ZooChat Big Year 2015

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Ituri said:
198 Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria
199 Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
200 Brewer's Sparrow - Spizella breweri
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201 Calliope Hummingbird - Selasphorus calliope
202 Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia
203 Yellow-breasted Chat - Icteria virens
204 Bank Swallow - Riparia riparia
205 Lazuli Bunting - Passerina amoena
206 Nashville Warbler - Oreothlypis ruficapilla
 
Yet another trip down south. This one netted me 10 year birds and two lifers.

320 American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus
321 Least Bittern - Ixobrychus exilis
322 King Rail - Rallus elegans
  • For all intents and purposes, this is a lifer with great looks
323 Purple Gallinule - Porphyrio martinicus
324 Solitary Sandpiper - Tringa solitaria
325 White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis
326 Wilson's Phalarope - Phalaropus tricolor
327 Magnolia Warbler - Setophaga magnolia
328 Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea
329 Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula
 
LaughingDove said:
I am visiting the Biebrza marshes this weekend (3 day weekend with public holiday) with the sole purpose of birding
Drive there:
Common crane - I saw a pair of them from the car quite nearby doing the full dance thing. Unfortunately I couldn't stop to photograph them. I saw many more though in the marshes

First day:
235) Redshank
236) Godwit
237) Common tern
238) Ruff
239) Green sandpiper
240) Whiskered tern - one of my target species and I saw quite a big group!
241) Barnacle Goose
242) Curlew

There were also over 100 white storks there were three of four in practically every field and nests on every few lamp posts. Even a few in my accommodation.

Also, much thanks to the book "birding in Poland" which I got off NHBS recently, it's like a lonely planet book but for birding with all the best sites and observation towers with information about them. I wouldn't have seen half the birds I did without it; definitely recommended for anyone doing any birding in Poland.

And I hope for a few more tomorrow :)
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YESTERDAY


Day two of birding in Biebrza Marshes

I had the full day to just go around birding (as in 10 hours pretty much solidly; I've never done so much birding in one day before in my life! My family would never usually put up with it!) and my dad drove me to pretty much wherever in the marsh I wanted and where my book told me the best birds were so I saw lots of year birds and lifers, including lots that I was really hoping to see :).

243) Reed Bunting
244) Greater Spotted eagle
245) Lesser white-throat
246) Woodcock
247) Montagu's harrier
248) Water rail
249) white winged tern
250) black tern
251) Great Snipe
252) Common cuckoo - It's alluded me for ages so pleased to finally have seen one!
253) Yellow wagtail
254) Black Grouse
255) Great Reed Warbler
256) Bean Goose - the last of the
large groups leaving the wintering areas

Heard only: Bittern and Savi's warbler

Herps

4) Moor Frog
5) Common frog
6) European frog


TODAY


Stop in the Narew river basin (in an area particularly recommended for a variety of interesting warblers) for about 4 hours in the morning before driving back to Warsaw:

257) Great Grey Shrike
258) Barred Warbler
259) Marsh Warbler
260) Icterine Warbler
261) Grasshopper Warbler

I was hoping to see an Aquatic Warbler with this being the European stronghold of the species but no luck with that, unfortunately. 26 year birds with almost half lifers Isn't bad for a weekend birding though :)

I doubt I'll be able to see so many birds in such a short time again this year unless I get the chance to leave Europe again.
 
Hevden said:
I painfully dipped on husonian godwit on Saturday missing it by 30mins. However I did get some good year ticks as a consolation.

184. Common sandpiper
185. Common crane
186. Wood sandpiper
187. Cuckoo
188. Arctic tern

And a couple more today

189. Pied-billed grebe
190. Spotted redshank
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Two days into our Scotland trip

191. Cappercailie
192. Ptarmigan
193. Osprey
194. Golden eagle
195. White-billed diver
196. Black guillemot
197. Crested tit

Haven't managed to id any crossbills yet.
 
Very nice :) hopefully you will pick up a crossbill or two soon enough.
 
