favourite animal you've seen in the wild

Tig said:
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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Its interesting how a New Yorker finds a coyote life changing :D
 
KCZooFan said:
Its interesting how a New Yorker finds a coyote life changing :D
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They definitely aren't the most popular animals around. When I was 8 or so (I'm 15 now) I saw one trot by across the street from the house I was in (in Cape Cod Massechusets) and I was taken aback by it, but never was really struck by them until 2 or 3 years later. I was walking with my mom around the same neighborhood (we go up there for a week every summer) and a medium sized canid ran out from a driveway and ran along the road about 15-20 feet in front of us. I thought it was a dark colored Fox, because it was low to the ground and had a bushy tail. It realized we were there, turned around and looked at us with its bright yellow eyes, then kept going along the road. Eventually it bolted down a driveway on the opposite side of the street.
The next day I bought a book on Coyotes and ever since they have been one of my absolute favorite animals, just from one fleeting, semeingly insignificant encounter:D
 
I think the best animals I've seen in the wild are:

Indri, crowned and Verreaux's sifakas, western and eastern avahis, three species of sportive lemur, black brown and ring-tailed lemurs (all Madagascar)
Rogue Asian elephant, sambar (Thailand)
Brown hare (Norfolk and Czech Republic)
Striped field mouse (Germany)
Alpine ibex (Switzerland)

Crested wood ibis, sickle-billed vanga, blue coua (Madagascar)
Several exotic birds on a tree in Honolulu (Hawaii)
American robin (New York)

Day geckos, Parson's chameleon, flat-tailed gecko (Madagascar)
Wall lizards (Italy)
Common lizards and slow worms (UK)
Geckos (Thailand)

Cane toad (Australia)

Praying mantids (Thailand and Italy)

I've seen other animals, but the ones above have made the most impact.
 
KCZooFan: I accept that the American robin is a common species in New York, but it was the only native American bird species I saw in the wild when I was in the USA. I saw several exotic birds around a tree near the Honolulu Zoo, but all of these were introduced. The only Hawaiian bird I saw was an i'iwi in the Honolulu Zoo.

To be honest, I'd have liked to see a coyote or any other wild animals in the USA, but I didn't. On a trip to Australia, I was pleased to see a rainbow lorikeet on a bird table. The family weren't interested, as they saw it each morning. I suppose it's the same with my seeing an American robin - it meant something to me, but not to many Americans. Sometimes an animal can have an impact even if it is common. In fact, little is known about some very common. easily seen animals.

If it's any consolation, when I was in Madagascar, a worker from Jersey Zoo was jealous that I'd seen a brown kingfisher. I was jealous that he'd had a fleeting glance of an aye-aye. If we could have swopped the sightings, I think both of us would have been more satisfied.
 
There's loads of very common animals in Europe and the US that I'd love to see. It'll probably sound weird but one of the animals in the UK I'd most want to see is the common wren! Its just such a cool little bird. But conversely NZ and Australian birds that are taken for granted over this side of the world are high on many animal-spotters' wishlists. That's why I like this thread, its just interesting seeing what everybody has as their favourite, whether its common or rare, ordinary or bizarre.

(But I'm still jealous of Dassie rat's lemurs!)
 
The small fish I snorkeled with in an estuary in Florida had a big impression on me. As a kid who has always been infatuated with the ocean... I used to think of it as a deity... and goes to sleep at night dreaming of spending nights on vast tropical oceans, being in the water with sea creatures inches from my face was like a dream come true. It was the first time I had ever been seriously snorkling, and by normal diving standards, it was a sub-par trip. The bottom was sharp and rocky and jagged - I left bleeding from every inch of my body - and visibility was less than a foot, and I was nervous as hell. We didn't see a whole lot, and we never went in past 3' of water. But crawling on my belly across the sand, being totally part of the ocean, was incredible. I got to see Pinfish, Mangrove Snapper, some species of Swimming Crab, and a few large Gobies. It was probably the most significant experience I ever had in my life and my only regret is that I can't do it every day.
 
