Zoochat Big Year 2023

birdsandbats said:
256. Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
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Are they really that rare up there? They are almost guaranteed to be seen in the early mornings on the country roads around here. Nice vagrants too.
 
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CMP said:
Are they really that rare up there? They are almost guaranteed to be seen in the early mornings on the country roads around here. Nice vagrants too.
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They're not rare but not common at all. I average about one sighting a year. There's no sustainable population in my area, nearly all birds seen are males released for hunting in the fall.
 
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birdsandbats said:
Chased a couple of nice vagrants today, plus one other bird seen by chance from the road:

Birds
254. Clark's Nutcracker Nucifraga columbiana
255. Rufous Hummingbird Selasphorus rufus
256. Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
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Nice, Clark's Nutcracker seems to be in an irruption year, there's been several on the California coast recently. Might well be more that move eastward.
 
Great Argus said:
Nice, Clark's Nutcracker seems to be in an irruption year, there's been several on the California coast recently. Might well be more that move eastward.
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I know Nebraska had one last month. I certainly wasn't expecting to have one in Wisconsin this year, though it's certainly far from the most insane vagrant we've had this year.
 
WalkingAgnatha said:
Doesn't that make them 'no better' than an escapee bird for the list then? Unless yousaw some from a different actually established population?
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Kind of, yeah. Despite this fact, they are considered as a countable species by the local authorities, so I've retained them on my lists. There are some parts of the state where there possibly are established populations (including the county I currently live in), but it would be impossible to say for sure since you'd have to sort through the released birds (the state government alone released 75,000 pheasants in Wisconsin this year, and private releases on top of that also occur).

TLDR, essentially, yes, these birds are probably escapees. But I've chosen to follow the local birding "tradition" here by counting them, and there is the remote possibility they may be established.
 
Fall migration is in full swing here in Alabama, and a trip to Wood Duck Preserve with a group of other birders did not disappoint! It was a windy day, which made spotting the small, light green-gray warblers incredibly challenging (particularly as most preferred to flit around the shimmering aspen trees). In the darker portions of the forest, views were better, and warblers could be seen sallying out to catch flying insects.

This small day trip was great, as it finally provided a (fleeting) look at a Pileated Woodpecker, a lifer for me. Pileated Woodpeckers are not rare, both in Washington and Alabama, and though I've heard them, I'd never managed to spot one. The warblers were also a highlight, being the group I have most wanted to see and is least represented on my life list (most of the warblers on it having been seen in Costa Rica). Other species included a large Obscure Bird Grasshopper, a flock of 27 Blue-Winged Teal with a bonus Pied-Billed Grebe, a butterfly (either a Painted or American Lady - too hard to tell), and multiple turtles basking (again, too far off - most likely Pond Sliders or River Cooters).
I also managed to spot a Belted Kingfisher at a bistro bordering a large pond, which isn't the first time I've seen the species but is the first time I've counted it. The trio of "painter palette" birds (Blue Grosbeak, Yellow-Throated Vireo, and Summer Tanager/Rose-Breasted Grosbeak) might have to wait for next year, but not a bad few days for birding at all.

Birds:
104. Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) – 10/05/23
105. Yellow-Throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) – 10/07/23
106. Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) – 10/07/23
107. Chestnut-Sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) – 10/07/23
108. Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) – 10/07/23
109. Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) – 10/07/23
110. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) – 10/07/23
111. American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) – 10/07/23
112. Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) – 10/07/23
113. Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) – 10/07/23


Invertebrates:
59. White-Marked Tussock Moth (Orgyia leucostigma) – 9/30/23
60. Obscure Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca obscura) – 10/07/23
61. Common Hentz Jumper (Hentzia palmarum) – 10/11/23
62. Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis) – 10/18/23
63. American Bird Grasshopper (Schistocerca americana) – 10/18/23
 
Today (Oct. 22), I went on a very fruitful pelagic birding trip off the coast of Humboldt County, California. I saw the following species...

Birds:
1. Parasitic jaegar
2. Pomarine jaegar
3. South Polar skua
4. Common murre
5. Cassin’s auklet
6. Rhinoceros auklet
7. Western gull
8. California gull
9. Sabine’s gull
10. Red throated loon
11. Pacific loon
12. Black footed albatross
13. Northern fulmar
14. Sooty shearwater
15. Pink-footed shearwater
16. Buller’s shearwater
17. Pelagic cormorant
20. Double-crested cormorant
21. Brown pelican
Mammals:
1. California sea lion
2. Northern fur seal
3. Harbor seal
4. Pacific white sided dolphin
5. Northern right whale dolphin
6. Dalls porpoise
7. Humpback whale
Fishes:
1. Pacific bluefin tuna
Invertebrates:
1. Common moon jelly
2. Pacific sea nettle

Total: 31 species

(Fun Fact: Prior to today, I had never seen a wild cetacean before. So, as you can imagine, I was very pleased with today's sightings.)
 
