ZooChat Big Year 2016

[boof]

4/2/2016
145. cattle egret

 

[DesertRhino150]

80. Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus
81. Common goosander Mergus merganser
82. Smew Mergellus albellus
83. Eurasian skylark Alauda arvensis
84. Eurasian bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula

A trip out to both Shut Heath Wood and a return visit to Heybridge Basin allowed me to add another five birds to my year list:

85. Red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa
86. Eurasian nuthatch Sitta europaea
87. Short-eared owl Asio flammeus
88. Red knot Calidris canutus (Nt)
89. European golden plover Pluvialis apricaria

 

[Pleistohorse]

Birds:

7. Eurasian Starling

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Still a bit of a slow start to the year, what with all the stormy weather of late making a trip to the coast a bit daunting! However, I'm steadily picking up the mainstays in my potterings around Newcastle, County Durham and Northumberland.

Current Bird Total: 54 Taxa

1) Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
2) Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
3) Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
4) Coal Tit (Periparus ater)
5) Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
6) Great Tit (Parus major)
7) European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
8) European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

9) Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
10) European Blackbird (Turdus merula)
11) European Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
12) European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
13) House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
14) Common Gull (Larus canus)
15) Coot (Fulica atra)
16) Feral Pigeon (Columba livia)
17) Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
18) Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
19) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
20) Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
21) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
22) Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
23) Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
24) Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)
25) Greylag Goose (Anser anser)
26) Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
27) Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

28) Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
29) Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
30) Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)
31) Eurasian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
32) Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
33) Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
34) Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
35) Magpie (Pica pica)
36) Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
37) Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
38) Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
39) Stock Dove (Columba oenas)
40) Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
41) Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
42) Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
43) Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
44) Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
45) Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
46) Merganser (Mergus merganser)
47) Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
48) Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
49) Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
50) Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
51) Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)
52) Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
53) Twite (Carduelis flavirostris)
54) Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus)

Current Mammal Total: 7 Taxa

1) Field Vole (Microtus agrestis)
2) Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)
3) Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
4) European Hare (Lepus europaeus)
5) European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
6) Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)
7) Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

I am particularly pleased to have seen Bullfinch, as this is a very common species that had entirely eluded me in 2014 and 2015!

 

[LaughingDove]

I will be departing for Kenya tomorrow, so I expect quite a few new additions to my list over the next week. (though I may not be able to do a full update until next Sunday)

Details about my trip can be seen here http://www.zoochat.com/808/trip-kenya-february-2016-a-435669/

 

[boof]

6/2/2016
146. kelp gull

 

[Pertinax]

I am particularly pleased to have seen Bullfinch, as this is a very common species that had entirely eluded me in 2014 and 2015!

Always a rather elusive species one tends to come across- often first by call- rather than one sees from actively looking.

But how many people on here have seen Greenfinch this year yet?

 

[jbnbsn99]

111 Winter Wren - Troglodytes hiemalis
112 Le Conte's Sparrow - Ammodramus leconteii

5. Feral Hog
6. Northern Raccoon
7. Nine-Banded Armadillo
8. White-Tailed Deer

 

[TeaLovingDave]

A wander to Killingworth Lake allowed me to pick up a few very nice species, including a wild lifetick!

Current Bird Total: 61 Taxa

1) Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
2) Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
3) Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
4) Coal Tit (Periparus ater)
5) Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
6) Great Tit (Parus major)
7) European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
8) European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

9) Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
10) European Blackbird (Turdus merula)
11) European Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
12) European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
13) House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
14) Common Gull (Larus canus)
15) Coot (Fulica atra)
16) Feral Pigeon (Columba livia)
17) Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
18) Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
19) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
20) Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
21) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
22) Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
23) Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
24) Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)
25) Greylag Goose (Anser anser)
26) Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
27) Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

28) Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
29) Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
30) Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)
31) Eurasian Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
32) Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
33) Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
34) Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
35) Magpie (Pica pica)
36) Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
37) Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
38) Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
39) Stock Dove (Columba oenas)
40) Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
41) Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
42) Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
43) Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
44) Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
45) Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)
46) Merganser (Mergus merganser)
47) Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)
48) Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
49) Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
50) Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
51) Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus)
52) Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
53) Twite (Carduelis flavirostris)
54) Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus)

55) Smew (Mergellus albellus)
56) Scaup (Aythya marila)
57) Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
58) Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope)
59) European Pochard (Aythya ferina)
60) European Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
61) Gadwall (Anas strepera)


Current Mammal Total: 8 Taxa

1) Field Vole (Microtus agrestis)
2) Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)
3) Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
4) European Hare (Lepus europaeus)
5) European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
6) Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus)
7) Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

8) European Water Vole (Arvicola amphibius)

 

[Chlidonias]

But how many people on here have seen Greenfinch this year yet?

I've seen loads of them this year

 

[Pertinax]

I've seen loads of them this year

Yours haven't been decimated by a disease as the UK ones have, obviously...

