crowned. This time, I came upon an impressive flock of about two dozen Yellow-Crowned as well.

154) American Kestrel Falco sparverius
155) Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria
156) Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
----
157) American Golden-Plover Pluvialis dominica
----
158) Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea

Tomorrow I begin my journey to a (mostly) new portion of the country for me accompanied by a couple fellow ZooChatters. Fingers crossed I come back with a good update for y'all!

~Thylo
Click to expand...

Just shy of a week ago, I returned from a 5-day trek out to the plains, deserts, and mountains of Wyoming and Idaho, where I was accompanied by @Ituri and @Giant Eland on what we've deemed the Great Squirrel Safari.

The objective was simple but ambitious: find as many of the native ground squirrel species as we could. Other primary objectives were lagomorph-related (namely the Pygmy Rabbit and American Pika) and of course birding the sagebrush prairies and mountains as best we could.

Unfortunately, as good as the unseasonal record snowfall the region has recently been hit with is for replenishing some of the water reserves, it also made for some challenging wildlife watching conditions. Areas that should be in full spring this time of year are still buried in several feet of snowpack, and birds that should either be wintering in the lowlands or arriving in the mountains are instead scattered and nowhere to be found at their normal seasonal grounds. This made for a... frustrating experience at times, however we made the best of it and ultimately did pretty well all things considered.

My journey started on Thursday, April 13, when I flew into Wichita, Kansas, to meet with @Ituri. At 2am that night, we hit the road and began the ~14-hour drive to Kemmerer, Wyoming. About halfway between the two is Denver, Colorado, where we stopped to pick-up @Giant Eland. The area around the airport is supposedly very good for both Black-Tailed Prairie Dog and Burrowing Owl, though rainy weather the day we passed through resulted in no success with those two species. The following species were spotted while driving along the highway:

159) Great-Tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
160) Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
161) Black-Billed Magpie Pica hudsonia

12) Pronghorn Antilocapra americana
13) Mule Deer Odocoileus hemonius

Once in Wyoming, there's a little rest stop just outside of Rock Springs where one can stop and have a near-guaranteed chance of seeing very habituated prairie dogs and chipmunks. We were pleased to find the animal activity here wasn't impacted much by the presence of snow. As we headed further into the mountains, however, we entered a winter wonderland (or wasteland as it felt at times). Heading through one mountain pass, we were greeted by herds of Elk and eagles perched on rocky outcrops. In the late afternoon, we arrived in Kemmerer, our final destination for day 1. When checking into our hotel, we learned that a Moose had been hanging around town. We did drive around the snow laden town for a while searching for him, but never managed to spot the animal.

After our check-in and a brief Moose hunt, we made our way to Fossil Butte National Monument. Typically, this time of year the visitor center is surrounded by miles of pristine sagebrush prairie and should be teaming with newly arrived birds and hungry ground squirrels. This location is also historically a good place to find Pygmy Rabbit around dusk. Despite the snow in the mountains, we were expecting Fossil Butte to be relatively clear. What we found instead were miles of thick, hard snowpack almost completely covering the sage. According to a local, this is the first time in over 20 years that Fossil Butte has been buried in snow in mid-April. Needless to say, we did not find any Pygmy Rabbits or ground squirrels, though we did spot a few more prairie dogs and chipmunks, some larger rabbits, and some likely pretty confused early spring bird arrivals.

162) Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos
163) Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
164) Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
165) Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus

14) White-Tailed Prairie Dog Cynomys leucurus
15) Least Chipmunk Neotamias minimus
16) Elk Cervus canadensis
17) White-Tailed Jackrabbit Lepus townsendii
18) Desert Cottontail Sylvilagus audubonii

The following morning, we made additional attempts at the Moose and Fossil Butte, but only to the same result. From speaking with a ranger at Fossil Butte, the rabbits aren’t nearly as prevalent in the park as they used to be and the ranger himself hasn’t actually seen one in a few years. That said, in the fresh snowfall that fell overnight, we did find some small lagomorph-looking footprints adjacent to the visitor center, so they may still be around just shier than in the past. A little disheartened, we left Wyoming on our way to Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Along the way, we had two very lucky roadside encounters near Soda Springs, Idaho, with some wandering grouse and an entirely unplanned ground squirrel species!

166) Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
167) Sharp-Tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus

19) Uinta Ground Squirrel Urocitellus armatus

At Craters, what is normally miles of lava beds scattered with vegetation, typically home to Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel, pika, and nutcracker, is currently a bed of thick snowpack with a handful of rocks poking above the surface, home to the occasional marmot. As we expected on our arrival, the area of the park where pika and ground squirrels are most typically found was not even accessible with the specific road leading to it completely blocked with snow. Bird-wise, we were met with a pretty silent scene as well. All we found were juncos and a single chickadee heard but not seen. In general, there wasn't much to be found here. At the least, we did spot the endemic chipmunk taxa around the visitor's center. As with the pikas that live here, there is some debate as to whether the geographically isolated population of chipmunks here may actually represent a distinct, if not similar species adapted to an entirely different habitat from the Yellow-Pine found in western Idaho.

20) Yellow-Bellied Marmot Marmota flaviventris
21) Fox Squirrel (Parasciurus) Sciurus niger
22) Yellow-Pine Chipmunk Neotamias (amoenus) cratericus

After our pretty brief visit to Craters, we decided to make our way to the Silver Creek Preserve in Bellevue, Idaho. Here we found a virtually snowless landscape of restored sagebrush habitat neighbored by some flooded farm fields. The absence of white was a breath of fresh air for us, and the site proved to be one of our most productive of the trip. The flooded fields hosted cranes, curlew, waterfowl, pheasant, and flocks of song birds. The roadside bordering the fields also proved to be a great spot to look for voles. Heading to the visitor center, we encountered many ground squirrels living along the side of the road at the edge of the sagebrush. As we explored the trails, we encountered a tiny cottontail which briefly gave @Giant Eland and I a glimmer of hope we’d found our rabbit after all. @Ituri assured us, however, that this animal was nothing more than a young Mountain Cottontail. On our way out, I even encountered my one new herp for the trip.

168) Swanson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
169) Rough-Legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
170) Northern Pintail Anas acuta
171) Long-Billed Curlew Numenius americanus
172) Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
173) Ring-Necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
174) Cinnamon Teal Spatula cyanoptera
175) American Goldfinch Spinus tristis

23) Montane Vole Microtus montanus
24) Columbian Ground Squirrel Urocitellus columbianus
25) Mountain Cottontail Sylvilagus nuttallii

6) Common Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis

That evening we arrived in Boise, Idaho, where we would be based from for the remainder of the trip. That night we decided to take a drive through the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (full name!) to spotlight for nocturnal mammals. We had pretty good success, finding a couple of native rodents and two badgers. Satisfied and with midnight approaching, we decided to get some sleep as day 2 came to a close.

26) American Badger Taxidea taxus
27) Ord's Kangaroo-Rat Dipodomys ordii
28) Western Deer Mouse Peromyscus sonoriensis
29) Black-Tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus

Day 3 started bright and early with a return to Snake River, specifically to Dedication Point for ground squirrels and birding. For those unaware, Dedication Point is supposed to be one of the nation’s best for raptor spotting. Strangely, few birds—namely the raptors—were visible and the ground squirrels were nowhere to be found. We did strike some luck and found an additional deer mouse out in the early morning which allowed for some good photo opportunities. With not much else around, we made our way to the floor of the canyon to bird around the Snake River itself. This spot is also good habitat for antelope squirrel and weasel, however we found neither. The canyon walls and valley provided a little better of a birding opportunity. After failing at the antelope squirrel, we made our way back to Dedication Point where, apart from ravens, we still found a pretty lifeless scene. We started making the drive back towards town when @Ituri made a lucky stop just prior to the exit to the Conservation Area. Here, we finally found an abundance of very skittish ground squirrels.

