ZooChat Big Year 2014

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Ethiopia, Day Three

This was a travel day, with regular stops for birding, mammalling and eating! This day showed the strengths and the weaknesses of this type of trip - it was designed to cover as much ground as possible in a short time, so although you have long, hectic days like this, you do see an awful lot of species as a result.

Leaving Awash NP:

397. Black-crowned Tchagra - Tchagra senegalus
398. Yellow-necked Spurfowl - Pternistis leucoscepus

Roadside Birds:

399. Alpine Swift - Tachymarptis melba
400. Augur Buzzard - Buteo augur
401. Long-crested Eagle - Lophaetus occipitalis

Lake Basaaka:

402. Egyptian Vulture - Neophron percnopterus
403. Intermediate Egret - Egretta intermedia
404. Spur-winged Lapwing - Vanellus spinosus
405. Brown-throated Martin - Riparia paludicola
406. African Darter - Anhinga rufa
407. Long-tailed Cormorant - Microcarbo africanus
408. Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis
409. Striated Heron - Buteroides striata
410. African Jacana - Actophilornis africanus

Lake Koka:

411. Black Crowned Crane - Balearica pavonina
412. Pink-backed Pelican - Pelecanus rufescens
413. Spur-winged Goose - Plectropterus gambensis
414. White-faced Whistling Duck - Dendrocygna viduata
415. White-rumped Swift - Apus caffer
416. Rattling Cisticola - Cisticola chiniana
417. Village Weaver - Ploceus cucullatus

Lake Ziway:

418. Black-headed Heron - Ardea melanocephala
419. Great White Pelican - Pelecanus onocrotalus
420. Ruppell's Starling - Lamprotornis purpuroptera
421. Common Bulbul - Pycnonotus barbatus
422. Grey-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus
423. Hadada Ibis - Bostrychia hagedash
424. Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus
425. White-winged Black Tern - Chlidonias leucopterus
426. Black Heron - Egretta ardesiaca
427. Woodland Kingfisher - Halcyon senegalensis
428. Blue-breasted Bee-eater - Merops variegatus
429. Double-toothed Barbet - Lybius bidentatus
430. Black-winged Kite - Elanus caeruleus

Abijatta-Shalla NP:

431. Somali Ostrich - Struthio molybdophanes
432. Red-fronted Barbet - Tricholaema diademata
433. Grey-backed Fiscal - Lanius excubituroides
434. Northern Black Flycatcher - Melaenornis edolioides
435. Grey-headed Batis - Batis orientalis
436. Red-faced Crombec - Sylvettia whytii

Bishangari Lodge and around:

437. Superb Starling - Lamprotornis superbus
438. Crowned Lapwing - Vanellus coronatus
439. Silvery-cheeked Hornbill - Bycanistes brevis
440. Purple Heron - Ardea purpurea
441. Yellow-fronted Parrot - Poicephalus flavifrons
442. Senegal Thick-knee - Burhinus senegalensis

:)
 
Ethiopia Day Four

Birding at Bishangari, followed by a drive to Bale.

Bishangari Lodge:

443. Three-banded Courser - Rhinoptilus cinctus
444. White-breasted Cormorant - Phalacrocorax lucidus
445. Ovambo Sparrowhawk - Accipiter ovampensis
446. African Spoonbill - Platalea alba
447. Bearded Woodpecker - Dendropicos namaquus
448. Bare-faced Go-away-bird - Corythaixoides personatus
449. Black-winged Lovebird - Agapornis taranta
450. Lemon Dove - Columba larvata
451. Scaly Francolin - Pternistis squamatus
452. Abyssinian White-eye - Zosterops abyssinicus
453. Woolly-necked Stork - Ciconia episcopus
454. Mountain Buzzard - Buteo oreophilus
455. Black-billed Wood-hoopoe - Phoeniculus somaliensis
456. Red-shouldered Cuckoo-shrike - Campephaga phoenicea
457. Eurasian Wryneck - Jynx torquilla
458. Eastern Grey Woodpecker - Dendropicos spodocephalus
459. White-rumped Babbler - Turdoides leucopygia
460. Klaas' Cuckoo - Chrysococcyx klaas
461. Scaly-throated Honeyguide - Indicator variegatus
462. White-cheeked Turaco - Tauraco leucotis
463. Red-winged Starling - Onychognathus morio
464. Ethiopian Oriole - Oriolus monacha
465. Northern Carmine Bee-eater - Merops nubicus
466. Red-billed Oxpecker - Buphagus erythrorhynchus

