Zoochat Big Year 2025

[MRJ]

I also thought that but I saw that users like @MRJ and @Mr. Zootycoon do that without anyone pointing it out so I thought it is okay

I don't. Note I always quote the scientific name, which clearly indicates the taxon is recognized as a full species. As @Chlidonias noted I only use sp. where no common name is available.

I should say that on my personal list I do record invertebrate taxa identified only to genus level, as I don't collect them and many species can only be keyed out or identified under a microscope. But of course, I never list them here.

 

[Najade]

16.04.25 - Dreams Las Mareas (44, 45, —) & Rosa Centeno (Pocosol de Santa Rosa), Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Mammals
44. Central American White-faced Capuchin (Cebus imitator)
45. Gray Sac-winged Bat (Balantiopteryx plicata)
—. Variegated Squirrel (Echinosciurus variegatoides dorsalis)
46. Gray Short-tailed Bat (Carollia subrufa)
47. Striped Hog-nosed Skunk (Conepatus semistriatus)

Reptiles
05. Costa Rica Water Snake (Hydromorphus concolor)
06. Mexican Burrowing Python (Loxocemus bicolor)

17.04.25 - Birds and Breakfast, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Mammals
48. Toltec Fruit-eating Bat (Dermanura tolteca)
49. Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat (Carollia sowelli)
50. Brown Long-tongued Bat (Glossophaga commissarisi)
51. Northern Stripe-headed Round-eared Bat (Tonatia bakeri)
52. Hairy Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris hirsuta)
53. Schmidt’s Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris schmidtorum)
54. Chestnut Short-tailed Bat (Carollia castanea)
55. Common Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris microtis)
56. Luis’ Yellow-shouldered Bat (Sturnira luisi)

Birds (non-passerines)
20. Northern White Hawk (Pseudastur [albicollis] ghiesbreghti)

Birds (passerines)
21. Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza)
22. Black-striped Sparrow (Arremonops conirostris)
23. Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pennsylvanica)
24. Middle American [White-breasted] Wood Wren (Henicorhina [leucosticta] prostheleuca)
25. Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)

Amphibians
04. Central American Bullfrog (Leptodactylus savagei)

 

[Chlidonias]

My first birds (and mammal) from Japan, from Izumi in Kyushu, with one visit to Arasaki and two visits to Kogawa Dam. I was just fitting in Izumi at the start of the Japanese trip to see the wintering cranes there, and so have now left Kyushu on my way north. There is only one crane on the list below because I had already seen the others in China this month.


BIRDS:
136) Japanese Grosbeak Eophona personata
137) Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchus
138) Feral Pigeon Columba livia
139) Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis
140) Rook Corvus frugilegus
141) Black Kite Milvus migrans
142) Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna
143) Daurian Jackdaw Corvus dauuricus
144) Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus
145) Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus
146) Common (Eurasian) Wigeon Anas penelope
147) Russet Sparrow Passer cinnamomeus
148) Sandhill Crane Antigone canadensis
149) Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
150) Dunlin Calidris alpina
151) Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus
152) Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus
153) Osprey Pandion haliaetus
154) Common (Eurasian) Teal Anas crecca
155) Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides
156) Japanese Wagtail Motacilla grandis
157) Carrion Crow Corvus corone
158) Falcated Duck Anas falcata
159) Common Pochard Aythya ferina
160) Baikal Teal Anas formosa
161) Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia
162) Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata
163) Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
164) Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus
165) Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis
166) Masked Bunting Emberiza personata
167) Varied Tit Sittiparus varius
168) Japanese Pigmy Woodpecker Yungipicus kizuki


MAMMALS:
Japanese Badger Meles anakuma

I left Kyushu, and spent one day in Tokyo on my way northwards, where I looked for birds in the morning at Inokashira Park.

169) Gadwall Anas strepera
170) Indian Ringneck Psittacula krameri
171) Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata
172) Japanese Bush Warbler Horornis diphone
173) Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus
174) Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis


The ferry between Honshu and Hokkaido is supposed to be seabird paradise but I saw almost nothing on the route, and only one species even came close enough to identify.

175) Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis

HOKKAIDO birds and mammals

I have finished my time in Ice Japan, flying out tomorrow morning from Hokkaido to Honshu. There will still be ice and snow in some places I go in Honshu (I'll be starting out in Nagano and Karuizawa) but it won't be quite the conditions of Hokkaido.

I'm not going to be seeing any extra animals in Hokkaido this evening or tomorrow morning, so the following are what I got while there.

I saw 54 species of birds in Hokkaido, which doesn't seem like many but Hokkaido in winter is more about specific birds rather than lots of different birds. There are 405 species listed for Hokkaido on eBird, with a lot obviously being ones I wouldn't see because they are either not there in winter or they are vagrants or whatever. Just checking February lists there are 194 species recorded, so I saw over a quarter of that. A good proportion of the year birds I saw were lifers (19 species out of 28), and those 19 lifers were also about a third of the total species I saw in Hokkaido so I'm not complaining about that!


BIRDS:

176) Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus
177) Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis
178) Steller’s Sea Eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus
179) Asian Rosy Finch Leucosticte arctoa
180) Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
181) Slaty-backed Gull Larus schistisagus
182) Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena
183) Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
184) Pelagic Cormorant Urile pelagicus
185) White-tailed Sea Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla
186) Vega Gull Larus vegae
187) Black Scoter Melanitta americana
188) Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
189) Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
190) Glaucous-winged Gull Larus glaucescens
191) Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus
192) Ancient Murrelet Synthliboramphus antiquus
193) Blakiston’s Fish Owl Ketupa blakistoni
194) Naumann's Thrush Turdus naumanni
195) Eurasian Siskin Spinus spinus
196) White's Thrush Zoothera aurea
197) Willow Tit Poecile montanus
198) Goldcrest Regulus regulus
199) Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea
200) Temminck's (Japanese) Cormorant Phalacrocorax capillatus
201) Greater Scaup Aythya marila
202) Japanese Auklet Synthliboramphus wumizusume
203) Common Murre Uria aalge


MAMMALS:

6) Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
7) Sika Deer Cervus nippon
8) Kuril Seal Phoca vitulina stejnegeri
9) Sea Otter Enhydris lutris
10) Steller's Sealion Eumetopias jubatus
11) Stejneger's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri
12) Spotted Seal Phoca largha

HONSHU BIRDS AND MAMMALS:


I am now back in Izumi on Kyushu, on my way southwards.

Including the day I spent in Tokyo near the start of the Japan trip I saw 108 species of birds on Honshu. Only 21 of them were lifers, mainly because I had seen a lot of what would have been lifers in Izumi or Hokkaido beforehand. Most days the bird lists were dominated by birds already seen, with usually only one or two year birds.

On Honshu I was at Nagano, Karuizawa, and then around the cities of Tokyo and Osaka for quite a while, and I also made a visit to the nearby island of Oshima and to the distant Ogasawara Islands - posts in my travel thread not written yet!



BIRDS:

204) Green Pheasant Phasianus versicolor
205) Long-tailed Rosefinch Carpodacus sibiricus
206) Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica
207) Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
208) Coal Tit Periparus ater
209) Japanese Accentor Prunella rubida
210) Japanese Green Woodpecker Picus awokera
211) Brown-headed Thrush Turdus chrysolaus
212) Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
213) Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris
214) Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
215) White-bellied Green Pigeon Treron sieboldii
216) Red-throated Flycatcher Ficedula parva
217) Ruddy-breasted Crake Zapornia fusca
218) Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus
219) Ryukyu Minivet Pericrocotus tegimae
220) Grey Bunting Emberiza variabilis
221) Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius
222) Chinese Hwamei Garrulax canorus

From the Ogasawaras

223) Streaked Shearwater Calonectris leucomelas
224) Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes
225) Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacificus
226) Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii
227) Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
228) Leach’s Storm Petrel Hydrobates leucorhous
229) Japanese Wood Pigeon Columba janthina (the Red-headed Wood Pigeon C. j. nitens)
230) Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
231) Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva
232) Bonin White-eye Apalopteron familiare
233) Brewster’s Booby Sula brewsteri
234) Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus


MAMMALS:

13) Japanese Macaque Macaca fuscata
14) Japanese Squirrel Sciurus lis
15) Japanese Serow Capricornis crispus
16) Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista leucogenys
17) Japanese Raccoon Dog Nyctereutes viverrinus

From Oshima (Izu Islands)

18) Reeves’ Muntjac Muntiacus reevesi

From the Ogasawaras

19) Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Stenella attenuata
20) Bonin Flying Fox Pteropus pselaphon
21) Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae

I left Japan last night so here are the last birds and mammals from there. The new birds were getting fewer and fewer as I travelled down the islands, but that's to be expected (i.e. the smaller the island the fewer the birds, but more particularly I was seeing a lot of the same birds over and over again - the longer you spend somewhere the fewer "new" species you see each day).