176) California Gull Larus californicus
177) Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus
178) Rock Wren Salpinctes obsoletus
179) Violet-Green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
180) California Quail Callipepla californica

30) Piute Ground Squirrel Urocitellus mollis

After lunch, we met up with a local naturalist @Ituri knows. He was nice enough to take time out of his day to take us around to a couple less obvious spots to look for wildlife. We made attempts for both Northern and Townsend’s Pocket-Gopher as well as wood-rat, and managed to nab one of the three. Following this, we took a drive out to Emmett, Idaho. For only about two months out of the year, if one crosses the Piute River on the far side of town, the farmland and countryside along Van Duesen Road is an excellent place to spot the Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel before they fall back into their 9–10-month slumber. This countryside is also the same area where Idaho's first-ever reported Tricolored Blackbirds have been found. There were two feed lots along this road where flocks of the bird have been seen, as recently as the very same day we were there! Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts at both feed lots, we never managed to find the blackbirds.

181) Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
182) Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis

31) Townsend’s Pocket-Gopher Thomomys townsendii
32) Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel Urocitellus endemicus

On our fourth and last full day of the trip, @Giant Eland made his own way into Washington for addition ground squirrel species. @Ituri and I decided to take the absence of a true blooded mammal watcher to dedicate some time to pure birding in the mountains near Idaho City. The bulk of our morning was spent along Grimes Creek, which is typically known to be great for a wide variety of montane and foothills species that were on my target list (jays, bluebird, dipper, grouse, pygmy-owl…). Unfortunately, we only encountered one new bird for all our searching, albeit a fantastic one.

183) Steller’s Jay Cyanocitta stelleri

As the morning came to a close, we decided to start making our way towards the Tamarack Forest mill for our final ground squirrel target: the Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel. This endangered taxa is debatably distinct from its southern counterpart, but is found in much higher elevations and wakes from hibernation later in the season than the SIGS. Mid-to-late April is generally the only time of year when one can expect to maybe find both taxa awake and active at the same time. Unfortunately, the heavy snowfall we’d been finding throughout all our mountain adventures left us hesitant to even attempt this squirrel. With the frustrating lack of new birds near Idaho City, however, we decided to make a go at it knowing the route would take us past Ponderosa State Park, where new opportunities might present themselves.

After over two hours of white-knuckle dirt road driving through the melting mountain roads of rural Idaho, we made it into the Cascades region. Despite hopes of Moose, grouse, and maybe even Bighorn Sheep along our drive, we didn’t spot much from the car. One animal we did encounter, though, was the true Yellow-Pine Chipmunk and a number of red squirrels. Once in McCall, we continued to find little more than a snow packed town at first. We much of the State Park itself closed, we opted instead to simply drive around the town keeping an ear out for any new birds. As luck would have it, we did manage to find our final three new bird species for the trip:

184) Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
185) Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli
186) Cassin’s Finch Haemorhous cassinii

With rain starting to fall, we headed towards Tamarack Forest Products and the Weiser River Trail, a public path that runs through the mill grounds in New Meadows, Idaho. The hillside here is reportedly great for finding NIGS. For us, we only found more snow. Accepting our fate, we headed back down the mountains and made a final go for the blackbirds. Unfortunately, same bad luck. That luck would only compound as when we stopped at the second of the feed lots, I heard the hissing of air spewing out of one of our tires. After a mad dash to get back on paved roads and somewhere safe to change the tire, we were left to reevaluate our plans. Initially, we’d planned to make our way towards the Diamondfield Jack Campgrounds to search for Cassia Crossbill in the morning before I would fly out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and @Ituri would continue the drive home. Instead, we had the tire patched in the morning and rushed to Utah for me to catch my flight. Fittingly, as I sat in the airport waiting for my plane a hailstorm rolled in. Not the most triumphant of endings to this trip report. Not all endings are, though.

So, what did I make of our trip? Was it worth it? Absolutely! It’s very unfortunate we were met with the poor timing and luck we found with the unusual weather, but I still had a great time with both @Ituri and @Giant Eland and I certainly can’t knock 21 lifeticks (22 if you split the Yellow-Pine Chipmunk) in 5 days. Still, I can't help but feel as though I now have unfinished business in Idaho. It's quite likely I will be finding my way back there to try for all the species the weather took real chances away from me at some point in the upcoming years!

