Finally catching up again on my Kenya trip photos and finally getting some more birds IDed. Came across one encounter I'd forgotten about, which adds a previously removed species back on the list!
686) Mouse-Colored Penduline-Tit Anthoscopus musculus
687) Purple-Banded Sunbird Cinnyris bifasciatus
688) Southern Black Flycatcher Melaenornis pammelaina
~Thylo
This past Saturday I took a drive to Rhode Island. I wanting to revisit the Biomes Marine Biology Center for a little while now and that gave me a good excuse to chase some western rarities in the state as well. Since about 11/23 (Thanksgiving here in the US), Rhode Island has been hosting some pretty spectacular western vagrants that have remained relatively stationary since. Sedge Wren, Pacific Loon, Townsend's Warbler, and an insanely lost Pacific-Slope Flycatcher have all been being seen with frequency the past couple weeks. I mapped out a route for the flycatcher --> loon --> warbler --> aquarium with the wren being saved for if I had some daylight left as that's been the most difficult to find from what I hear.
Unfortunately, I ended up 0/4 on the bird front.. I started with the flycatcher, by far the easiest of the vagrants to see. Every day since it's discovery it has been found around 9am feeding at one location and then around 1pm it moves to a secondary location, with some infrequent sightings at a third spot, all on the edge of a small patch of forest within a state campground. I arrived around 8am to the sight and stayed until around 11:30. After over a week of consistent sightings, Saturday became the first day the bird was not seen on-schedule. After spending so many hours on the flycatcher, I knew my plans were at risk of entirely falling about if I did not keep moving. I made my way to the loon spot, only about a 15 minute drive away. The loon had been seen around 9am that morning, but by this point in time it was long gone and has not turned up since. While I was combing the beach, other birders slightly ahead of me had spotted a few Bonaparte's Gulls and a single Lesser Black-Backed Gull, two other species I lack for the year. Unfortunately, by the time I'd caught up the birds had seemingly moved further down the shoreline. I did pick up one unexpected duck while here, however, ultimately my only new bird of the day.
It was now around 1pm and I had a choice: try for the close-by flycatcher again or continue forward. It was about an additional 30 minutes drive to the aquarium and 45 to the warbler. I decided to grab some lunch nearby and see if anyone would report the flycatcher. When nothing came in over the next 20 minutes, I made my way towards the aquarium. I decided to abandon the warbler as I'd learned it hadn't been seen since the prior Tuesday. I arrived, paid, and as I stepped up to the first tank, a report came in that the flycatcher had reappeared at its normal afternoon feeding spot. I conducted a rather rushed visit through the (thankfully) small aquarium, then hightailed it the 40 minutes back to the flycatcher spot, arriving at its feeding grounds with about 20 minutes of solid daylight left. As I had a feeling would happen, I arrived to find no birders remaining and no bird to be seen. A rather frustrating end to a long day with a long drive home ahead of me.
689) North American Ruddy Duck
Oxyura jamaicensis
As mentioned, the ruddy duck seen while looking fruitless for the Pacific Loon is the only new addition for the day despite many potential additions in the area. That said, in a way that is a testament to the success I've had this year, as while I didn't see much in the way of new or targeted birds, I did see a fair number of species I'd seldom or never seen prior to this year, including Red-Throated Loon, Horned Grebe, Razorbill, Brown Creeper, and Golden-Crowned Kinglet.
To add to this already too long post, I've finally finished combing through my Kenya photos for new IDs. There are still a few tough bird and especially amphibians that remain unidentified, but I'm not too sure I'm going to be able to get much further with those that remain, so this will likely be my last update with Kenyan species.
