ZooChat Big Year 2014

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ituri said:
Only new bird to add is this

98 Killdeer

But I realize I haven't updated anything but birds in quite some time. So here is some non-avian housekeeping.

Mammals
3 Mule Deer
4 Pronghorn
5 White-tailed Antelope Squirrel

Reptiles
1 Red-eared Slider
2 Western Painted Turtle
Click to expand...

Yesterday, a Harlequin Duck was reported swimming in the rapids of the Payette River just a little north of town. So this morning, I decided to chase after it. The duck was sitting on a rock in the exact spot described. I sat and watched it for a while as it dove into the swift current and swam around. It was a first year male and it is presumed he overwintered here. Harlequin Ducks normally breed along the Lochsa River further north in Idaho, so having one this far south was a special occurrence. Getting back in my car, I had descovered that I had left the key on but turned the engine off! Luckily I quickly flagged down a motorist passing by and was able to jump start my engine so that I could get back to town. Awesome bird, with a tiny bit of adventure thrown into the mix.

99 Harlequin Duck
 
DesertRhino150 said:
... and, on the exact same day and the exact same place as I saw it last year, my fifth mammal.

5. Northern water vole

:D
Click to expand...

Went on a university field trip to the RSPB Hope Farm today and managed to see heaps of skylarks, several unidentified small farmland passerines, a sixth mammal and two new birds, one of them a lifer (indicated in bold):

Birds-
58. Red kite
59. Eurasian woodcock

Mammals-
6. Bank vole
 
With moving house taking up a considerable amount of time over the last few months, we haven't been doing much birding. This is where my list stands at the moment. Apologies for the messy copy and paste from my spreadsheet.

1 Australasian Grebe ( Mill Park Lakes )
2 Australasian Shoveler ( Western Treatment Plant )
3 Australian Magpie ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
4 Australian Pelican ( Western Treatment Plant )
5 Australian Pied Oystercatcher ( Western Treatment Plant )
6 Australian Reed-Warbler ( Western Treatment Plant )
7 Australian Shelduck ( Western Treatment Plant )
8 Australian White Ibis ( Banyule Flats )
9 Australian Wood Duck ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
10 Banded Lapwing ( Western Treatment Plant )
11 Bell Miner ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
12 Black Falcon ( Western Treatment Plant )
13 Black Kite ( Western Treatment Plant )
14 Black Swan ( Banyule Flats )
15 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike ( Banyule Flats )
16 Black-fronted Dotterel ( Banyule Flats )
17 Black-shouldered Kite ( Western Treatment Plant )
18 Black-winged Stilt ( Banyule Flats )
19 Blue-billed Duck ( Mill Park Lakes )
20 Brolga ( Western Treatment Plant )
21 Brown Falcon ( Western Treatment Plant )
22 Brown Thornbill ( Banyule Flats )
23 Buff-banded Rail ( Banyule Flats )
24 Cape Barren Goose ( Western Treatment Plant )
25 Chestnut Teal ( Banyule Flats )
26 Common Blackbird ( Banyule Flats )
27 Common Bronzewing ( Banyule Flats )
28 Common Greenshank ( Western Treatment Plant )
29 Common Myna ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
30 Common Starling ( Mill Park Lakes )
31 Crested Pigeon ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
32 Crested Tern ( Western Treatment Plant )
33 Dusky Moorhen ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
34 Dusky Woodswallow ( Banyule Flats )
35 Eastern Great Egret ( Banyule Flats )
36 Eurasian Coot ( Banyule Flats )
37 European Goldfinch ( Western Treatment Plant )
38 Fairy Tern ( Western Treatment Plant )
39 Freckled Duck ( Mill Park Lakes )
40 Galah ( Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve )
41 Golden-headed Cisticola ( Western Treatment Plant )
42 Great Cormorant ( Mill Park Lakes )
43 Great Crested Grebe ( Western Treatment Plant )
44 Grey Butcherbird ( Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve )
45 Grey Fantail ( Banyule Flats )
46 Grey Teal ( Banyule Flats )
47 Hardhead ( Banyule Flats )
48 Hoary-headed Grebe ( Banyule Flats )
49 Horsfield's Bushlark ( Western Treatment Plant )
50 House Sparrow ( Mill Park Lakes )
51 Latham's Snipe ( Banyule Flats )
52 Laughing Kookaburra ( Banyule Flats )
53 Little Black Cormorant ( Mill Park Lakes )
54 Little Pied Cormorant ( Mill Park Lakes )
55 Little Raven ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
56 Little Wattlebird ( Banyule Flats )
57 Magpie-lark ( Banyule Flats )
58 Masked Lapwing ( Banyule Flats )
59 Musk Duck ( Western Treatment Plant )
60 Noisy Miner ( Banyule Flats )
61 Pacific Black Duck ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
62 Pied Cormorant ( Western Treatment Plant )
63 Pied Currawong ( Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve )
64 Pink-eared Duck ( Mill Park Lakes )
65 Powerful Owl ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
66 Purple Swamphen ( Banyule Flats )
67 Rainbow Lorikeet ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
68 Red Wattlebird ( Banyule Flats )
69 Red-kneed Dotterel ( Western Treatment Plant )
70 Red-necked Avocet ( Western Treatment Plant )
71 Red-necked Stint ( Western Treatment Plant )
72 Red-rumped Parrot ( Banyule Flats )
73 Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon) ( Banyule Flats )
74 Royal Spoonbill ( Mill Park Lakes )
75 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper ( Western Treatment Plant )
76 Silver Gull ( Banyule Flats )
77 Silvereye ( Banyule Flats )
78 Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater ( Western Treatment Plant )
79 Spotless Crake ( Banyule Flats )
80 Spotted Dove ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
81 Spotted Pardalote ( Banyule Flats )
82 Straw-necked Ibis ( Western Treatment Plant )
83 Striated Pardalote ( Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve )
84 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo ( Banyule Flats )
85 Superb Fairy-wren ( Banyule Flats )
86 Tawny Frogmouth ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
87 Wedge-tailed Eagle ( Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve )
88 Welcome Swallow ( Banyule Flats )
89 Whistling Kite ( Western Treatment Plant )
90 White-browed Scrubwren ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
91 White-browed Woodswallow ( Banyule Flats )
92 White-faced Heron ( Gresswell Forest Wildlife Reserve )
93 White-fronted Chat ( Western Treatment Plant )
94 White-plumed Honeyeater ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
95 Willie Wagtail ( Wilsons Reserve, Ivanhoe )
96 Yellow-billed Spoonbill ( Western Treatment Plant )
97 Zebra Finch ( Western Treatment Plant )

