ZooChat Big Year 2020

Wilpattu National Park. We stopped here on the way to Manner father north, and as we will be spending time in Yala later just did the standard four hour tourist safari. Still we pulled some nice animals.

Mammals

11. Touque macaque Macaca sinica
12. Sloth bear Melurus ursinus
13. Ruddy mongoose Herpestes smithii
14. Wild boar Sus scrofa
15. Domestic water buffalo Bubalus bubalis
16. Chital Axis axis
17. Red muntjac Muntiacus muntjak

Birds

Bird of the stop was the wooly-necked stork. We saw young being fed at a nest, and one stood on the road as we drove towards it giving great views before flying off up the road in front of us.

123. Cattle egret Bubulcus ibis
124. Wooly-necked stork Ciconia epsicopus
125. Crested hawk-eagle Nisaetus cirrhatus
126. Crested serpent-eagle Spilornis cheela
127. Great thicknee Esacus recurvirostris
128. Pacific golden plover Pluvialis fulva
129. Asian palm swift Cypsiurus belasiensis
130. Chestnut-headed bee-eater Merops leschenaulti
131. Sri Lankan grey hornbill Ocyceros gingalensis
132. White-browed fantail Rhipidura aureola

Reptiles

The star tortoise is notable for me in that it is the first land tortoise I have ever seen in the wild.

5. Asian land monitor Varanus bengalensis
6. Star tortoise Geochelone elegans
 
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Mannar, Sri Lanka. I'm not sure why this location is not better known, it is a superb birding location for water birds, sea birds and waders. In total we recorded 85 species, in about 4 hours of birding. We did have the advantage of a guide with a scope, but still most birds could easily be seen from public roads with binoculars.

Mammals

19, Donkey Equus africanus (yes they are feral here)

Birds

Bird of the stop would have to be the flamingo, the first time I have seen them in the wild and what a setting!

133. Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
134. Indian cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
135. Western reef heron Egretta gularis
136. Black-crowned night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax
137. Spot-billed pelican Pelecanus philibbensis
138. Greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus
139. Painted stork Mycteria leucocephala
140. Northern pintail Anas acuta
141. Yellow bittern Ixobrychus sinensis
142. Glossy ibis Plegadis falcinellus
143 Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope
144. Garganey Anas querquedula
145. Northern shoveler Spatula clypeata
146. Booted eagle Hieraaetus pennatus
147. Black kite Milvus migrans
148. Grey francolin Francolinus pondicerianus
149. Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
150. Curlew sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
151. Little stint Calidris minuta
152. Bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica
153. Black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa
154. Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata
155. Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
156. Ruff Philomachus pugmax
157. Marsh sandpiper Tringa stagnatalis
158. Common redshank Tringa totanus
159. Brown-headed gull Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus
160. Gull-billed tern Gelochelidon nilotica
161. Heuglin's gull Larus heuglini
162. Pallas's gull Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
163. Lesser crested tern Thalasseus bengalensis
164. Greater crested tern Thalasseus bergii
165. Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius
166. Lesser sand plover Charadrius mongolus
167. Grey plover Pluvialis squatarola
168. Rock pigeon Columba livia
169. Eurasian collared dove Streptopelia decaocto
170. Chestnut winged cuckoo Clamator coromandus
171. Indian roller Coracias benghalensin
172. Eurasian hoopoe Upupa epops
173. Black drongo Dicrurus macrocercus
174. House crow Corvus splendens
175. Oriental skylark Alauda gulgula
176. Richard's pipit Anthus richardi
177. Zitting cisticcola Cisticola juncidis
 
MRJ said:
Mannar, Sri Lanka. I'm not sure why this location is not better known, it is a superb birding location for water birds, sea birds and waders. In total we recorded 85 species, in about 4 hours of birding. We did have the advantage of a guide with a scope, but still most birds could easily be seen from public roads with binoculars.

Mammals

19, Donkey Equus africanus (yes they are feral here)

Birds

Bird of the stop would have to be the flamingo, the first time I have seen them in the wild and what a setting!

133. Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
134. Indian cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
135. Western reef heron Egretta gularis
136. Black-crowned night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax
137. Spot-billed pelican Pelecanus philibbensis
138. Greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus
139. Painted stork Mycteria leucocephala
140. Northern pintail Anas acuta
141. Yellow bittern Ixobrychus sinensis
142. Glossy ibis Plegadis falcinellus
143 Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope
144. Garganey Anas querquedula
145. Northern shoveler Spatula clypeata
146. Booted eagle Hieraaetus pennatus
147. Black kite Milvus migrans
148. Grey francolin Francolinus pondicerianus
149. Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
150. Curlew sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
151. Little stint Calidris minuta
152. Bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica
153. Black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa
154. Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata
155. Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
156. Ruff Philomachus pugmax
157. Marsh sandpiper Tringa stagnatalis
158. Common redshank Tringa totanus
159. Brown-headed gull Chroicocephalus brunnicephalus
160. Gull-billed tern Gelochelidon nilotica
161. Heuglin's gull Larus heuglini
162. Pallas's gull Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus
163. Lesser crested tern Thalasseus bengalensis
164. Greater crested tern Thalasseus bergii
165. Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius
166. Lesser sand plover Charadrius mongolus
167. Grey plover Pluvialis squatarola
168. Rock pigeon Columba livia
169. Eurasian collared dove Streptopelia decaocto
170. Chestnut winged cuckoo Clamator coromandus
171. Indian roller Coracias benghalensin
172. Eurasian hoopoe Upupa epops
173. Black drongo Dicrurus macrocercus
174. House crow Corvus splendens
175. Oriental skylark Alauda gulgula
176. Richard's pipit Anthus richardi
177. Zitting cisticcola Cisticola juncidis
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As a fellow Victorian and one who has only been overseas once (to the USA and a few Caribbean islands for a family holiday and saw species such as Sargent Major, American Aligator, Bald Eagle, Eastern Grey Squirrel, Red Tailed Hawk, Red Shouldered Hawk, Mallard, Red Eared Slider (my only wild turtle species I’ve seen), Bahamian Curly Tailed Lizard, American Crow, Six Lined Skink, Brown Anole, Brown Pelican, Brown Booby, Intermediate Egret and the most surprising find an Anhinga at Disney World Florida)

Im super duper jealous but at the same time extremely happy for you finding so many cool species
 
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Birds
67. Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus
68. Lesser Goldenback Dinopium benghalense
69. Jungle Babbler Argya striata
70. Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus
71. Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus
72. Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis
73. Plain Prinia Prinia inornata
74. Grey-breasted Prinia Prinia hodgsonii
75. Common Iora Aegithina tiphia
76. Red Avadavat Amandava amandava
 
BIRDS:
113) Willow tit, Poecile montanus
114) White-tailed sea eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla
115) European greenfinch, Chloris chloris
116) Oriental turtle dove, Streptopelia orientalis
117) Bohemian waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus

MAMMALS:
3) European hare, Lepus europaeus
4) European roe deer, Capreolus capreolus
 
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka, and surrounds. Sigiriya is famous for archaeological sites and so of course we had to visit some ruins, which turned out to be quite good for snakes. We also did a "night safari" which failed to produce any of the small mammals I was hoping for, but did give us the other two nightjars in Sri Lanka.

Mammals

20. Asian elephant Elephas maximus
21. Tufted grey langur Semnopithecus priam
22. Purple-faced langur Trachypithecus vetulus

Birds

Bird of the stop was the orange-headed thrush, the world's most beautiful thrush I am sure, closely followed by the stunning, and recently split, crimson-backed flameback. The orange-headed thrush apparently is a rarely seen migrant, yet we had great views in our hotel grounds.

178. White-bellied sea-eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster
179. Common kestrel Falco tinnunculus
180. Grey-headed swamphen Porphyrio poliocephalus
181. Pheasant-tailed jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus
182. Indian nightjar Caprimulgus asiaticus
183. Grey nightjar Caprimulgus indicus
184. Coppersmith barbet Psilopogon haemacephalus
185. Crimson-backed flameback Chrysocolaptes stricklandi
186. Ashy drongo Dicrurus leucophaeus
187, Orange-headed thrush Geokichla citrina
188. White-rumped shama Copsychus malabaricus

Reptiles

7. Schneider's earth snake Rhinophis oxyrhynchus
8. Common rough-sided snake Aspidura trachyprocta
9. Indian black turtle Melanochelys trijuga
 
Kandy, Sri Lanka. Kandy was largely a social stop to see family friends but we did manage a mornings birding in the Royal Forest Park with good results.

Birds.

Bird of the stop was the Sri Lankan hill myna, a bird full of character.

189. Yellow-fronted barbet Psilopogon flavifrons
190. Crimson-fronted barbet Psilopogon rubricapillus
191. Sri Lankan swallow Cecropis hyperythra
192. Yellow-browed bulbul Acritillas indica
193. Black bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus
194. Sri Lanka bush warbler Elaphrornis palliseri
195. Grey-headed canary-flycatcher Culicicapa ceylonensis
196. Tickell's blue flycatcher Cyornis tickelliae
197. Kashmir flycatcher Ficedula subrubra
198. Asian brown flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica
199. Sri Lankan hill myna Gracula philogenys

Reptiles

10. Taylor's striped skink Eutropis floweri
 
Just been going over my records and realised I had not included this beautiful bird, which we saw at the first stop and several places since. A fitting 200th bird for the year.

200. Asian paradise flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi
 
Mehdi said:
Well, 2020 has started extremely well!

When I saw yesterday that a Common loon, a very rare vagrant in Morocco with only 11 records before this one, was seen a bit more than an hour away on the 30th, I heavily considered going today to try and twitch it even though I have no car so I had rely on my family picking me up.

My luck with vagrants so far has been close to none, having dipped all the species I've tried to twitch and when I've finally twitched one, a Western reef-heron, it turned out it might be a hybrid and thus uncountable. Seeing as this species was located in a very wild spot of Oued Massa where there is no direct access to the water area (both banks are covered by thick foliage), I was pessimistic at the chance of seeing it back but not trying wasn't an option.

Turns out I made the right decision as the loon showed out very well (my first officially countable vagrant!), as well as a lot of common species picked up on the way to the spot where it was seen but also some more unusual ones like my first Eurasian crag martins in Morocco unusually far from the mountains.

I then decided to visit the estuary of Oued Massa for a chance at one of the species I've wanted to see most in Morocco and although it's pretty hard to miss them when they're there I've never had the opportunity to go to Oued Massa at the right time to see them. And certainly enough, as I approached the estuary a group of 19 Common cranes showed up quite well with their boisterous noises and graceful flight. My first cranes, what a sighting!

At the end of the day, I decided to stop at one of the banks of Oued Souss to get some other common species and I got a subspecies lifer, namely the yarrelli subspecies of White wagtail which is irregular in Morocco. What a perfect ending to what has been an amazing first day!

Species aren't listed chronologically as usual because there are too many of them (first day problems):

01/01/2020 (Oued Massa & Oued Souss, Morocco)
BIRDS:
1 - Feral pigeon, Columba livia
2 - Eurasian collared dove, Streptopelia decaocto
3 - Laughing dove, Streptopelia senegalensis
4 - Pallid swift, Apus pallidus
5 - