ZooChat Big Year 2015

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I leave for a week long birding trip through the Southwest tomorrow. Should rack up some nice ones.
 
Hix said:
Spent the weekend at my brothers farm and picked up a few birds (including a lifer), and on the drive home I got a mammal and a reptile.

Birds
79. White-eared Honeyeater
80. Grey Fantail
81. Rufous Whistler
82. Wedgetailed Eagle
83. Brown Thornbill
84. Striated Thornbill
85. Crimson Rosella
86. Scarlet Robin
87. White-throated Treecreeper
88. Red-browed Firetail Finch
89. Grey Currawong
90. Australasian Pipit
91. Diamond Firetail Finch
92. Grey Shrike Thrush


Mammals
5. Red-necked Wallaby

Reptiles
3. Eastern Bluetongue Lizard

:p

Hix
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Birds
93. Eastern Whipbird

:p

Hix
 
56) Sacred kingfisher Todiramphus sancta
57) Glossy ibis Plegadis falcinellus

The glossy ibis is a yearly winter visitor to Christchurch, presumably from Australia. He has been coming here since 1999. Today I saw him in the midst of a flock of 28 royal spoonbills, which was a nice taxonomic connection. Apart for this bird there is currently a small group resident near Blenheim (at the top of the South Island) - one of which has been there for ten years - and there was a first breeding record for NZ from near Timaru (south of Christchurch) in January this year.
 
lintworm said:
87. Common pochard
88. Smew
89. Long-eared owl

I did some small birding yesterday in the small flood plain next to my house and I was happy to see a pair of smews over there. Afterwards I went to a winter roost of long-eared owls, in that tree about 10 birds should be present, but I found only 2. But this is also the time they are leaving their winter roosts.

Except for the strong winds, the first signs of spring are clearly visible with Galanthus and Crocus flowers flowering everywhere. It probably won't be long before the summer visitors return :)
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The first spring day today :)

90. Common raven

Mammals
7. Common pipistrelle
8. Common field mouse

Butterflies:
1. Common brimstone
2. Small tortoiseshell
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Another new bird seen in the garden today:

98. Grey wagtail Motacilla cinerea
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Yesterday I went for a shore-watch at Rainham Marshes along the River Thames, looking for harbour porpoises. Didn't see any, but did add a new year bird:

99. Eurasian rock pipit Anthus petrosus

I am joining an actual porpoise survey team on a boat in the Thames tomorrow - here's hoping we actually see one!
 
Ituri said:
147 Gyrfalcon
148 White-winged Crossbill
149 Ruffed Grouse
150 Say's Phoebe



17 Belding's Ground Squirrel
18 White-tailed Deer
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151 Blue Jay

Also, I realized I missed one from a while back

152 Cassin's Finch
 
DesertRhino150 said:
I am joining an actual porpoise survey team on a boat in the Thames tomorrow - here's hoping we actually see one!
Click to expand...

Went on the porpoise survey boat today - didn't see any porpoises or seals (although that was to be expected), but I did pick up three new year birds, including a lifer:

100. Ring-necked parakeet Psittacula krameri
101. Mandarin duck Aix galericulata
102. Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos

And on the way back from the boat, at Tower Hill underground station, I managed to get a new mammal:

9. House mouse Mus musculus
 
@Desertrhino150, funny to see that mandarin duck is a lifer for you, are they that rare in England? They are quite common here in the Netherlands....
 
mstickmanp said:
One more from birding before work today:

181. Blue-winged Teal
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Did some birding yesterday and took my non-birding girlfriend with me on her first real birding trip. I had taken her out to look for a rare vagrant before and that didn't count since it only took 15 minutes. :p

182. Brant
183. Surf Scoter
184. Reddish Egret
185. Black-bellied Plover
186. Whimbrel
187. Ruddy Turnstone
188. Sanderling
189. Royal Tern
190. Great Horned Owl
191. Rufous Hummingbird
 
Hix said:
Birds
93. Eastern Whipbird

:p

Hix
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Went to Pitt Town Lagoon this morning and picked up a few more, then over to Mosman to see a New Zealand vagrant that is causing some excitement in Sydney at present.