I ended up with 187 bird species total from Japan, of which 65 were lifers; and 23 mammal species of which 15 were lifers.


BIRDS:

IZUMI (KYUSHU):
235) Chestnut-eared Bunting Emberiza fucata
236) Copper Pheasant Syrmaticus soemmerringii
237) Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis
238) Black-faced Spoonbill Platalea minor
239) Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

YAKUSHIMA ISLAND
240) Japanese Robin Larvivora akahige
241) Common Wren Troglodytes troglodytes
242) Eastern Reef Egret Egretta sacra
243) Ryukyu Green Pigeon Treron permagnus

AMAMI
244) Lidth’s Jay Garrulus lidthi
245) Owston’s Woodpecker Dendrocopos owstoni
246) Amami Woodcock Scolopax mira
247) Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus
248) Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica
249) Northern Boobook Ninox japonica

OKINAWA
250) Okinawa Woodpecker Dendrocopos noguchii
251) Okinawa Robin Larvivora namiyei
252) Okinawa Rail Gallirallus okinawae

ISHIGAKI and IRIOMOTE
253) Feral Peafowl Pavo cristatus
254) Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus
255) Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus coromandus
256) Black-winged Stilt Himatopus himatopus
257) Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola
258) Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata
259) Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis
260) Cinnamon Bittern Ixobrychus cinnamomeus
261) Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus
262) Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii
263) Ruddy Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda
264) Greater Sand Plover Charadrius leschenaultii
265) Crested Serpent-Eagle Spilornis cheela
266) Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
267) Iriomote Tit Sittiparus olivaceus
268) Malayan Night Heron Gorsarchius melanolophus
269) Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus
270) Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes
271) Japanese Waxwing Bombycilla japonica
272) White-shouldered Starling Sturnia sinensis
273) Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis


MAMMALS:

22) Wild Pig Sus scrofa (Izumi)
23) Amami Rabbit Pentalagus furnessi (Amami)
24) Ryukyu Flying Fox Pteropus dasymallus (Okinawa)
25) Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus (Okinawa)
26) Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus (Okinawa)

...............................................................................................

 

[WhistlingKite24]

Another update for me arrives as we enter autumn. I spent two very long days searching for Australian Crake at Kedron Brook Wetlands Reserve with not a peep from them. I however spotted several species of birds that can often be elusive within Brisbane like the snipe and dotterel listed below. Then Cyclone Alfred hit Brisbane quickly converting into a low system and across two days I got five lifers with some very lost pelagic birds; I dipped on a few species like Black Noddy (though a few birders and I suspected we saw one today) and a Shy Albatross was a no-show (albatrosses are big for Queensland). However, the birds I got I was thrilled with especially the vagrant Leach’s Storm-Petrel and jaegers. Frigatebirds soaring over a Brisbane coastal park is also something to remember. The Little Tern is not as unusual as the other birds in Brisbane but I simply had never seen it so that was a great bonus to see at least four gliding daintily as they twinkled across an inlet. Along with White, Common, Great Crested and Sooty Terns, it has been a fantastically tern-rich couple of days.

