58) Black stilt Himantopus novaezelandiae, this morning at the Ashley River mouth (about 30km north of Christchurch).
ZooChat Big Year 2015
- Thread starter jbnbsn99
- Start date
- Status
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.
Did a bit of birding in a few different nature reserves around Warsaw today:
262) Savi's Warbler
263) Little Tern
264) Sand Martin
Missed off from a few Weeks ago:
265) Common Swift
Last edited:
Joined the Essex Birdwatching Society for a day trip to two sites in the Brecks today - although some of the target species such as hawfinch, crossbill and firecrest remained hidden, I still did manage to find five new species for the year list:
At Lynford Arboretum:-
119. Willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus
120. Sand martin Riparia riparia
121. Spotted flycatcher Muscicapa striata
122. Marsh tit Poecile palustris
At Santon Downham:-
123. Garden warbler Sylvia borin
I also saw a new mammal and a new fish at Santon Downham.
Mammals:
12. Roe deer Capreolus capreolus
Fish:
3. Brown trout Salmo trutta
31. Snow Goose
Hevden
Well-Known Member
Managed to do a bit of birding after work and added a few more birds to my year list
211. Ring ouzel
212. Pied flycatcher
213. Woodcock
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
A few more species from a weekend trip to Warrnambool via Ballarat.
100 Black-tailed Native Hen Tribonyx ventralis
101 White-winged Chough Corcorax melanorhamphos
102 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
103 Australasian Gannet Morus serrator
32. Greater Yellowlegs
33. Yellow Warbler
34. Tree Swallow
35. Violet Green Swallow
Mammal (uncounted): American Black Bear tracks along shoreline.
33. Yellow Warbler
34. Tree Swallow
35. Violet Green Swallow
Mammal (uncounted): American Black Bear tracks along shoreline.
Last edited by a moderator:
36. Arctic Tern
37. Rusty Blackbird
37. Rusty Blackbird
Last edited by a moderator:
I spent the day in Kaikoura, except the albtaross boat wasn't going out so I just had to have a walk around the peninsula and try some sea-watching - which isn't easy to do with only binoculars and no scope. There were loads of albatrosses and petrels just offshore following fishing boats but while I could be about 90% sure of their identities based on general appearance, time of year, and most likely to occur, none of them I could say with complete certainty except the northern giant petrels. I'm pretty sure there were at least white-capped, black-browed and Buller's mollymawks, and royal and wandering albatrosses, but none of them are going on the year list.
59) New Zealand pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae
60) Turnstone Arenaria interpres
61) Northern giant petrel Macronectes halli
62) Australasian gannet Morus serrator
5) New Zealand fur seal Arctocephalus forsteri
59) New Zealand pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae
60) Turnstone Arenaria interpres
61) Northern giant petrel Macronectes halli
62) Australasian gannet Morus serrator
5) New Zealand fur seal Arctocephalus forsteri
I already had you down as having two reptiles on my tally sheet. Does that mean you actually have seven now? Or does the five above include the previous two? Or am I just proving that I cannot count herptiles (again!)?
During a week in Eastern Germany (Leipzig area and Berlin)
133. Eurasian reed warbler
134. Marsh warbler
135. European nightinghale
136. Pied flycatcher
137. Eurasian golden oriole
138. Hooded crow
139. Common tern
Mammals
13. Fallow deer
14. Serotine bat
15. Striped field mouse
Berlin Zoo again proved a good place to spot striped field mouses
Herps
7. Slow worm
Now one week left in Switzerland and then one week in Kenya, mostly within Nairobi though....
Forgot to add a new bird I saw last Tuesday:
124. Lesser whitethroat Sylvia curruca
I also saw a new species from the car on the drive up to North Norfolk:
125. Red kite Milvus milvus
I am going to be in North Norfolk for a week, by which time I will have hopefully either equalised or beaten last year's total of 131 bird species.
Birds
122. Grey Goshawk (white phase)
Hix
Birds
123. http://www.zoochat.com/674/tawny-frogmouth-411140/
124. Black-shouldered Kite
Mammals
8. Brushtail Possum
9. Common Wombat
10. Sugar Glider
jbnbsn99
Well-Known Member
A rarity showed up about 30 minutes from my place, so I had to go chase it. Happy lifer dance for me. This has been a slow month due to torrential rains every weekend and me being sick.
333 Glaucous Gull - Larus hyperboreus
Things pick up next month with a rather long road trip.
333 Glaucous Gull - Larus hyperboreus
Things pick up next month with a rather long road trip.
Hevden
Well-Known Member
A couple of days in Suffolk and my first visit to minsmere have given me a few more
214. Nightingale
215. Broad-billed sandpiper
216. Curlew sandpiper
217. Dartford warbler
218. Red-necked palarope
219. Little gull
220. Beaded tit
Mammally post coming up - went for a bat walk with the county bat group on Saturday night down in the far south of the county, near Ticknall and on just outside the western edge of the estate of Calke Abbey. Didn't see huge numbers of bats but there were plenty to be seen and they were pleasingly diverse.
21. Fallow Deer - Dama dama
22. Brown Long-eared Bat - Plecotus auritus
23. Soprano Pipistrelle - Pipistrellus pygmaeus
24. Common Noctule - Nyctalus noctula
We also saw Common Pips and some nonspecific Myotis. There was still a debate raging at the end of the event about the identity of the third (of four) group of 'Noctules', as those who were closer to them believed them to be Leisler's based on the call frequency, and there is a known roost nearby. I did see the bats in question so if an 'official' answer is ever forthcoming I could be back to add them!
The Fallow Deer are actually my first wild ones in Derbyshire, and they are Quite Interesting. The South Derbyshire population is the most extensive in the county and like most/all Fallow Deer in the UK, they are believed to originate from escapes from deer parks. This population appears to be centred around Calke Abbey but as the wild population pre-dates the current deer stock of the Abbey by at least several decades, and the park had been deer-less for some time before that, no-one's quite sure when the putative 'escape' happened! Indeed, I believe the current 'park' deer actually originate from the wild population - the herd was established in the 1970s and has been fully enclosed on the eastern side of the park since the late 80s.
21. Fallow Deer - Dama dama
22. Brown Long-eared Bat - Plecotus auritus
23. Soprano Pipistrelle - Pipistrellus pygmaeus
24. Common Noctule - Nyctalus noctula
We also saw Common Pips and some nonspecific Myotis. There was still a debate raging at the end of the event about the identity of the third (of four) group of 'Noctules', as those who were closer to them believed them to be Leisler's based on the call frequency, and there is a known roost nearby. I did see the bats in question so if an 'official' answer is ever forthcoming I could be back to add them!
The Fallow Deer are actually my first wild ones in Derbyshire, and they are Quite Interesting. The South Derbyshire population is the most extensive in the county and like most/all Fallow Deer in the UK, they are believed to originate from escapes from deer parks. This population appears to be centred around Calke Abbey but as the wild population pre-dates the current deer stock of the Abbey by at least several decades, and the park had been deer-less for some time before that, no-one's quite sure when the putative 'escape' happened! Indeed, I believe the current 'park' deer actually originate from the wild population - the herd was established in the 1970s and has been fully enclosed on the eastern side of the park since the late 80s.
- Status