ZooChat Big Year 2018

LaughingDove said:
Rottnest Island:

892) Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
893) Little Shearwater
894) Australasian Gannet
895) White-fronted Chat
896) Wedge-tailed Shearwater
897) Banded Stilt
898) White-browed (Spotted) Scrubwren
899) Red-capped Robin
900) Sooty Oystercatcher
901) Red-necked Avocet
902) Banded Lapwing

Mammals:
166) Quokka
167) New Zealand Fur Seal
168) Australian Sea Lion
169) White-striped Freetail Bat
Click to expand...

New birds:
903) Variegated Fairy-wren
904) Baillon’s Crake
905) Western Rosella
906) Emu
907) Baudin’s Black Cockatoo
908) White-backed Swallow
909) Western Corella
910) Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
911) Inland Thornbill
912) White-eared Honeyeater
913) Blue-breasted Fairy-wren
914) Rufous Treecreeper
915) Purple-crowned Lorikeet
916) Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
917) Jacky Winter
918) Varied Sittella
919) Brush Bronzewing
920) White-browed Babbler
921) Pallid Cuckoo
922) Southern Boobook

Mammals:
170) Brush-tailed Bettong
171) Red-tailed Phascogale
172) Western Quoll
173) South-western Freetail Bat
 
TZDugong said:
A question that's been on my mind recently is, how do you identify inverts? Surely there are no field guides, so do you have to take a picture and identify later? Wouldn't that be quite hard?
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For the UK there are very good field guides and ID websites for a lot of groups, and a (relatively) limited number of species, so a lot of groups are not that hard. The majority of UK butterflies and larger moths are readily ID-able from life or a photo, as are dragonflies and damselflies - plus quite a lot of the larger Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera and even certain Diptera. Most of the other commonly-seen groups have at least a few distinctive species. The trick is finding a source with a complete list - so you know if there's anything else you could confuse it with (the danger is seeing a picture that looks exactly right and thinking you're safe, when in truth there are actually two or more species that look almost identical!).
 
TZDugong said:
A question that's been on my mind recently is, how do you identify inverts? Surely there are no field guides, so do you have to take a picture and identify later? Wouldn't that be quite hard?
Click to expand...

The most important thing is knowing which (sub)order or family you're dealing with, so learn families and orders first! Then you find a list, website or field guide (as complete as possible) of all species occuring in the country or region. Just as with birds, begin with the distinctive species and slowly move towards the more difficult ones. Many are very hard, sometimes even impossible without a microscope. But paying attention to inverts, even you're only able to identify some of them (like me), is very rewarding. You'll get a much better understanding of the incredible diversitiy of life around you.

Maguari said:
(the danger is seeing a picture that looks exactly right and thinking you're safe, when in truth there are actually two or more species that look almost identical!).
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This is the main problem with identifying invertebrates. Always be careful because there may be a lot of almost identical species around.

-----------------

Yesterday I watched a huge group of almost 40 bee-eaters return to their roost. They were zipping and gliding through the air for quite a while before finally settling for sleep. It was a marvellous spectacle. Afterwards we saw a nice selection of inverts.

Birds
230. European bee-eater [Merops apiaster]

Invertebrates
175. European garden spider [Araneus diadematus]*
176. Yellow shell [Camptogramma bilineata]
177. Sharp-angled peacock [Macaria alternata]
178. Antlion [Euroleon nostras]
179. Plume moth [Adaina microdactyla]
180. Forest bug [Pentatoma rufipes]
181. Dark spinach [Pelurga comitata]
182. Twirler moth [Aroga velocella]

* Probably seen multiple times earlier this year. I came acros one the other day and I realised it was not yet on my list.
 