Birds
94 Clamorous Reed Warbler
95 Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
96 House Sparrow
97 Straw-necked Ibis
98 Darter
99 Black-winged Stilt
100 Great Egret
101 South Island Pied Oystercatcher
102 White-browed Scrubwren


Reptiles
4. Long-necked Turtle
5. Eastern Water Dragon

:p

Hix
 
Last edited:
I forgot to add last weekend's additions, all two of them:

148. Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides)
149. Velvet Scoter (Melanitta fusca)

With reports of the first Sand Martins and Wheatears over the last few days, I'm now eagerly awaiting for influx of Spring migrants to give my list a boost ...
 
Just a wee update

I'm midway through my spring break roadtrip. I'm stealing WiFi from a local fast food joint.

188 Acorn Woodpecker - Melanerpes formicivorus
189 Ladder-backed Woodpecker - Picoides scalaris
190 Say's Phoebe - Sayornis saya
191 Mexican Jay - Aphelocoma wollweberi
192 Rock Wren - Salpinctes obsoletus
193 Cactus Wren - Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus
194 Mountain Bluebird - Sialia currucoides
195 Phainopepla - Phainopepla nitens
196 Rufous-crowned Sparrow - Aimophila ruficeps
197 Canyon Towhee - Melozone fusca
198 Common Raven - Corvus corax
199 Western Meadowlark - Sturnella neglecta
200 Black Phoebe - Sayornis nigricans
201 Verdin - Auriparus flaviceps
202 Canyon Wren - Catherpes mexicanus
203 Lucifer Hummingbird - Calothorax lucifer
204 Black-chinned Hummingbird - Archilochus alexandri
205 Bewick's Wren - Thryomanes bewickii
206 Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis
207 Black-throated Sparrow - Amphispiza bilineata
208 Red-naped Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus nuchalis
209 Mexican Chickadee - Poecile sclateri
210 Western Bluebird - Sialia mexicana Rustler Park
211 Yellow-eyed Junco - Junco phaeonotus
212 Western Screech-Owl - Megascops kennicottii
213 Dusky Flycatcher - Empidonax oberholseri
214 Magnificent Hummingbird - Eugenes fulgens
215 Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna
216 Broad-billed Hummingbird - Cynanthus latirostris
217 Bridled Titmouse - Baeolophus wollweberi
218 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
219 Violet-crowned Hummingbird - Amazilia violiceps
220 Gila Woodpecker - Melanerpes uropygialis
221 Abert's Towhee - Melozone aberti
222 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser
223 Gray Flycatcher - Empidonax wrightii
224 Ash-throated Flycatcher - Myiarchus cinerascens
225 Townsend's Warbler - Setophaga townsendi
226 Sinaloa Wren - Thryophilus sinaloa
227 Costa's Hummingbird - Calypte costae
228 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher - Polioptila melanura
229 Black-chinned Sparrow - Spizella atrogularis
230 Sage Thrasher - Oreoscoptes montanus
231 Black-capped Gnatcatcher - Polioptila nigriceps
232 Rufous-winged Sparrow - Peucaea carpalis
233 Common Black Hawk - Buteogallus anthracinus
 
Mammals

1. Nine-Banded Armadillo
2. Desert Cottontail
3. Eastern Cottontail
4. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit
5. Antelope Jackrabbit
6. Rock Squirrel
7. Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
8. Arizona Gray Squirrel
9. Eastern Fox Squirrel
10. Southern Gopher
11. Coyote
12. Hog-Nosed Skunk
13. Atlantic Bottle-Nosed Dolphin
14. Wapiti
15. Mule Deer
16. White-Tailed Deer
17. Pronghorn
 
Hix said:
Went to Pitt Town Lagoon this morning and picked up a few more, then over to Mosman to see a New Zealand vagrant that is causing some excitement in Sydney at present.

101 South Island Pied Oystercatcher





Hix
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well done Hix. Was it at chowder bay? I should get up there myself. I'm heading to hobart on Friday and I hope to get a couple of lifers if I'm lucky.
 
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