ZooChat Big Year 2015

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Went for an evening stroll on the moors. No new birds (got my first Derbyshire whinchats, though) - but I did get a new mammal, a year to the day since I added it to the 2014 list!

30. Red Deer - Cervus elaphus

:)
 
Chlidonias said:
story here for anyone else: Te Papa's Blog | A new bird for New Zealand ? magpie-lark
Click to expand...

Fascinating story. The story about the Dusky Woodswallow is also a good one.

On a slightly related note, have there been many birding hoaxes wherever you guys are (UK, UZ, NZ, continental Europe etc)?

Earlier this year, there was a 'birding scandal' that rocked the Victorian (Australian) birding community, involving a relatively young birder who did a 'Vic Twitch' in 2014 to set a new 'big Victorian year' record. He had support from some of the best birders in Australia re: advice on where to find specific species, assistance with identifying tricky species, and swift notifications when rarerities were reported. At the end of 2014, the birder had seen 401 species in Victoria, beating the previous record of 392 set in 2010 by a birding duo.

He became a minor celebrity in the birding world, giving talks about birds to school kids, and perhaps being interviewed on the radio (I think). His blog received thousands of hits from around the world as birders followed his adventures; Victorian birders were willing him on to break the record and were genuinely elated when he broke it and set a new 400+ record.

The only problem was, he faked some of the sightings that he supposedly made on his lonesome. Around Easter this year he wrote a long post on the Victorian Birders Facebook Group admitting to a few hoaxes - including a House Crow sighting in downtown Melbourne that wasted the resources of various government departments that tried to capture the bird (re: it being a destructive invasive species). A photo of a frigatebird supposedly taken in Victoria weeks after the initial report turned out to be a photo he took in Fiji. Another photo of a sandpiper I believe, was taken of the web. It is believed that he set up fake accounts to verify sightings.

He retracted his claim on the record and it is still unclear how many sightings were faked. He wrote about having psychological problems, issues at university, stress etc and how he thought the problems would go away by breaking the record blah blah blah. Birders were initially supportive, but then angry - many wasted resources (time, petrol, accommodation etc) chasing birds that never existed. He was then expelled from a few Facebook groups (including one he founded!) and banned for life from posting rare bird sightings to the local 'bird line'. It was a cautionary tale to many Victorian birders who were either chasing a record, or chasing birds based on supposed sightings.

Have there been any bird hoaxes in your neck of the woods?
 
wow, I never heard about all that. So the house crow was not really there after all!!

I'm sure one of the UK lot (probably TLD) will come in to tell you about the most famous of English birding hoaxes.
 
Just a little mammal update

38. Short-Beaked Common Dolphin
39. Blue Whale

No biggie.
 
lintworm said:
I forgot one Kenyan bird:

243. Blue-naped mousebird

and another reptile

13. Kenyan rock agama (Agama lionotus)

The coming 2 months I do not expect to much new species, but that should change from August onwards, there are 2 new African countries in the pipeline now....
Click to expand...


244. European dipper

and a fish I have forgotten to add for 2 months now:

7. Roach

This was my first dipper I have seen in Switzerland and I have now seen dippers in 10 different countries throughout Europe...
 
In reviewing some of the birds I saw, I have one addition. Turns out, one of the birds I saw I misidentified as a Cordilleran Flycatcher was a Buff-Bellied Flycatcher. I had to go through all the eBird data to confirm this (it was my gut reaction on the day, but I second-guessed myself).

399 Buff-breasted Flycatcher - Empidonax fulvifrons
 
Day 14(ish)

400 Violet-green Swallow - Tachycineta thalassina
401 Yellow-footed Gull - Larus livens
402 California Gull - Larus californicus
403 Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus
404 Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni
405 Western Gull - Larus occidentalis
406 Wrentit - Chamaea fasciata
407 California Towhee - Melozone crissalis

https://bretsbirdingblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/day-14-ish/
 
A few new additions from Potteric Carr today:

174. Black-necked Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis
175. Green Sandpiper - Tringa ochropus
176. Spotted Redshank - Tringa erythropus

:)
 
I realised I haven't posted any "how things are going" for a couple of months I think. So here is where everyone is at the moment. Seems someone is making sure they come out on top this year!

BIRDS:
jbnbsn99 – 407
LaughingDove – 266
Ituri – 244
lintworm – 243
mstickmanp – 224
Hevden – 222
robmv – 205
boof – 193
Maguari – 176
TeaLovingDave – 144
Hix – 143
DesertRhino150 – 142
nanoboy – 138
adrian1963 – 125
zooboy28 – 103
Pleistohorse – 76
Chlidonias – 62
vogelcommando – 50
AverageWalrus – 29
BeardsleyZooFan – 28
ThylacineAlive – 25
Javan Rhino – 19

MAMMALS:
jbnbsn99 – 39
LaughingDove – 38
Pleistohorse – 31
Maguari – 30
TeaLovingDave - 26
lintworm – 24
Ituri – 23
DesertRhino150 – 17
Hix – 11
zooboy28 – 9
Chlidonias – 6
ThylacineAlive – 4
AverageWalrus – 3
BeardsleyZooFan – 6
mstickmanp – 2

