ZooChat Big Year 2014

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After two years of full-on British listing - 187 species in 2012; 223 species in 2013 - I decided to try something a bit different this year and I am attempting to see as many species as possible in my home county of Shropshire (while still travelling further afield in search of lifers).

This has already proved to be good fun and is helping me to appreciate some of the sites on my doorstep a little more. As a land-locked county, Shropshire is never going to give me much, if anything, in the way of seabirds, and waders are going to require a bit more attention during passage as I can't just nip off to the coast during winter to tick off all the common species. That said, the county has a good variety of habitats and I think somewhere around the 150 mark should be achievable.

Things got off to a decent start with 77 species seen by the end of January. Highlights so far have been a Great Northern Diver and a Velvet Scoter which obligingly hopped over the border in time for the new year (I saw the same bird in Staffordshire at the end of 2013). Unfortunately, February has been a bit of washout so far, but I'm hoping to get out and about this weekend.

I've also entered the Patchwork Challenge which was set up to encourage birders to visit their local patch on a regular basis. This seems to dovetail quite nicely with a county yearlist and a bit of healthy competition never hurts!

I use bubo.org to record my birding lists: it's nice and simple and allows you to record life and year lists against 'authority' lists for different geographical areas (anything from a single reserve to worldwide). This avoids any issues of what can and cannot be counted; for example, you can't record Black Swan on a BOU British list.

There's a long history of deception and "stringing" in the British birdwatching scene, most notably the controversial "Hastings Rarities" case which resulted in 29 taxa being removed from the British List.

Rob V.

1. Mute Swan, 2. Bewick's Swan, 3. Whooper Swan, 4. Greylag Goose, 5. Canada Goose, 6. Shelduck, 7. Wigeon, 8. Gadwall, 9. Teal, 10. Mallard, 11. Pintail, 12. Shoveler, 13. Pochard, 14. Tufted Duck, 15. Scaup, 16. Velvet Scoter, 17. Goldeneye, 18. Goosander, 19. Red Grouse, 20. Pheasant, 21. Great Northern Diver, 22. Cormorant, 23. Grey Heron, 24. Little Grebe, 25. Great Crested Grebe, 26. Red Kite, 27. Sparrowhawk, 28. Buzzard, 29. Moorhen, 30. Coot, 31. Oystercatcher, 32. Lapwing, 33. Snipe, 34. Black-headed Gull, 35. Common Gull, 36. Lesser Black-backed Gull, 37. Herring Gull, 38. Great Black-backed Gull, 39. Stock Dove, 40. Woodpigeon, 41. Collared Dove, 42. Green Woodpecker, 43. Great Spotted Woodpecker, 44. Magpie, 45. Jackdaw, 46. Rook, 47. Carrion Crow, 48. Raven, 49. Goldcrest, 50. Blue Tit, 51. Great Tit, 52. Coal Tit, 53. Marsh Tit, 54. Long-tailed Tit, 55. Nuthatch, 56. Treecreeper, 57. Wren, 58. Starling, 59. Blackbird, 60. Fieldfare, 61. Song Thrush, 62. Redwing, 63. Mistle Thrush, 64. Robin, 65. Stonechat, 66. Dunnock, 67. House Sparrow, 68. Pied Wagtail, 69. Meadow Pipit, 70. Chaffinch, 71. Brambling, 72. Greenfinch, 73. Goldfinch, 74. Siskin, 75. Bullfinch, 76. Yellowhammer, 77. Reed Bunting
 
robmv said:
There's a long history of deception and "stringing" in the British birdwatching scene, most notably the controversial "Hastings Rarities" case which resulted in 29 taxa being removed from the British List.
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The subsequent irony being that of the 16 species-level taxa removed from the list due to said fraud, all but two have since been readmitted to my knowledge - I've even seen one of the species (Cettia cetti) myself in the past!
 
Indeed: just Moustached Warbler and White-winged Snowfinch left to find. Keep 'em peeled!
 
Considering how many species currently breeding in the UK were rare vagrants as recently as the late 1980s, there is always a chance :) Little Egret are a common and regular sight up in the Tyne Valley these days.
 
sort of on topic, my favourite "stringing" occurrence in the UK was the botanist who "planted" (literally :D) all sorts of unusual species on the isle of Rum to claim new records of them in Scotland.
 
Chlidonias said:
sort of on topic, my favourite "stringing" occurrence in the UK was the botanist who "planted" (literally :D) all sorts of unusual species on the isle of Rum to claim new records of them in Scotland.
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Is that not a) cheating and b) illegal:p

~Thylo:cool:
 
now that movie looks a lot funnier than The Big Year!!

I liked these two lines:

"Oh, so you're not birders. You're more like Mountain Dew ads..."

"Absolutely anyone can be a birder...[pause] ... except for blind people I suppose."
 
Chlidonias said:
now that movie looks a lot funnier than The Big Year!!

I liked these two lines:

"Oh, so you're not birders. You're more like Mountain Dew ads..."

"Absolutely anyone can be a birder...[pause] ... except for blind people I suppose."
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I wonder if there are any blind or severely vision-impaired birders? Surely they can hear/identify the bird calls/songs, which can be very enjoyable in itself.
 
Birds
44. Frances sparrowhawk

Herpetofauna
26. Parsons chameleon
27. Iticyphus miniatus
28. Paroedura gracilis

Especially the parsons chameleon was amazing to see, it is the biggest chameleon in the world (70 cm tall) and a real monster :p
 
just a few from my first day in India (basically all just seen in passing in Kolkata):

BIRDS:
189) Jungle babbler Turdoides striata
190) Black-crowned night heron Nycticorax nycticorax
191) Indian pond heron Ardeola grayii

MAMMALS:
17) Five-striped palm squirrel Funambulus pennantii
18) Indian flying fox Pteropus giganteus
 
I've done hardly any birding this year and have a heap of really easy stuff still left (good to get some hard stuff like Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Black Falcon ect out of the way) but I'm on 191 species of bird so far.
 
My most elusive mammal so far, this was also only a brief sighting, but with clear view:

12. Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

These guys are really difficult to find in the rainforests, but one crossed my path today. I was planning to go to Kirindy forest (the only place where you have a fair chance to see them) later, but I will still do that if possible as I won't see giant jumping rats, narrow striped mongoose & giant mouse lemurs here.
 
@Pleistohorse, although they are the most widespread of the Malagasy carnivores, they are very hard to see, although there is one reliable spot, which is Kirindy in the west. But in the rest of their range it is just pot luck and I do not think many people have actually seen one on their visit here, a researcher who is here now for over a year has never seen one for example...
 
Pleistohorse said:
That might be the sighting of the year! Are they easy to sight in their current ranges?
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That would be the siting of my life, iI get a thrill from just seeing a weasel or stoat

36 tree creeper
has any one in UK seen fieldfair/redwings in any numbers this year? I haven't seen a single one, last year we fed up to 50 a day on apples in our garden

Also found common smooth newt walking across the floor in our downstairs loo lalst week !!? I have no idea how it got there as the loo isn't near the front or back door.
 

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dean said:
has any one in UK seen fieldfair/redwings in any numbers this year? I haven't seen a single one, last year we fed up to 50 a day on apples in our garden
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There have been plenty in Derbyshire - although Redwings have been a fair bit more numerous than Fieldfares.

I do like Redwings - subtle but rather beautiful birds.
 
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