Birds
690) Grey Penduline-Tit Anthoscopus caroli
691) Mosque Swallow Cecropis senegalensis
692) Tacazze Sunbird Nectarinia tacazze
693) Fine-Banded Woodpecker Campethera taeniolaema
Reptiles
16) White-Headed Dwarf Gecko Lygodactylus mombasicus
17) Tropical House Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia
18) Baobab Leaf-Toed Gecko
Hemidactylus platycephalus
19) Speckle-Lipped Skink Trachylepis maculilabris
20) Giant Plated Lizard
Matobosaurus validus
21) Speke's Sand Lizard Heliobolus spekii
22) Von Höhnel's Chameleon
Trioceros hoehnelii
23) Gregory's Blue-Headed Agama Acanthocercus gregorii
24) Kenya Rock Agama Agama lionotus
25) Nile Monitor
Varanus niloticus
26) Large-Eyed Cat Snake Telescopus dhara
Amphibians
2) Marsabit Clawed Frog Xenopus borealis
3) Müller's Clawed Frog
Xenopus muelleri
4) Garman's Toad Sclerophrys garmani
5) Guttural Toad Sclerophrys gutturalis
6) Anchieta's Grass Frog Ptychadena anchietae
Also going to add the one I've seen this year in CT because why not:
7) American Bullfrog
Lithobates catesbeianus
I also saw one or two species of puddle frogs (Phrynobatrachus), but I doubt I'll ever be able to identify those to species level. I also heard a number of reed frog species but failed to ever actually lay eyes on one.
Now for some fun stuff -
African Lepidoptera
1) Walker's Owl Moth Erebus walkeri
2) Reticulate Bagnest Moth Anaphe reticulata
3) Alicia Amber Acraea alicia
4) Spotted Joker Byblia ilithyia
5) Green Veined Emperor Charaxes candiope
6) Pearl Emperor Charaxes varanes
7) Dorippus Tiger Butterfly Danaus dorippus
8) Gold-Banded Forester Euphaedra neophron
9) Pied Piper Eurytela hiarbas
10) African Diadem Hypolimnas misippus
11) Yellow Pansy Junonia hierta
12) Dark Blue Pansy Junonia oenone
13) Eyed Pansy Junonia orithya
14) Blotched Leopard Lachnoptera ayresii
15) Evening Brown Melanitis leda
16) Albizia Sailer Neptis laeta
17) Forest Mother-of-Pearl Protogoniomorpha parhassus
18) Natal Acraea Stephenia natalica
19) Abyssinian Admiral Vanessa abyssinica
20) Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (seen in France during my layover)
21) Common Painted Lady Vanessa cardui
22) Dimorphic Admiral Vanessa dimorphica
23) Large-Striped Swordtail Graphium antheus
24) Black Swordtail Graphium colonna
25) Chrapkowski's Green-Banded Swallowtail Papilio chrapkowskii
26) Citrus Swallowtail Papilio demodocus
27) Mackinnon's Swallowtail Papilio mackinnoni
28) Veined White Belenois gidica
29) Red Tip Colotis antevippe
30) Magenta Tip Colotis celimene
31) Purple Tip Colotis hetaera
32) African Migrant Catopsilia florella
33) Common Grass Yellow Eurema hecabe
34) Convolvulus Hawk-Moth Agrius convolvuli
35) Comma Nephele Hawk-Moth Nephele comma
African Decapoda
1) Inversed Fiddler Crab Cranuca inversa
2) Western Calling Fiddler Crab Gelasimus hesperiae
3) Pink Ghost Crab Ocypode ryderi
4) East African River Crab Potamonautes johnstoni
African Scorpions
1) Speckled Pygmy-Thicktail Afrolychas burdoi
2) Eastern Ridge-Back Scorpion Hottentota eminii
3) Obst's Arrow-Breasted Scorpion Lychas obsti
4) Pallid Thicktail Scorpion Parabuthus pallidus
African Hymenoptera
1) East African Lowland Honey Bee
Apis mellifera
2) Double-Banded Carpenter Bee Xylocopa caffra
3) Giant Carpenter Bee Xylocopa flavorufa
4) Spirifex Mud-Dauber Sceliphron spirifex
5) Black Mud Wasp Delta emarginatum
6) cocktail ant Crematogaster mimosae
7) East African Safari Ant Dorylus nigricans
8) African Matabele Ant Megaponera analis
~Thylo
. Vagrants don't exactly turn up as breeding pairs...
