Zoochat Big Year 2024

Bit of a catchup of a few minor excursions over the last couple of weeks, plus some incidental species - notably Old Moor, including the gull, and up to Bleaklow for hares (a slightly abbreviated visit due to standing water on the path, but fortunately the hares were being amenable and could be seen without unnecessary dampness!). Most of the birds below are from a slightly longer excursion to RSPB St. Aidan's and Fairburn Ings today - where highlights included my first Little Owl since 2018, over a dozen Black-necked Grebes (more than I've seen in total over the last five years at least), a passage wheatear, a nice gang of cattle egrets fully cattling, and just as we were about to give up (indeed after I'd started packing the scope away) two spoonbills that flew in to roost to round the day off. One interesting sighting earlier in the month as I searched for (and failed to find) amphibians was my first unambiguous Great Diving Beetle since I started listing inverts properly.

Mammals:
14. Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes
15. Mountain Hare - Lepus timidus

Birds:
122. Mediterranean Gull - Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
123. Red Grouse - Lagopus lagopus
124. Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita
125. Little Owl - Athene noctua
126. Grey Partridge - Perdix perdix
127. Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti
128. Black-necked Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis
129. Northern Wheatear - Oenanthe oenanthe
130. Western Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
131. Eurasian Spoonbill - Platalea leucorodia

Invertebrates:
4. Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris
5. Peacock - Aglais io
6. Dark-edged Beefly - Bombylius major
7. Giant Pond Snail - Lymnaea stagnalis
8. Great Diving Beetle - Dytiscus marginalis

:)
 
CMP said:
The problem is more so that Black-billed Cuckoo is really not a bird in the area. There is only one ebird record for the entire state for the bird, and even that one is from May. I agree, your description does fit Black-billed Cuckoo the best, but with such an out of field record, normally more proof is required. Ultimately it is up to @Chlidonias if he wants to accept it or not.
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That's very understandable, I'll wait to hear from him!
 
MRJ said:
Panama day 9 - see Panama forum for commentary

Morning: Pipeline Road
Afternoon: Summit Park and Summit Ponds

Mammals
22. Panamanian white-faced capuchin Cebus imitator VU (new Family)
23. Tent-making bat Micronycteris microtis

Birds
263. Muscovy duck Cairina moschata
265. Pale-vented pigeon Patagioenas cayennensis
266. Common potoo Nyctibius griseus
267. Short-tailed swift Chaetura brachyura
268. Lesser swallow-tailed swift Panyptila cayennensis
269. Green heron Butorides virescens
270. Boat-billed heron Cochlearius cochlearius
271. Little blue heron Egretta caerulea
272. Anhinga Anhinga anhinga
273. Western osprey Pandion haliaetus
274. Mississippi kite Ictinia mississippiensis
275. Gartered trogon Trogon caligatus
276. Slaty-tailed trogon Trogon massena
277. White-whiskered puffbird Malacoptila panamensis
278. White-necked puffbird Notharchus hyperrynchus
279. Green kingfisher Chloroceryle americana
280. Ringed kingfisher Megaceryle torquata
281. Yellow-headed caracara Milvago chimachima
282. Orange-chinned parrakeet Brotogeris jugularis
283. Blue-headed parrot Pionus menstruus
284. Red-capped manakin Ceratopipra mentalis
285. Golden-collared manakin Manacus vitellinus
286. Purple-throated fruitcrow Querula purpurata
287. Southern beardless-tyrannulet Camptostoma obsoletum
288. Piratic flycatcher Legatus leucophaius
289. Streaked flycatcher Myiodynastes maculatus
290. Southern bentbill Oncostoma olivaceum
291. Lesser kiskadee Philohydor lictor
292. Western olivaceus flatbill Rhynchocyclus olivaceus
293. Eastern kingbirds Tyrannus tyrannus
294. Fasciated antshrike Cymbilaimus lineatus
295. Checker-throated stipplethroat Epinecrophylla fulviventris
296. Dot-winged antwren Microrhopias quixensis
297. Streak-chested antpitta Hylopezus perspicillatus (new Family)
298. Plain zenops Xenops minutus
299. Black-crested jay Cyanocorax affinis
300. Golden-crowned euphonia Euphonia luteicapilla
301. Bay-breasted warbler Setophaga castanea
302. Yellow-tailed oriole Icterus mesomelas
303. Blue-black grosbeak Cyanoloxia cyanoides
304. Red-legged honeycreeper Cyanerpes cyaneus
305. Variable seedeater Sporophila corvina
306. Yellow-bellied seedeater Sporophila nigricollis
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I'm so jealous of the potoo! I heard them but didn't see any.
 
