ZooChat Big Year 2015

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Went up to the Capertee Valley today, arriving at 7:00am-ish in a thick fog and with severe frost (and temps below freezing). Fog was finally all gone about 10:30. Saw the regular species, picking about a dozen new ones for the year and one lifer which I was stoked to see. I had been following a honeyeater with my binoculars when it disappeared behind the trunk of a tree and while scanning around the area to see where it re-appeared I suddenly saw a small head poking out from a broken branch hollow, in full sun. An Australian Goatsucker.

Mammals
11. Wallaroo

Birds
129. White-plumed Honeyeater
130. Hooded Robin
131. Double-barred Finch
132. Golden-headed Cisticola
133. Zebra Finch
134. Bar-shouldered Dove
135. Peaceful Dove
136. Crested Shrike-tit
137. Australian Owlet-Nightjar
138. White-naped Honeyeater
139. Fuscous Honeyeater
140. Pied Butcherbird


:p

Hix
 
oh wow, I would love to see a wild Australian owlet-nightjar! I have seen them in Perth Zoo and Moonlit Sanctuary, and they are fantastic. In my Moonlit thread I described them as looking like someone tried to make a bird but only had a blueprint for a pigmy possum.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Went over to Abberton Reservoir on the off-chance of seeing a bird that has been hanging around recently in the area:

137. Garganey Anas querquedula

This was a species that had been seen in several places in North Norfolk the day before or after I visited, so to track two drakes down and get close views of them was especially pleasing.
Click to expand...

Went out with my spotlight this evening, for the first time since getting it fixed. Despite it still being light enough to see at the beginning, managed to see a whole wealth of rather great nocturnal animals:

Birds:
138. Tawny owl Strix aluco

Mammals:
13. Eurasian badger Meles meles
14. West European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus

Also saw a lot of probable pipistrelle bats that, until I re-invest in a bat detector, shall remain unidentified.
 
Chlidonias said:
oh wow, I would love to see a wild Australian owlet-nightjar! I have seen them in Perth Zoo and Moonlit Sanctuary, and they are fantastic. In my Moonlit thread I described them as looking like someone tried to make a bird but only had a blueprint for a pigmy possum.
Click to expand...

I was over the moon! And it was sitting in the sun, perfect for photography!

141. Brown Falcon
142. Eurasian Skylark
143. Jacky Winter

:p

Hix
 
lintworm said:
Today I passed to 220 birds mark, the list will follow, when I am back from Kenya, at the end of this week. I have seen 85 species of birds in the past 3 days, despite being in the car or in meetings most of the time, so that illustrates how extremely species rich this country is.

A provisional mammal + herp update

16. Common zebra
17. Common warthog
18. Eland
19. Olive baboon
20. Thomson gazelle
21. African buffalo
22. Impala
23. Vervet monkey

Herps
9. Nile crocodile
10. Nile monitor
11. Spurred tortoise
12. Leopard tortoise
Click to expand...

I am back from a week in Kenya and I came relatively close to doubling the bird species number for this year, even when I spent most of the time in meetings and did not leave the head office of the Kenyan Forestry Research Institute for the last 5 days of the week, the rest of the birds were seen on a 2 day trip to Lake Baringo.

142. Red winged starling
143. African pied wagtail
144. Sacred ibis
145. Red-rumped swallow
146. Black-headed heron
147. Pied crow
148. African rock martin
149. African palm swift
150. White browed sparrow weaver
151. Bronze sunbird
152. Golden winged sunbird
153. Black-backed puffback
154. White-eyed slaty flycatcher
155. Olive trush
156. Baglafechts weaver
157. Stout cisticola
158. Cape rook
159. Hadada ibis
160. Superb starling
161. Speckled pigeon
162. Northern anteater chat
163. African paradise flycatcher
164. Yellow-billed kite
165. Marabou stork
166. Augur buzzard
167. Grey-backed fiscal
168. Lilac-breasted roller
169. White-faced whistling duck
170. Ruppels long-tailed starling
171. Yellow-billed stork
172. Greater blue-eared starling
173. Jacksons hornbill
174. Speckled mousebird
175. White-headed buffalo weaver
176. White-bellied go away bird
177. Northern white crowned shrike
178. African darter
179. Pied kingfisher
180. Striated heron
181. Grey-headed gull
182. White-breasted cormorant
183. Long-tailed cormorant
184. Ostrich
185. Spur-winged plover
186. Fork-tailed drongo
187. Little swift
188. Pearl-spotted owlet
189. White browed coucal
190. Green woodhoopoo
191. Nubian woodpecker
192. African mourning dove
193. Northern masked weaver
194. Hunters sunbird
195. Spot-flanked barbet
196. Great masked weaver
197. Black crake
198. Madagascar bee-eater
199. Woodland kingfisher
200. Wire-tailed swallow
201. Beautiful sunbird
202. White-throated bee-eater
203. Namaqua dove
204. Striated roller
205. Spotted morning trush
206. Little bee-eater
207. Red-billed hornbill
208. Grey apalis
209. Grey headed sparrow
210. Red-billed oxpecker
211. White-billed buffalo weaver
212. African harrier hawk
213. Lesser masked weaver
214. Variable sunbird
215. Amethist sunbird
216. Ring necked dove (Cape turtle dove)
217. Yellow-rumped seedeater
218. Horab golden weaver
219. MOntane white eye
220. White-browed seedeater
221. Cape robin chat
222. Tropical boubou
223. Ashy flycatcher
224. Rufous sparrow
225. Tacazze sunbird
226. Woodland sparrowhawk
227. Yellow-bellied apalis
228. Common waxbill
229. White-rumped swift
230. Grey-backed camaroptera
231. Collared sunbird
232. Northern black flycatcher
233. Eastern double collared sunbird
234. Chin spotted batis
235. Heuglins robin trush
236. Mountain buzzard
237. Cinnamon-chested bee-eater
238. Ayres hawk eagle
239. Red-eyed dove
240. African goshawk
241. Black sawwing
242. Cinnamon bracken warbler

