ZooChat Big Year 2018

A few out and about (19-20/1/2018).

43. Northern Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
44. Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus
45. Fieldfare Turdus pilaris

I seem to be failing to see anything this year.... One more from 12/2/2018:

46. Goldcrest Regulus regulus
 
I had an excellent morning of birding today. Especially the woodpeckers (which have been unusually elusive this year) were very loud and showy, and it actually resulted in a lifer! Currently there is only one Dutch woodpecker I haven't seen yet: the wryneck.

Birds
115. Middle spotted woodpecker [Dendrocoptes medius]

116. European green woodpecker [Picus viridis]
117. Common firecrest [Regulus ignicapilla]
 
Spent today birding at a site on the outskirts of the city, and added quite a few species:

73) Bean Goose
74) Syrian Woodpecker
75) Hawfinch
76) Bearded Reedling
77) Short-toed Treecreeper
78) Long-tailed Tit
79) Greylag Goose
80) Merlin

Just got back to Warsaw after a three day/two night trip to Bialowieza Forest:

Birds:
81) Snow Bunting
82) Horned Lark
83) White-backed Woodpecker (and with that lifer, I have seen all 10 Polish woodpecker species)
84) Grey-headed Woodpecker
85) Common Crossbill
86) Northern Goshawk
87) Whooper Swan
88) Yellowhammer
89) Three-toed Woodpecker
90) Tawny Owl
91) Great Grey Shrike
Heard only: Eurasian Pygmy Owl
Also worth noting is that the most common/conspicuous bird around the Bialowieza town were Waxwings which was really nice.

Mammals:
6) Red Fox
7) Red Deer
8) Pine Marten
9) Wild Boar
10) European Hare
11) Bank Vole
12) European Beaver
13) European Bison (better view than my previous visit in 2014)
14) Raccoon Dog
15) Yellow-necked Mouse

16) Fallow Deer
Also quite a few mammal prints, which, given the thick layer of snow everywhere and a new layer falling during the night, were really interesting to look at. Prints less than a day old (based on recent snow fall) include wolf, badger, and mink.

Much more successful on the mammal front than I was expecting, quite a lot of hours spotlighting paid off. The bird list is comparatively lower, but given the time of year it's not bad at all (though I missed Hazel Grouse and Spotted Nutcracker which are two species that I tried to find).
 
Fish
213. Black-and-White Snapper
214. Melon Butterflyfish
215. Snooty Wrasse
216. Ringed Slender Wrasse
217. Greencheek Parrotfish
218. Silky Shark
219. Bigeye Trevally
220. Paddletail Snapper
221. Great Barracuda
222. Mackerel Tuna
223. Clown Triggerfish
224. Tiger Cardinalfish
225. Japanese Wrasse

:p

Hix

Fish
226. Trumpetfish
227. Cornetfish
228. Hexagon Grouper
229. Eastern Triangular Butterflyfish
230. Lined Butterflyfish
231. White-spotted Hawkfish
232. Whiteband Damsel
233. Three-ribbon Wrasse
234. Yellowhead Parrotfish
235. Blackbelly Triggerfish
236. Ambon Toby
237. Yellow-margined Moray
238. Yellow-stripe Goatfish
239. Eclipse Pigfish
240. Blue Razorfish
241. Bullethead Parrotfish
242. Blackstreak Surgeonfish
243. Tennent's Surgeonfish

Inverts
17. Adhesive Sea Anemone
18. Day Octopus
19. Spoonworm
20. Christmas Tree Worm
21. Red-knobbed Starfish

:p

Hix
 
And here's another few. Went looking for the odd gull again, and did finally manage to find it!

BIRDS:

130) Merlin, Falco columbarius
131) Common guillemot, Uria aalge
132) Ross' gull, Rhodostethia rosea

Not sure if I'll see any rarer birds than that this year! Definitely the highlight so far. Didn't get close enough for good pictures, but did get some (very bad) record shots. :D
 
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Birds
81) American Tree Sparrow Spizelloides arborea

~Thylo

Went to a bird count this morning at my local Audubon center and got a handful of mostly backyard birds and one mammal (plus one from the other night):

Mammals
20) Virginia Opossum Didelphis virginiana
21) Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus

Birds
82) House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
83) White-Throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
84) Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis
85) Dark-Eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
86) Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
87) Downy Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens
88) Black-Capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
89) Broad-Winged Hawk Buteo platypterus
90) Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
91) Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus

~Thylo
 
Birds
64. Eurasian Treecreeper, Certhia familiaris


Also briefly saw a small newt in a pond (first herp of the year!) But it disappeared before I was able to determine if it was a smooth or palmate.
 
BIRDS
63. Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla)
64. Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea)
65. Arctic Redpoll (Acanthis hornemanni)
Spend the last two days doing some casual local birding, giving me some more additions for the year.

66. White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
67. Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
68. Smew (Mergellus albellus)
69. Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
70. Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
71. Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)
 
Went looking for an eagle-owl in the Netherlands today! On the way there I found a small flock of migrating cranes right beside the train above the city, which was very unexpected but a very nice observation. The owl was seen as well, but not really as well as I'd hoped. Ah well, there's reason to go back!

BIRDS:
133) Eurasian crane, Grus grus
134) Northern raven, Corvus corax
135) Eurasian eagle-owl, Bubo bubo
136) Common linnet, Linaria cannabina
137) Goldcrest, Regulus regulus
138) Red crossbill, Loxia curvirostra

MAMMALS:
8) Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris

And with that lifer, I've now seen 500 wild bird species in my life! I'm very happy with this milestone!
 
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