Mammals:
06) Common Ringtail Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus
07) Koala Phascolarctos cinereus
08) Platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Birds:
138) Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides
139) Noisy Friarbird Philemon corniculatus
140) Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Zanda funerea
141) Silvereye Zosterops lateralis
142) Bar-shouldered Dove Geopelia humeralis
143) Bell Miner Manorina melanophrys
144) Pale-vented Bush-hen Amaurornis moluccana
145) Australian King-Parrot Alisterus scapularis
146) Brown Quail Synoicus ypsilophorus
147) White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus
148) White-throated Gerygone Gerygone olivacea
149) Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus
150) Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus
151) Double-barred Finch Taeniopygia bichenovii
152) Latham’s Snipe Gallinago hardwickii
153) Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata
154) Red-kneed Dotterel Erythrogonys cinctus
155) Golden-headed Cisticola Cisticola exilis
156) Red-capped Plover Charadrius ruficapillus
157) Australian Pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae
158) White Tern Gygis alba
159) Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscatus
160) Grey Ternlet Anous albivitta
161) Leach’s Storm-Petrel Hydrobates leucorhous
162) Common Noddy Anous stolidus
163) Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus
164) Great Frigatebird Fregata minor
165) Lesser Frigatebird Fregata ariel
166) Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus
167) Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus
168) Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes
169) Little Tern Sternula albifrons

Herptiles:
15) Green Tree Frog Litoria caerulea
16) Cane Toad Rhinella marina
17) Saw-shelled Turtle Myuchelys latisternum
18) Scute-snouted Calyptotis Calyptotis scutirostrum

Fish:
16) Sea Mullet Mugil cephalus

Invertebrates:
154) Speckled Line-Blue Catopyrops florinda
155) Australian Emerald Hemicordulia australiae
156) Australian Hornet Abispa ephippium
157) Water Prince Hydrobasileus brevistylus
158) Splendid Longlegs Austrocnemis splendida
159) Eastern Billabongfly Austroagrion watsoni
160) Narrow-brand Grass Dart Ocybadistes flavovittatus
161) Purple Line-Blue Prosotas dubiosa
162) Joseph Coat’s Moth Agarista agricola
163) Clearwing Swallowtail Cressida cressida
164) Black Tree Ticker Birrima varians
165) Redtail Ceriagrion aeruginosum
166) Dingy Grass-Skipper Timoconia peron
167) Caper Gull Cepora perimale
168) Slender Green-winged Grasshopper Aiolopus thalassinus
169) Pseudabispa bicolor [potter wasp]
170) Green and Black Planthopper Desudaba psittacus
171) Bleeker’s Jumper Euryattus bleekeri
172) Two-spots Tiger Moth Asota plagiata
173) Striped Ladybird Micraspis frenata
174) Common Gum-tree Bug Amorbus robustus
175) Paddy Bug Leptocorisa acuta
176) Tawny Coster Acraea terpsicore
177) Lagenosoma dispar [soldier fly]
178) Poecilometis gravis [stink bug]
179) Gum Tree Shield Bug Theseus modestus
180) Chauliognathus flavipennis [soldier beetle]
181) Dainty Grass-Blue Zizula hylax
182) Choreutis periploca [moth]
183) Plain Box-Owlet Grammodes justa
184) Austral Ellipsidion Ellipsidion australe
185) Aporocera speciosa [leaf beetle]
186) Dicranosterna immaculata [leaf beetle]
187) Northern Grass Pyrgomorph Atractomorpha similis
188) Grenadier Agrionoptera insignis
189) Swamp Darter Arrhenes marnas
190) Hemipyrellia ligurriens [fly]
191) Anthrax incomptus [bee fly]
192) Pale-orange Darter Telicota colon
193) Bright Cornelian Deudorix diovis
194) I-Mark Leaf Beetle Calomela crassicornis
195) Large Squash Bug Mictis caja
196) Sapphire Rockmaster Diphlebia coerulescens
197) Zosteria fulvipubescens [robber fly]
198) Zosteria rosevillensis [robber fly]
199) Blackish Meadow Katydid Conocephalus semivittatus
200) Lyell's Swift Pelopidas lyelli
201) Dingy Swift Pelopidas agna
202) Chlorophorus curtisi [longhorn beetle]
203) Mango Flower Beetle Protaetia fusca
204) Scatochresis innumera [moth]
205) Peltoschema basicolle [leaf beetle]
206) Dicranosterna circe [leaf beetle]
207) Noliphus erythrocephalus [broad-headed bug]
208) Sprinkler Squeaker Popplepsalta annulata
209) Poecilometis histricus [stink bug]
210) Lean Lynx Spider Oxyopes macilentus
211) Paropsisterna anomala [leaf beetle]
212) Isopeda vasta [huntsman spider]
213) Ommatius mackayi [robber fly]
214) Lesser Wanderer Danaus chrysippus
215) Tailed Emperor Polyura sempronius
216) Fat-bellied Emerald Hemicordulia continentalis
217) Adanson's House Jumper Hasarius adansoni
218) Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp Evania appendigaster
219) Bean Leafroller Omiodes diemenalis
220) Zosteria lineata [robber fly]