Mammals
24: Egyptian slit-faced bat
 
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148. brown goshawk
149. pied butcherbird
150. superb parrot
151. blue bonnet
152. emu
153. hoary headed grebe
154. little grassbird
155. spiny cheeked honeyeater
156. major mitchell's cockatoo
157. chestnut rumped thornbill
158. common bronzewing
159. grey crowned babbler
160. jacky winter
161. mulga parrot
162. red capped robin
163. southern whiteface
164. zebra finch
165. australasian pipit
166. banded lapwing
167. brolga
168. brown treecreeper
169. CHESTNUT CROWNED BABBLER*
170. hooded robin
171. red winged parrot
172. restless flycatcher
173. singing honeyeater
174. striated pardalote
175. weebill
176. yellow throated miner
177. little friarbird
178. mistletoebird
179. cockatiel
180. peaceful dove
181. tree martin
182. bar shouldered dove
183. bell miner
184. diamond firetail
185. double barred finch
186. white naped honeyeater
187. yellow tufted honeyeater
 
Looks like I missed seeing you at capertee by only a few days Hix. I was there yesterday. I should have paid more attention to the pipits. I might have been able to pick out an eurasian skylark. I was after a turquoise parrot but I missed out.
 
Yeah, I was looking for Turqs as well, but didn't find any. The skylark, along with the pipits, tend to be around the lucerne farms just outside of Glen Davis.

:p

Hix
 
Just one addition this weekend, but a rather nice one:

203. Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris) - LIFER
 
Bonus day out in Norfolk today after crashing my lepidopterist dad's annual swallowtail run. Very pleased to pick up five new birds as a result, including one (or actually two, in different ways) that were frustrating me! Despite theoretically very good conditions, I still have no wild reptiles this year.


153. Cetti's Warbler - Cettia cetti
154. Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus
155. Little Gull - Hydrocoloeus minutus
156. Little Ringed Plover - Charadrius dubius
157. Red-crested Pochard - Netta rufina


Plus the Strumpshaw Black Swan escapee that is there every time! :D
 
Some updates to my list. First, on my trip to Colchester Zoo last week, I managed to see a second amphibian species:

2) Common toad Bufo bufo

And today, I went to RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk. I managed three new birds and one new mammal for the year:

139) Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis
140) Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
141) Great bittern Botaurus stellaris

15) Red deer Cervus elaphus
 
Ituri said:
The five above counts the previous two reptiles. And I have two amphibians for good measure.

1 Pacific Tree Frog (Pseudacris regilla)
2 American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)

Added another mammal
22 American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

And several more birds:
221 Dunlin - Calidris alpina
222 Willet - Tringa semipalmata
223 Snowy Egret - Egretta thula
224 Forster's Tern - Sterna forsteri
225 Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus
226 MacGillivray's Warbler - Geothlypis tolmiei
227 Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola
228 Western Wood-Pewee - Contopus sordidulus
229 Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii
230 Common Poorwill - Phalaenoptilus nuttallii
231 Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis
232 Wilson's Warbler - Cardellina pusilla
Click to expand...

Mammals:
23 Idaho Ground Squirrel - Urocitellus brunneus (southern subspecies endemicus)

Birds:
233 Least Flycatcher - Empidonax minimus
234 American Bittern - Botaurus lentiginosus
235 Common Nighthawk - Chordeiles minor
236 Swainson's Thrush - Catharus ustulatus
237 Flammulated Owl - Psiloscops flammeolus

Amphibians:
3 Boreal Toad
 
Fallen *seriously* behind with my updates! I may end up omitting some taxa I have forgotten, as I'm piecing this together from photographs taken by myself as well as the notes from my Bavaria trip.

The additions to my list are from a combination of sightings, primarily from County Durham, Northumberland, Scotland, Germany and Austria, but with a few taxa seen elsewhere in the UK.