 

[TeaLovingDave]

But how many people on here have seen Greenfinch this year yet?

In terms of people in the UK, it appears to be just robmv, Maguari, DesertRhino150 and myself, with non-UK sightings from LaughingDove, Lintworm and Chlidonias.

Used to regularly see flocks of about 100 greenfinch in my garden, until the last few years - now I'm lucky if I spot a singleton every month or two mixed in with flocks of Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Siskin.

 

[boof]

7/2/2016
147. white throated needletail
148. silvereye
149. yellow thornbill
150. brush cuckoo

 

[LaughingDove]

Updates from the garden of my airport hotel in Dubai:
63) Collared Dove
64) White-eared bulbul
65) Laughing Dove
66) Common Myna

Currently posting this from Dubai airport

 

[Pleistohorse]

Birds:

8. Common Merganser
9. Northern Hawk Owl

Mammals:

7. Northern Red-backed Vole

 

[Hix]

Fish
203. Ornamental Wrasse
204. Pinklined Coris
205. Princess Anthias



Hix

 

[LaughingDove]

Updates from the garden of my airport hotel in Dubai:
63) Collared Dove
64) White-eared bulbul
65) Laughing Dove
66) Common Myna

Currently posting this from Dubai airport

Got to Nairobi earlier this afternoon and I haven't started the safari yet, but I have managed to see a few things anyway:

Drive from the airport to accommodation:
67) Hooded Crow
68) Yellow-billed Kite
69) Superb Starling
70) Little Swift
71) Marabou Stork
72) Cattle Egret
73) Sacred Ibis

In the grounds of my accommodation:
74) Speckled Mousebird
75) African Pied Wagtail
76) Common Bulbul
77) Common Fiscal
78) Cinnamon-Chested Bee-eater
79) African Grey Flycatcher
80) Bronze Sunbird (not completely sure on this. I have uploaded some pictures for an ID confirmation)
81) Red-eyed Dove
82) White-browed Robin-chat

11) Maasai Giraffe (seen in Nairobi National Park while driving past)

 

[Macaw16]

I think I've seen this species a couple of times already this year, this is my first definite sighting:

40. Greater Black-backed Gull Larus marinus

I've now seen 40 birds so far this year, and as I've only been out (properly) birding once, I think I'm doing well for myself (even if there are people who have already passed 100).

At last! Two birds (I'm not including the Gull in this intro of sorts) I should have seen earlier in the year! Neither were glamorous sightings, only from a car/ at a motorway service station . All from 7/2/2016.

41. Common Buzzard Buteo buteo
42. Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba
43. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus

 

[LaughingDove]

Got to Nairobi earlier this afternoon and I haven't started the safari yet, but I have managed to see a few things anyway:

Drive from the airport to accommodation:
67) Hooded Crow
68) Yellow-billed Kite
69) Superb Starling
70) Little Swift
71) Marabou Stork
72) Cattle Egret
73) Sacred Ibis

In the grounds of my accommodation:
74) Speckled Mousebird
75) African Pied Wagtail
76) Common Bulbul
77) Common Fiscal
78) Cinnamon-Chested Bee-eater
79) African Grey Flycatcher
80) Bronze Sunbird (not completely sure on this. I have uploaded some pictures for an ID confirmation)
81) Red-eyed Dove
82) White-browed Robin-chat

11) Maasai Giraffe (seen in Nairobi National Park while driving past)

Some more additions from today:

Seen in the morning in my accommodation in Nairobi:

83) Egyptian Goose
84) African Paradise Flycatcher
85) Ring-necked Dove
86) Red-rumped Swallow
87) Hadada Ibis
88) White-headed Barbet
89) White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher
90) Red-billed Firefinch
91) Baglafecht weaver
92) Olive Thrush

Drive from Nairobi (+lunch stop) :
93) Long-tailed Fiscal
94) Village Weaver
95) White-rumped Swift
96) Variable Sunbird
97) Cape Crow

12) Rock Hyrax
13) Common Zebra
14) Wildebeest

In Hell's Gate National Park:

98) Grey-crowned Crane
99) Schalow's Wheatear
100) Helmeted Guineafowl
101) Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling
102) Northern Anteater Chat
103) Ruppel's Griffon Vulture
104) White-backed Vulture
105) Tawny Eagle
106) Augur Buzzard
107) Grey-crested Helmetshrike
108) Black-headed Oriole
109) Common Drongo
110) Red-billed Oxpecker
111) (Northern) Kori Bustard
112) Red-winged Starling

15) Olive Baboon
16) Eland
17) Grant's Gazelle
18) Coke's Hartebeest
19) Impala
20) Thomson's Gazelle
21) Warthog
22) Defassa Waterbuck
23) Cape Buffalo

And I also have a few birds that I need to ID which I will upload pictures of to the gallery when I can.

