ZooChat Big Year 2019

I've had a fantastic three-day wildlife trip to the Veluwe this week, and we saw impressive, almost un-Dutch, landscapes, large numbers of game and some great birds. We managed to find decent numbers of all of the large mammals, but had less luck with reptiles. Birds was a bit mixed, sometimes almost nothing for a long time, sometimes multiple great species in a very short time. The first bird (a lifer I twitched close to home) and the first mammal were found before the trip. Some inverts are not identified yet.

Birds
203. Zitting Cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
204. Wood Warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix
205. Short-Toed Snake Eagle, Circaetus gallicus
206. Marsh Tit, Poecile palustris
207. Black Tern, Chlidonias niger

Herptiles
8. Sand Lizard, Lacerta agilis

Mammals
15. Edible Dormouse, Glis glis*
16. Fallow Deer, Dama dama
17. Mouflon, Ovis orientalis

Fish
6. Common Rudd, Scardinius erythropthalmus

Invertebrates
127. Uncertain, Hoplodrina octogenaria
128. Common Darter, Sympetrum striolatum
129. Parent Bug, Elasmucha grisea
130. Common Heath, Ematurga atomaria
131. Small Scallop, Idaea emarginata
132. Beetle, Spondylis buprestroides
133. Dung Beetle, Geotrupes stercorosus
134. Rose-Flounced Tabby, Endotricha flammealis
135. Silver-Studded Blue, Plebejus argus
136. Blood-Vein, Timandra comae
137. Beetle, Hoplia philanthus
138. Emerald Damselfly, Lestes sponsa
139. Scarce Footman, Manulea complana
140. Grayling, Hipparchia semele
141. Fly, Sicus ferrugineus
142. 22-Spot Ladybird, Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata
143. Stag Beetle, Lucanus cervus
144. Oak-Bush Cricket, Meconema thalassinum
145. Cabbage White, Pieris brassicae
146. Common Blue Damselfly, Enallagma cyanthigerum
147. Blue Featherleg, Platycnemis pennipes

* The dormouse was seen in Zoo Osnabrück, in a monkey enclosure. At the time I did not know it was wild, but it is one the best mammals I've seen the wild! (Thought that may say more about my list than about this species)
 
Forgot posting one bird from Panama (the mourner), identified another (the vireo) and saw another new species today! The local pair that has been eluding me this entire spring apparently had 6 (!) young, and now apparently all 8 birds are showing well. I saw three of them well, a mother and two of the juveniles.

BIRDS:
629) Rufous mourner, Rhytipterna holerythra
630) Yellow-green vireo, Vireo flavoviridis
631) Little bittern, Ixobrychus minutus

(Benelux: 180)
 
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Just realised I have got myself rather behind on updating here! The additions below are mostly from a weekend in Anglesey two weeks ago (mainly social, but managed to integrate some wildlife!) or a day out at Frampton Marsh and Freiston Shore last week (with the mammal being at the latter site, somewhere I've never seen seals before but the tide being well in meant a dozen or so were hauled up pretty close). An exception is the Little Tern, which was a quick twitch at a local reservoir.

Birds:
231. Arctic Tern - Sterna paradisaea
232. Manx Shearwater - Puffinus puffinus
233. Little Tern - Sternula albifrons
234. Black-necked Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis
235. European Turtle Dove - Streptopelia turtur
236. Corn Bunting - Emberiza calandra

(UK: 182)

Mammals:
34. Common Seal - Phoca vitulina

Fishes:
10. Shanny - Lipophrys pholis

Invertebrates:
61. Hawthorn Shieldbug - Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale
62. Compass Jellyfish - Chrysaora hysoscella
63. Lion's Mane Jellyfish - Cyanea capillata
64. Ringlet - Aphantophus hyperantus
65. Beadlet Anemone - Actinia equina
66. Cinnabar Moth - Tyria jacobaea
67. Silver-studded Blue - Plebejus argus
68. Rockpool Prawn - Palaemon elegans
69. Two-spotted Ladybird - Adalia bipunctata
70. Essex Skipper - Thymelicus lineola

:)
 
Najade said:
One from the Lake Argyle cruise and the other two from around Victoria River Roadhouse.
Mammals
41. Common Wallaroo (Macropus robustus)
42. Northern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus)
—. Short-eared Rock Wallaby (Petrogale brachyotis victoriae)
Click to expand...
To get me out of my birding slump (had been unsuccessfully chasing Yellow-rumped Mannikin for two days) I decided to make a quick detour to the Top End. Might not have been my brightest idea as it was about 500km each way for one day and two nights, but oh well...
Flies and mozzies were the worst I’ve encountered on this trip.