Not a fan of wildlife watching, but i got an unexpected find.I'm not here to win, just share.
1.Chinese White dolphin
 
LaughingDove said:
New birds:
903) Variegated Fairy-wren
904) Baillon’s Crake
905) Western Rosella
906) Emu
907) Baudin’s Black Cockatoo
908) White-backed Swallow
909) Western Corella
910) Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
911) Inland Thornbill
912) White-eared Honeyeater
913) Blue-breasted Fairy-wren
914) Rufous Treecreeper
915) Purple-crowned Lorikeet
916) Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
917) Jacky Winter
918) Varied Sittella
919) Brush Bronzewing
920) White-browed Babbler
921) Pallid Cuckoo
922) Southern Boobook

Mammals:
170) Brush-tailed Bettong
171) Red-tailed Phascogale
172) Western Quoll
173) South-western Freetail Bat
Click to expand...

New birds:

923) Tanimbar Corella
924) Pied Imperial Pigeon
*Red Junglefowl (real wild junglefowl at the Singapore Botanic Gardens?)
 
jayjds2 said:
Birds
104. Lesser goldfinch
105. Western gull
106. Brandt’s cormorant
107. Eurasian collared dove
108. Great-tailed grackle
109. White-faced ibis
110. Hooded oriole
111. Cliff swallow
112. Black phoebe
113. California towhee
114. Allen’s hummingbird
115. Heermann’s gull
116. Snowy egret
117. Western scrub-jay
118. Bewick’s wren
119. Sooty shearwater
120. Anna’s hummingbird
121. Caspian tern
122. Western kingbird
123. Eurasian tree sparrow
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124. Ruby-throated hummingbird
jayjds2 said:
Another two I forgot:
14. Short-beaked common dolphin
15. Fin whale
Click to expand...
16. Big brown bat
 
Migration is picking up pace, so migration counting becomes more productive as the first plovers, wagtails and pipits fly over, as well as the last of the swifts. Today I also went birding with a side quest to find some new herptiles before it is too late, which was quite succesful. We saw lots of cool birds, none of them were new for the year list, although one mammal was!

Birds
231. European golden plover [Pluvialis apricaria]

Mammals
19. Red fox [Vulpes vulpes]

Herptiles
14. Moor frog [Rana arvalis]
15. Viviparous lizard [Zootoca vivipara]

Invertebrates
183. Wasp spider [Argiope bruennichi]
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Over the past few days, I have managed to add another mammal (my first identified bat of the year, somewhat surprisingly), another fish and four new invertebrates, including a pleasantly nerdish addition seen while observing the nightly-visiting hedgehogs.

11. Soprano pipistrelle bat Pipistrellus pygmaeus

8. Eurasian minnow Phoxinus phoxinus

68. Common darter dragonfly Sympetrum striolatum
69. Green shield bug Palomena prasina
70. Hedgehog tick Ixodes hexagonus
71. Sleepy carpenter bee Chelostoma florisomne
Click to expand...

A week down in the Dorset/Hampshire border areas has allowed me to get six new birds, two new mammals and my first two amphibians. The lone invertebrate I saw at home before leaving:

107. Eurasian siskin Spinus spinus
108. Marsh tit Poecile palustris
109. European nuthatch Sitta europaea
110. Common reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus
111. Sandwich tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
112. Sand martin Riparia riparia

12. Common fallow deer Dama dama
13. Western roe deer Capreolus capreolus

1. Smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris
2. European brown common frog Rana temporaria

72. Red underwing moth Catocala nupta
 
birdsandbats said:
Went birding today and saw some cool stuff:

Birds
137. Marsh Wren Cistothorus palustris
138. Least Bittern Ixobrychus exilis
139. Black Tern Chlidonias niger

That Least Bittern might be my most interesting bird sighting yet this year. Got some good photos, too.
Click to expand...
Birds
122. Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
123. Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
124. Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas

Herpitiles
8. Common Map Turtle Graptemys geographica
9. Green Frog Lithobates clamitans

Inverts
11. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus
12. Ebony Jewelwing Calopteryx maculata

Question: I recently saw a domestic goose that lives free range in a farm, but I know is reproducing outside of the farm. Does this individual count?
Click to expand...
Birds
140. Eastern Wood-Pewee Contopus virens

Reptiles
10. Spiny Softshell Turtle Apalone spinifera

Also some more turtles I am stull trying to ID.
 
