favourite animal you've seen in the wild

Mammal: Well Cetacean wise it would have to either be a Mother and Child Double-breach from about 100m (Humback Whale), or a Pod of Risso's Dolphins from maybe 30m. I would say the Common Dolphins on the bow-waves, which is truly magnificent, but it's nothing out of the ordinary for the Helicat! Non-Cetacean wise maybe Platypus near Capertee, or Echidnas at Macquarie Marshes... Maybe Yellow-bellied Glider at Barren Grounds.

Birds: Well, this is going to be difficult... Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Rusty-naped Pitta, Regent Honeyeater, Cinareous Vulture (Vagrant), Cassowary... Lots

Fish: Probably Sunfish from the Sydney Pelagic boat trip, and the confusion as to what it was on the approach.

Reptile: Hmmm... I haven't seen many Reptiles, certainly no rare ones...To me what stands out the most are the Blue-tongue Lizards and Long-necked Turtles of my Youth! Or maybe coming within a few meters of a Red-bellied Black basking on a rock... while I was on an inflatable mattress, around Myall Lakes
 
Mammals - Black Bear crossing the road a couple hundred ft. away from the car and a baby that just poked his head out from the grass on the other side. - I was in Colorado for a week. My family decided to go to the lake that day and little did we know, little did any one know, there was going to be probably more than 200 elk at the lake that evening. All of the males brought there herds down into the flat areas or marshy parts and started bleating. It was one of the most amazing sights I have seen. - Mountain Lion from a distance. - Male white tail chasing a coyote. - Large group of coyotes eating a pronghorn carcass. - I believe a short tailed shrew, Came running through my house. After an hour of removing furniture from my blocked off living room, I finally caught the nasty little thing. - a small group of feral horses - Large group of Big Horn Sheep while water rafting - Grey Whale pod while on a whale watching tour in southern California. - Also in southern California I went on a guided snorkel and came just inches away from a couple of young playful sea lions. Also a very large, not so playful, scary one. Of corse, fun, pudgy, little harbor seals. - The best part of my stay in Southern California was watching a very black looking dolphin ride the waves close to the beach. It was late evening and the sun was coming down. - My trip to Costa Rica brought Coatis, Spider, And Howler Monkeys.

Snakes - Saw a Diamond Back at a rest stop in New Mexico.
 
Hmmm...


Mammals:

Humpback Whale (Dominica - 2007)
Short-finned Pilot Whale (Tenerife - 2010)
Dominican Myotis (Dominica - 2007) - possibly the most obscure positively-ID'd wild mammal I've seen!
Pronghorn (California/Arizona - 1998)
Coyote (Yosemite - 1998)
Mule Deer (Arizona - 1998)
Nepalese Grey Langur (Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, Nepal - 2001)
Common Palm Civet (Borneo - 2000)
Harbour Porpoise (Pembrokeshire - various times in the 1990s)
Edible Dormouse (wild within Alpenzoo Innsbruck - 2006)

Birds:

Magnificent Frigatebird (Dominica - 2007)
Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Dominica - 2007)
American Avocet (Lake Mono - 1998)
A Marsh Harrier and a Great Bittern having a fight (Hickling Broad, Norfolk - 2004)
Cory's Shearwater (Tenerife - 2010)
Black-necked Stork (Tamur Valley, Nepal - 2001)
White-breasted Woodswallow (Borneo - 2001)
Red-billed Blue Magpie (Nepal (various) - 2001)
Asian Openbill (Southern Nepal roadside - 2001)


The Nepal, Dominica and Borneo bird lists are full of good things, but those are the ones that stick in my mind.

Other nice species:

Dominican Anole (Anolis oculatus - Dominica - 2007), which I spent two weeks studying
Lesser Antillean Whistling Frog (Eleutherodactylus martinicensis - Dominica - 2007)
Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea - Amalfi Coast (Italy) 2006 and Madrid/Valencia 2011) - a stunning black-violet shiny bee.



To choose a single favourite... I'd probably go with either the Humpbacks or the Pronghorn. Argh - can't I have both?
 
nrg800 said:
Birds: Well, this is going to be difficult... Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Rusty-naped Pitta, Regent Honeyeater, Cinareous Vulture (Vagrant), Cassowary... Lots
Click to expand...
spoon-billed sandpipers are fantastic. I was intending to get over to Thailand next year to see them for the first time, but not sure if I'll be able to or not. I'm not a great fan of waders in general (just a bunch of brown birds too far in the distance on the mudflats to see properly and then if you do see them they don't look like the ones in the field-guide anyway. Stupid birds) but the spoon-billed sandpiper is really a stand-out.

Since my last post in this thread I've seen around 80 more mammals and about 320 more birds, so lots of nice new ones to pick from. New mammals include anoa, babirusa, spectral tarsier, colugo, both orangutans, flat-headed cat and many more, but I think top of the bunch is the bear cuscus of Sulawesi, a possum the size of a wombat. Magnificent beast.