HERPTILES:
TeaLovingDave - 15 Herptiles total (8 Reptiles, 7 Amphibians)
lintworm – 13 Herptiles total (10 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
Ituri – 8 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
LaughingDove – 8 Herptiles total (2 Reptiles, 6 Amphibians)
Hix – 5 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
DesertRhino150 – 5 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
AverageWalrus – 4 Herptiles total (4 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
Maguari – 4 Herptiles total (1 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
ThylacineAlive – 1 Herptiles total (1 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)

FISH:
lintworm – 7
DesertRhino150 – 6
LaughingDove – 4
AverageWalrus – 3

BUTTERFLIES:
lintworm – 9
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Some additions to the mammal list. On Wednesday, I helped do a count of a breeding bat colony, with over 500 individuals all of the same species:

16. Soprano pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus

And this evening, I went on another survey with the local bat group to an area of ancient woodland, where one guaranteed new species was added:

17. Common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus

We did also see and detect another bat species - it is still being identified but if it is what we think it is, then it will be a lifer species.
Click to expand...

Forgot to add another species of new bird I saw late last week:

143. Black tern Chlidonias niger
 
Chlidonias said:
wow, I never heard about all that. So the house crow was not really there after all!!

I'm sure one of the UK lot (probably TLD) will come in to tell you about the most famous of English birding hoaxes.
Click to expand...

Yes I am not sure if the first sighting near Southbank was real, but the second sighting months later near the war memorial was definitely a fake. It got even more hilarious: seasoned birders ticked a raven (so blinded were they in believing it was a crow) only to publicly retract the tick months later when the story broke.
 
Ituri said:
238 Grasshopper Sparrow
239 Red-eyed Vireo
240 Bobolink
241 Lewis's Woodpecker
242 Veery
Click to expand...

243 Cassin's Vireo - Vireo cassinii
244 Mountain Bluebird - Sialia currucoides

Ituri said:
Mammals:
23 Idaho Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus brunneus
Click to expand...

24 Meadow Vole - Microtus pennsylvanicus
25 House Mouse - Mus musculus
26 Columbian Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus columbianus
27 Yellow Pine Chipmunk - Tamias amoenas
28 White-tailed Antelope Squirrel - Ammospermophilus leucurus
29 Merriam's Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus canus
30 Least Chipmunk - Tamias minimus
31 Pygmy Rabbit - Brachylagus idahoensis
 
Just an update from my end with some lifeticks and a few species that definitely should have been counted a lot earlier.

Birds
26) Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
27) American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
28) Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
29) Pileated Woodpecker Hylatomus pileatus
30) Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
31) Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
32) White-Breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
33) Brown-Headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
34) American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
35) Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus

Mammals
5) Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus

Reptiles
2) Northern Water Snake Nerodia sipedon

Amphibians
1) Wood Frog Lithobates sylvaticus

And of course I am left with the oh so frustrating problem of having seen a cottontail, but not knowing definitively which species it is...

~Thylo:cool:
 
Here is a consolidation of the 32 mammal species I've seen this year. I'm leaving out a bat in Texas and a vole or lemming in Alaska...couldn't identify either one. Texas was great but
I missed out on Pronghorn, Javelina, Nutria, and Feral Hogs in areas I've seen them before. A side trip for Elk and Bison was a no-go due to a family medical delay. Hoped to see Armidillos, Striped Skunk, Ringtail, and Grey Fox near the San Felipe Springs in Del Rio...but again...time prevented a proper stay. Fairly confident that Black Bears will be spotted and a trip to Seward in July and Denali in August might yet secure several Sea Mammals, along with Wolves, Marmonts, and Pikas. If I'm lucky. Appears Musk Ox are a no show for me this year. I trip to Connecticut and Maine this fall may provide Grey Squirrels, Woodchucks, Opossums, and Chipmunks. Fisher, Lynx, and River Otters...you never know. I might still get to 40 species this year...I was hoping for more. Here is what I've got so far:

1. Canadian Beaver
2. North American Porcupine
3. Muskrat
4. Northern Red-backed Vole
5. Fox Squirrel
6. American Red Squirrel
7. Texas Antelope Squirrel
8. Black-tailed Praire Dog
9. Arctic Ground Squirrel
10. California Ground Squirrel
11. Rock Squirrel
12. Mexican Ground Squirrel
13. Spotted Ground Squirrel
14. Snowshoe Hare
15. Desert Cottontail
16. Black-tailed Jackrabbit
17. Common Shrew
18. Striped Skunk
19. Northern Raccoon
20. Brown Bear
21. Arctic Fox
22. Red Fox
23. Coyote
24. Rocky Mountain Goat
25. Blackbuck
26. Dall Sheep
27. Aoudad
28. Mule Deer
29. Whitetail Deer
30. Axis Deer
31. Caribou
32. Moose

Working on birds next.
 
Ituri said:
1 Pond Slider - Trachemys scripta
2 Painted Turtle - Chrysemys picta
3 Tiger Whiptail - Aspidoscelis tigris
4 Common Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis
5 Western Terrestrial Garter Snake - Thamnophis elegans
Click to expand...

6 Racer - Coluber constrictor
7 Western Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis
 
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