Roadside Birds, Lunch at Shashemene and Arrival in Bale:

467. Abyssinian Ground Hornbill - Bucorvus abyssinicus
468. Montagu's Harrier - Circus pygargus
469. Mountain Wagtail - Motacilla clara
470. Thick-billed Raven - Corvus crassirostris
471. Tacazze Sunbird - Nectarinia tacazze
472. White-collared Pigeon - Columba albitorques
473. Red-knobbed Coot - Fulica cristata
474. Abyssinian Long-eared Owl - Asio abyssinicus

:)
 
Hevden said:
Didn't manage to find anything but did get another couple of birds including another life tick which was "gently" coaxed out of very thick vegetation.

237. Jack snipe
238. Olive-backed pipit
Click to expand...

The temptation of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Cornwall was to hard to resist this weekend however after being severly harassed by birders on friday it was not seen again. A few good American years ticks were seen and another life tick was a good consolation for the 750 mile round trip.

239. Ring-necked Duck
240. Rose-coloured Starling
241. Lesser Yellowlegs
242. Raddes Warbler
 
Hevden said:
The temptation of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Cornwall was to hard to resist this weekend however after being severly harassed by birders on friday it was not seen again. A few good American years ticks were seen and another life tick was a good consolation for the 750 mile round trip.

239. Ring-necked Duck
240. Rose-coloured Starling
241. Lesser Yellowlegs
242. Raddes Warbler
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "severely harassed by birders"? Don't you guys bird ethically out there, and don't you tell-off other birders if they're acting like tools?
 
Birding at big twitches has gone drastically downhill over the last ten years. Where organised flushes used to happen occasionally it now seems to be a free for all at times often photographers are to blame who despite having 800mm lens's with converters and high end bodies seem to want a full frame photo without the need for cropping.
 
Pertinax said:
Can't believe that.....:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

:D

Before the last 18 months or so I was a birder but a very casual one - not really seeking stuff out and not really keeping any records. Egged on by a New Year's resolution to see more British wildlife and by participation in this thread, I've been rather more dedicated this year - and this has resulted in the phenomenon of the 'technical lifer' - things I've probably seen but didn't have on my life list (which I drew up last year on quite strict requirements that I needed a contemporaneous note, a photo or at least a very specific memory for a species to qualify). Next year should be rather less humiliating from that point of view! ;)
 
Ethiopia Day Five - Sanetti Plateau

Sanetti Plateau (and the way up and way down!):

475. Abyssinian Thrush - Turdus abyssinicus
476. Mountain Chat - Pinarochroa sordida
477. Wattled Ibis - Bostrychia carunculata
478. Lammergeier - Gypaetus barbatus
479. Chestnut-naped Francolin - Pternistis castaneicollis
480. Rouget's Rail - Rougetius rougetii
481. Slender-billed Starling - Onychognathus tenuirostris
482. Groundscraper Thrush - Psophocichla litsitsirupa
483. Thekla Lark - Galerida theklae
484. Spot-breasted Lapwing - Vanellus melanocephalus
485. Moorland Francolin - Scleroptila psilolaema
486. Ethiopian Siskin - Serinus nigriceps
487. Malachite Sunbird - Nectarinia famosa
488. Blue-winged Goose - Cyanochen cyanoptera
489. Saker Falcon - Falco cherrug
490. Golden Eagle - Aquila chrysaetos
491. Steppe Eagle - Aquila nipalensis
492. Wattled Crane - Grus carunculata
493. Ruddy Shelduck - Tadorna ferruginea
494. Baglafecht Weaver - Ploceus baglafecht

Steppe Eagle sighting replaces an earlier one with a less reliable ID from Nepal, so is sort-of a lifer as well.