NB* I believe that we saw a juvenile White-bellied Sea Eagle at the Western Treatment Plant on Monday, but I need to review the photos. I also suspect that we saw a Cattle Egret, as well as a couple other unidentified waders, meaning that my tally should be triple figures soon.
 
149. Spangled Drongo*
.
This is a bird I have seen before but I've never ticked it off because I only seen it from out of a car window while travelling. It was great to finally tick it off from my back yard.
 
Ituri said:
Yesterday, a Harlequin Duck was reported swimming in the rapids of the Payette River just a little north of town. So this morning, I decided to chase after it. The duck was sitting on a rock in the exact spot described. I sat and watched it for a while as it dove into the swift current and swam around. It was a first year male and it is presumed he overwintered here. Harlequin Ducks normally breed along the Lochsa River further north in Idaho, so having one this far south was a special occurrence. Getting back in my car, I had descovered that I had left the key on but turned the engine off! Luckily I quickly flagged down a motorist passing by and was able to jump start my engine so that I could get back to town. Awesome bird, with a tiny bit of adventure thrown into the mix.

99 Harlequin Duck
Click to expand...

Today I took jbnbsn99 around the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Boise. I'll let him go into details since it's all new to him. I picked up two year birds and three year mammals in the process. At the end of it all, I blew a tire, but while we were putting on the spare, several hundred Snow and Greater White-fronted Geese flew over.

BIRDS
100 Trumpeter Swan
101 Rock Wren

MAMMALS
6 Piute Ground Squirrel
7 Black-tailed Jackrabbit
8 Yellow-bellied Marmot
 
Just back from six days in Scotland for a combined birding and zoo trip: 90 species of bird seen and six collections visited. There were some nice birds that deserved to be on a list so I've decided to keep a British year list and a county year list for 2014 (I'll just post updates to the former here). 30 new species took me to 120 for the year:

  • Pink-footed Goose
  • White-fronted Goose
  • Eider
  • Long-tailed Duck
  • Common Scoter
  • Red-breasted Merganser
  • Red-throated Diver
  • Fulmar
  • Gannet
  • Shag
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • Slavonian Grebe
  • American Coot*
  • Ringed Plover
  • Bar-tailed Godwit
  • Turnstone
  • Knot
  • Sanderling
  • Dunlin
  • Purple Sandpiper
  • Ring-billed Gull*
  • Iceland Gull*
  • Kingfisher
  • Jay
  • Hooded Crow*
  • Crested Tit*
  • Skylark
  • Chiffchaff
  • Rock Pipit
  • Lesser Redpoll

(* = British life ticks)
 
I find some miniscule satisfaction in the fact three of your British life ticks - Hooded Crow, Crested Tit and Iceland Gull - are species I have seen prior to you :p as I half-expected you to have pretty much cleaned the board long ago. That said, only the lattermost has been seen this year by myself as yet.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I find some miniscule satisfaction in the fact three of your British life ticks - Hooded Crow, Crested Tit and Iceland Gull - are species I have seen prior to you :p as I half-expected you to have pretty much cleaned the board long ago. That said, only the lattermost has been seen this year by myself as yet.
Click to expand...