CMP said:
The problem is more so that Black-billed Cuckoo is really not a bird in the area. There is only one ebird record for the entire state for the bird, and even that one is from May. I agree, your description does fit Black-billed Cuckoo the best, but with such an out of field record, normally more proof is required. Ultimately it is up to @Chlidonias if he wants to accept it or not.
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endogenylove said:
That's very understandable, I'll wait to hear from him!
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I don't know anything about American birds. It's for American birders (or those familiar) to say whether or not it is likely to be that species, and then for @endogenylove to decide if they agree it was a mistake or not.
 
Black-billed Cuckoo has literally been recorded once EVER in Utah, in 2007. Not only that, but this sighting took place in March, a month when the entirely of the US only has a single record of the species, from New Hampshire in 1988.

Without substantial proof, I see no reason to believe this bird was a Black-billed Cuckoo.
 
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KevinB said:
Mammals
1) Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
2) Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Birds
1) Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
2) Carrion crow (Corvus corone)
3) Common buzzard (Buteo buteo)
4) Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
5) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
6) Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
7) House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8) Common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)
9) Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
10) European robin (Erithacus rubecula)
11) Great tit (Parus major)
12) Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
13) European herring gull (Larus argentatus)
14) Eurasian magpie (Pica pica)
15) Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
16) Western jackdaw (Coloeus monedula)
17) Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
18) Feral pigeon (Columba livia)
19) Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula)
20) Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
21) Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
22) Common starling/European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
23) European white stork (Ciconia ciconia)
24) Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
25) Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
26) Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
27) Great egret (Ardea alba)
28) Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
29) Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
30) Greylag goose (Anser anser)
31) Common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
32) Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
33) Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Invertebrates
1) Seven-spot ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata)
2) Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni)
3) Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus)
4) Common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris)
5) Small cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae)
6) Common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
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Mammals
1) Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
2) Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
3) Brown rat/Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus)

Birds
1) Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
2) Carrion crow (Corvus corone)
3) Common buzzard (Buteo buteo)
4) Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
5) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
6) Grey heron (Ardea cinerea)
7) House sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8) Common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)
9) Common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
10) European robin (Erithacus rubecula)
11) Great tit (Parus major)
12) Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
13) European herring gull (Larus argentatus)
14) Eurasian magpie (Pica pica)
15) Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
16) Western jackdaw (Coloeus monedula)
17) Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
18) Feral pigeon (Columba livia)
19) Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula)
20) Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
21) Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
22) Common starling/European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
23) European white stork (Ciconia ciconia)
24) Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
25) Eurasian coot (Fulica atra)
26) Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
27) Great egret (Ardea alba)
28) Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
29) Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
30) Greylag goose (Anser anser)
31) Common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
32) Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
33) Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
34) Eurasian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

Invertebrates
1) Seven-spot ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata)
2) Common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni)
3) Firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus)
4) Common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris)
5) Small cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae)
6) Common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
7) Common house mosquito (Culex pipiens)
 
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oflory said:
And another singleton from a lunchtime stroll near the office.

91. Black redstart
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I managed to get some significant birding time in on my recent US West Coast zoo trip!

Mammals
4. Brown rat
5. Desert cottontail
6. Fin whale
7. Common dolphin
8. California sea-lion
9. Coyote
10. Fox squirrel
11. Mule deer
12. California ground squirrel

Birds
92 Red Kite
93 Red-winged Blackbird
94 Barn Swallow
95 Blue Jay
96 White-winged Dove
97 Common Yellowthroat
98 Belted Kingfisher
99 Greater Yellowlegs
100 Whimbrel
101 Redhead
102 Snow Goose
103 Great-tailed Grackle
104 American Kestrel
105 American White Pelican
106 Ring-necked Duck
107 Phainopepla
108 White-faced Ibis
109 Bewick's Wren
110 Oak Titmouse
111 Northern Flicker
112 Brandt's Cormorant
113 Pacific Diver
114 Cassin's Auklet
115 Savannah Sparrow
116 Northern Rough-winged Swallow
117 Red-masked Parakeet
118 Red-crowned Parrot
119 Osprey
120 Great Blue Heron
121 Great White Egret
122 Reddish Egret
123 Little Blue Heron
124 Black-crowned Night Heron
125 Yellow-crowned Night Heron
126 Royal Tern
127 Forster's Tern
128 Western Sandpiper
129 Least Sandpiper
130 Willet
131 Spotted Sandpiper
132 Long-billed Dowitcher
133 Marbled Godwit
134 Long-billed Curlew
135 Semipalmated Plover
136 Killdeer
137 American Avocet
138 Pied-billed Grebe
139 Ruddy Duck
140 Red-breasted Merganser
141 Bufflehead
142 Lesser Scaup
143 American Wigeon
144 Cinnamon Teal
145 Blue-winged Teal
146 Canada Goose
147 Orange-crowned Warbler
148 Brown-headed Cowbird
149 Song Sparrow
150 White-crowned Sparrow
151 Scaly-breasted Munia
152 Western Bluebird
153 California Thrasher
154 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
155 Shore Lark
156 Cassin's Kingbird
157 Red-shouldered Hawk
158 Snowy Egret
159 Ring-billed Gull
160 Heermann's Gull
161 American Goldfinch
162 House Finch
163 Brown Pelican
164 Double-crested Cormorant
165 Caspian Tern
166 California Gull
167 American Coot
168 Clark's Grebe
169 Western Grebe
170 Surf Scoter
171 Spotted Towhee
172 House Wren
173 Northern Mockingbird
174 Turkey Vulture
175 American Crow
176 Western Gull
177 White-throated Swift
178 Northern Cardinal
179 Yellow-rumped Warbler
180 California Towhee
181 Dark-eyed Junco
182 Lesser Goldfinch
183 American Robin
184 Hermit Thrush
185 Bushtit
186 Common Raven
187 California Scrub-Jay
188 Black Phoebe
189 Nuttall's Woodpecker
190 Acorn Woodpecker
191 Red-tailed Hawk
192 Cooper's Hawk
193 Allen's Hummingbird
194 Anna's Hummingbird
195 Mourning Dove