Ethiopia Day Six

Morning around the Bale Mountains NP HQ at Dinsho then a drive across the plains in the north of the park and on to the lakeside of (H)Awassa.

Goba:

495. Mountain White-eye - Zosterops poliogastrus
496. Streaky Seedeater - Crithagra striolata
497. Yellow-crowned Canary - Serinus flavivertex
498. Brown-rumped Seedeater - Crithagra tristriata
499. Somali Crow - Corvus edithae

Park HQ area, Dinsho:

500. African Wood Owl - Strix woodfordii
501. White-backed Black Tit - Parus leuconotus
502. Abyssinian Slaty Flycatcher - Dioptrornis chocolatinus
503. Abyssinian Catbird - Parophasma galinieri

Crossing the plains:

504. Ethiopian Cisticola - Cisticola lugubris
505. Abyssinian Longclaw - Macronyx flavicollis
506. Cape Eagle Owl - Bubo capensis
507. African Stonechat - Saxicola torquatus

Awassa/Hawassa:

508. Malachite Kingfisher - Corythornis cristatus
509. Black Crake - Amaurornis flavirostris
510. Bruce's Green Pigeon - Treron waalia
511. Banded Barbet - Lybius undatus
512. Tawny-flanked Prinia - Prinia subflava
513. Little Bittern - Ixobrychus minutus
514. African Pygmy Goose - Nettapus auritus
515. Thick-billed Weaver - Amblyospiza albifrons
516. Brown-throated Wattle-eye - Platysteira cyanea
517. Brown Woodland Warbler - Phylloscopus umbrovirens
518. African Thrush - Turdus pelios
519. Grey-backed Camaroptera - Camaroptera brevicaudata
520. White-browed Robin-Chat - Cossypha heuglini


Getting there - two days to go! :)
 
Ethiopia Day Seven

Early morning birding at Awassa, followed by a morning at Senkelle Swayne's Hartebeest Sanctuary (good name) and an afternoon mostly driving (an afternoon stop back at Koka produced our first awake Spur-winged Geese but no new species).

Awassa:

521. Bronze Mannikin - Lonchura cucullata
522. Fulvous Whistling Duck - Dendrocygna bicolor
523. Buff-bellied Warbler - Phyllolais pulchella
524. Spotted Creeper - Salpornis spilonotus
525. Common Waxbill - Estrilda astrild

Senkelle:

526. Long-billed Pipit - Anthus similis
527. Ring-necked Dove - Streptopelia capicola
528. Pectoral-patch Cisticola - Cisticola brunnescens
529. Foxy Lark - Calendulauda alopex

Roadside Birds:

530. Striped Kingfisher - Halcyon chelicuti
531. Purple Roller - Coracias naevius


Ethiopia Day Eight

Just noticed this one:

532. Red-collared Widowbird - Euplectes ardens (actually from the 14th - only just realised I missed it off!)

Day Eight was all about Geladas - a jaunt north from Addis to the Debre Libanos Gorge. On the way there was a birding stop on the Sululta Plains. A nice little bunch to end on, with a particularly nice roadside spot as our final species addition of the trip!

Sululta Plains:

533. Fan-tailed Widowbird - Euplectes axillaris
534. Nyanza Swift - Apus nianzae
535. Yellow-billed Duck - Anas undulata
536. Red-breasted Wheatear - Oenanthe bottae

Debre Libanos Gorge:

537. Ruppell's Black Chat - Myrmecocichla melaena
538. White-billed Starling - Onychognathus albirostris
539. Hemprich's Hornbill - Tockus hemprichii
540. Mocking Cliff Chat - Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris

Roadside Final Treat:

541. Lappet-faced Vulture - Torgos tracheliotus


All up-to-date - I will now let someone else play with the thread for a while. :D

(at least until I spot something else I've missed off, or manage to ID something out of the small pot of unconfirmed photos!)
 