Two more

330 Mississippi Kite - Ictinia mississippiensis
331 Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
 
Hix said:
117. Cattle Egret

:p

Hix
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Birds
118. Weebill
119. Noisy Friarbird
120. Buff-rumped Thornbill
121. White-winged Chough


Mammals
7. Red Fox

:p

Hix
 
mstickmanp said:
Got a report that a Ruff was found yesterday about 15 miles from my house, so I had to go chase it today! There is another Ruff that has been in Los Angeles for the last month or so, but it's about 70 miles from my house...in LA traffic that is a good 2 hour drive one way. Not only was the Ruff a lifer, but I also got another lifer and a nice little swift.

211. Ruff
212. Solitary Sandpiper
213. Vaux's Swift
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214. Swainson's Thrush
215. White-winged Dove
216. Olive-sided Flycatcher
217. Western Wood-Pewee
218. Brown-crested Flycatcher
219. Warbling Vireo
220. Townsend's Warbler
221. Yellow-breasted Chat
222. Summer Tanager
223. Western Tanager
224. Black-headed Grosbeak
 
Very pleasant day today bumbling around South Yorkshire - including a quick call in to see the Big White Bear-y Things before retreating to Potteric Carr when YWP started getting Bank Holiday busy, and ending up at Thrybergh Country Park to meet with my Dad, who promptly spotted a bird lifer for me - and then undermined it by not telling about the linnets until they'd sodded off! Still they elude me this year...

127. Common Whitethroat - Sylvia communis
128. Common Swift - Apus apus
129. Common Sandpiper - Actitis hypoleucos
130. Common Kingfisher - Alcedo atthis
131. Garden Warbler - Sylvia borin

:)
 
A busy, but fruitful, bank holiday weekend where the frustration of dipping the Hudsonian Godwit was compensated by a glut of other nice birds:

171. Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
172. Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) - LIFER
173. Swift (Apus apus)
174. Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)
175. Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
176. Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)
177. Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
178. Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
179. Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)
180. Hobby (Falco subbuteo)
181. Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti)
182. Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)
183. Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin)
 
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Hevden said:
Two days into our Scotland trip

191. Cappercailie
192. Ptarmigan
193. Osprey
194. Golden eagle
195. White-billed diver
196. Black guillemot
197. Crested tit

Haven't managed to id any crossbills yet.
Click to expand...

Didn't manage to id any crossbills just had frustratingly brief flyovers but did manage to finally catch up with a long awaited lifer and reach 200 at the same time.

198. Redstart
199. Wheatear
200.White-tailed eagle
201. Hooded crow
 
An excellent taxon to get for your 200th of the year, and a lifer too :D amazed it has taken you so long to see one, though!
 
lintworm said:
The first new bird for me since I moved to Switzerland 2 days ago:

126. European canary

This is actually only the second time I saw this species (first time 2013 in Croatia), however I saw it in the garden next to my appartment, so it won't be the last time I will see and here them ;)
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127. Black tit
128. Common swift

I also found my favourite snail species, Helicodonta obvoluta, which is rare in the Netherlands, but fortunately really common in Switzerland. They are amazing, because of their unusual shape and all the hairs on their shell.
 
@Laughing dove, I do indeed mean Periparus ater. I have however been lazy and directly translated the Dutch name intoo English. In Dutch it is called a black tit (zwarte mees), but although this works for many species, in this case it did not :p
 
DesertRhino150 said:
On today's visit to Colchester Zoo, I managed to see my first two species of fish for the year, on the nature reserve adjacent to the zoo's grounds:

1. European minnow Phoxinus phoxinus
2. Spined loach Coebitis taenia
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Went on a visit to Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve today, where in the past week there have been up to 30 singing nightingales and 5-6 easily seen per visit. Unfortunately, my visit coincided with high winds so although a few brave nightingales continued singing, they all stayed out of sight. Indeed, the only new bird of the trip was seen from the car less than a minute from my house:

116. Common swift Apus apus

But Fingringhoe wasn't a total bust, as we did manage to find a new reptile for the year list; this is only the second time I have seen this species in the wild - the first time was on my last visit to Fingringhoe several years ago:

3. Northern adder Vipera berus
 
@Chlidonias, you are right, indeed a European serin (Serinus serinus), same mistake as with the coal tit....
 
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