ZooChat Big Year 2014
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Hevden
Well-Known Member
Drizzly day in South Yorkshire today - spent the morning at YWP in order to see some big white thing that's turned up. Spent the afternoon at Potteric Carr, getting gradually wetter and wetter but picking up some nice additions.
279. Black-necked Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis
280. Red-crested Pochard - Netta rufina
40. European Roe Deer - Capreolus capreolus
279. Black-necked Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis
280. Red-crested Pochard - Netta rufina
40. European Roe Deer - Capreolus capreolus
The idea that a population of Jaguarundi exists in Florida has been around for some time and seems to get more credence from biologists than similar misplaced mammal legends (i.e. New England's Cougars or Colorado's Grizzly Bears). Rumor has it that there is a possible breeding population of Capybara in the state as well. Interesting. Although I'm afraid we are in a bit of a "Golden Age" as far as wildlife recovery (or introductions) in Florida is concerned. Sprawl will reverse the gains there soon enough I fear.
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!
Also disappointing-
Dead Armadillo Count: 7
Live Armadillo Count: 0
~Thylo
I think road kill should be counted. It's an important resource when conducting biological surveys of an area. Give yourself an Armadillo young man! Also consider a very early morning drive.
Birds:
113. White-crowned Sparrow
113. White-crowned Sparrow
Not to go off an entirely different discussion, but as far as Cougars in New England go, I'd say they're there. There's far too much evidence including multiple documented sightings, photos, and roadkill for them not to be here. Now whether they're a resident population or just western cats expanding over, I'd say probably both.
~Thylo
Well I personally don't think roadkill and other dead animals can be counted, only live ones. If you started to count dead ones, then where would you stop? Does this mean TeaLovingDave, for example, has seen a Thylacine? Or that I've seen a Tyrannosaurus rex?
So even though roadkill and other dead animals may be an important resource in a biological survey, for my personal preference I only count live animals.
~Thylo
Well I personally don't think roadkill and other dead animals can be counted, only live ones. If you started to count dead ones, then where would you stop? Does this mean TeaLovingDave, for example, has seen a Thylacine? Or that I've seen a Tyrannosaurus rex?
So even though roadkill and other dead animals may be an important resource in a biological survey, for my personal preference I only count live animals.
~Thylo
Fair enough. I would limit it though to mammals known to inhabit a region presently. I would definitely count a fresh Thylacine. T-Rex would be out of the question. Some species though are extremely difficult to document and sign or remains will likely be the only way to get them onto a list. For example, I've seen several Fisher and Mink in Connecticut and Massachusetts...helpfully laid out on the roadside, but a living specimen...never outside of captivity. Most rodents or bats seem to be tough too. I think a road kill specimen (although not camera trapped or a hunting trophy mounted above a bar) is the mammalian equivalent of birdsong, or within the mammals, using an electronic bat identifier. Not necessarily the optimal view...but with a degree of legitimacy. Here in Alaska, the paucity of roads and the generally low density of mammals...atop the value of some road killed creatures have to people (i.e. the troopers maintain a list of folks who would like to claim any moose) or scavengers, road killed specimens are actually hard to find. Relating to cats, for example, I did not count a series of Lynx tracks as a sighting last year and only saw my first wild Lynx crossing a road this summer. I've lived in Lynx range for about 15 years (Maine and Alaska) and had never seen one until a month ago. I have a decade in Cougar territory and a near lifetime in Bobcat range and have never seen either cat (aside from sign and zoos). But rules is rules...so while Ravens have made the list, the shrew they were eating has not. On another cat note. I think transit cougars have visited New England (actually I know at least one has) and the Province of Quebec operates on the assumption that a population is present and prior to the Prarie Ghost hit by a car recently in New England...the last confirmed cat was only as far back as 1938 in Maine...I'd say your mostly right. Confirmed sign was found in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts in the 1980's and 1990's. My thought would be that less than a dozen (a high estimate - indeed the previously mentioned sign could be one cat) seeded by transients from the north and west, with long periods of total absence of any animal within the region...probably is an accurate status for cougars in the north-east. A breeding population, within New York and New England, between the 1950's and today, I don't think the proof is there. The potential, though, certainly is. Ok long post. Not counting roadkilled specimens. Got it. No armadillos for Thylo. ;-)
Road kill counting does seem to combine laziness, luck, and cheating...
