ZooChat Big Year 2018
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
Went birding today (the 4th) and had once again a really nice moment.
Firstly stopped at Cap Ghir which is a known spot for Common scoter and Northern gannet in Morocco but unfortunately the weather wasn't good enough for any of them to show up and then went to the Tamri Estuary where I saw a lot of things, including 6 new additions for this year's list!
BIRDS:
*112 - White-breasted cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus
113 - Whinchat, Saxicola rubetra
114 - Black stork, Ciconia nigra
115 - Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus
116 - Iberian chaffinch, Phylloscopus ibericus
The black storks were a group of 7 individuals, mostly juveniles and were a total surprise (didn't expect to see them there!) so that was a cool addition, along with that the Kentish plover was longly awaited since I know it is a common species in the area.
Other birds seen included a group of ~120 common moorhen, a lot of gulls of different species (notably Audouin's and Slender-billed gulls) 8 Northern bald ibises spotted when driving (Tamri National Park being the second largest population after Souss) and a female Western marsh-harrier.
*The cormorant situation in Morocco is a mess. We get Great cormorants from both the sinensis subspecies (the typical European one) and the moroccanus one (having a white throat) but according to observation.org and quite some papers on the subject, there are also quite some White-breasted cormorants spotted in Morocco, especially in Southern Morocco.
A paper I read about that said they were seen as north as Oued Massa and there are a few observations on observation.org for Tamri and the surroundings so the range isn't that far off. Along with that, it was an adult individual (so you can exclude the possibility of a juvenile which all have white bellies) and had a white belly extending down but not reaching the tail (which excludes it from being moroccanus). I'm quite confident about my identification and I really hope for some genetical studies of the different populations Morocco gets.
Firstly stopped at Cap Ghir which is a known spot for Common scoter and Northern gannet in Morocco but unfortunately the weather wasn't good enough for any of them to show up and then went to the Tamri Estuary where I saw a lot of things, including 6 new additions for this year's list!
BIRDS:
*112 - White-breasted cormorant, Phalacrocorax lucidus
113 - Whinchat, Saxicola rubetra
114 - Black stork, Ciconia nigra
115 - Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus
116 - Iberian chaffinch, Phylloscopus ibericus
The black storks were a group of 7 individuals, mostly juveniles and were a total surprise (didn't expect to see them there!) so that was a cool addition, along with that the Kentish plover was longly awaited since I know it is a common species in the area.
Other birds seen included a group of ~120 common moorhen, a lot of gulls of different species (notably Audouin's and Slender-billed gulls) 8 Northern bald ibises spotted when driving (Tamri National Park being the second largest population after Souss) and a female Western marsh-harrier.
*The cormorant situation in Morocco is a mess. We get Great cormorants from both the sinensis subspecies (the typical European one) and the moroccanus one (having a white throat) but according to observation.org and quite some papers on the subject, there are also quite some White-breasted cormorants spotted in Morocco, especially in Southern Morocco.
A paper I read about that said they were seen as north as Oued Massa and there are a few observations on observation.org for Tamri and the surroundings so the range isn't that far off. Along with that, it was an adult individual (so you can exclude the possibility of a juvenile which all have white bellies) and had a white belly extending down but not reaching the tail (which excludes it from being moroccanus). I'm quite confident about my identification and I really hope for some genetical studies of the different populations Morocco gets.
Totally forgot another addition!
A butterfly that is very common in the area since a few days now:INVERTEBRATES:
19 - Painted lady, Vanessa cardui
Birds:
106. Blue-Billed Duck (Oxyura australis)
107. Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus)
Reptiles:
14. Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta caretta)
Mammals:
10. Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
11. Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
12. Long-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus capensis)
Well, here we go then. A short and busy week in the States got me about the amount of species I expected, but not always the species I was expecting to see!Let's throw another (very local) twitch (#183) in the mix then.
181. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
182. Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus)
183. Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus)
184. Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
And some other animals I'd forgotten to include in my last post.
MAMMALS
12. Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus)
13. Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
INVERTS
54. Square-spot Rustic (Xestia xanthographa)
55. Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
My next post will feature animals from a different continent!
185. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
186. American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
187. Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
188. Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
189. American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
190. Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus)
191. Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
192. Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)
193. Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)
194. Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)
195. Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus)
196. Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
197. American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)
198. Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
199. Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
200. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
201. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
202. Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
203. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
204. Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)
205. Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
206. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
207. Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
208. Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
209. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
210. American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
211. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
212. Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
213. Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus)
MAMMALS
14. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
HERPTILES
9. Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)
INVERTS
56. American Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
A few more from photos I took on the grounds of Berlin Zoo
Birds
191) Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
192) Short-Toed Treecreeper Certhia brachydactyla
193) Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis
~Thylo
Random day off work today to use up time off in lieu for working August Bank Holiday and went for a morning jaunt up to my favourite Phoca-spot at the mouth of the Nene near Sutton Bridge, where there is a very reliably sealy sandbank, then on to Frampton Marsh in search of a long-staying vagrant wader and a comedy escape. Finally, a late-in-the-day walk down to Frampton's raptor viewpoint was rewarded almost immediately with my best-ever view of a lovely species.
Birds:
211. Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus
- Ruddy Shelduck - Tadorna ferruginea (presumed escape so un-numbered!)
212. Hen Harrier - Circus cyaneus
Mammals:
28. Common Seal - Phoca vitulina
My UK-only totals for birds and mammals are now 205 and 27 respectively, both of which exactly equal my previous best UK year totals with 55 days remaining.
Birds:
211. Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus
- Ruddy Shelduck - Tadorna ferruginea (presumed escape so un-numbered!)
212. Hen Harrier - Circus cyaneus
Mammals:
28. Common Seal - Phoca vitulina
My UK-only totals for birds and mammals are now 205 and 27 respectively, both of which exactly equal my previous best UK year totals with 55 days remaining.
Only now do I remember that I haven't updated my list since my last Norfolk trip back in October. All the new birds came from this trip, but the insect was found and identified at home.
113. Pink-footed goose Anser brachyrhynchus
114. Ruff Calidris pugnax
115. Sanderling Calidris alba
116. Common eider Somateria mollissima (Nt)
117. Northern gannet Morus bassanus
118. Bearded reedling Panurus biarmicus
119. Great white egret Ardea alba
120. Eurasian treecreeper Certhia familiaris
78. Western conifer seed bug Leptoglossus occidentalis
15. Eastern Brown Snake (Pseudonaja textilis)
Mammals
93. Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii)
94. Spectacled Hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus)
Birds (passerines)
395. Striped Honeyeater
Reptiles
128. Eastern Beaked Gecko (Rynchoedura ormsbyi)
129. Narrow Banded Sand Swimmer (Eremiascincus fasciolatus)
93. Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii)
94. Spectacled Hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus)
Birds (passerines)
395. Striped Honeyeater
Reptiles
128. Eastern Beaked Gecko (Rynchoedura ormsbyi)
129. Narrow Banded Sand Swimmer (Eremiascincus fasciolatus)
Dannelboyz
Well-Known Member
MAMMALS
48 - Australian Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus)
49 - Short-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
50 - New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri)
51 - Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus swainsonii)
52 - Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
53 - White-Striped Free-Tailed Bat (Austronomus australis)
54 - Leopard Seal (Hydrurga leptonyx)
BIRDS
306 - Hooded Dotterel (Thinornis rubricollis)
307 - Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
308 - Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
309 - Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta)
310 - Black-Faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscescens)
311 - Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus)
312 - Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida)
313 - Stubble Quail (Coturnix pectoralis)
314 - Little Lorikeet (Glossopsitta pusilla)
315 - Pallid Cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus)
316 - Short-Tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris)
317 - Fluttering Shearwater (Puffinus gavia)
318 - White-Fronted Tern (Sterna striata)
319 - Fairy Prion (Pachyptila turtur)
320 - Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea)
321 - Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli)
322 - Southern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora ssp. epomophora)
323 - Grey-Faced Petrel (Pterodroma gouldi)
324 - White-Chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)
325 - Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans ssp. exulans)
326 - Cape Petrel (Daption capense ssp. australe)
327 - Great-Winged Petrel (Pterodroma macroptera)
328 - White-Faced Storm-Petrel (Pelagodroma marina)
329 - Wilson's Storm-Petrel (Oceanites oceanicus)
330 - Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
331 - Australian Bustard (Ardeotis australis)
332 - Channel-Billed Cuckoo (Scythrops novaehollandiae)
333 - Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
REPTILES
25 - Lowland Copperhead (Austrelaps superbus)
26 - Murray River Turtle (Emydura macquarii)
27 - Weasel Skink (Saproscincus mustelinus)
AMPHIBIANS
3 - Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii)
Depends when/if I'll have time again to continue my travel threads.
Where did you see that one?
Forgot to add this one (also at Epping SF):
Reptiles
130. Eastern Fat-tailed Gecko (Diplodactylus platyurus)
Dannelboyz
Well-Known Member
There's quite a decent population at Healesville Sanctuary that I never knew about. I saw sneak through the fence into the Land of Parrots aviary but apparently they come into the hutt in the wetlands aviary quite regularly.