ZooChat Big Year 2018
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
Oh, they’re both lifers. Almost my whole list is lifers since I just started getting into wildlife watching. But it’s already hard enough to keep track of Australia list vs life list vs year list and often having to write on the phone where all the changing into bold and italic etc is quite annoying that I’m not getting into that too.
New birds:
714) Noisy Friarbird
715) Russet-tailed Thrush
716) Metallic Starling
717) Satin Flycatcher
718) Welcome Swallow
719) Australian Swiftlet
720) Superb Fruit-dove
721) Australian Brush-turkey
722) Laughing Kookaburra
723) Yellow-spotted Honeyeater
724) Black Butcherbird
725) Rainbow Lorikeet
Mammals:
131) Little Bentwing Bat
132) Spectacled Flying Fox
So, you going to go for 1000 birds this year?
I would really like to. And I think I'll be fairly close, probably around the 900 mark I would say. And it will be quite a while until I get another chance (time and money wise) to get anywhere near again. So I'm going to try my absolute best to get up to 1000 this year but I don't know if I'll quite make it.
Has anyone done 1000 birds on a Big Year thread yet? If not, come on @LaughingDove you can do this! 
I certainly think it is possible considering you still have Cairns and WA to go, and then Singapore and a bit more Asia before still even having a few months left in Europe at the end.
I think the highest is just over 600 for a year thread.Has anyone done 1000 birds on a Big Year thread yet? If not, come on @LaughingDove you can do this!
Was that you by any chance?
And if you did one of your epic trips within one calendar year - rather than across the end/start of two years - would you have hit 1000?
I think I've only got to just under 600? I can't remember. Hix has definitely gone over 600 though.Was that you by any chance?
And if you did one of your epic trips within one calendar year - rather than across the end/start of two years - would you have hit 1000?
Re the second question, possibly.
Thinking about it I think my highest trip-list would have been around 800 (but I wouldn't swear to it). I don't see a lot of birds before a trip though (i.e. in New Zealand, as opposed to what someone might see beforehand in Europe). Combining Asia and Australia in one trip would ensure a very large list because there's not a lot of overlap in species, and birding in Australia is really easy. (Generally I tag on a very short bit in Melbourne or somewhere on my way home, not a proper birding add-on).
In 2014 I cracked 603 by my own count, however eBird reckons I had 609 that year.
Hix
Maybe for my next long trip I'll do it at the start of a year rather than the end of one and the start of the next.
New Birds:
726) Lesser Crested Tern
727) Wandering Tattler
728) Greater Crested Tern
729) Black-tailed Godwit
730) Sanderling
731) Curlew-sandpiper
732) Osprey
733) Straited Heron (should be on the list much earlier but seems to have been missed off)
734) Double-eyed Fig-parrot
735) Varied Honeyeater
736) Great Knot
737) Roseate Tern
738) Black-naped Tern
739) Common Sandpiper
740) Yellow Honeyeater
741) Barred Cuckooshrike
742) Yellow-faced Honeyeater
743) Topknot Pigeon
744) Graceful Honeyeater
745) Yellow-breasted Boatbill
746) Large-billed Scrubwren
747) Pale-yellow Robin
748) Wompoo Fruit-dove
749) Spectacled Monarch
750) Spotted Catbird
751) Pied Monarch
752) Rufous Fantail
753) Brown Gerygone
754) White-headed Pigeon
755) Macleay’s Honeyeater
756) White-throated Treecreeper
757) White-eared Monarch
758) Lovely Fairy-wren
759) Papuan Frogmouth
Mammals:
133) Eastern Blossom Bat
134) White-tailed Giant Rat
135) Short-beaked Echidna
I'm on my way back from a great birding road trip with two friends to France and Spain. Saw a lot of highlights and definitely had a lot of fun!
BIRDS:
242) Cirl bunting, Emberiza cirlus
243) Melodious warbler, Hippolais polyglotta
244) Western cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
245) Booted eagle, Hieraetus pennatus
246) Griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus
247) Golden eagle, Aquila grysaetos
248) Bearded vulture, Gypaetus barbatus
249) Rock bunting, Emberiza cia
250) Red-billed chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
251) Yellow-billed chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus
252) Citril finch, Carduelis citrinella
253) White-winged snowfinch, Montifringilla nivalis
254) Common rock thrush, Monticola saxatilis
255) Spotless starling, Sturnus unicolor
256) Western Bonelli's warbler, Phylloscopus bonelli
257) Alpine swift, Tachymarptis melba
258) Zitting cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
259) Dartford warbler, Sylvia undata
260) Eurasian golden oriole, Oriolus oriolus
261) Iberian chiffchaff, Phylloscopus ibericus
262) Short-toed snake-eagle, Circaetus gallicus
263) European bee-eater, Merops apiaster
264) Iberian green woodpecker, Picus sharpei
265) Cinereous vulture, Aegypius monachus
266) Iberian azure-winged magpie, Cyanopica cooki
267) European roller, Coracias garrulus
268) Lesser kestrel, Falco neumanni
269) Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis
270) Southern grey shrike, Lanius meridionalis
271) Greater short-toed lark, Calandrella brachydactyla
272) Red-rumped swallow, Cecropus daurica
273) Thekla's lark, Chalerida theklae
274) Calandra lark, Melanocorypha calandra
275) Great bustard, Otis tarda
276) Little owl, Athena noctua
277) Red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa
278) Red-necked nightjar, Caprimulgus ruficollis
279) Black stork, Ciconia nigra
280) Egyptian vulture, Neophron percnopterus
281) Rufous-tailed scrub-robin, Cercotrichas galactotes
282) European stone-curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus
283) Iberian imperial eagle, Aquila adalberti
284) Subalpine warbler, Sylvia cantillans
285) Pin-tailed sandgrouse, Pterocles alchata
286) Greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber
287) Little stint, Calidris minuta
288) Western osprey, Pandion haliaetus
289) Gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica
290) Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus
291) Western swamphen, Porphyrio porphyrio
292) Whiskered tern, Chlidonias hybrida
293) Great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus
294) Collared pratincole, Pratincola glareola
MAMMALS:
14) Alpine marmot, Marmota marmota
15) Pyrenean chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica
16) Granada hare, Lepus granatensis
17) Fallow deer, Dama dama
18) European otter, Lutra lutra
19) Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon
HERPS:
8) Natterjack toad, Epidalea calamita
9) Spiny toad, Bufo spinosus
10) Ladder snake, Rhinechis scalaris
11) Large psammodromus, Psammodromus algirus
12) Conmon wall lizard, Podarcis muralis
13) Spanish pond turtle, Mauremys leprosa
13) Moorish wall gecko, Tarentola mauritanica
14) Viperine water snake, Natrix maura
15) Ocellated lizard, Timon lepidus
16) Iberian wall lizard, Podarcis hispanica
17) Montpellier snake, Malpolon monspessulanus
18) Mediterranean house gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus
I've now passed the bird score I had at the end of last year (which included two weeks in North America). Hopefully fall migration and the rest of the year can get me over the 300 mark, all within Europe!
BIRDS:
242) Cirl bunting, Emberiza cirlus
243) Melodious warbler, Hippolais polyglotta
244) Western cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
245) Booted eagle, Hieraetus pennatus
246) Griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus
247) Golden eagle, Aquila grysaetos
248) Bearded vulture, Gypaetus barbatus
249) Rock bunting, Emberiza cia
250) Red-billed chough, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
251) Yellow-billed chough, Pyrrhocorax graculus
252) Citril finch, Carduelis citrinella
253) White-winged snowfinch, Montifringilla nivalis
254) Common rock thrush, Monticola saxatilis
255) Spotless starling, Sturnus unicolor
256) Western Bonelli's warbler, Phylloscopus bonelli
257) Alpine swift, Tachymarptis melba
258) Zitting cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
259) Dartford warbler, Sylvia undata
260) Eurasian golden oriole, Oriolus oriolus
261) Iberian chiffchaff, Phylloscopus ibericus
262) Short-toed snake-eagle, Circaetus gallicus
263) European bee-eater, Merops apiaster
264) Iberian green woodpecker, Picus sharpei
265) Cinereous vulture, Aegypius monachus
266) Iberian azure-winged magpie, Cyanopica cooki
267) European roller, Coracias garrulus
268) Lesser kestrel, Falco neumanni
269) Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis
270) Southern grey shrike, Lanius meridionalis
271) Greater short-toed lark, Calandrella brachydactyla
272) Red-rumped swallow, Cecropus daurica
273) Thekla's lark, Chalerida theklae
274) Calandra lark, Melanocorypha calandra
275) Great bustard, Otis tarda
276) Little owl, Athena noctua
277) Red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa
278) Red-necked nightjar, Caprimulgus ruficollis
279) Black stork, Ciconia nigra
280) Egyptian vulture, Neophron percnopterus
281) Rufous-tailed scrub-robin, Cercotrichas galactotes
282) European stone-curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus
283) Iberian imperial eagle, Aquila adalberti
284) Subalpine warbler, Sylvia cantillans
285) Pin-tailed sandgrouse, Pterocles alchata
286) Greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber
287) Little stint, Calidris minuta
288) Western osprey, Pandion haliaetus
289) Gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica
290) Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus
291) Western swamphen, Porphyrio porphyrio
292) Whiskered tern, Chlidonias hybrida
293) Great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus
294) Collared pratincole, Pratincola glareola
MAMMALS:
14) Alpine marmot, Marmota marmota
15) Pyrenean chamois, Rupicapra pyrenaica
16) Granada hare, Lepus granatensis
17) Fallow deer, Dama dama
18) European otter, Lutra lutra
19) Egyptian mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon
HERPS:
8) Natterjack toad, Epidalea calamita
9) Spiny toad, Bufo spinosus
10) Ladder snake, Rhinechis scalaris
11) Large psammodromus, Psammodromus algirus
12) Conmon wall lizard, Podarcis muralis
13) Spanish pond turtle, Mauremys leprosa
13) Moorish wall gecko, Tarentola mauritanica
14) Viperine water snake, Natrix maura
15) Ocellated lizard, Timon lepidus
16) Iberian wall lizard, Podarcis hispanica
17) Montpellier snake, Malpolon monspessulanus
18) Mediterranean house gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus
I've now passed the bird score I had at the end of last year (which included two weeks in North America). Hopefully fall migration and the rest of the year can get me over the 300 mark, all within Europe!
Reptiles
25. Ornate Crevice-dragon (Ctenophorus ornatus)
Birds (non-passerines)
338. Pallid Cuckoo
Great list @Vision, looks like an amazing trip. Did you have any difficulties finding the lammergeier? Despite spending more than a week within it's range, I only saw it on the one and only real birding day.
Wait, sharpei is split these days?
Wait, sharpei is split these days?
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Wait, there are any subspecies, race or breed of every animal in the world that is NOT spilt and elevated to species by some taxocrazy people these days?
It is split by HBW for example (and is followed by IUCN)
@Vision , did you also try for Iberian lynx or did you not make it that far south. I gather you did go to the extremadura with all those Larks and the Bustard. Where did you see the Otter?