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Just shy of a week ago, I returned from a 5-day trek out to the plains, deserts, and mountains of Wyoming and Idaho, where I was accompanied by @Ituri and @Giant Eland on what we've deemed the Great Squirrel Safari.

The objective was simple but ambitious: find as many of the native ground squirrel species as we could. Other primary objectives were lagomorph-related (namely the Pygmy Rabbit and American Pika) and of course birding the sagebrush prairies and mountains as best we could.

Unfortunately, as good as the unseasonal record snowfall the region has recently been hit with is for replenishing some of the water reserves, it also made for some challenging wildlife watching conditions. Areas that should be in full spring this time of year are still buried in several feet of snowpack, and birds that should either be wintering in the lowlands or arriving in the mountains are instead scattered and nowhere to be found at their normal seasonal grounds. This made for a... frustrating experience at times, however we made the best of it and ultimately did pretty well all things considered.

My journey started on Thursday, April 13, when I flew into Wichita, Kansas, to meet with @Ituri. At 2am that night, we hit the road and began the ~14-hour drive to Kemmerer, Wyoming. About halfway between the two is Denver, Colorado, where we stopped to pick-up @Giant Eland. The area around the airport is supposedly very good for both Black-Tailed Prairie Dog and Burrowing Owl, though rainy weather the day we passed through resulted in no success with those two species. The following species were spotted while driving along the highway:

159) Great-Tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus
160) Eurasian Collared-Dove Streptopelia decaocto
161) Black-Billed Magpie Pica hudsonia

12) Pronghorn Antilocapra americana
13) Mule Deer Odocoileus hemonius

Once in Wyoming, there's a little rest stop just outside of Rock Springs where one can stop and have a near-guaranteed chance of seeing very habituated prairie dogs and chipmunks. We were pleased to find the animal activity here wasn't impacted much by the presence of snow. As we headed further into the mountains, however, we entered a winter wonderland (or wasteland as it felt at times). Heading through one mountain pass, we were greeted by herds of Elk and eagles perched on rocky outcrops. In the late afternoon, we arrived in Kemmerer, our final destination for day 1. When checking into our hotel, we learned that a Moose had been hanging around town. We did drive around the snow laden town for a while searching for him, but never managed to spot the animal.

After our check-in and a brief Moose hunt, we made our way to Fossil Butte National Monument. Typically, this time of year the visitor center is surrounded by miles of pristine sagebrush prairie and should be teaming with newly arrived birds and hungry ground squirrels. This location is also historically a good place to find Pygmy Rabbit around dusk. Despite the snow in the mountains, we were expecting Fossil Butte to be relatively clear. What we found instead were miles of thick, hard snowpack almost completely covering the sage. According to a local, this is the first time in over 20 years that Fossil Butte has been buried in snow in mid-April. Needless to say, we did not find any Pygmy Rabbits or ground squirrels, though we did spot a few more prairie dogs and chipmunks, some larger rabbits, and some likely pretty confused early spring bird arrivals.

162) Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos
163) Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
164) Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
165) Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus

14) White-Tailed Prairie Dog Cynomys leucurus
15) Least Chipmunk Neotamias minimus
16) Elk Cervus canadensis
17) White-Tailed Jackrabbit Lepus townsendii
18) Desert Cottontail Sylvilagus audubonii

The following morning, we made additional attempts at the Moose and Fossil Butte, but only to the same result. From speaking with a ranger at Fossil Butte, the rabbits aren’t nearly as prevalent in the park as they used to be and the ranger himself hasn’t actually seen one in a few years. That said, in the fresh snowfall that fell overnight, we did find some small lagomorph-looking footprints adjacent to the visitor center, so they may still be around just shier than in the past. A little disheartened, we left Wyoming on our way to Craters of the Moon in Idaho. Along the way, we had two very lucky roadside encounters near Soda Springs, Idaho, with some wandering grouse and an entirely unplanned ground squirrel species!

166) Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
167) Sharp-Tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus

19) Uinta Ground Squirrel Urocitellus armatus

At Craters, what is normally miles of lava beds scattered with vegetation, typically home to Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel, pika, and nutcracker, is currently a bed of thick snowpack with a handful of rocks poking above the surface, home to the occasional marmot. As we expected on our arrival, the area of the park where pika and ground squirrels are most typically found was not even accessible with the specific road leading to it completely blocked with snow. Bird-wise, we were met with a pretty silent scene as well. All we found were juncos and a single chickadee heard but not seen. In general, there wasn't much to be found here. At the least, we did spot the endemic chipmunk taxa around the visitor's center. As with the pikas that live here, there is some debate as to whether the geographically isolated population of chipmunks here may actually represent a distinct, if not similar species adapted to an entirely different habitat from the Yellow-Pine found in western Idaho.

20) Yellow-Bellied Marmot Marmota flaviventris
21) Fox Squirrel (Parasciurus) Sciurus niger
22) Yellow-Pine Chipmunk Neotamias (amoenus) cratericus

After our pretty brief visit to Craters, we decided to make our way to the Silver Creek Preserve in Bellevue, Idaho. Here we found a virtually snowless landscape of restored sagebrush habitat neighbored by some flooded farm fields. The absence of white was a breath of fresh air for us, and the site proved to be one of our most productive of the trip. The flooded fields hosted cranes, curlew, waterfowl, pheasant, and flocks of song birds. The roadside bordering the fields also proved to be a great spot to look for voles. Heading to the visitor center, we encountered many ground squirrels living along the side of the road at the edge of the sagebrush. As we explored the trails, we encountered a tiny cottontail which briefly gave @Giant Eland and I a glimmer of hope we’d found our rabbit after all. @Ituri assured us, however, that this animal was nothing more than a young Mountain Cottontail. On our way out, I even encountered my one new herp for the trip.

168) Swanson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
169) Rough-Legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
170) Northern Pintail Anas acuta
171) Long-Billed Curlew Numenius americanus
172) Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
173) Ring-Necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
174) Cinnamon Teal Spatula cyanoptera
175) American Goldfinch Spinus tristis

23) Montane Vole Microtus montanus
24) Columbian Ground Squirrel Urocitellus columbianus
25) Mountain Cottontail Sylvilagus nuttallii

6) Common Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis

That evening we arrived in Boise, Idaho, where we would be based from for the remainder of the trip. That night we decided to take a drive through the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (full name!) to spotlight for nocturnal mammals. We had pretty good success, finding a couple of native rodents and two badgers. Satisfied and with midnight approaching, we decided to get some sleep as day 2 came to a close.

26) American Badger Taxidea taxus
27) Ord's Kangaroo-Rat Dipodomys ordii
28) Western Deer Mouse Peromyscus sonoriensis
29) Black-Tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus

Day 3 started bright and early with a return to Snake River, specifically to Dedication Point for ground squirrels and birding. For those unaware, Dedication Point is supposed to be one of the nation’s best for raptor spotting. Strangely, few birds—namely the raptors—were visible and the ground squirrels were nowhere to be found. We did strike some luck and found an additional deer mouse out in the early morning which allowed for some good photo opportunities. With not much else around, we made our way to the floor of the canyon to bird around the Snake River itself. This spot is also good habitat for antelope squirrel and weasel, however we found neither. The canyon walls and valley provided a little better of a birding opportunity. After failing at the antelope squirrel, we made our way back to Dedication Point where, apart from ravens, we still found a pretty lifeless scene. We started making the drive back towards town when @Ituri made a lucky stop just prior to the exit to the Conservation Area. Here, we finally found an abundance of very skittish ground squirrels.

176) California Gull Larus californicus
177) Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus
178) Rock Wren Salpinctes obsoletus
179) Violet-Green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
180) California Quail Callipepla californica

30) Piute Ground Squirrel Urocitellus mollis

After lunch, we met up with a local naturalist @Ituri knows. He was nice enough to take time out of his day to take us around to a couple less obvious spots to look for wildlife. We made attempts for both Northern and Townsend’s Pocket-Gopher as well as wood-rat, and managed to nab one of the three. Following this, we took a drive out to Emmett, Idaho. For only about two months out of the year, if one crosses the Piute River on the far side of town, the farmland and countryside along Van Duesen Road is an excellent place to spot the Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel before they fall back into their 9–10-month slumber. This countryside is also the same area where Idaho's first-ever reported Tricolored Blackbirds have been found. There were two feed lots along this road where flocks of the bird have been seen, as recently as the very same day we were there! Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts at both feed lots, we never managed to find the blackbirds.

181) Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
182) Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis

31) Townsend’s Pocket-Gopher Thomomys townsendii
32) Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel Urocitellus endemicus

On our fourth and last full day of the trip, @Giant Eland made his own way into Washington for addition ground squirrel species. @Ituri and I decided to take the absence of a true blooded mammal watcher to dedicate some time to pure birding in the mountains near Idaho City. The bulk of our morning was spent along Grimes Creek, which is typically known to be great for a wide variety of montane and foothills species that were on my target list (jays, bluebird, dipper, grouse, pygmy-owl…). Unfortunately, we only encountered one new bird for all our searching, albeit a fantastic one.

183) Steller’s Jay Cyanocitta stelleri

As the morning came to a close, we decided to start making our way towards the Tamarack Forest mill for our final ground squirrel target: the Northern Idaho Ground Squirrel. This endangered taxa is debatably distinct from its southern counterpart, but is found in much higher elevations and wakes from hibernation later in the season than the SIGS. Mid-to-late April is generally the only time of year when one can expect to maybe find both taxa awake and active at the same time. Unfortunately, the heavy snowfall we’d been finding throughout all our mountain adventures left us hesitant to even attempt this squirrel. With the frustrating lack of new birds near Idaho City, however, we decided to make a go at it knowing the route would take us past Ponderosa State Park, where new opportunities might present themselves.

After over two hours of white-knuckle dirt road driving through the melting mountain roads of rural Idaho, we made it into the Cascades region. Despite hopes of Moose, grouse, and maybe even Bighorn Sheep along our drive, we didn’t spot much from the car. One animal we did encounter, though, was the true Yellow-Pine Chipmunk and a number of red squirrels. Once in McCall, we continued to find little more than a snow packed town at first. We much of the State Park itself closed, we opted instead to simply drive around the town keeping an ear out for any new birds. As luck would have it, we did manage to find our final three new bird species for the trip:

184) Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
185) Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli
186) Cassin’s Finch Haemorhous cassinii

With rain starting to fall, we headed towards Tamarack Forest Products and the Weiser River Trail, a public path that runs through the mill grounds in New Meadows, Idaho. The hillside here is reportedly great for finding NIGS. For us, we only found more snow. Accepting our fate, we headed back down the mountains and made a final go for the blackbirds. Unfortunately, same bad luck. That luck would only compound as when we stopped at the second of the feed lots, I heard the hissing of air spewing out of one of our tires. After a mad dash to get back on paved roads and somewhere safe to change the tire, we were left to reevaluate our plans. Initially, we’d planned to make our way towards the Diamondfield Jack Campgrounds to search for Cassia Crossbill in the morning before I would fly out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and @Ituri would continue the drive home. Instead, we had the tire patched in the morning and rushed to Utah for me to catch my flight. Fittingly, as I sat in the airport waiting for my plane a hailstorm rolled in. Not the most triumphant of endings to this trip report. Not all endings are, though.

So, what did I make of our trip? Was it worth it? Absolutely! It’s very unfortunate we were met with the poor timing and luck we found with the unusual weather, but I still had a great time with both @Ituri and @Giant Eland and I certainly can’t knock 21 lifeticks (22 if you split the Yellow-Pine Chipmunk) in 5 days. Still, I can't help but feel as though I now have unfinished business in Idaho. It's quite likely I will be finding my way back there to try for all the species the weather took real chances away from me at some point in the upcoming years!

~Thylo
Click to expand...

Great report
 
Lota lota said:
Had 3 hours of real slow birding despite waking up early.


94 Green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
95 Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Click to expand...