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Hevden
Well-Known Member
A couple from Frampton Marsh on saturday.
228. Little Owl
229. Spoonbill
And three from Burton Mere on sunday
230. Cattle Egret
231. Whinchat
232. Red-necked Phalarope
nanoboy
Well-Known Member
That Citrine Wagtail was big news, since it is a very rare vagrant in Australia and has popped up in very distant locations - e.g. the Darwin area in Northern Territory, Cairns area in Far North Queensland, the Adelaide area in South Australia, and southern New South Wales (by looking at the map in the field guide). To put it in perspective, the distance between Darwin and Adelaide is like a specimen showing up in Atlanta once, and then Los Angeles years later (or London and Athens).
Is there any evidence to suggest that it is not an escapee? I do wonder if the previous sightings near the coast could not have been a bird that escaped from a passing/docked ship.
wagtails migrate in great numbers over great distances (from the north of Eurasia where they breed to the south of the land-masses: I remember in Thailand seeing literally thousands of wagtails of four species roosting in roadside trees during their migration). The chances of an individual going off-course and ending up in Australia aren't too remote. Ship-assisted is also a good possibility though because tired birds do alight on ships and end up where-ever they next dock.That Citrine Wagtail was big news, since it is a very rare vagrant in Australia and has popped up in very distant locations - e.g. the Darwin area in Northern Territory, Cairns area in Far North Queensland, the Adelaide area in South Australia, and southern New South Wales (by looking at the map in the field guide). To put it in perspective, the distance between Darwin and Adelaide is like a specimen showing up in Atlanta once, and then Los Angeles years later (or London and Athens).
Is there any evidence to suggest that it is not an escapee? I do wonder if the previous sightings near the coast could not have been a bird that escaped from a passing/docked ship.
A few new additions picked up while zooing overseas (and in Kent!):
281. Ring-necked Parakeet - Psittacula krameri (most notably around our hotel while in Leverkusen, and in Cologne)
282. European White Stork - Ciconia ciconia (regularly seen nesting around the zoos but ambiguously wild - the ones I'm counting were roadside in Germany well away from a zoo!)
283. Little Gull - Hydrocoloeus minutus (from the Calais ferry)
284. Spotted Flycatcher - Muscicapa striata (feeding from the fence of the Malayan Tiger enclosure at RSCC!)
Thanks to robmv for spotting the last two!
Also have a few ranid photos I'm going to try to ID but not sure how far I'll get. Other interesting wild things included some distant and unidentifiable shearwaters and further porpoises from the ferry and many Red Squirrels.
281. Ring-necked Parakeet - Psittacula krameri (most notably around our hotel while in Leverkusen, and in Cologne)
282. European White Stork - Ciconia ciconia (regularly seen nesting around the zoos but ambiguously wild - the ones I'm counting were roadside in Germany well away from a zoo!)
283. Little Gull - Hydrocoloeus minutus (from the Calais ferry)
284. Spotted Flycatcher - Muscicapa striata (feeding from the fence of the Malayan Tiger enclosure at RSCC!)
Thanks to robmv for spotting the last two!
Also have a few ranid photos I'm going to try to ID but not sure how far I'll get. Other interesting wild things included some distant and unidentifiable shearwaters and further porpoises from the ferry and many Red Squirrels.
nanoboy
Well-Known Member
Oh good point about resting on ships. I was thinking of a sailor having one in a cage in his quarters and it escaping. Why would a wagtail migrate to Adelaide instead of just staying further north in Darwin say?
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