I'm still a relative newcomer to this birding lark: I've always been a casual birder, but only started to keep a life list in 2011 (currently on 240).

The most glaring gap on my life list is Woodcock which continues to elude me ...
 
robmv said:
I'm still a relative newcomer to this birding lark: I've always been a casual birder, but only started to keep a life list in 2011 (currently on 240).
Click to expand...

Hehe, this is the first year I've been keeping an actual list of my birding year, but the bird lifelist I started last year (which includes both wild and captive in the same total) has fortunately been bolstered somewhat by the fact I've got plenty of photographic record of a lot of species I've seen in the wild which I was able to go back and count.

You may not be pleased to hear that the moorland around my girlfriend's house is the residence of both woodcock and snipe ;) though I've not seen either this year as yet.
 
Today I returned to the site where the water vole lives in Cambridge to see if I could get another view. It didn't show itself today but instead I got a phenomenal view of another riverbank mammal running around in full view at 3:30 in the afternoon in bright sunshine.

Mammals:
7. Eurasian water shrew

Slightly frustrating too, considering I spent the whole of last summer up to my neck in stinging nettles trying to find them as part of my dissertation research and didn't get a single glimpse.
 
I'm currently sitting in a café across the street from ituri's university. I've been racking up a lot of lifers and year birds in the last 24 hours. I know I'm over 150 for the year. As I'm on my phone, lists will come later.
 
150. Striated Heron.
A nice number to be on before my trip to the Northern Territory tomorrow.
 
160. New Holland Honeyeater

:p

Hix
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Mammals
3) Bobcat Lynx rufus

A highlight for the year so far and my first wild Bobcat. Some animal near my house was making a noise and when I grabbed a flashlight to try and spot it I found a Bobcat coming down to investigate. Wasn't positive at first but about 45 minutes or so later the animal came back.
Click to expand...
that is Awesome! I would love to see a bobcat in the wild. Well done.
 
KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK (ASSAM, INDIA):

BIRDS:
199) Oriental white-eye Zosterops palpebrosus
200) Fulvous-breasted woodpecker Dendrocopos macei
201) Chestnut-tailed starling Sturnus malabaricus
202) Kalij pheasant Lophura leucomelanos
203) Pallas' fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus
204) Oriental darter Anhinga melanogaster
205) Spot-billed pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus
206) Gadwall Anas strepera
207) Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
208) Asiatic black-headed ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus
209) Northern lapwing Vanellus vanellus
210) Citrine wagtail Motacilla citreola
211) Bar-headed goose Anser indicus
212) Lesser adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus
213) Black-necked stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus
214) Crested serpent-eagle Spilornis cheela
215) Eurasian (Common) teal Anas crecca
216) Stork-billed kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis
217) Greater goldenback woodpecker Chrysocolaptes lucidus
218) Little spiderhunter Arachnothera longirostra
219) Himalayan griffon vulture Gyps himalayensis
220) Grey-headed fish-eagle Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus
221) Changeable hawk-eagle Spizaetus cirrhatus
222) Slender-billed vulture Gyps tenuirostris
223) Black bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus
224) Indian river tern Sterna aurantia
225) Indian spotted eagle Aquila hastata
226) Common redshank Tringa totanus
227) Common greenshank Tringa nebularia
228) Green sandpiper Tringa ochropus
229) Wood sandpiper Tringa glareola
230) Common snipe Gallinago gallinago
231) Temminck's stint Calidris temminckii
232) Emerald (Green-winged) dove Chalcophaps indica
233) Streak-throated woodpecker Picus xanthopygaeus
234) Himalayan swiftlet Collocalia brevirostris
235) Little pied flycatcher Ficedula westermanni
236) Crimson sunbird Aethopyga siparaja
237) Blue-throated barbet Megalaima asiatica
238) Pied kingfisher Ceryle rudis
239) Alexandrine Psittacula eupatria
240) Woolly-necked stork Ciconia episcopis
241) Asian barred owlet Glaucidium cuculoides
242) Blue whistling thrush Myophonus caeruleus
243) Grey-headed woodpecker Picus canus
244) Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope
245) Greater adjutant Leptoptilos dubius
246) Brown fish owl Ketupa zeylonensis
247) Oriental turtle dove Streptopelia orientalis
248) River lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii
249) Swamp francolin Francolinus gularis
250) Spotted owlet Athene brama
251) Northern shoveller Anas clypeata
252) Spot-winged starling Saroglossa spiloptera
253) Paddyfield pipit Anthus rufulus
254) Striated babbler Turdoides earlei
255) Grey-capped pigmy woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus

MAMMALS:
20) Hog deer Axis porcinus
21) Indian rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis
22) Wild water buffalo Bubalus arnee
23) Barasingha Cervus duvaucelii
24) Wild pig Sus scrofa
25) Smooth-coated otter Lutrogale perspicillata
26) Rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta
27) Tiger Panthera tigris
28) Capped langur Trachypithecus pileatus
 
Birds
35 Black Red start *
36 Red Wing
37 Field fare
38 Woodcock
39 Canada Goose
40 Tufted duck Aythya fuligula

Mammals
7 Weasel
8 Bank vole
 
HOLLONGAPAR GIBBON WILDLIFE SANCTUARY (ASSAM, INDIA):

BIRDS:
256) White-throated bulbul Alophoixus flaveolus
257) Maroon oriole Oriolus traillii
258) Red-headed trogon Harpactes erythrocephalus
259) Sapphire flycatcher Ficedula sapphira

MAMMALS:
29) Stump-tailed macaque Macaca arctoides
30) Bicoloured giant squirrel Ratufa bicolor
31) Western hoolock gibbon Hylobates (Hoolock) hoolock
 
Idaho Part 1

So, at the moment, I am mid-way through a trip to visit ituri and his family to get some new mountain and desert birds in Idaho and Utah. SO far, I''ve been here three days, and have been racking up the new species. It's fun watching the life-list grow. Only problem is, I've been on and off with a fever since Sunday and feel run-down, but that's no biggie.

133 Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus
134 Golden Eagle - Aquila chrysaetos
135 Black-billed Magpie - Pica hudsonia
136 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris
137 American Robin - Turdus migratorius
138 California Gull - Larus californicus
139 Common Raven - Corvus corax
140 Prairie Falcon - Falco mexicanus
141 Say's Phoebe - Sayornis saya
142 Canyon Wren - Catherpes mexicanus
143 California Quail - Callipepla californica
144 Rock Wren - Salpinctes obsoletus
145 Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons
146 Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens
147 Eurasian Wigeon - Anas penelope
148 Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
149 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus
150 Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis
151 Western Screech-Owl - Megascops kennicottii
152 Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus
153 White-headed Woodpecker - Picoides albolarvatus
154 Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri
155 Mountain Chickadee - Poecile gambeli
156 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
157 Pine Siskin - Spinus pinus
158 Evening Grosbeak - Coccothraustes vespertinus
159 Western Bluebird - Sialia mexicana
 
BIRDS:

KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK (ASSAM, INDIA):

260) Grey-cheeked warbler Seicercus poliogenys
261) Rufous-cheeked laughing thrush Garrulax ruficollis

NAMERI NATIONAL PARK (ASSAM, INDIA):

262) Sand lark Calandrella raytal
263) Great hornbill Buceros bicornis
264) Wedge-tailed green pigeon Treron sphenura
265) Streaked spiderhunter Arachnothera magna
266) Barred cuckoo-dove Macropygia unchall
267) Pin-tailed green pigeon Treron apicauda
268) Wreathed hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus
269) Black-tailed crake Porzana bicolor
270) Rufous woodpecker Celeus brachyurus
271) Plain martin Riparia paludicola
272) Blue-bearded bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni
273) Black stork Ciconia nigra
274) Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus
275) Common merganser (Goosander) Mergus merganser
276) Crested kingfisher Megaceryle lugubris
277) Ibisbill Ibidorhyncha struthersii
278) Vernal hanging parrot Loriculus vernalis
279) Lesser yellownape woodpecker Picus chlorolophus
280) Small niltava Niltava macgrigoriae
281) White-winged wood duck Cairina scutulata
282) Grey-bellied tesia Tesia cyaniventer
283) Striped tit-babbler Macronous gularis
284) Yellow-bellied fantail Chelidorhynx hypoxantha
285) Silver-breasted broadbill Serilophus lunatus
286) Slaty-backed flycatcher Ficedula hodgsoni
287) Chestnut-headed bee-eater Merops leschenaulti
288) Large woodshrike Tephrodornis gularis
289) Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus (on the river by Tezpur when looking for dolphins)
290) Plumbeous water redstart Rhyacornis fuliginosa (back at Nameri again)



MAMMALS:

TEZPUR (ASSAM, INDIA):

32) Gangetic dolphin Platanista gangetica
 
zooboy28 said:
I didn't realise Koels were in Australia, did you just see it in your backyard? Is there anywhere they can be seen easily or is it fairly random?
Click to expand...
here's a photo I took yesterday (but in India, not Australia): http://www.zoochat.com/737/asian-koel-eudynamys-scolopaceus-358298/

Koels are really tricky. I hear them calling all day long all over Asia, even in the middle of the cities, but I can hardly ever find them. They are good ventriloquists I think. Also the males look really like crows if you're not familiar with them -- look for the bright red eye.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top