Maguari said:
or manage to ID something out of the small pot of unconfirmed photos!
Click to expand...

I have a large pot of those - mainly raptors and sunbirds!

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
I have a large pot of those - mainly raptors and sunbirds!

:p

Hix
Click to expand...

Still got loads from Costa Rica - thanks to our guide Abiy the Ethiopian pot is much reduced!
 
mstickmanp said:
251. Green-tailed Towhee
252. Sanderling
253. Black Turnstone
254. Ruddy Turnstone
255. Dunlin
256. Common Tern
Click to expand...

Yesterday I decided to go look for a Rufous-backed Robin that was found about two hours away from my house in a motel in the middle of the desert. This is a Mexican species that is very rare in California but is an occasional species found in Southeastern Arizona during the winter, so I could not miss the chance. Luckily I found the bird, although it took almost two hours to find it.

257. Rufous-backed Robin
 
Maguari said:
514. African Pygmy Goose - Nettapus auritus
Click to expand...

This is one of my favourite birds and I actually looked for this at Hawassa/Awassa when I was there a year ago! But this was the one species that I was disappointed not to see there:rolleyes:.
Really Jealous :p
 
After a very enjoyable 2 night stay in the Bialowieza forest/national park I have several species to add to my list.

Birds

159) redwing
160) common buzzard
161) goshawk
162) mistle thrush
163) hawfinch
164) tawny owl
165) black woodpecker
167) marsh tit
168) middle spotted woodpecker
169) three toed woodpecker
170) dunnock
171) lesser spotted woodpecker
172) common crane
173) pygmy owl
174) raven
175) long tailed tit, Eastern European ssp (let me know if this can count separately from the UK ssp)

Mammals
20) European bison!!! :D

After a lot of trudging through freezing cold frost covered forests, river valleys and wild grassy meadows I finally spotted the bison. Despite the cold and early mornings I had an amazing time (although not as long as I would have liked :p) in the Bialoweiza forest which is a place I would recommend anyone interested in anything natural (which probably applies to everyone reading this ;)) paying a visit to.
I will be uploading photos soon
:)
 
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mstickmanp said:
Went birding yesterday, but no new birds...but I did get one new mammal.

10. Gray Fox
Click to expand...

Here is my updated mammal list:

11. House Mouse
12. California Sealion
13. Harbor Seal
14. Short-beaked Common Dolphin
15. White-tailed Antelope Squirrel
16. California Chipmunk
17. Common Muskrat
18. Bobcat
 
getting interesting now! Top three in birds and mammals:

BIRDS:
Chlidonias – 570
Maguari – 541
Hix – 522

MAMMALS:
Chlidonias – 71
Maguari – 70
Hix – 68

I'm not going to get more than another one or two mammals this year (probably not even that), and probably no more than about ten or twenty more birds are possible. So Maguari and Hix are both in with a better than average chance of coming out on top at the end of the year.
 
mstickmanp said:
Yesterday I decided to go look for a Rufous-backed Robin that was found about two hours away from my house in a motel in the middle of the desert. This is a Mexican species that is very rare in California but is an occasional species found in Southeastern Arizona during the winter, so I could not miss the chance. Luckily I found the bird, although it took almost two hours to find it.

257. Rufous-backed Robin
Click to expand...

I got three more Eastern vagrants today that were easy to find as they were in the same tree!

258. Chestnut-sided Warbler
259. Black-and-white Warbler
260. Blackpoll Warbler
261. Red-naped Sapsucker
 
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Wow, my 4th place 391 is way behind 1-3. Granted, I've only birded one continent and one country.
 
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