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Bisonblake said:
I went out this afternoon to try and find a surf scoter that was reported. The lake was hard to survey without a scope or camera, so I didn't find it. I did find a coot and my first merganser, so I was still satisfied.

10/13/23
Birds:
129. Red-breasted merganser Mergus serrator
130. Common loon Gavia immer
131. American coot Fulica americana

Total Species: 160
Birds: 131
Mammals: 16
Herptiles: 11
Fish: 2
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Back home for fall break, and decided to walk around the neighborhood yesterday. There was a surprisingly nice selection of birds.

10/23/23
Birds:
132. Lincoln's sparrow Melospiza lincolnii

I took a third trip this year to the local Metropark, once again with @Azamat Shackleford. Our eyes were glued to the water most of the time and were able to get a great selection of waterfowl. I missed out on waterfowl at the beginning of the year, so today honestly made up for what I missed.

10/24/23
Birds:
133. Common merganser Mergus merganser
134. Ring-necked duck Aythya collaris
135. Gadwall Mareca strepera
136. American wigeon Mareca americana
137. Lesser scaup Aythya affinis

Total Species: 166
Birds: 137
Mammals: 16
Herptiles: 11
Fish: 2
 
I went “twitching” today for the first time in my life in search of an extremely rare Red-breasted goose that had been sighted at a lake a couple kilometers north of where I live. So right after school I headed over to the lake and with the help of some other birders, I was able to find my 129th bird of the year!

129. Red-breasted goose, Branta ruficollis 27/10/23
 
Bisonblake said:
Back home for fall break, and decided to walk around the neighborhood yesterday. There was a surprisingly nice selection of birds.

10/23/23
Birds:
132. Lincoln's sparrow Melospiza lincolnii

I took a third trip this year to the local Metropark, once again with @Azamat Shackleford. Our eyes were glued to the water most of the time and were able to get a great selection of waterfowl. I missed out on waterfowl at the beginning of the year, so today honestly made up for what I missed.

10/24/23
Birds:
133. Common merganser Mergus merganser
134. Ring-necked duck Aythya collaris
135. Gadwall Mareca strepera
136. American wigeon Mareca americana
137. Lesser scaup Aythya affinis

Total Species: 166
Birds: 137
Mammals: 16
Herptiles: 11
Fish: 2
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Went back to find the surf scoters that were reported near campus, and I can happily say I found them! There were also white-winged and black scoters reported, but we couldn't properly identify them, even with a scope. We did see 5 scoters, but could only identify two surf scoters.

10/26/23
Birds:
138. Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata

Herptiles:
12. Wood frog Lithobates sylvaticus
13. DeKay's brownsnake Storeria dekayi

Total Species: 166
Birds: 138
Mammals: 16
Herptiles: 13
Fish: 2
 
Bactrian Deer said:
Mammals:
9. White-Tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus

Birds:
27. Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

Reptiles:
3. Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina (carolina)
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I recently went to my Grandma’s house in Indiana and I was in their stables and saw something unexpected…
Mammals:
10. Bobcat (Lynx Rufus)

This is my continued list from the past few months:
Birds:
28. House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
29. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
30. American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
31. White-Throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
32. Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
33. Downy Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens
34. Osprey Pandion haliaetus
35. House Wren Troglodytes aedon
36. Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus
37. Northern Bobwhite Colinus virginianus
38. Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
39. Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
40. Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
41. Sora Porzana carolina
42. American White Pelican Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
43. Black Vulture Coragyps atratus
44. Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
45. Eastern Screech Owl Megascops asio
46. White-Breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
Amphibians:
2. Eastern American Toad Anaxyrus americanus
Reptiles:
4. Spiny Softshell Apalone spinifera
5. Water Mocassin Agkistrodon piscivorus
Invertebrates:
1. Northern Paper Wasp Polistes fuscatus
2. Black Carpenter Ant Camponotus pennsylvanicus
3. Maize Calligrapher Toxomerus politus
4. House Fly Musca domestica
5. Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes
6. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus
7. Checkered White Pontia protodice
8. Orange Sulphur Colias eurytheme
9. Little Yellow Eurema lisa
10. Harvester Feniseca tarquinius
11. American Copper Lycaena phlaeas
12. Swamp Metalmark Calephelis muticum
13. Viceroy Limenitis archippus
14. Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider Argiope Aurantia
15. Dark Fishing Spider Dolomedes Tenebrosus
16. Hogna Baltimoriana
17. Brown Recluse Loxosceles Reclusa
18. Common House Spider Parasteatoda Tepidariorum
19. Tan Jumping Spider Platycryptus Undatus
20. Tiger Wolf Spider Tigrosa Aspersa
21. Tigrosa Helluo
22. Banded Pennant Celithemis fasciata
23. Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Libellula pulchella
 
Great Argus said:
Nice, Clark's Nutcracker seems to be in an irruption year, there's been several on the California coast recently. Might well be more that move eastward.
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That would be nice considering they were absolutely nowhere to be found when I was in their normal range this year :P

~Thylo
 
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