Zoochat Big Year 2024

KiwiBirb said:
I was able to visit my cousin at JMU in Harrisonburg, Virginia this weekend and decided to go to a nearby nature area in Lake Shenandoah and I was not expecting to see 30 species of birds in this random lake in western Virginia! :eek: I was honestly just expecting to see a Carolina Chickadee and Eastern Bluebird to add but I have 7 new species! Additionally, I was able to hear the calls of a Winter Wren at my hotel, but as a common theme with me and wrens, I was unable to spot it.

Birds
54) Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialia)
55) Carolina Chickadee (Poecila carolinensis)
56) Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
57) Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)
58) Golden-Crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)
59) Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
60) Belted Kingfisher (Megacerylen alcyon)

Heard-Only
1) Winter Wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)

Progress:
Mammals- 8
Birds- 60
Herptiles- 0
Total- 68
Heard-only Species- 1
Click to expand...
I’m now back from my little weekend trip to Virginia and with President’s day off, I decided to take a ride to Lake Tappan where there have been reports of a Trumpeter Swan, a rare bird in the area. Sure enough when I got to the pond where it has been sighted, it’s there. Along with that, I saw several other bird species in the pond with the swans (there was a Mute Swan there too,) and in nearby Lake Tappan.

Birds
61) Great Egret (Ardea alba)
62) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
63) Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
64) Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
65) Common Loon (Gavia immer)

Progress:
Mammals- 8
Birds- 65
Herptiles- 0
Total- 73
Heard-only Species- 1
 
KiwiBirb said:
Sure enough when I got to the pond where it has been sighted...
Click to expand...
I felt sure, as I read that phrase, the next words were going to be "it wasn't there", as that is what normally happens to me! Nice sighting.
 
oflory said:
The elusive white-billed diver turned up again this week, so had to go and have another try...

80. Eurasian oystercatcher
81. Grey plover
82. Common ringed plover
83. Red knot
84. Dunlin
85. Common linnet
AND
86. White-billed diver
Click to expand...

Three more from the weekend. Quite a slow start to the year, all told.

87. Peregrine falcon
88. Stock dove
89. Mistle thrush
 
13th February: Slimbridge
Despite the rain later in the day, it was as ever an amazing day of birdwatching at Slimbridge. On the top of the Estuary Tower, peering down at the hundreds of birds, I managed to spot a couple new species for the list:

Birds:
79. Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
80. Bewick's Swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii)
81. Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
82. Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus)
83. Knot (Calidris canutus islandica)
84. Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
85. Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
86. Common Crane (Grus grus)*
87. European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
88. Ruff (Calidris pugnax)
89. Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
90. Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)
91. Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)
92. Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
93. Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)
94. Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
*To be precise, Ruby, one ‘wild’ male and their chick.

16th February
Just 1 bird on the journey back home :p

Birds:
95. Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)

Total Species: 106
Birds: 95
Mammals: 4
Amphibians: 1
Invertebrates: 6
 
February in my world means back to Bangor and my Uni reunion and all the associated silliness. It also means at least two days of North Wales wildlifing at the top and tail of the trip.

Weather wasn't ideal this time (my first attempt at South Stack was rendered a complete waste of time by thick fog!) and Bangor harbour, usually a good site for species like Greenshank, was inaccessible due to sea wall repairs, but between Llanddulas beach, Holyhead harbour, South Stack, The Dingle, and a lazy afternoon at Point Lynas I successfully picked up a very good range of species. Highlights were my first ever self-found Black-throated Diver at Holyhead (my previous being twitched), and of course, the Point Lynas porpoises, who kept me waiting a little this time, but put on a great show when they did arrive. The butterfly was an odd one - it had awoken in a car at Point Lynas car park having presumably hibernated somewhere in the bodywork and then been woken by the winter sun that finally arrived on the last few hours of my trip. :D

Mammals:
10. European Red Squirrel - Sciurus vulgaris
11. Harbour Porpoise - Phocoena phocoena
12. Grey Seal - Halichoerus grypus

