ZooChat Big Year 2016
- Thread starter jbnbsn99
- Start date
- Status
Fireplume
Active Member
8. Long-beaked Common Dolphin Delphinus capensis
9. Risso’s Dolphin Grampus griseus
10. Gray Whale Eschrichtius robustus
11. Columbian Blacktail Deer Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
12. House Mouse Mus musculus
41. Glaucous Winged Gull Larus glaucescens
42. Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
43. Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba
44. Common Murre Uria aalge
45. Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
46. Common Merganser Mergus merganser
47. Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
Amphibians (2 Species)
1. Western Toad Anaxyrus boreas
2. Pacific Treefrog Pseudacris regilla
Fish (1 Species)
1. Oceanic Sunfish Mola mola
-------------------------------------------------
My Monterey trip certainly was fruitful!
Last weekend I visited the zoos in Nurnberg & Stuttgart, seeing some new species.
59. Song thrush (yes it took that long to see one)
60. Middle spotted woodpecker
61. Yellow-crowned amazon
62. Black redstart
Mammals
4. Bank vole
5. European rabbit
Butterflies
2. Small tortoiseshell
Snails
37. Clausilia dubia
Today I am travelling to the Netherlands again and in 2,5 weeks my first Africa trip of the year, now 2,5 months in Kenya & Ethiopia
Had another very good walk down the road again - as well as getting repeat sightings of stock dove, bullfinch, chiffchaff and a male reed bunting that has been visiting the garden feeders, I have also seen some early spring migrants today:
100. Barn swallow Hirundo rustica
101. Sand martin Riparia riparia
On the same walk, took a brief sojourn down to the local fields and managed to see a seventh mammal species.
7. Brown hare Lepus europaeus
Finally also managed to see a third species of bumblebee today while on my walk:
3. White-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum
Hevden
Well-Known Member
Just a quick hours birding this morning.
112. Glaucous Gull
113. Iceland Gull
114. Chiffchaff
115. Black-tailed Godwit
116. Tree Sparrow
A fairly successful trip to Kampinos National Park today, including some of the first summer visitors and a lifer:
260) Northern Lapwing
261) White Wagtail
262) Yellowhammer
263) Corn Bunting
264) Common Crane
265) Marsh Harrier
266) Song Thrush
267) Great Crested Grebe
Unfortunately no mammals apart from Roe Deer. Loads of evidence of Wild Boar and Elk (Moose) though.
A third visit to Shut Heath Wood this year allowed me to see one new bird for the year, with the added bonus of hearing a lesser spotted woodpecker calling - the closest I have got to seeing one yet.
102. Eurasian treecreeper Certhia familiaris
A fourth species of bumblebee was prospecting for a nest adjacent to the wood:
4. Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
Also I was able to start my second insect list for the year:
1. Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni
Lovely sunny day at Potteric Carr and a much more summery set of beasties out and about than we've been used to!
Birds:
144. Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita
Reptiles:
1. European Grass Snake - Natrix natrix
Fishes:
2. European Perch - Perca fluviatilis
3. European Chub - Squalius cephalus
Invertebrates:
3. Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius
4. Common Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni
5. White-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lucorum
6. Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris
7. European Peacock - Aglais io
8. Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae
The single bird addition doesn't do justice to a fine day of birding - including my first 'hearings' of the year of bittern and Cetti's Warbler and a smart-looking Mallard x Gadwall hybrid.
The real highlight thought were the grass snakes - a mating pair showing off right by the path, and the first I've seen in a number of years (and indeed, my first wild snakes since April 2014!).
Birds:
144. Common Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita
Reptiles:
1. European Grass Snake - Natrix natrix
Fishes:
2. European Perch - Perca fluviatilis
3. European Chub - Squalius cephalus
Invertebrates:
3. Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius
4. Common Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni
5. White-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lucorum
6. Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris
7. European Peacock - Aglais io
8. Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae
The single bird addition doesn't do justice to a fine day of birding - including my first 'hearings' of the year of bittern and Cetti's Warbler and a smart-looking Mallard x Gadwall hybrid.
The real highlight thought were the grass snakes - a mating pair showing off right by the path, and the first I've seen in a number of years (and indeed, my first wild snakes since April 2014!).
with the added bonus of hearing a lesser spotted woodpecker calling - the closest I have got to seeing one yet.
They can be extremely difficult to track down. Best between now and until the leaves are on the trees in May, almost impossible after that. Apart from the distinctive call, listen for the weaker drumming than GS- it dies away at the end. Always look very high up in the outermost branches/crown of a tree if you locate it by sound first.