Herps
1. Western fence lizard
 
The first barn swallows are here so the ornithological spring has officially arrived! I yearn for spring every year, but with the terrible dreary weather last winter I'm especially looking forward to it this year. Along roadsides and forests edge purple dead-nettles, lesser celandine, ivy-leaved speedwell, blackthorn and wood anemones are in flower, attracting peacocks, carder bees and and all kinds of early hoverflies. Doves are cooing, blackbirds are singing loudly, and robins are whistling in the bushes. It is finally time for spring.

Today I went on a stroll through the local spot. The grasslands and fields are still inundated from the massive rains this winter. As a result all kinds of migrating waterfowl - teals, pintails, shovellers - can now be seen at places where usually large grazers roam and thrushes forage along the shrubs. Beside the ducks I saw a water pipit for the first time ever in my local patch, which was a nice surprise. The other additions are either from the same stroll or seen during work.

Birds
153. Common Linnet, Linaria cannabina
154. Water Pipit, Anthus spinoletta
155. Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica
156. Little Owl, Athene noctua
157. Black Redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros

Mammals
12. House Mouse, Mus musculus

Amphibians
6. Alpine Newt, Ichthyosaura alpestris

Butterflies
4. Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines

Bees
5. Early Mining Bee, Andrena haemorrhoa
 
Not a ton of updates lately except a few arthropods here and there. Just saw some type of unidentified orange butterfly which I believe was an emperor of some kind (Hackberry/Tawny) but too far away to conclusively identify. Thankfully, most other bugs have been close enough to snap some ID shots of, or are characteristic enough to identify just by sight.

I also think I am going to start listing butterflies separately, mostly because there is such a diversity of butterflies in the South and I am more interested in specifically keeping track of them. As a result, I have restarted the butterfly list, which prior to this update sits at 1, the Spring Azure. This means I am subtracting one from my Invertebrate list, which is now at 15 (prior to this post) - Traveling Cherry Millipede is now #15. This list will also include moths.


Invertebrates:
16. Two-Lined Leather-Wing (Atalantycha bilineata) – 3/12/24
17. Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) – 3/21/24
18. RIFA/Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) – 3/21/24
19. Golden Jumping Spider (Paraphidippus aurantius) – 3/21/24
20. Furrow Orbweaver (Larinoides cornutus) – 3/22/24
21. Rose Aphid (Macrosiphum rosae) – 3/24/24

Butterflies/Moths:
2. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) – 3/23/24
 
Najade said:
As usual only lifer birds or new birds for a larger area for my list this year.

10.03.24 - Buirer Fließ, Kerpen, Germany

Mammals
01. Eurasian Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
02. European Hare (Lepus europaeus)
03. European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Birds
01. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus flammeus)

There were at least 17 (probably more than 20) owls around. Good to finally connect with after missing out on them on Helgoland every time.
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Went over to the Netherlands to finally see a member of the last class of vertebrates I was still missing (probably gonna stay the only "fish" on my year list). Thanks to @Mr Gharial for the location info.^^ When that was done someone had found the lapwing just half an hour away so I detoured there and the sandpiper was a bonus in the same area (seen before in Australia, but not in Europe).

De Ruitersmolen, Beekbergen & Wageningen, Binnenveld, Netherlands

Mammals
04. European Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)

Birds
02. Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius)
03. Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis)

Fish
01. European Brook Lamprey (Lampetra planeri)
 
17/3/24 – 26/3/24
The two species from this update were spotted while visiting the Melbourne Zoo. The Water Dragon’s as usual were all around the zoo. While, I saw the Rail foraging in a large area of bamboo.

Birds:
60. Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis)

Reptiles:
6. Australian Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii)

Total Species: 88
Birds: 60
Mammals: 14
Reptiles: 6
Fish: 1
Invertebrates: 7
 
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