Birds:
109. Common Scoter - Melanitta nigra
110. European Shag - Phalacrocorax aristotelis
111. Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator
112. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres
113. Red-throated Diver - Gavia stellata
114. Black Guillemot - Cepphus grylle
115. Eurasian Rock Pipit - Anthus petrosus
116. Black-throated Diver - Gavia arctica
117. Red-billed Chough - Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
118. Common Guillemot - Uria aalge
119. Northern Fulmar - Fulmarus glacialis
120. Northern Gannet - Morus bassanus

Invertebrates:
2. Common Rough Woodlouse - Porcellio scaber
3. Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae

:)
 
Yoshistar888 said:
Fish

13. Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)


Invertebrates

1. European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
2. Goldentail Sugar Ant (Camponotus aeneopilosus)
3. Long Broad-headed Bug (Mutusca brevicornis)
4. South-eastern Austroicetes (Austroicetes vulgaris)
5. Eleven-armed Sea Star (Coscinasterias calamaria)
6. Five-armed Cushion Star (Parvulastra exigua)
7. Carpet Sea Star (Meridiastra calcar)
8. Social House Spider (Philoponella congregabilis)
9. Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
10. Common Brown (Heteronympha merope)
11. Common Grass Blue (Zizina labradus)
12. Southern Moon Moth (Dasypodia selenophora)
13. Halone consolatrix (Moth)
14. Stepped Venus (Katelysia scalarina)
15. Impoverished Dogwhelk (Nassarius pauperatus)
16. Lineated Cominella (Cominella lineolata)
17. Zebra Top Shell (Austrocochlea porcata)
18. Alaba monile (Sea Snail)
19. Ribbed Top Shell (Austrocochlea constricta)
20. Zeacumantus diemenensis (Sea Snail)
21. Golden Small Star (Bellastraea aurea)
22. Common Warrener (Lunella undulata)
23. Bedeva vinosa (Sea Snail)
24. Bedeva paviae (Sea Snail)
25. Variegated Limpet (Cellana tranmoserica)
26. Striped False Limpet (Siphonaria diemenensis)
27. Cart Rut Shell (Dicathais orbita)
28. Pied Limpet (Patelloida latistrigata)
29. Australian Mud Whelk (Batillaria australis)
30. Black Nerite (Nerita atramentosa)
31. Chequered Top Shell (Chlorodiloma odontis)
32. Elephant Snail (Scutus antipodes)
33. Leathery Sea Slug (Onchidella nigricans)
34. Austral Ischnochiton (Ischnochiton australis)
35. Elongate Ischnochiton (Ischnochiton elongatus)
36. Stripe-mouthed Conniwink (Bembicum nanum)
37. Common Conniwink (Bembicum melanostomum)
38. Notoplana australis (Marine Flatworm)
39. Tau Emerald (Hemicordulia tau)
40. Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum caledonicum)
41. Orange Threadtail (Nososticta solida)
42. Wandering Percher (Diplacodes bipunctata)
43. Common Bluetail (Ischnura heterosticta)
Click to expand...



Not in order and I still need to do a write up on a busy last half a month or so of birding but I thought, I'd put this just to brag haha.

Birds:

44. White-faced Storm Petrel (Pelagodroma marina)

White-faced Storm Petrel from land, there's been at least four individual birds hanging around Altona Pier the last couple days, might not be there anymore. A species you'd think to never see without going on a boat.
 
I managed to go out birding today - only the third day of the year when I have been able to specifically do so. I decided to go to the Pauatahanui Reserve north of Wellington. I rarely go there because it is a bit out of the way by public transport (there is only one bus once an hour), but it is a good site for Fernbirds which are large warblers endemic to New Zealand. They are the skulky kind of warbler, the sort that climb about in thick undergrowth and only occasionally come out where you can actually see them. However I generally manage to see at least one whenever I visit the reserve.

Sure enough, one of the first birds I saw was a Fernbird, characteristically creeping about deep inside a shrub, every so often revealing a tail or a wing or a beady little eye through the gaps in the leaves. There were quite a few calling from inside other bushes, and one of them even came out in the open and I got some photos. I don't think I'll be able to turn them into anything worth seeing because the bird was only briefly visible and the sun was shining directly towards the camera lens, but I'll see what I can do.

