ZooChat Big Year 2014

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Birds
64) Anhinga Anhinga anhinga
65) Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus
66) American Black Vulture Coragyps atratus

Reptiles
3) American Alligator Alligator mississippiensis
4) Gopher Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus

I also got a nice view of an Osprey fishing! Got some decent shots I think.

Florida has not been kind for mammals! I was hoping to get maybe at least the Florida ssp of White-Tailed Deer but no dice.

What's even more unfortunate is the fact that I was in Jaguarundi country but didn't see any!:eek:

Also disappointing-
Dead Armadillo Count: 7
Live Armadillo Count: 0

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
What's even more unfortunate is the fact that I was in Jaguarundi country but didn't see any!:eek:

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

That as almost as unfortunate as last month when I passed through the Blue Mountains of Oregon without so much as a single Sasquatch sighting!:cool:
 
Ituri said:
That as almost as unfortunate as last month when I passed through the Blue Mountains of Oregon without so much as a single Sasquatch sighting!:cool:
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure the only explanation for that is you must not have been using the right search techniques. Did you have your bacon? Did you try knocking on trees* or howling?


*I just wondered right this minute if people out looking for ivory-billed woodpeckers by knocking on trees inadvertently attract 'squatches?
 
Ituri said:
That as almost as unfortunate as last month when I passed through the Blue Mountains of Oregon without so much as a single Sasquatch sighting!:cool:
Click to expand...

I don't know if there are really Jaguarundis there or not but the guide who did our boat tour said he's seen them quite a few times in the area. And the guy really did seem to know his stuff.

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
I don't know if there are really Jaguarundis there or not but the guide who did our boat tour said he's seen them quite a few times in the area. And the guy really did seem to know his stuff.
Click to expand...
as I understand it, officially there are no jaguarundi in Florida. Unofficially there are.*


*and I mean unofficially as in quite plausibly - not unofficially in the way that Bigfoot unofficially exists :p
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Indeed. It's just like there are officially no Canada Lynx or Cougars in Connecticut, but unofficially there are.

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

If I understand correctly, it is conceivable that Canada Lynx and Cougars could be in Connecticut - it's not a far walk for the lynx and the cougar used to be found there any way. :D The Jaguarundis, as I read it, were introduced to Florida and are non-native. I guess it's just a matter of whether they reproduced and persist.
 
nanoboy said:
The Jaguarundis, as I read it, were introduced to Florida and are non-native. I guess it's just a matter of whether they reproduced and persist.
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There is a small circle who believe they are a relict native population but nobody sensible buys that. A small additional problem is that no-one is clear on where they came from in the first place (i.e. who released them, or why) or even when they were released (generally the 1930s or 40s is stated) -- and as far as I know there's no actual evidence they are there (things like bodies).

A population of animals known only from sightings and no actual hard evidence sounds a LOT like Bigfoot. But I believe it anyway :p
 
Chlidonias said:
There is a small circle who believe they are a relict native population but nobody sensible buys that. A small additional problem is that no-one is clear on where they came from in the first place (i.e. who released them, or why) or even when they were released (generally the 1930s or 40s is stated) -- and as far as I know there's no actual evidence they are there (things like bodies).

A population of animals known only from sightings and no actual hard evidence sounds a LOT like Bigfoot. But I believe it anyway :p
Click to expand...

Sounds like the story of US servicemen releasing 'big cats' in the wilds of Australia back in the day. Totally believable, but no hard evidence to support the urban myth. Then again, Thylo's tour guide sees them regularly - I am guessing that the guide never had a camera on hand. :D
 
nanoboy said:
Then again, Thylo's tour guide sees them regularly - I am guessing that the guide never had a camera on hand. :D
Click to expand...

hehe well the guy drives a boat around the river and thus doesn't actually have a camera on hand. The way it came up was when my dad asked if he had ever seen any Florida Panthers. He said he hadn't but had seen Bobcats and Jaguarundis around the river's edge before. Then I asked about the Jaguarundis because it obviously sparked my interest. He then just talked about how he's observed them around the water's edge every once in a while in the more shaded areas. He also talked about how they were introduced. Personally I trust the guy as he really seemed to know his stuff and he didn't talk about the subject in the same kind of crazy way that Sasquatch believers generally talk. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know that there was some controversy over whether or not they're there.