Thanks, Childonias.

I've seen a few wrens in the UK, but I really like seeing pied wagtails. I once counted 40 on a green near Hampton, London, but I usually see one or two. I just like the way they walk along, with the tail bobbing up and down, or fly away a short distance and then land again.

When I went on a field trip, the students collected various animals, including some quite large fish. Nobody else was interested in the ribbon worm I identified in the laboratory. Similarly, I doubt if there would be much interest in the peanut worm I brought back from a holiday or the stranded sea goose berries I found at Whitstable. This is a pity, as many phyla are ignored in zoos. I remember when the freshwater exhibit in London Zoo's BUGS/Web of Life had some planarian flatworms, which I found more interesting than the other animals. I've seen children who are more interested in the grey squirrels in London Zoo than in the zoo exhibits.

I can understand why Tig enjoyed seeing marine life in the wild and I'm somewhat envious of people who can see a brown speck in the sky and identify the bird species. On one trip, someone asked me what the water birds were. I said, "They're eider ducks." "Are you sure?" "Well, they're eider ducks or geese."
 
Dassie rat said:
I've seen a few wrens in the UK, but I really like seeing pied wagtails. I once counted 40 on a green near Hampton, London, but I usually see one or two. I just like the way they walk along, with the tail bobbing up and down, or fly away a short distance and then land again.
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my favourite wagtail encounter was in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand watching literally thousands of four species of wagtails (grey, white, yellow and citrine) coming in to roost in the street trees during their migration
 
Thanks, Chlidonias

I'm pleased that other people notice wagtails. I'm surprised that they aren't included among the most popular British birds.
 
Several thousand Flying Foxes at Katherine in the Northern Territory.

Huge 6 meter Saltwater crocodile on the Adelaide river also Northern Territory.

A very large King Brown Snake also in the Nrothern Territory.

Bornean Orangutan in Semmongok, Sarawak.

Several hundred, maybe even a thousand Giant Catfish feeding on a riverbank from temple visitors in Thailand.

An absloutely beautiful Rhinoceros Hornbill in Sarawak, in an odd place. I saw it perched in a tree from a hospital balcony view.
 
Dassie rat said:
Thanks, Childonias.

I've seen a few wrens in the UK, but I really like seeing pied wagtails. I once counted 40 on a green near Hampton, London, but I usually see one or two. I just like the way they walk along, with the tail bobbing up and down, or fly away a short distance and then land again.

When I went on a field trip, the students collected various animals, including some quite large fish. Nobody else was interested in the ribbon worm I identified in the laboratory. Similarly, I doubt if there would be much interest in the peanut worm I brought back from a holiday or the stranded sea goose berries I found at Whitstable. This is a pity, as many phyla are ignored in zoos. I remember when the freshwater exhibit in London Zoo's BUGS/Web of Life had some planarian flatworms, which I found more interesting than the other animals. I've seen children who are more interested in the grey squirrels in London Zoo than in the zoo exhibits.

I can understand why Tig enjoyed seeing marine life in the wild and I'm somewhat envious of people who can see a brown speck in the sky and identify the bird species. On one trip, someone asked me what the water birds were. I said, "They're eider ducks." "Are you sure?" "Well, they're eider ducks or geese."
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Sometimes I'll be walking through the park with my friends and I'll hear a call or see some bird flit by and I go "oh that was a Catbird" or whatever and everyone stares at me:D I always enjoy the look on peoples' faces. And it's even funnier because even though all my friends are animal people like me, I could tell them something insane and they'd believe it.
 
Just a few weeks ago I saw a Longtailed Weasel and Blackheaded Warbler. Both within just a few days of each other.

American Alligator can be added to my list. A trip to the south to me doesn't seem right without seeing at least one. I didn't see one this time around, but it probably had something to do with the fact I was there in a cooler time (October).