Updates from me. Recent highlights have included doing a very long day trip, three hours west near Goondiwindi for Greater Bluebonnets of which I saw many. I picked up White-eared Honeyeater and Jacky Winter as well which are long overdue. I’m still chasing a few Great Dividing Range species. White-spotted Eagle Rays off North Stradbroke Island and a fluke Squirrel Glider in the afternoon at a local bushland reserve have been lingering memories. I also went to Melbourne for a couple of days mainly for zoos and I tried to squeeze in some birding which was actually pretty poor probably due to warm autumn temperatures. I should have planned better but I still ended up with a lifer Collared Sparrowhawk just outside Melbourne Zoo clutching a small bird in its talons and the best sighting of Spotless Crake I’ve ever had as they fought out in the open at Newport Lakes among Hoary-headed Grebes. I won’t be travelling for the winter break (I think) but I will be starting to finalise a return to far-north Queensland for September for operation cassowary.

Mammals:
09) Eastern Grey Kangaroo Macropus giganteus
10) Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor
11) Squirrel Glider Petaurus norfolcensis
12) Red-necked Wallaby Notamacropus rufogriseus
13) Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops aduncus
14) European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus
15) House Mouse Mus musculus

Birds:
170) Peaceful Dove Geopelia placida
171) Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
172) Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus
173) Varied Triller Lalage leucomela
174) White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Coracina papuensis
175) Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx lucidus
176) White-throated Honeyeater Melithreptus albogularis
177) Black Kite Milvus migrans
178) Black-shouldered Kite Elanus axillaris
179) Red-rumped Parrot Psephotus haematonotus
180) Grey-crowned Babbler Pomatostomus temporalis
181) Common Bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera
182) Greater Bluebonnet Northiella haematogaster
183) Yellow-faced Honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops
184) Yellow-throated Miner Manorina flavigula
185) Apostlebird Struthidea cinerea
186) Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax
187) White-eared Honeyeater Lichenostomus leucotis
188) Jacky Winter Microeca fascinans
189) Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata
190) Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius
191) Yellow Thornbill Acanthiza nana
192) Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni
193) Weebill Smicrornis brevirostris
194) Swamp Harrier Circus approximans
195) Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans
196) Spotted Pardalote Pardalotus punctatus
197) Little Raven Corvus mellori
198) Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
199) Red Wattlebird Anthochaera carunculata
200) Hoary-headed Grebe Poliocephalus poliocephalus
201) Musk Duck Biziura lobata
202) White-plumed Honeyeater Ptilotula penicillata
203) Musk Lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna
204) Collared Sparrowhawk Tachyspiza cirrocephala
205) New Holland Honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
206) Spotless Crake Porzana tabuensis
207) Cape Barren Goose Cereopsis novaehollandiae
208) Pacific Gull Larus pacificus
209) Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides
210) Cockatiel Nymphicus hollandicus

Herptiles:
19) Copper-tailed Ctenotus Ctenotus taeniolatus
20) Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria fallax
21) Broad-shelled Turtle Chelodina expansa
22) Dainty Tree Frog Litoria gracilenta
23) Pale-flecked Garden Skink Lampropholis guichenoti
24) Eastern Blue-tongue Tiliqua scincoides

Fish:
17) White-spotted Eagle Ray Aetobatus ocellatus
18) Eastern Mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki

Invertebrates:
221) Liolophura gaimardi [chiton]
222) Indigo Flash Rapala varuna
223) Orange Threadtail Nososticta solida
224) Grey Ringlet Hypocysta pseudirius
225) Conogethes haemactalis [moth]
226) Australian Yellow-winged Locust Gastrimargus musicu
227) Green Emperor Anax gibbosulus
228) Eucalyptus Variegated Beetle Paropsisterna cloelia
229) Brown Shield Bug Poecilometis strigatus
230) Echthromorpha agrestoria [wasp]
231) Blue-spotted Hawker Adversaeschna brevistyla
232) Red Triangle Slug Triboniophorus graeffei
233) Little Blue Periwinkle Austrolittorina unifasciata
234) Spectacular Crab Spider Thomisus spectabilis
235) Phimenes arcuatus [wasp]
236) Chrome Awl Hasora chromus
237) Yellow Admiral Vanessa itea
238) Southern Meat Ant Iridomyrmex purpureus
239) Wandering Pennant Macrodiplax cora
240) Pygmy Percher Nannodiplax rubra
241) Smooth-handed Ghost Crab Ocypode cordimanus
242) Common Bandwing Grasshopper Pycnostictus seriatus
243) Green Skimmer Orthetrum serapia
244) Black-banded Hoverfly Episyrphus viridaureus
245) Ornate Spiny Ant Polyrhachis ornata
246) Pygmy Wisp Agriocnemis pygmaea
247) Saralba ocypteroides [fly]
248) Cattle-poisoning Sawfly Lophyrotoma interrupta
249) Lydia Lichen Moth Asura lydia
250) Neat Epidesmia Epidesmia tryxaria
251) Cross-line Wave Moth Traminda aventiaria
252) Endotricha mesenterialis [moth]
253) Lawn Armyworm Moth Spodoptera mauritia
254) Tropical Beehive Snail Coneuplecta calculosa
255) Four-spined Spiny Orbweaver Gasteracantha quadrispinosa
256) Asperala erythraea [mantidfly]
257) Fraser's Banded Snail Sphaerospira fraseri
258) North Queensland Jumping Spider Cosmophasis micarioides
259) European Wasp Vespula germanica
260) American Cockroach Periplaneta americana
261) Red Harlequin Bug Dindymus versicolor
262) Blue Ringtail Austrolestes annulosus
263) Striped-mouth Conniwink Bembicium nanum
264) Common Conniwink Bembicium melanostoma

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
154. White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
155. Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Birds
156. Purple Martin Progne subis
157. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
158. American Pipit Anthus rubescens
159. Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
160. Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
161. Black Scoter Melanitta americana

 

[Lafone]

Spent the day in a hide in some woodland, hoping for Nuthatches. No luck there but lots of other great birds to photograph and then, in the early afternoon, ambling straight past without a care in the world, mouth full of mallard... a female fox. Unexpected encounter and quite the moment.

Mammals

7. Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, 19/04/2025, Private woodland

 

[DaLilFishie]

I'm back now in the tropical shìthole (or as it may better be known by, 'Queensland'). Haven't done any proper birding since my return but picked up these species today in a cafe garden.

BIRDS
131 - Little Friarbird Philemon citreogularis
132 - Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis

MAMMALS
8 - Agile Wallaby Notamacropus agilis

INVERTS
44 - Chocolate Argus Junonia hedonia

 

[MOG2012]

April 18, 2025

BIRDS:
40) Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniculus)
INVERTEBRATES:
11) Typical Paper Wasp (Polistes sp.)
12) Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)

MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 40 species
REPTILES: 1 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 12 species
TOTAL: 66 species

April 19, 2025

INVERTEBRATES:
12) Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger)

April 20, 2025
I landed in Rome today!

BIRDS:
41) Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
42) Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
43) Common Swift (Apus apus)

INVERTEBRATES:
13) Common House Mosquito (Culex pipiens)
14) Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)


MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 43 species
REPTILES: 1 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 14 species
TOTAL: 71 species

 

[birdsandbats]

(Starting off here at 136 since I decided to remove American Pipit from the list, looking back through my photos I became less confident in that identification).

Birds
136. Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
137. Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
138. Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta
139. Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum
140. Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus

Mammals
13. Coyote Canis latrans

Mammals
14. American Beaver Castor canadensis

 

[MOG2012]

April 19, 2025

INVERTEBRATES:
12) Black Garden Ant (Lasius niger)

April 20, 2025
I landed in Rome today!

BIRDS:
41) Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
42) Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
43) Common Swift (Apus apus)

INVERTEBRATES:
13) Common House Mosquito (Culex pipiens)
14) Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba)


MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 43 species
REPTILES: 1 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 14 species
TOTAL: 71 species

April 21, 2025
I’m now along the Amalfi!

