ZooChat Big Year 2017

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LaughingDove said:
From a few days ago:

481) Red-necked Grebe
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A number of additions from a few days spent on the Hel Peninsula, including quite a few species rare/vagrant in Poland.

482) Long-tailed Duck
483) Smew
484) Red-throated Diver
485) Caspian Tern
486) Black Guillemot
487) Brambling
488) Arctic Redpoll
489) Lapland Longspur

Also worth mentioning is vagrant Kittiwakes although I’ve seen the species earlier in the year in the UK.

And that will most likely be my last significant addition this year. I doubt I’ll hit 500 this year, but I’m quite pleased with the total.
 
A few more additions from today! Very excited to finally find the great grey shrike.

BIRDS:
256) Great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor
257) Tundra bean goose, Anser serrirostris
258) Lesser redpoll, Acanthis cabaret
 
KevinVar said:
149. Ross's Goose (Anser rossii)
150. Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
151. Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
152. Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
153. Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus)
154. Italian Sparrow (Passer italiae)
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One more addition from Rome I had forgotten to add because of it being an invasive species, but since these seem to be quite well established I'd argue they can be counted.
155. Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)

And a bird I twitched today. Very impressive species, especially in breeding plumage!
156. Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer)
 
lintworm said:
Small update from a visit to the Netherlands with some bird additions from Schiermonnikoog (I was stupid enough to forget my binoculars though...) and a sighting of my favorite European mammal in Zuid-Limburg:

400. Common wheatear
401. Brent goose
402. Northern shoveler
403. Meadow pipit
404. Barn owl
405. Greater black-backed gull
406. Black-tailed godwit
407. Curlew
408. Eider
409. Common scoter

Mammals:

83. Hazel dormouse
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Sorry @Chlidonias but here is another:

84. Stoat
 
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lintworm said:
Sorry @Chlidonias but here is another:

84. Stoat
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And a new bird for the year:

410. Ring ouzel

Both the stoat and the ring ouzel were seen at the Creux du Van, unfortunately and rather surprisingly I missed both Alpine ibex and Alpine marmot there, which would have put me on 86 mammals before flying to the Falklands :p. The stoat was a very nice surprise though ;)
 
A weekend in the northern Netherlands, including a very nice sea-birding tour, got me a few very interesting species!

BIRDS:
259) Black swan, Cygnus atratus
260) Common eider, Somateria mollissima
261) Common scoter, Melanitta nigra
262) Sanderling, Calidris alba
263) Little gull, Hydrocoloeus minutus
264) Caspian gull, Larus cachinnans
265) Great skua, Stercorarius skua
266) Horned grebe, Podiceps auritus

MAMMALS:
27) Harbour seal, Phoca vitulina

Other nice birds seen were black-legged kittiwake, razorbill, common guillemot, northern gannet and most interestingly northern fulmar, but I had seen those in Ireland earlier this year. :D
 
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A bit more looking around in the few pictures I made of some juvenile gulls yesterday, resulted in the ID of another gull species that I know had been seen, but I didn't know I saw!

BIRDS:
267) Yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis
 
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KevinVar said:
One more addition from Rome I had forgotten to add because of it being an invasive species, but since these seem to be quite well established I'd argue they can be counted.
155. Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)

And a bird I twitched today. Very impressive species, especially in breeding plumage!
156. Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer)
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Where did you see a tickable Ross's Goose?
 
FBBird said:
Where did you see a tickable Ross's Goose?
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Despite not being very convinced myself at first, a friend of mine invited me to twitch a Ross's Goose that was present in one of the upper provinces of the Netherlands for a few days. Personally I always take these with a sizable pinch of salt, but this individual seems to have most of the ''wild'' factors. The plumage didn't show any damage from clipping, the bird behaved as you'd expect from a truly wild goose, it was in a large group with other migrating geese and needless to say, it wasn't ringed. If it is somehow determined as an escaped bird by the authorities in the Netherlands it will of course be taken off the list but once every few years a (believed) true wild Ross's Goose shows up in the Netherlands and I'd argue this may be one of those.
 
KevinVar said:
Despite not being very convinced myself at first, a friend of mine invited me to twitch a Ross's Goose that was present in one of the upper provinces of the Netherlands for a few days. Personally I always take these with a sizable pinch of salt, but this individual seems to have most of the ''wild'' factors. The plumage didn't show any damage from clipping, the bird behaved as you'd expect from a truly wild goose, it was in a large group with other migrating geese and needless to say, it wasn't ringed. If it is somehow determined as an escaped bird by the authorities in the Netherlands it will of course be taken off the list but once every few years a (believed) true wild Ross's Goose shows up in the Netherlands and I'd argue this may be one of those.
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Plumage unlikely to show any damage, most captive waterfowl are either pinioned or they aren't. Would be interested to know what geese it was with.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Finally got back from a trip to North Norfolk. I managed to add one other new bird plus a new mammal and a new butterfly (I don't expect to add anymore of those this year):

159. Sanderling Calidris alba
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Went out for a brief visit to a nearby site where a lifer bird had been spotted yesterday. Unlike many of my other attempts at lifer spotting this year, this bird was very easy to see:

160. Ring-necked duck Aythya collaris
 
1/11/2017
225. spangled drongo
226. black necked stork
227. green pygmy goose
228. radjah shelduck
229.bush stone curlew
230. northern rosella
231. pheasant coucal
232. pied imperial pigeon
233. plumed whistling duck
234. white gaped honeyeater
2/11/2017
235. blue winged kookaburra
236. white throated honeyeater
237. crimson finch
238. dusky honeyeater
239. green backed gerygone
240. rose crowned fruit dove
241. torresian crow
242. varied triller
243. yellow oriole
3/11/2017
244. brahminy kite
245. forest kingfisher
246. orange fotted scrubfowl
247. whimbrel
248. partridge pigeon
4/11/2017
249. grey whistler
250. northern fantail
5/11/2017
251. broad billed flycatcher
252. paperbark flycatcher
253. comb crested jacana
254. emerald dove
255. lemon bellied flycatcher
256. pied heron
257. intermediate egret
8/11/2017
258. superb parrot
 
Went to twitch a very interesting bird this afternoon, of which a pair has been hanging around all week. What a wonderful little bird!

BIRDS:
268) Eurasian penduline tit, Remiz pendulinus
 
FBBird said:
Plumage unlikely to show any damage, most captive waterfowl are either pinioned or they aren't. Would be interested to know what geese it was with.
Click to expand...
Waterfowl in the Netherlands are more often clipped, especially in the last few years because of the national legislation forbidding the pinioning of birds. This has been the case since 2005 but takes full effect on January first next year. The Ross's was in a mixed group with mainly white-fronted geese.

Now for some more additions from last weekend, having been on the same sea-birding tour as Vision mentioned earlier. This trip also allowed me to pass the 150 bird species mark for the Netherlands, which I had set as my goal at the start of this year.

157. Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
158. Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus)
159. Common Guillemot (Uria aalge)
160. Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra)
161. Razorbill (Alca torda)
162. Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus)
163. Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans)
164. Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
165. Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)
166. Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus)
 
Had an excursion to Hamerton planned yesterday, and a flurry of interesting duck reports tempted me to spend the morning at Rutland Water on the way. This was rewarded:

Birds:
213. American Wigeon - Anas americana
214. Smew - Mergellus albellus

Finally a Smew! Also, I note from the IOC site that I've failed to notice a duck taxonomic revision. Will have to go though and update at some point. Sticking with old names for this year's big year.
 
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