There were also some Waxeyes (aka Silvereyes) around, and from one of the hides I added Grey Teal and White-faced Heron. Basically, common birds I would normally have seen on the first day of the year. On the way back to the bus I startled an unexpected Little Black Shag on a creek; not a species I normally see here.



45) Fernbird Bowdleria punctata
46) Waxeye Zosterops lateralis
47) Grey Teal Anas gracilis
48) White-faced Heron Ardea novaehollandiae
49) Little Black Shag Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
 
Dr. Loxodonta said:
13th February: Slimbridge
Despite the rain later in the day, it was as ever an amazing day of birdwatching at Slimbridge. On the top of the Estuary Tower, peering down at the hundreds of birds, I managed to spot a couple new species for the list:

Birds:
79. Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
80. Bewick's Swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii)
81. Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
82. Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus)
83. Knot (Calidris canutus islandica)
84. Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
85. Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
86. Common Crane (Grus grus)*
87. European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
88. Ruff (Calidris pugnax)
89. Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
90. Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)
91. Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)
92. Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
93. Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus)
94. Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
*To be precise, Ruby, one ‘wild’ male and their chick.

16th February
Just 1 bird on the journey back home :p

Birds:
95. Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)

Total Species: 106
Birds: 95
Mammals: 4
Amphibians: 1
Invertebrates: 6
Click to expand...

What made you count the Snow goose? I just thought they were of unknown providence?
 
There are no established feral populations in the U.K. that are maintaining a breeding population. There are vagrants recorded each year, but there are also escapes. As far as I know, the general feeling about these individuals is that they are not likely to be wild vagrants. In the same way, although I have seen a wild-living Red-breasted Goose at Martin Mere this year, it is not featuring on my list (unless some new remarkable information comes to light!)
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Two additions from some morning birding before work:

35) Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
36) Northern Shrike Lanius borealis

~Thylo
Click to expand...

Back home now from a few days away on Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands. This wasn't a wildlife-focused trip at all, but rather a get-away with my partner for a long weekend. Of course, I still kept an eye out for any wildlife I could find and we did spend some time off the resort kayaking through some mangroves and snorkeling. I did find myself surprised at how difficult it was to find birds here, even within wildlife reserves. Talking to some locals, there apparently really aren't many birds resident on the island oddly. I was hoping to at least find some local Bahamas birds, but alas not to be this time. I did have some better luck with reptiles, including a very recently deceased Amergris Cay Dwarf Boa. Sadly never managed to find a live snake, but good to know they're around.

37) Osprey Pandion haliaetus
38) Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
39) American Kestrel Falco sparverius
40) Cape May Warbler Setophaga tigrina
41) Yellow-Throated Warbler Setophaga dominica
42) Prairie Warbler Setophaga discolor
43) White-Eyed Vireo Vireo griseus
44) Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
45) Sanderling Calidris alba
46) Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius
47) Great Egret Ardea alba
48) Smooth-Billed Ani Crotophaga ani

1) Southern Bahamas Anole Anolis scriptus
2) Turks and Caicos Curly-Tailed Lizard Leiocephalus psammodromus
3) Tropical House Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia
4) Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana Cyclura carinata
5) Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas
6) Caicos Least Gecko Sphaerodactylus caicosensis

1) Caribbean Reef Shark Carcharhinus perezi
2) Lemon Shark Negaprion brevirostris

~Thylo
 
KiwiBirb said:
I’m now back from my little weekend trip to Virginia and with President’s day off, I decided to take a ride to Lake Tappan where there have been reports of a Trumpeter Swan, a rare bird in the area. Sure enough when I got to the pond where it has been sighted, it’s there. Along with that, I saw several other bird species in the pond with the swans (there was a Mute Swan there too,) and in nearby Lake Tappan.

Birds
61) Great Egret (Ardea alba)
62) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
63) Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
64) Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)
65) Common Loon (Gavia immer)

Progress:
Mammals- 8
Birds- 65
Herptiles- 0
Total- 73
Heard-only Species- 1
Click to expand...
As I was driving down my street this morning, I saw a little cottontail exploring my neighbor’s lawn. It’s a bit mild today so it’s probably a good day for one to finally come out.

Mammals
9) Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)

Progress:
Mammals- 9
Birds- 65
Herptiles- 0
Total- 74
Heard-only Species- 1
 
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