I had never seen one until a few years ago but then became something of a specialist with finding them, but only in the Winter/Spring. One year I saw them at the nest and last year I saw mating and then a brief 'butterfly' courtship flight- something I didn't ever expect to see. Fascinating little bird and becoming increasingly rare too.
268) Stock Dove
Also saw loads of Common Cranes while driving to Gdansk today, at least 30 individuals, many flying overhead and in the fields along the sides of the roads.
Fireplume
Active Member
13. California Valley Coyote Canis latrans ochropus
48. Greater Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus
49. House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
50. Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
51. Black Phoebe Sayornis nigricans
52. American Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
53. Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris
54. Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
55. American Avocet Recurvirostra americana
56. American Pelican Pelecanus erythrorynchos
57. Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
58. Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
59. Merlin Falco columbarius
60. Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
61. Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus
62. Great-horned Owl Bubo virginianus
63. Black-necked Stilt Himanotopus mexicanus
64. American Wigeon Anas americana
65. Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
66. Clark’s Grebe Aechmophorus clarkii
67. Greenwing Teal Anas carolinensis
68. Black-headed Grosbeak Pheuticus melanocephalus
69. Snowy Egret Egretta thula
Reptiles (2 Species)
1. Western Pond Turtle Actinemys marmorata
2. Western Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis
----------------------------------------------------------------
Went birdwatching at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex... it was quite worth it! 40 species total, including most of the new ones here.
Diverse day today, bat-box-checking in woodland in the morning and lakeside birding at Attenborough in the afternoon. First bird and the mammals from Spring Wood, on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire border; the other two birds are from Attenborough (Nottinghamshire).
Birds:
145. Marsh Tit - Poecile palustris
146. Egyptian Goose - Alopochen aegypticus
147. Sand Martin - Riparia riparia
Mammals:
18. Soprano Pipistrelle - Pipistrellus pygmaeus
19. Common Noctule - Nyctalus noctula
Birds:
145. Marsh Tit - Poecile palustris
146. Egyptian Goose - Alopochen aegypticus
147. Sand Martin - Riparia riparia
Mammals:
18. Soprano Pipistrelle - Pipistrellus pygmaeus
19. Common Noctule - Nyctalus noctula
Snorkelling in the cove today and saw some serious coral bleaching. Very disappointing, but still lots of fish.
228. Spotfin Squirrelfish
229. Blackfin Rockcod
230. Very Longnose Butterflyfish (brown morph)
231. Thicklipped Mullet
Hix
Hix said:
228. Spotfin Squirrelfish
229. Blackfin Rockcod
230. Very Longnose Butterflyfish (brown morph)
231. Thicklipped Mullet
Hix
Hevden
Well-Known Member
A couple of hours at Rutland water today and two very nice summer plumaged Grebes.
117. Egyptian Goose
118. Long-billed Dowitcher
119. Sand Martin
120. Slavonian Grebe
121. Red-necked Grebe
I went to a nature reserve near Gdansk this evening and saw lots of awesome birds. I aimed to walk up to the beah itself to see some seals but got distracted and ran out of time with this lot.
269) Bean Goose
270) Little Gull
271) Greater White-fronted Goose
272) Smew
273) Greater Scaup
274) Long-tailed Duck
275) Common Shelduck
276) Greater Black-backed Gull
277)Red-brested Merganser
278) Greylag Goose
There were also huge numbers of Goldeneyes, amongst other ducks.
I have a few pictures of all these ducks, but for some reason my SD card isn't showing up in my computer! (it is showing up in my camera though, so I don't know what's wrong...)
More Birding around Gdansk today.
Beka Nature Reserve and surrounding areas:
279) Black Redstart
280) Yellow-legged Gull
281) White-tailed Sea-eagle
282) Great White Egret
283) Red-throated Pipit
284) Meadow Pipit
285) Velvet Scoter
286) Hen Harrier
287) Skylark
288) Common Reed Bunting
Hel Peninsular:
289) Dunlin (subsp. schinzii)
290) Common Ringed Plover
Last edited:
63. Gadwall
64. Common teal
65. Rose-ringed parakeet
66. European siskin
67. Pied avocet
68. Black-tailed godwit
69. Common shelduck
70. Herring gull
71. Greater black-backed gull
72. Barn swallow
73. Eurasian wigeon
74. Canadian goose
75. Eurasian lapwing
76. Eurasian marsh harrier
77. Common chiffchaff
78. Barnacle goose
Mammals
6. Red fox
7. European hare
Herps
1. Alpine newt
Birds
42) Bald Ealgle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
43) Common Raven Corvus corax
44) Cackling Goose Branta hutchinsii
Mammals
10) Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
Amphibians
5) Northern Dusky Salamander Desmognathus fuscus
~Thylo
- Status