BIRDS:
44) Italian Sparrow (Passer italiae)

INVERTEBRATES:
15) Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
16) Small White (Pieris rapae)
17) White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)

I also saw a gull resembling a laughing gull but I don’t have a positive ID on it. Any ideas?

MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 44 species
REPTILES: 1 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 17 species
TOTAL: 75 species

 

[Lafone]

April 21, 2025
I’m now along the Amalfi!

BIRDS:
44) Italian Sparrow (Passer italiae)

INVERTEBRATES:
15) Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
16) Small White (Pieris rapae)
17) White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)

I also saw a gull resembling a laughing gull but I don’t have a positive ID on it. Any ideas?

MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 44 species
REPTILES: 1 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 17 species
TOTAL: 75 species

Perhaps your gull was a black headed gull? They'd be common on the Amalfi coast (indeed also here in the UK) and they have dark heads at this time of year as they gain their breeding plumage though they'd be a bit smaller.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/black-headed-gull

But might also be a Med gull? Bit rarer but nonetheless still dark headed, more coverage on their heads and blacker vs darker brown.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/mediterranean-gull

 

[Najade]

17.04.25 - Birds and Breakfast, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Mammals
48. Toltec Fruit-eating Bat (Dermanura tolteca)
49. Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat (Carollia sowelli)
50. Brown Long-tongued Bat (Glossophaga commissarisi)
51. Northern Stripe-headed Round-eared Bat (Tonatia bakeri)
52. Hairy Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris hirsuta)
53. Schmidt’s Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris schmidtorum)
54. Chestnut Short-tailed Bat (Carollia castanea)
55. Common Big-eared Bat (Micronycteris microtis)
56. Luis’ Yellow-shouldered Bat (Sturnira luisi)

Birds (non-passerines)
20. Northern White Hawk (Pseudastur [albicollis] ghiesbreghti)

Birds (passerines)
21. Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza)
22. Black-striped Sparrow (Arremonops conirostris)
23. Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pennsylvanica)
24. Middle American [White-breasted] Wood Wren (Henicorhina [leucosticta] prostheleuca)
25. Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)

Amphibians
04. Central American Bullfrog (Leptodactylus savagei)

18.04.25 - Birds and Breakfast, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Mammals
57. Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus)
58. Thomas’ Yellow Bat (Rhogeessa io)

Birds (non-passerines)
26. Violet-headed Hummingbird (Klais guimeti)
27. Bronze-tailed (Red-footed) Plumeleteer (Chalybura urochrysia)
28. Slaty-tailed Trogon (Trogon massena)
29. Red-billed Pigeon (Patagioenas flavirostris)
30. Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica)
31. White-tipped Sicklebill (Eutoxeres aquila)

Birds (passerines)
32. Tooth-billed (Highland Hepatic) Tanager (Piranga lutea)
33. Black [Variable] Seedeater (Sporophila corvina)
34. Western Pewee (Wood Pewee) (Contopus sordidulus)
35. Dusky-capped Flycatcher (Myiarchus tuberculifer)
36. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
37. Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)
38. Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)
39. Long-tailed Tyrant (Colonia colonus)
40. Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)

Reptiles
07. Plumed Basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons)

Amphibians
05. Warszewitsch's Frog (Lithobates warszewitschii)
06. Blue Jeans Poison Dart Frog (Oophaga pumilio)

 

[DaLilFishie]

MAMMALS
8 - Agile Wallaby Notamacropus agilis

INVERTS
44 - Chocolate Argus Junonia hedonia

Visited Hasties Swamp for the first time in far too long

BIRDS
133 - Red-browed Finch Neochmia temporalis
134 - Lewin's Honeyeater Meliphaga lewinii
135 - Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus (forgot to tick this in Japan)
136 - Black Swan Cygnus atratus
137 - Hardhead Aythya australis
138 - Silvereye Zosterops lateralis
139 - Brown Gerygone Gerygone mouki
140 - Yellow-faced Honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops
141 - YELLOW-BREASTED BOATBILL Machaerirhynchus flaviventer (first seen since 2022)
142 - Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis
143 - Spectacled Monarch Symposiachrus trivirgatus
144 - Rufous Shrikethrush Colluricincla rufigaster
145 - Victoria's Riflebird Ptiloris victoriae
146 - Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax

 

[MOG2012]

Perhaps your gull was a black headed gull? They'd be common on the Amalfi coast (indeed also here in the UK) and they have dark heads at this time of year as they gain their breeding plumage though they'd be a bit smaller.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/black-headed-gull

But might also be a Med gull? Bit rarer but nonetheless still dark headed, more coverage on their heads and blacker vs darker brown.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/mediterranean-gull

Those were some of my ideas but they just don’t resemble what I saw. I even considered Audoin’s but it still doesn’t resemble it. I heard that there are vagrant laughing gulls here though

 

[DaLilFishie]

Visited Hasties Swamp for the first time in far too long

BIRDS
133 - Red-browed Finch Neochmia temporalis
134 - Lewin's Honeyeater Meliphaga lewinii
135 - Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus (forgot to tick this in Japan)
136 - Black Swan Cygnus atratus
137 - Hardhead Aythya australis
138 - Silvereye Zosterops lateralis
139 - Brown Gerygone Gerygone mouki
140 - Yellow-faced Honeyeater Lichenostomus chrysops
141 - YELLOW-BREASTED BOATBILL Machaerirhynchus flaviventer (first seen since 2022)
142 - Eastern Yellow Robin Eopsaltria australis
143 - Spectacled Monarch Symposiachrus trivirgatus
144 - Rufous Shrikethrush Colluricincla rufigaster
145 - Victoria's Riflebird Ptiloris victoriae
146 - Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax

Oops, forgot a few

BIRDS
147 - Wandering Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna arcuata

INVERTS
45 - Graphic Flutterer Rhyothemis graphiptera
46 - an ichneumonid wasp, Echthromorpha agrestoria

 

[DaLilFishie]

Oops, forgot a few

BIRDS
147 - Wandering Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna arcuata

INVERTS
45 - Graphic Flutterer Rhyothemis graphiptera
46 - an ichneumonid wasp, Echthromorpha agrestoria

and a few more

INVERTS
47 - Palemouth Brachydiplax denticauda
48 - Chalky Percher Diplacodes trivialis

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
156. Purple Martin Progne subis
157. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
158. American Pipit Anthus rubescens
159. Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
160. Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
161. Black Scoter Melanitta americana

Birds
162. Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis

 

[MOG2012]

April 21, 2025
I’m now along the Amalfi!

BIRDS:
44) Italian Sparrow (Passer italiae)

INVERTEBRATES:
15) Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
16) Small White (Pieris rapae)
17) White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)

I also saw a gull resembling a laughing gull but I don’t have a positive ID on it. Any ideas?

MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 44 species
REPTILES: 1 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 17 species
TOTAL: 75 species

April 22, 2025

BIRDS:
45) Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

REPTILES:
2) Italian Wall Lizard (Podarcis siculus)

INVERTEBRATES:
18) Half-edged Wall Jumping Spider (Menemerus semilimbatus)
19) European Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes nasicornis)


MAMMALS: 6 species
BIRDS: 45 species
REPTILES: 2 species
FISH: 7 species
INVERTEBRATES: 19 species
TOTAL: 79 species

 

[BerdNerd]

4/8/25

79. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
80. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus
81. Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica
82. Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
83. Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
84. Osprey Pandion haliaetus)

Took a brief trip to Weymouth Woods- Sandhills Nature Preserve this morning, where I got the chance to see some Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers again, as well as a few more lifers.


4/22/25

85. Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus borealis)
86. Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)

3/3/25

2. Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

4/22/25


3. Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

3/8/25

Invertebrates:

1. Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica)

4/5/25

2. Brassy Blister Beetle (Lytta aenea)


4/12/25

3. Wide Ribbon Meshweaver (Emblyna sublata)


4/22/25

4. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
5. Clubbed Mydas Fly (Mydas clavatus)


Total:
Mammals: 5
Birds: 86
Reptiles: 3
Invertebrates: 5

 

[Prochilodus246]

Today I returned back to university after Easter and an evening walk picked up the following invertebrates:

55) Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
56) Iris Flea Beetle Aphthona nonstriata