Pilated Woodpeckers, Baltimore Oriole, Northern Cardinal, Redtailed Hawk are other species I enjoy seeing, along with White-tailed deer. Common species here but I am always taken by their beauty.
 
I saw a Northern Flicker at a local lake yesterday. Definitely not rare, but I've only seen them once before.
And yes, Alligators are amazing. In Florida a few years ago, me and my grandpa saw one basking across a pond on the opposite bank that was at least 14 feet long. It was just sitting there like no big deal, but it was amazing. We also saw an Armadillo that same trip, which was also a nice surprise.
 
I have seen over 40 Dutch mammal species, but garden- and hazel dormouse are my favourites! Both I saw very well this year, when we captured them for surveys. Other very nice sightings were those of 35 chamois on 1 day in Slovenia and a hunting water shrew in Slovakia.

My best bird sighting is that of an European eagle owl with chicks in the Netherlands and seeing a European pigmy-owl in the morning. Sitting in a tree at 2 metres distance.

My best reptile sighting was a whip-nosed viper (Vipera ammodytes) in Slovenia. And in the Netherlands I have seen 21 of the 22 native herpetofauna species (all except great crested newt). My best sighting there was the one of a European tree frog and a midwife toad.

Best fish sightings were a
- 1 metre long cat fish
- a wild salmon of 80 cm
- an 80 cm long Barbel.

All of them in a Fish trap in the southern Netherlands. The rarest fish I saw is the Marbled trout (Salmo marmoratus), which only occurs in a small part of the Soca river in the Julian Alps (Slovenia)
 
Speaking of common things I found the leafcutter ants fascinating in Costa Rica. The huge distance they will travel, the size of the nest, the path they make, the pheromones indicating the route to take, the way the leaf cleaning ones are carried along, the sheer hard work! Everywhere we went someone told us some new info.
 
Some new highlights from my trip to Mull:

Minke whale- Three seen on a whale watching trip- also loads of seabirds such as great skua, gannet, Manx shearwater and puffin, both species of seal, harbour porpoise, Lion's mane and moon jellyfish and three-spined sticklebacks.

White-tailed sea eagle- Eight individuals over two days. Other birds of prey include buzzards, kestrels, about half a dozen hen harriers, a short-eared owl, a flock of over a dozen ravens and a golden eagle.

Otter- A much better view this time of one fishing in open water, beating the only other land mammal of note, the ever-present red deer.
 
time to bump this thread again. Its a lot of fun reading back through it and seeing all the species members have seen in the wild, and what they find most interesting and memorable.

Recent new mammals for me that I'm particularly pleased with include Sulawesi dwarf cuscus (while looking unsuccessfully for pigmy tarsier), Sulawesi flying fox (one of the nicest-looking bats I've seen), and of course Malayan tapir. Top of the mammals though is the humungous Flores giant rat, quite probably my favourite mammal-in-the-wild of all time.

Birds of note have been elegant pitta, Flores monarch and the amazing white-rumped kingfisher, all on Flores, beach thick-knee on Komodo (this amazing bird looks like a cross between a bustard and a sun bittern!), and Timor sparrow on, er, Timor. Honorary mention in Asia goes to barn owl!!!! (previously a bit of a sore point for me, because somehow I'd never managed to find this incredibly common and widespread species before this year). In Australia stand-outs have been the unbelievably-colourful red-capped parrot and the even-more-unbelievably-colourful splendid wren -- the absolutely most blue-ist thing on the planet! -- as well as banded stilt and red-eared firetail. Oh, and noisy scrub-bird I s'pose.

I also have to mention (because I'm pretty sure I forgot to earlier in the thread) trilobite larvae on Mt. Kinabalu back in 2009: http://www.zoochat.com/743/trilobite-larva-duliticola-sp-104360/ -- best invertebrate ever!!
 
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