Ituri said:
I needed to do a re-reckoning on my mammals list, so here is the current, up-to-date version. Chlidonias, please let me know if I'm missing anything according to your count.

1. Eastern Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger
2. Virginia Opossum - Didelphis viriginiana
3. White-tailed Deer - Odocoileus virginianus
4. Eastern Cottontail - Sylvilagus floridanus
5. Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana
6. Mountain Cottontail - Sylvilagus nuttallii
7. Piute Ground Squirrel - Urocitellus molli
8. White-tailed Prairie Dog - Cynomys leucurus
9. Coyote - Canis latrans
10. Striped Skunk - Mephitis mephitis
11. Muskrat - Ondatra zibethicus
12. Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel - Ictidomys tridecemlineatus
13. Black-tailed Prairie Dog - Cynomys ludovicianus
14. Eastern Gray Squirrel - Sciurus carolinensis
Click to expand...

15. Northern Raccoon - Procyon lotor
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
Went birding near Tifnit beach (i.e near Souss-Massa National Park) and I had one of the most wonderful birding session since the beginning of the year, namely because of two species (although one isn't countable).

MAMMALS:
-) Scimitar-horned oryx, Oryx dammah*

BIRDS:
81 - Cream-coloured courser, Cursorius cursor

The courser was one of the best sightings of this year because although I knew they lived in that area, it was totally unexpected (and they are just very cool birds, those black wings are very charismatic!). I've also seen tons of Acanthodactylus sp. but I didn't bring my camera with me so I don't have any photo and as such, cannot identify them. Will try to get back and get some pictures though (and if I could get some clear shots of the coursers as well, that would be nice! :p )

*Found right by the fence border of Souss Massa NP, after a quick search I found out that they were in rehabilitation pens awaiting for them to acclimate well so they can release them back to the Sahara. Since they can't roam the whole reserve and that they are basically in huge exhibits, they aren't countable but still a very nice found, in my opinion; and a semi-wild/semi-captive lifer (depends on whether you see the glass as half-full or hall-empty).
Click to expand...

Saw some cool birds today even though I wasn't birdwatching at all. Those included my first ever urban Woodchat shrike, yet another thick-knee doing thick-knee stuff on a roundabout and a new addition to my list:

BIRDS:
82 - Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides

Third species of falcon this year and I'm precising the subspecies because depending on the taxonomy, Falco (peregrinus) pelegrinoides is either a subspecies of the Peregrine falcon or a species of its own (the Barbary falcon).
 
LaughingDove said:
New birds:

924) Pacific Golden Plover
925) Milky Stork
926) Mongolian (Lesser Sand) Plover
927) Painted Stork
928) Common Redshank
929) Red-legged Crake
Click to expand...

Yesterday:

New birds:

930) Crested Treeswift
931) Rufescent Prinia
932) Grey-eyed Bulbul
933) Great Eared-nightjar

Mammals:
175) Indian Giant Flying Squirrel
176) Common Palm Civet

Today:
New birds:
934) Heart-spotted Woodpecker
935) Blue-beared Bee-eater
936) Chestnut-tailed Starling
937) Great Iora
938) Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher
939) Puff-throated Babbler
940) Rufous Treepie
941) Green-billed Malkoha
942) Vernal Hanging-parrot
943) Asian Woolly-necked Stork
944) Red-vented Barbet
945) Common Woodshrike
946) Pale-headed Woodpecker
947) Sooty-headed Bulbul

Mammals
177) Buff-cheeked Gibbon
178) Slender-tailed Treeshrew
179) Cambodian Striped Squirrel
180) Red-cheeked Squirrel
181) Black-shanked Douc
182) Burmese Hare
 
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