On another note, he did make some cracks about the Skunk Ape (the Southeast's version of Bigfoot) and talked about how some people claim they see it during the same few months each year. He then joked about how it must be migratory since the people only see it during a certain time of year.

~Thylo:cool:
 
Ituri said:
A couple ones I forgot to include from Madera Canyon

311 Greater Roadrunner

42 Arizona Gray Squirrel

Phoenix Zoo
312 Rosy-faced Lovebird
313 Gilded Flicker
314 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
315 Ladder-backed Woodpecker

43 Harris's Antelope Squirrel

8 Zebra-tailed Lizard
9 Desert Spiny Lizard
10 Tiger Whiptail
Click to expand...

Passed through the Vermillion Cliffs of northern Arizona last night.

316 California Condor

:D
 
ThylacineAlive said:
hehe well the guy drives a boat around the river and thus doesn't actually have a camera on hand. The way it came up was when my dad asked if he had ever seen any Florida Panthers. He said he hadn't but had seen Bobcats and Jaguarundis around the river's edge before. Then I asked about the Jaguarundis because it obviously sparked my interest. He then just talked about how he's observed them around the water's edge every once in a while in the more shaded areas. He also talked about how they were introduced. Personally I trust the guy as he really seemed to know his stuff and he didn't talk about the subject in the same kind of crazy way that Sasquatch believers generally talk. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know that there was some controversy over whether or not they're there.

On another note, he did make some cracks about the Skunk Ape (the Southeast's version of Bigfoot) and talked about how some people claim they see it during the same few months each year. He then joked about how it must be migratory since the people only see it during a certain time of year.

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

A camera (or a phone) is tiny and can fit in his pocket. I am not sure I follow.
 
nanoboy said:
A camera (or a phone) is tiny and can fit in his pocket. I am not sure I follow.
Click to expand...

I don't think he carries a camera around. He may not even own one. Remember, we were more in rural Florida and while the guy was obviously very knowledgeable, he said he lived in a house boat and preferred more of a simple life. I'm sure he does have a cell phone but I highly doubt you could get anything higher than the quality of your average Bigfoot photo with a cell phone camera, especially not on the edge of the forest from the middle of the river. I know my phone's camera is very useless when it comes to zoom.

~Thylo:cool:
 
My list is in need of a large update....

Birds:

124. Great crested grebe
125. European cormorant
126. White stork
127. European spoonbill
128. Mute swan
129. Greylag Goose
130. Greater canadian goose
131. Common shelduck
132. Egyptian Goose
133. Indian Goose
134. Mandarin duck
135. Common mallard
136. Gadwall
137. Shoveler
138. Wigeon
139. Common teal
140. Tufted duck
141. Marsh harrier
142. Common buzzard
143. European kestrel
144. Peregrine falcon
145. Pheasant
146. Moorhen
147. Coot
148. Oystercatcher
149. Pied avocet
150. Little grebe
151. European lapwing
152. Common redshank
153. Spotted redshank
154. Common greenshank
155. Black-tailed godwit
156. Bare-tailed godwit
157. Common curlew
158. Ruff
159. Black-headed gull
160. Herring gull
161. Lesser black-backed gull
162. Common tern
163. Stock dove
164. Wood pigeon
165. Eurasian collared dove
166. Tawny owl
167. Stony owl
168. Common swift
169. Green woodpecker
170. Little spotted woodpecker
171. Greater spotted woodpecker
172. Field lark
173. White wagtail
174. Dunnock
175. Redbreast
176. Song thrush
177. Blackbird
178. Blackcap
179. Eurasian reed warbler
180. Common firecrest
181. Great tit
182. Eurasian blue tit
183. Eurasian nuthatch
184. Magpie
185. European jay
186. Western jackdaw
187. Black crow
188. Starling
189. Montane sparrow
190. Chaffinch
191. Common linnet
192. European green finch
193. Reed bunting
194. Yellowhammer
195. Common raven
196. Long-tailed tit
197. Little tern
198. Grasshopper warbler
199. Goldfinch
200. Common whitethroat
201. Treecreeper
202. Pied flycatcher
203. Tree pipit
204. European hobby
205. Black woodpecker
206. Black redstart
207. Yellow wagtail
208. Common house martin
209. Stonechat
210. European crane
211. Black kite
212. European turtle dove
213. Garden warbler
214. Icterine warbler
215. Winchat
216. Eared grebe
217. Sandwich tern
218. Nightingale
219. Red-breasted merganser
220. Whiskered tern
221. Black tern
222. White winged tern
223. Little gull
224. Osprey
225. Wren
226. Water snipe
227. Common pochard
228. Wood sandpiper
229. European sparrowhawk
230. Great yellow wagtail
231. Common quail
232. Oriole
233. Honey buzzard
234. Chilean flamingo
235. Marsh tit
236. Little ringed plover
237. Melodious warbler
238. Rosy-ringed parakeet

Mammals:
49. Yellow-necked field Mouse
50. Pygmy shrew
51. Common shrew / Crowned shrew (indistinguishable without cranial characters or DNA)
52. Common vole

Herpetofauna:
58. Pool frog
59. Moor frog
60. Common midwife toad
61. Alpine newt
62. Sand lizard


If there is no large volcanic eruption that influences international flights I will be off to Iceland in 2,5 weeks, so I hope to add at least 5 new mammal species and some new birds.
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Birds
64) Anhinga Anhinga anhinga
65) Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus
66) American Black Vulture Coragyps atratus

Reptiles
3) American Alligator Alligator mississippiensis
4) Gopher Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus

I also got a nice view of an Osprey fishing! Got some decent shots I think.

Florida has not been kind for mammals! I was hoping to get maybe at least the Florida ssp of White-Tailed Deer but no dice.

What's even more unfortunate is the fact that I was in Jaguarundi country but didn't see any!:eek:

Also disappointing-
Dead Armadillo Count: 7
Live Armadillo Count: 0

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...

Birds
67) Ring-Billed Gull Larus delawarensis
68) Wood Stork Mycteria americana
69) Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto

Dead Armadillo Count: 8

~Thylo:cool:
 
ThylacineAlive said:
hehe well the guy drives a boat around the river and thus doesn't actually have a camera on hand. The way it came up was when my dad asked if he had ever seen any Florida Panthers. He said he hadn't but had seen Bobcats and Jaguarundis around the river's edge before. Then I asked about the Jaguarundis because it obviously sparked my interest. He then just talked about how he's observed them around the water's edge every once in a while in the more shaded areas. He also talked about how they were introduced. Personally I trust the guy as he really seemed to know his stuff and he didn't talk about the subject in the same kind of crazy way that Sasquatch believers generally talk. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know that there was some controversy over whether or not they're there.

On another note, he did make some cracks about the Skunk Ape (the Southeast's version of Bigfoot) and talked about how some people claim they see it during the same few months each year. He then joked about how it must be migratory since the people only see it during a certain time of year.

~Thylo:cool:
Click to expand...
I think I read somewhere that there was at least one confirmed roadkill of a Jaguarundi in Florida. However, I looked this up online, and there seem to be some sites that claim a roadkill was never recorded, and others that believe differently. Given that Florida is a haven for exotic species, it certainly wouldn't be difficult to believe that a small population of Jaguarundis live there.
Also, don't be so upset at not seeing so many mammals in Florida. I didn't see a single new species when I was there!
 
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