Pine Creek
Birds
44. Hooded Parrot (Psephotus dissimilis)
 
Najade said:
To get me out of my birding slump (had been unsuccessfully chasing Yellow-rumped Mannikin for two days) I decided to make a quick detour to the Top End. Might not have been my brightest idea as it was about 500km each way for one day and two nights, but oh well...
Flies and mozzies were the worst I’ve encountered on this trip.

Pine Creek
Birds
44. Hooded Parrot (Psephotus dissimilis)
Click to expand...

Kakadu NP (north-eastern side)
Mammals
43. Sandstone False-antechinus (Pseudantechinus bilarni)
44. Wilkins’ Rock-wallaby (Petrogale wilkinsi)
45. Black Wallaroo (Macropus bernardus)
46. Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Birds
45. Banded Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus alligator)
46. White-lined Honeyeater (Meliphaga albilineata)
47. Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon (Petrophassa rufipennis)
48. Rufous-banded Honeyeater (Conopophila albogularis)
49. Arafura Fantail (Rhipidura dryas)

Amphibians
04. Cane Toad (Rhinella marina)
 
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If counting semi-captive and captive animals I have now seen all Aussie Bandicoots bar one, all Aussie Possums bar one and all Aussie Macropods bar one.

Out of the 18 Aussie marsupial species left to see in the wild (excluding dasys and moles) 5 are more or less impossible, 4 semi-impossible/difficult and the other 9 should be doable (hopefully).
 
Najade said:
Kakadu NP (north-eastern side)
Mammals
43. Sandstone False-antechinus (Pseudantechinus bilarni)
44. Wilkins’ Rock-wallaby (Petrogale wilkinsi)
45. Black Wallaroo (Macropus bernardus)
46. Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

Birds
45. Banded Fruit-dove (Ptilinopus alligator)
46. White-lined Honeyeater (Meliphaga albilineata)
47. Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon (Petrophassa rufipennis)
48. Rufous-collared Honeyeater (Conopophila albogularis)
49. Arafura Fantail (Rhipidura dryas)

Amphibians
04. Cane Toad (Rhinella marina)
Click to expand...

Finally:
North of Kununurra
Birds
50. Yellow-rumped Mannikin (Lonchura flaviprymna)
 
Najade said:
Finally:
North of Kununurra
Birds
50. Yellow-rumped Mannikin (Lonchura flaviprymna)
Click to expand...

Great Northern Highway
Mammals
47. Feral Horse (Equus caballus)

DerbyJetty
Birds
—. Yellow-bellied (Kimberley) Flyrobin (ssp tormenti)
 
4) Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx


This is the third wild Leopard Seal I've seen.

The first one was way back in 2008. I was at work when I read about it in the paper that day, but managed to leave so I could go see it (and stop off at home for my camera). There are a couple of photos from back then in the NZ Wildlife gallery (probably on the last page by now).

The second one was last year (2018) and I was at my sister's place - I didn't want to risk going all the way over to the other side of the city to get my camera and find out I'd missed the seal because of that, so I went straight to the seal and saw it (but no photos).

Today I was on my way to work when I found out about a Leopard Seal hauled up in the harbour, so had to wait until I'd finished. Luckily the spot was right in the middle of the city so easy to reach, but by then it was night, and raining, and I again had no camera. Typically with Leopard Seals they haul out for a day and then disappear, but I'm hoping it is still there in the morning so I can get some photos (and I'm also hoping that the weather is okay - right now it is absolutely bucketing down).
 