Birds: well, nothing has knocked ground parrot of its perch (pun intended) but ones I've seen since include kagu, cloven-feathered dove, pink-headed fruit dove, Javan cochoa, satanic nightjar, rajah scops owl, maleo, scissor-billed starling, and of course most recently emperor penguin. Just too many to pick highlights from.

Reptiles: Komodo dragon has to be the top pick at the moment

Back to Indonesia in four weeks time........
 
In Australia I can remember being excited to see a pair of dingos running around our tour bus, also 5 saltwater crocs, a goanna (perentie monitor) in the Northern Territory and a cassowary in Queensland were awesome to come across. While living in Australia between 1986-88 I saw plenty of tiger snakes in Bunbury, Western Australia, as well as one huge king brown snake.

In North America seeing 127 pronghorn antelope on a single day (documented on the 2008 road trip thread) was amazing, as were all of the times I've come across a grizzly bear (6 bears and counting).

In Trinidad & Tobago I saw plenty of caiman and more birds than I can even remember, plus a nurse shark while snorkeling.
 
My family vacation to Yellowstone National Park in 1968, at the age of 13, was an astounding wildlife viewing experience. Highlights of sightings there included:

Grizzly Bears ( about a half dozen of them at the then popular dump site for viewing, just outside the park in the state of Montana).

Elk (several dozen maybe).

Moose (two).

Black Bears ( I remember counting about 25).

Trumpeter Swans (two).

Pica (one, playing in the rocks while I was fishing for trout).
 
Mammals:
Birds:
Reptiles:
I'm sure there are others, just can't think of them right now

:p

Hix
 
There are lots of animals I've loved seeing but it's cheating to list them all so I used the test "What am I sad to think I might never see again" and came up with albatrosses. I loved the wandering albatross, a magnificent, noble animal which still manages to look a little bit goofy close up, Salvin's albatross which has magnificent plumage, Royal albatross (with the 2 stone chick which was sadly only an egg when I was there) ... but the one I'm choosing was a mollymawk that followed the ferry to Stewart Island - I could watch that spectacular flight for ever, the dizzying, roller-coaster swooping and soaring with barely a movement of the wings - mesmerising and totally exhilarating.
 
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Among the most memorable experiences was seeing a wild moose in Finland in 1976 (dates me, ha:))
Also on top of the list :
- About 100 Killer Whales at the same time in one big gathering to hunt salmon in the San Juan Islands/Washington
- Iiwi on Kauai
- Orang Utan in Borneo (although only semi wild in Sepilok)
- Sperm Whales in Borneo (although only in far distance)

and not exactly a sighting but just as special: fresh tracks of a wild leopard in Sri Lanka
 
Mammals:

* Cougar bounding accross a clearing in Rocky Mountain NP
* While on foot in Chitwan NP in Nepal, observed two male Asian rhinos fighting
* A caracal in the Serengeti in Tanzania
* In Ngorongoro Crater observed seven lions take down a buffalo cow and her calf
* Rocky mountain goats in Yellowstone NP

Birds:

Condors riding the thermals in Zion NP
Bald eagles fishing the Madison river in Yellowstone NP
African fish eagles in Tanzania
Golden eagles soaring in Big Bend NP (obviously I am partial to Raptors)

Reptiles:

* Puff adder in South Africa near Capetown
* Eastern Brown Lying on the road in Queensland, Australia
* Male and female (on the nest) pythons in Chitwan NP, Nepal and gharials lying along
the banks of the river

Fish:

* While helmet diving at St. Thomas, barracuda swam past my head
 
Would have to say Common seal or peragrine falcon - nothing fancy but they're all I have to offer and, even if they are something I would imagine most people have seen wild, there is something charming about common seals.

Walking barefoot and with rolled up jeans through shallow tide to get to a higher point of the beach and seeing a hareem of [possibly] 50 odd seals. Then seeing them get VERY inquisitive as they stayed a distance away from us in the water, yet keeping a very close eye on us. And just sitting/lying there - could have done it all day :D
 
Mammals - Virginia Opossums, Nine-banded Armadillo, yellow-bellied marmot, North American Porcupine, Humpback Whale, pronghorn, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, bighorn sheep, bobcat, muskrat, coyote, red fox, American black bear, brown bear, America badgers, and raccoons.

Birds - Blue-winged teal, common pheasant, pied-billed grebe, double-crested cormorant, cattle egret, green heron, great blue heron, great egret, bald eagle, short-eared owl, barred owl, sandhill crane, American coot, black-crowned night heron, northern flicker, cooper's hawk, wood duck

Just off the top of my head :)
 
I will complete my full list later but the one that comes to mind is:

Mammal:

A pod of a couple of hundred Common Dolphin in San Fransico.

The reason for this is that I wasn't even on a wildlife excursion that day I was on a typical tourist one. I was doing a helicopter ride over San Fransico and all it's famous locations and the pod only came in to site at the same time that we went under the golden gate bridge. To have the golden gate bridge directly above you and a pod of beautiful dolphins directly below was an incredible Experience.