Current Bird Total: 144 taxa

TeaLovingDave said:
1) Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
2) Great tit (Parus major)
3) Common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
4) European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
5) Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
Click to expand...

TeaLovingDave said:
6) European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
7) Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
8) Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
9) European Blackbird (Turdus merula)
10) Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
11) European Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
12) European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
13) House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
14) Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
15) Coal Tit (Periparus ater)
Click to expand...


TeaLovingDave said:
16) Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
17) Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
18) Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
19) Common Gull (Larus canus)
20) Coot (Fulica atra)
21) Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
22) Eurasian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
23) Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
24) Feral Pigeon (Columba livia)
25) Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
26) Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)
27) Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
28) Great Black-Backed Gull (Larus marinus)
29) Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
30) Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
31) Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
32) Iceland Gull (Larus glaucoides)
33) Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)
34) Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
35) Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
36) Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)
37) Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
38) Magpie (Pica pica)
39) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
40) Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)
41) Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
42) Mealy Redpoll (Carduelis flammea)
43) Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus)
44) Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
45) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
46) Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
47) Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
48) Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima)
49) Redshank (Tringa totanus)
50) Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
51) Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
52) Sanderling (Calidris alba)
53) Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
54) Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis)
55) Stock Dove (Columba oenas)
56) Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
57) Twite (Carduelis flavirostris)
58) Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
Click to expand...

59) Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris)
60) Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
61) Great Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)
62) Gannet (Morus bassanus)
63) Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra)
64) Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)
65) Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
66) Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
67) Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)
68) Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
69) Redwing (Turdus iliacus)
70) Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)
71) Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)
72) Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
73) Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
74) European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
75) European Crane (Grus grus)
76) White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
77) Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)
78) Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
79) Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
80) European Raven (Corvus corax)
81) Dipper (Cinclus cinclus)
82) Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
83) Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
84) Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)
85) Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
86) Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
87) Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix)
88) Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus)
89) Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
90) Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
91) Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
92) Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
93) Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
94) Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
95) Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
96) Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
97) Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
98) Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
99) Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
100) Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
101) Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
102) Grey Partridge (Perdix perdix)
103) Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)
104) Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
105) Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
106) Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)
107) Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus)
108) Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus)
109) Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
110) Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
111) Crag Martin (Hirundo rupestris)
112) House Martin (Delichon urbicum)
113) Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
114) Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)
115) Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)
116) Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
117) Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
118) Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
119) Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
120) Garganey (Anas querquedula)
121) Merganser (Mergus merganser)
122) Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
123) Eider (Somateria mollissima)
124) Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus)
125) Swift (Apus apus)
126) Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)
127) Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
128) Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus)
129) Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
130) Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla)
131) Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
132) Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
133) Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus)
134) Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
135) Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
136) Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
137) Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)
138) Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor)
139) Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius)
140) White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos)
141) Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius)
142) Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus)
143) Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus)
144) Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Herps and Mammals to follow.
 
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Current mammal total: 26 taxa

1) Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus)
2) Field Vole (Microtus agrestis)
3) Water Vole (Arvicola terrestris)
4) Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)
5) Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
6) Yellow-necked Mouse (Apodemus flavicollis)
7) House Mouse (Mus musculus)
8) Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
9) European Hare (Lepus europaeus)
10) European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
11) Common Shrew (Sorex araneus)
12) Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus)
13) Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens)
14) Common Noctule (Nyctalus noctula)
15) Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
16) Soprano Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus)
17) Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
18) Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
19) Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)
20) Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
21) Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)
22) Stoat (Mustela erminea)
23) Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis)
24) European Badger (Meles meles)
25) Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
26) Reeves's Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi)

Current reptile/amphibian total: 15 taxa

1) European Pond Turtle (Emys orbicularis)
2) Western Green Lizard (Lacerta bilineata)
3) Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis)
4) Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara)
5) Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)
6) Slow Worm (Anguis fragilis)
7) Grass Snake (Natrix natrix)
8) European Adder (Vipera berus)
9) Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus)
10) Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris)
11) Palmate Newt (Lissotriton helveticus)
12) Yellow-bellied Toad (Bombina variegatea)
13) Common Toad (Bufo bufo)
14) European Green Toad (Bufo viridis)
15) Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

One amphibian which I heard whilst in Germany, but unfortunately did not see and thus won't count for the purposes of this challenge, was European Tree Frog (Hyla arborea).
 
Mammal Update

27. Mexican Ground Squirrel
28. Nilgai

The Nilgai are a long-establish exotic in South Texas and are considered countable here.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Some updates to my list. First, on my trip to Colchester Zoo last week, I managed to see a second amphibian species:

2) Common toad Bufo bufo

And today, I went to RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk. I managed three new birds and one new mammal for the year:

139) Barnacle goose Branta leucopsis
140) Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
141) Great bittern Botaurus stellaris

15) Red deer Cervus elaphus
Click to expand...

Last night I managed to add two new fish species while spotlighting:

5. Common roach Rutilus rutilus
6. European perch Perca fluviatilis

And today I returned to Fingringhoe Wick where I managed to see a lifer bird species:

142. Common nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos
 
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