Chlidonias said:
Today I was on my way to work when I found out about a Leopard Seal hauled up in the harbour, so had to wait until I'd finished. Luckily the spot was right in the middle of the city so easy to reach, but by then it was night, and raining, and I again had no camera. Typically with Leopard Seals they haul out for a day and then disappear, but I'm hoping it is still there in the morning so I can get some photos (and I'm also hoping that the weather is okay - right now it is absolutely bucketing down).
Click to expand...
It was gone when I went back this morning, so no photos.
 
Chlidonias said:
4) Leopard Seal Hydrurga leptonyx
This is the third wild Leopard Seal I've seen.

The first one was way back in 2008. I was at work when I read about it in the paper that day, but managed to leave so I could go see it (and stop off at home for my camera). There are a couple of photos from back then in the NZ Wildlife gallery (probably on the last page by now).
Click to expand...

Where is the nearest place to New Zealand that you can see leopard seals reliably? Are they out in the sub-antarctic island chain that you guys control?
 
DavidBrown said:
Where is the nearest place to New Zealand that you can see leopard seals reliably? Are they out in the sub-antarctic island chain that you guys control?
Click to expand...
Yeah, probably in the subantarctic would be pretty reliable, or the actual antarctic even more so - but it's obviously not easy to just go cruising around down there looking for a seal (especially because they are solitary animals, not colonial like fur seals or sealions or elephant seals). Or at least not unless you have a whole lotta money.

There's one living in Auckland harbour which has been there for a number of years now but I haven't seen it. I suppose one could say it's reliable in that it lives there, but actually finding it not so much.

It used to be rare (or rarely reported) for Leopard Seals to turn up on NZ coasts, but now it is almost commonplace. Every year there are multiple individuals, although they normally move around a lot so seeing then requires luck.
 
Najade said:
Great Northern Highway
Mammals
47. Feral Horse (Equus caballus)

DerbyJetty
Birds
—. Yellow-bellied (Kimberley) Flyrobin (ssp tormenti)
Click to expand...
Did the Dolphin Cruise in Broome today. Can highly recommend it.
Mammals
48. Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
49. Indo-pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops aduncus)
50. Australian Snubfin Dolphin (Oracella heinsohni)

Reptiles
22. Flatback Sea Turtle (Natator depressus)

Also had heaps of Manta Rays and an un-IDed Sea Snake but no Dugongs.

Also my car broke down so that’s another hassle now. At least it was at the end of the trip. Gonna be interesting to see how ****ed it is. Waiting for the mechanic...
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
More species from Madrid although certainly not as impressive as Vision's list! :p

18/07/2019 (In Front of Parque Juan Pablo II, Madrid)
BIRDS:
123 - Eurasian tree sparrow, Passer montanus

15/07/2019 (Near Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio, Madrid)
INVERTEBRATES:
16 - Southern scarce swallowtail, Iphiclides feisthamelii
Click to expand...

Finally had some free time on the Saturday and Sunday and I spent those two days respectively birding at El Soto de las Juntas (a pond part of El Parque Regional Sureste south of Madrid) and visiting the rescue centre Cañada Real Open Centre in El Escorial and while doing so, I've had some tremendous birding!

A lot of those species are species that are range-restricted or hard to see in Morocco while others are Iberian endemics so I was very happy to see all of them.

20/07/2019
BIRDS:
(Conde de Casal Bus Stop, Madrid, Spain)
124 - Coal tit, Periparus ater
125 - Griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus

(El Soto de las Juntas, Parque Regional del Sureste, Spain)
126 - Common pochard, Aythya ferina
127 - Great crested grebe, Podiceps cristatus
128 - Sand martin, Riparia riparia
129 - Eurasian golden oriole, Oriolus oriolus
130 - Eurasian blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla
131 - Black-necked grebe, Podiceps nigricollis

21/07/2019 (Cañada Real Open Centre, El Escorial, Spain)
BIRDS:
132 - Eurasian nuthatch, Sitta europaea
133 - Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes
134 - Long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus
135 - Iberian azure-winged magpie, Cyanopica cooki
136 - Crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus
137 - Eurasian blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus

All of these species were either lifers or species I had only seen once before (most of them in Spain but some in Morocco as well), so I was quite happy with all of them even though I have a soft spot for the nuthatch, the vulture, the azure-winged magpie and the oriole.

I've also seen numerous lizard species especially at El Escorial but I haven't been able to identify them yet (except one which I'll post when I'm done with identifying all of them) hence why I posted them on the identification category of the gallery.
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
Finally had some free time on the Saturday and Sunday and I spent those two days respectively birding at El Soto de las Juntas (a pond part of El Parque Regional Sureste south of Madrid) and visiting the rescue centre Cañada Real Open Centre in El Escorial and while doing so, I've had some tremendous birding!

A lot of those species are species that are range-restricted or hard to see in Morocco while others are Iberian endemics so I was very happy to see all of them.

20/07/2019
BIRDS:
(Conde de Casal Bus Stop, Madrid, Spain)
124 - Coal tit, Periparus ater
125 - Griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus

(El Soto de las Juntas, Parque Regional del Sureste, Spain)
126 - Common pochard, Aythya ferina
127 - Great crested grebe, Podiceps cristatus
128 - Sand martin, Riparia riparia
129 - Eurasian golden oriole, Oriolus oriolus
130 - Eurasian blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla
131 - Black-necked grebe, Podiceps nigricollis

21/07/2019 (Cañada Real Open Centre, El Escorial, Spain)
BIRDS:
132 - Eurasian nuthatch, Sitta europaea
133 - Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes
134 - Long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus
135 - Iberian azure-winged magpie, Cyanopica cooki
136 - Crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus
137 - Eurasian blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus

All of these species were either lifers or species I had only seen once before (most of them in Spain but some in Morocco as well), so I was quite happy with all of them even though I have a soft spot for the nuthatch, the vulture, the azure-winged magpie and the oriole.

I've also seen numerous lizard species especially at El Escorial but I haven't been able to identify them yet (except one which I'll post when I'm done with identifying all of them) hence why I posted them on the identification category of the gallery.
Click to expand...

Completely forgot one of the most important species on this whole trip and my first mammal lifer since months! :P

21/07/2019 (Parque Regional Cuenca Alta Manzanares, Spain [Seen from the train])
MAMMALS:
4 - Red deer, Cervus elaphus
 
Najade said:
Did the Dolphin Cruise in Broome today. Can highly recommend it.
Mammals
48. Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
49. Indo-pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops aduncus)
50. Australian Snubfin Dolphin (Oracella heinsohni)

Reptiles
22. Flatback Sea Turtle (Natator depressus)

Also had heaps of Manta Rays and an un-IDed Sea Snake but no Dugongs.

Also my car broke down so that’s another hassle now. At least it was at the end of the trip. Gonna be interesting to see how ****ed it is. Waiting for the mechanic...
Click to expand...

BBO Shorebird Tour (though I was the one who found the (two) birds)
Birds
51. Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola falcinellus)

And that’s it for this trip.
 
And here are the last few for the Netherlands for a few weeks. Some species I'm really happy with, including nightjars (which are always magical), rare Blue-Winged Grasshoppers and the second reptile for the year. One really great moment was when seven Black Storks (accompanied by over a dozen herons and egrets), a White-Tailed Eagle and a Red Fox were all in one view!

Birds
208. European Nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus
209. Black Stork, Ciconia nigra
210. Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola

Mammals
18. Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Herptiles
9. Viviparous Lizard, Zootoca vivipara

Invertebrates
148. Ruddy Darter, Sympetrum sanguineum
149. Queen of Spain Fritillary, Issoria lathonia
150. Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus
151. Moth, Lythria cruentaria
152. Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Macroglossum stellatarum
153. Southern Oak Bush Cricket, Meconema meridionale
154. Blue-Winged Grasshopper, Oedipoda caerulescens
155. Field cricket, Gryllus campestris
156. Willow Emerald Damselfly, Chalcolestes viridis
 
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