My sister had her birthday party on Saturday,which was unfortunate since the weather was pristine, with temperatures almost reaching 25°C in the sun. On Sunday, the weather was much more gloomy,but at least it was warm at around 15°c.I decided to take my newly found route to my local patch,walking through heathland, meadows, and forests. The species list became short since the anticipated rain came much earlier than what the forecast said. Leading me to have to head home after only 50 minutes.Nonettheless it was still pretty eventful time,toads mating,tawny owl fledgling's and a canibalistic hunting pike were all extra fun to observe.

Birds:
96 Common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
97 European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Amphibians:
1 Common toad (Bufo bufo)
 
Since @ThylacineAlive did such a marvelous job at recapping our trip, I'll just add my list.

MAMMALS:
6 Pronghorn Antilocapra americana
7 White-tailed Prairie Dog Cynomys leucurus
8 Least Chipmunk Neotamias minimus minimus
9 White-tailed Jackrabbit Lepus townsendii
10 American Elk Cervus canadensis canadensis
11 Rocky Mountain Mule Deer Odocoileus hemionus hemionus
12 Craters of the Moon Chipmunk Neotamias cratericus
13 Yellow-bellied Marmot Marmota flaviventris nosophora
14 Montane Vole Microtus montanus
15 Columbian Ground Squirrel Urocitellus columbianus columbianus
16 Mountain Cottontail Sylvilagus nuttallii grangeri
17 Northwestern American Badger Taxidea taxus jeffersonii
18 Ord’s Kamgaroo-Rat Dipodomys ordii columbianus
19 Western Deer Mouse Peromyscus sonoriensis
20 Great Basin Black-tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus deserticola
21 Piute Ground Squirrel Urocitellus mollis idahoensis
22 Townsend’s Pocket Gopher Thomomys townsendii
23 Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel Urocitellus brunneus endemicus
24 Yellow-bellied Marmot Marmota flaviventris avara
25 Yellow Pine Chipmunk Neotamias amoenus lutreiventris
26 American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus richardsonii
27 Desert Cottontail Sylvilagus audubonii baileyi

BIRDS:
101 Common Raven Corvus corax
102 Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia
103 Say's Phoebe Sayornis saya
104 Sagebrush Sparrow Artemisiospiza nevadensis
105 Sharp-tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus
106 Brewer's Blackbird Euphagus cyanocephalus
107 Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
108 Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli
109 Cinnamon Teal Spatula cyanoptera
110 Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
111 Sandhill Crane Antigone canadensis
112 Long-billed Curlew Numenius americanus
113 Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
114 Violet-green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
115 Rock Wren Salpinctes obsoletus
116 Canyon Wren Catherpes mexicanus
117 Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
118 Osprey Pandion haliaetus
119 Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
120 Ruby-crowned Kinglet Corthylio calendula
121 Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis
122 Pygmy Nuthatch Sitta pygmaea
123 Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
124 Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis
125 California Quail Callipepla californica
126 Swainson's Hawk Buteo swainsoni
127 Prairie Falcon Falco mexicanus

REPTILES:
3 Sagebrush Lizard Sceloporus graciosus
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Once in Wyoming, there's a little rest stop just outside of Rock Springs where one can stop and have a near-guaranteed chance of seeing very habituated prairie dogs and chipmunks. We were pleased to find the animal activity here wasn't impacted much by the presence of snow.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I stopped at this very same rest stop in 2020 - and given that I didn't really use iNat at the time, I think it may have been by pure dumb luck :p haven't done almost any of the rest of that trip, though several of the birds are familiar. Glad you all had a good time!

Speaking of which - my updates from the past few weeks, including trips to the desert, mountains, and a flooded riverbed:

Birds
160. Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
161. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
162. Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)
163. Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii)
164. Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata)
165. Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)
166. Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
167. Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
168. Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
169. Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea)

Mammals
15. White-tailed Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus)
 
Since getting back from the trip, the birding here in Wichita has been pretty good.

128 Hudsonian Godwit Limosa haemastica
129 Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa
130 Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
131 American Pipit Anthus rubescens
132 Lark Sparrow Chondestes grammacus
133 Yellow-headed Blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
134 Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
135 Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
136 Willet Tringa semipalmata
137 Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
138 Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
139 Piping Plover Charadrius melodus
140 Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
141 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
142 Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
 
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