And this will probably be my last update for a few days since I'm heading into the middle of nowhere with no internet access.

 

[Ituri]

BIRDS:
1 Common Raven - Corvus corax
2 Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
3 Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
4 Black-billed Magpie - Pica hudsonia
5 American Coot - Fulica americana
6 House Finch - Haemorhous mexicanus
7 House Sparrow - Passer domesticus
8 Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
9 Ring-necked Pheasant - Phasianus colchicus
10 Sharp-tailed Grouse - Tympanuchus phasianellus
11 Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus
12 Northern Shrike - Lanius excubitor
13 Horned Lark - Eremophila alpestris
14 Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus
15 Juniper Titmouse - Baeolophus ridgwayi
16 Bewick's Wren - Thryomanes bewickii
17 European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
18 Common Redpoll - Acanthis flammea
19 Trumpeter Swan - Cygnus buccinator
20 Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
21 Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
22 Mountain Chickadee - Poecile gambeli
23 Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis
24 American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
25 Rough-legged Hawk - Buteo lagopus
26 Long-eared Owl - Asio otus
27 Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
28 Common Loon - Gavia immer
29 Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa
30 Red Crossbill - Loxia curvirostra
31 American Kestrel - Falco sparverius
32 Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus
33 Townsend's Solitaire - Myadestes townsendi
34 American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
35 Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia
36 Mute Swan - Cygnus olor
37 Wood Duck - Aix sponsa
38 American Wigeon - Anas americana
39 Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris
40 Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola
41 Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus
42 Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
43 Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura
44 Red-breasted Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus ruber
45 Brown Creeper - Certhia americana
46 Gadwall - Anas strepera
47 Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata
48 Redhead - Aythya americana
49 American Robin - Turdus migratorius
50 Merlin - Falco columbarius
51 Eurasian Collared-Dove - Streptopelia decaocto
52 White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys
53 Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus
54 Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus
55 Brewer's Blackbird - Euphagus cyanocephalus
56 Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
57 American Pipit - Anthus rubescens
58 Western Meadowlark - Sturnella neglecta
59 Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis
60 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser
61 Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps
62 Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus
63 American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
64 Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
65 Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon
66 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
67 Golden Eagle - Aquila chrysaetos
68 Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens
69 Rock Wren - Salpinctes obsoletus
70 Canyon Wren - Catherpes mexicanus
71 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula
72 Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana
73 Spotted Towhee - Pipilo maculatus
74 Prairie Falcon - Falco mexicanus
75 Ferruginous Hawk - Buteo regalis
76 Yellow-rumped Warbler - Setophaga coronata
77 Pine Siskin - Spinus pinus
78 Lesser Goldfinch - Spinus psaltria
79 Ross's Goose - Chen rossii
80 Cackling Goose - Branta hutchinsii
81 Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus
82 California Quail - Callipepla californica
83 Bohemian Waxwing - Bombycilla garrulus
84 Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum
85 Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
86 Hermit Thrush - Catharus guttatus
87 Purple Finch - Haemorhous purpureus
88 Western Screech-Owl - Megascops kennicottii
89 Great Horned Owl - Bubo virginianus
90 Northern Saw-whet Owl - Aegolius acadicus
91 Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator
92 Pine Grosbeak - Pinicola enucleator
93 Northern Goshawk - Accipiter gentilis
94 Evening Grosbeak - Coccothraustes vespertinus
95 Barrow's Goldeneye - Bucephala islandica
96 Great Egret - Ardea alba
97 Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca
98 Virginia Rail - Rallus limicola
99 Harris's Sparrow - Zonotrichia querula
100 Cooper's Hawk - Accipiter cooperii
101 Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri
102 Dunlin - Calidris alpina
103 Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens
104 White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis
105 American Tree Sparrow - Spizelloides arborea
106 Ruffed Grouse - Bonasa umbellus
107 Gray Partridge - Perdix perdix
108 Snow Bunting - Plectrophenax nivalis
109 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch - Leucosticte tephrocotis
110 Black Rosy-Finch - Leucosticte atrata
111 Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo
112 Northern Pygmy-Owl - Glaucidium gnoma
113 American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

MAMMALS:
1 Mountain Cottontail - Sylvilagus nuttallii
2 Eastern Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger
3 Common Muskrat - Ondatra zibethicus
4 House Mouse - Mus musculus
5 Yellow-bellied Marmot - Marmota flaviventris
6 Piute Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus mollis
7 Coyote - Canis latrans
8 Moose - Alces americanus
9 White-tailed Deer - Odocoileus virginianus
10 North American Porcupine - Erethizon dorsatum