ZooChat Big Year 2015

[DesertRhino150]

Got back yesterday from another week in North Norfolk - poor weather meant I only managed to get one new bird species, but that was more than made up for by the addition of four new mammals:

Birds:
151. Eurasian siskin - Spinus spinus

Mammals:
24. Least weasel Mustela nivalis
25. Chinese water deer Hydropotes inermis
26. Common seal Phoca vitulina
27. Atlantic grey seal Halichoerus grypus

Went to a local site down at Heybridge Basin - as well as good clear views of goldcrest and Cetti's warbler (the best views of the latter species I have ever had) also managed to see a brilliant lifer, that takes the title of best bird I have seen this year.

152. Great grey shrike Lanius excubitor

It made several attempts to catch robins and house sparrows hiding in the scrub, and offered superb views.

 

[jbnbsn99]

Taken me long enough to get another year bird. I've been going out several times a week birding, but there's not much new to get in my area right now.

436 Vesper Sparrow - Pooecetes gramineus

 

[boof]

223. Sacred Kingfisher

 

[lintworm]

On the last day of selecting field sites for our research we ended up in a wet grassland area, so while working I was able to see many many birds (and zebra) and I got 3 additions for the year list, of which I am particularly fond of the painted snipe, which was a female that was very showy.

411. Blacksmith plover
412. Ruff
413. Greater painted snipe

Tomorrow will be my last working day in Kenya and Saturday I will be travelling to South Africa

414. African stonechat.

And literally 100 meters from Nairobi airport:

51. Masai giraffe

 

[Chlidonias]

And literally 100 meters from Nairobi airport:

51. Masai giraffe

I guess the pilots don't want to be coming in too low on their landings then!

Giraffe-strike - like bird-strike but messier.

 

[LaughingDove]

I guess the pilots don't want to be coming in too low on their landings then!

Giraffe-strike - like bird-strike but messier.

Definitely...

...it's actually happened before!

 

[Maguari]

Was looking like birding would be rained off today but turned into a sunny afternoon and was able to get to Carsington Water and add one for the year:

193. Lesser Redpoll - Acanthis flammea

 

[Chlidonias]

Definitely...

...it's actually happened before!

oh, that's weird. The story of that photo is here - From the African bush into European skies: Giraffe vs C172 - apparently it was in the Okavango.

The story behind the picture: a researcher for African Wild Dogs collided with a giraffe at Santawani airstrip in Botswana close to Maun, in the Okavango Delta, in his Cessna 172 with registration V5-ETS. From the position of the flap on the wing I'd presume it happened on landing. The pilot fortunately sustained minor injuries. The aircraft and the giraffe were not that lucky. And as you can see from the picture that was on Airliners.net (but unfortuntely is not there anymore) the 172 was damaged beyond repair.

 

[lintworm]

414. African stonechat.

And literally 100 meters from Nairobi airport:

51. Masai giraffe

And I have arrived in Stellenbosch (near Cape Town) and walking around in this nice town, yielded some new species for the life- and year list, including a whole new bird family (sugarbirds, endemic to S-Africa).

415. Cape canary
416. Cape white-eye
417. Cape wagtail
418. Cape bulbul
419. Cape sugarbird
420. Greater striped swallow
421. Fiscal flycatcher
422. Lesser double-collared sunbird
423. Cape weaver

Mammals
52. Eastern gray squirrel
53. Four-striped grass mouse

 

[Maguari]

One addition from a bat box check this morning - one of the boxes had a big cluster of a dozen or so, and we found another group of four later on, as well as Noctules and Soprano Pipistrelles.

32. Natterer's Bat - Myotis nattereri

 

[lintworm]

And I have arrived in Stellenbosch (near Cape Town) and walking around in this nice town, yielded some new species for the life- and year list, including a whole new bird family (sugarbirds, endemic to S-Africa).

415. Cape canary
416. Cape white-eye
417. Cape wagtail
418. Cape bulbul
419. Cape sugarbird
420. Greater striped swallow
421. Fiscal flycatcher
422. Lesser double-collared sunbird
423. Cape weaver

Mammals
52. Eastern gray squirrel
53. Four-striped grass mouse

424. Malachite sunbird
425. Cape sparrow
426. Cape (kelp) gull
427. Cape teal
428. Blue crane
429. Red-knobbed coot

 

[Hix]

Birds
189. Shining Bronze-Cuckoo
190. Great Crested Grebe

Before the end of the year I expect to get only another 10-20 birds, of which half-a-dozen will be lifers. Reptiles should hopefully increase by only two or three, and I expect to see only one more mammal. But I should be seeing quite a few fish.



Hix

Birds
191. Red-footed Booby
192. Brown Booby
193. Greater Frigatebird
194. Lesser Frigatebird
195. Black Noddy
196. Tree Sparrow
197. Eastern Reef Egret

Reptiles
10. Asian House Gecko (H.frenatus)




Hix

 

[Chlidonias]

Birds
191. Red-footed Booby
192. Brown Booby
193. Greater Frigatebird
194. Lesser Frigatebird
195. Black Noddy
196. Tree Sparrow
197. Eastern Reef Egret

Reptiles
10. Asian House Gecko (H.frenatus)

where you at Hix? Yap? Palau?

 

[Hix]

where you at Hix? Yap? Palau?

Nope - try again!

Birds
198. Emerald Dove

Fish
1. Hexagon Grouper
2. Small-spotted Dart
3. Blacktail Snapper
4. Manybar Goatfish
5. Citron Butterflyfish
6. Raccoon Butterflyfish
7. Meyer's Butterflyfish
8. Ornate Butterflyfish
9. Chevron Butterflyfish
10. Teardrop Butterflyfish
11. Longnose Butterflyfish
12. Regal Angelfish
13. Halfspotted Hawkfish
14. Sevenband Sergeant-major
15. Blackspot Sergeant-major
16. Indo-pacific Sergeant-major
17. Neon Damsel
18. Bluespotted Wrasse
19. Checkerboard Wrasse
20. Weedy Surge Wrasse
21. Jensen's Wrasse
22. Ladder Wrasse
23. Whitespot Parrotfish
24. Sixband Parrotfish
25. Ember Parrotfish
26. Spothead Grubfish
27. Moorish Idol
28. White-spotted Surgeonfish
29. Powderblue Surgeonfish
30. Bllue-lined (Striped) Surgeonfish
31. Eyebar Surgeonfish
32. Goldrim Surgeonfish
33. Brown Surgeonfish
34. Orangeblotch Surgeonfish
35. Convict Surgeonfish
36. Orangespine Unicornfish
37. Bluespine Unicornfish
38. Titan Triggerfish
39. Black Triggerfish
40. Pinktail Triggerfish
41. Wedgetail Triggerfish
42. Eyestripe Triggerfish
43. Banded Filefish
44. Black Boxfish (female)



Are we doing Inverts?
1. Coconut Crab



Hix

 

[lintworm]

Christmas island?

 

[Hix]

Christmas island?

Good guess!

I thought it might take a little longer

Birds:
199. Christmas Island Frigatebird
200. Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon
201. Island Thrush
202. Glossy Swiftlet
203. White-tailed Tropicbird (both the normal and golden morph)



Hix

 

[lintworm]

Good guess!

I thought it might take a little longer

Birds:
199. Christmas Island Frigatebird
200. Christmas Island Imperial Pigeon
201. Island Thrush
202. Glossy Swiftlet
203. White-tailed Tropicbird (both the normal and golden morph)



Hix

I have been reading quite a lot about Christmas island last year, as I was thinking of applying for a PhD with field work there, so somehow the species sounded familiar

Another update from S-Africa

430. African black duck

 

[Maguari]

An exciting bird at lunch today, which is not strictly relevant to this thread for reasons that will become clear but is still worth a mention.

The observant will have noted that I live in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. This is a town famous primarily for having a church with a wonky spire - officialy the Parish Chuch of St Mary and All Saints, but known generally as the Crooked Spire. The other widely-known feature of Chesterfield, the third-tier football team, is nicknamed the Spireites after this feature, and it's on every official logo, sign and letterhead for miles.

And, on and off since Sunday, the tower bearing the Crooked Spire has been home to a Eurasian Crag Martin - the first record in the county and only the thirteenth (or fewer, depending on how strict you want to be) ever in the UK.

It's rare for me to attend a big twitch site, but this was so close to home I couldn't pass it up. Loads of twitchers out, and a fair bit of interest from passers-by - it is a very entertaining bird and most helpful of it to choose to hang around the most distinctive building for miles in any direction.

The reason it's not strictly relevant to this thread is that my 2015 Big Year list already has Eurasian Crag Martin, back at no. 165, when I was in Spain. It does up my UK-only 'sublist', which is now on 174.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Very nice indeed; I don't go in for twitching myself, but were this a little closer I would at least consider it. As with yourself, I already have Crag Martin for the year, but it would be nice to see the taxon again and potentially try to actually get photographs

 

[lintworm]

I have been reading quite a lot about Christmas island last year, as I was thinking of applying for a PhD with field work there, so somehow the species sounded familiar

Another update from S-Africa

430. African black duck

A trip to cape Agulhas (Africa's most southern tip) gave me some nice additions for the year list:

431. Hartlaub's gull
432. African giant kingfisher
433. Southern red bishop
434. Ludwig's bustard
435. African marsh harrier
436. Jackal buzzard
437. Cape cormorant
438. Karoo prinia
439. Crowned lapwing
440. Yellow-rumped widow
441. White-fronted plover

Mammals

54. Springbok
55. Southern right whale
56. Grey rhebok

I also saw some bontebok and gemsbok, but I suspect they were not really wild animals but part of a farm, so I do not count them. I also do not count rock kestrel, which is sometimes regarded as a subspecies of the Common kestrel and it is treated like that by HBW alive, so I follow them...