Black Rhino at Addo Elephant Reserve, South Africa.

It was night and I was in a hide with two other people. This was especially special becuase a.) I have never seen a wild Rhino and b.) It meant I had seen all of the big 5 in the wild.

Watching Cheetahs stalk and kill a Wildebeest at the Massai Mara, Kenya.

Watching the full spectacle from stalk to chase to kill was memorabel to say the least.

Dugong, Frasers Island, Queensland, Australia.

An animal I never expected to see was incredibly happy that I did.

I will complete the list later.
 
European otter- In broad daylight along a river about two minutes' drive from my house.
Harbour porpoise- In both Pemborkeshire and Northumberland.
Water shrew- Watched one for about two minutes paddling about in a ditch while setting up water shrew survey tubes.
European badger- Attended a night-time viewing session in a secret location, being able to hear a badger breathing is pretty cool.
Brown-throated three-toed sloth- Saw several on a school trip to Costa Rica.
European red squirrel- Both in Northumberland and Stuttgart.
White-nosed coati- A whole group running riot in a car park in Costa Rica.
Central American squirrel monkey- Saw one for about a second in Costa Rica, followed by a large group of capuchin monkeys.
European fallow deer- Got good views of four deer (two bucks and two does) after tracking them for over an hour in the New Forest. Much more exciting than just going to Bolderwood and watching them get fed.
Chillingham wild cattle- Some people may not think of these as wild animals, but they still gave me quite an adrenaline rush when you head out to look for them, not least because of their reputation for aggression.

European turtle dove- My first and only one I have ever seen turned up out of the blue in my garden and stayed for the best part of a day.
Boat-billed heron- Saw a pair in Costa Rica
Yellow-headed caracara- Saw several while in Costa Rica.
Sardinian warbler- The top birding highlight of a trip to Andalusia.
Violet sabrewing hummingbird- The largest and most impressive hummingbird of the Costa Rica trip.
European nightjar- Watching a male displaying while hearing stone curlews and natterjack toads calling at Minsmere.
Black-faced solitaire- Saw a male in Costa Rica.
Ringed kingfisher- Saw several of these large and impressive kingfishers on a boat trip in Costa Rica.
Common buzzard- Had one practically land on the roof of the car and saw one flying off with a grey squirrel both on the same Pembrokeshire trip.

American crocodile- Saw lots of these hugely impressive reptiles in Costa Rica.
Northern adder- Stumbling upon a tiny juvenile on a path in Fingeringhoe Wick.
Brown basilisk- Watching one running over the water's surface in Costa Rica.
Jersey green lizard- Seeing interactions between these and the wall lizards in Jersey.
Neotropical green anole lizard- Costa Rica.
Great crested newt- Turning over a log and finding three on an amphibian field course in Epping Forest.
Strawberry poison-dart frog- Costa Rica.
Grass snake- Several; at least three in my garden.
Moorish gecko- The reptile highlight of my Andalusia trip.

Ocean sunfish- One off the coast of Ramsey Island in Pembrokeshire.
Megarian banded centipede- Following one as it hunted grasshoppers in Andalusia.
Northern pike- Watching one hunting rudd in a mill pond.
Praying mantis- Andalusia.
Moon crab- Along with a tarantula and blue morpho butterflies, the highlight invertebrates of the Costa Rica trip.

I would say the top animals are either the water shrew, squirrel monkey, crocodile or sunfish.

I am also heading up to Mull later this summer, so there may be a mix-up in the list.
 
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favourite animal you've seen in the wild.

Sorry to be picky, but female Fallow Deer are does, not hinds. Female Red and Sika are Hinds.
Nightjars are one of my favourites too
 
Mammals

Black Bears: Revelstoke and Banff national parks in BC, Canada
Grey whale: Off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada
Red Squirrel: Lake district, England
Stoat: Cotswolds, England
Galapagos Sea Lion: San Cristobel, Galapagos, Ecuador

Birds

Osprey: Penticicton, BC, Canada
Andean Condor: Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador
Black Vultures: Pasachoa National Park, Ecuador
Magnificent Frigatebird: San Cristobel, Galapagos, Ecuador
Lava Heron: San Cristobel, Galapagos, Ecuador
Nightjar: Cotswolds, England
Oystercatchers: Jersey, Channel Islands

Reptiles & Amphibians

Marine Iguana: San Cristobel, Galapagos, Ecuador
Green Turtle: Off the coast of San Cristobel, Galapagos, Ecuador

Insects

Fireflies: Santa Barbara Community, Ecuador
 
Insects--
Camberwell Beauty in Poland
Banded Demoiselle on almost any Dorset chalk stream

Mammals--
Chamois in the French Alps
Grey seals 'singing' off the Norfolk coast
 
Seeing certain animals in the wild has been life changing for me.
Coyote (Cape Cod)
Humpback Whale (Nantucket Bay)
American Alligator (Florida)
 
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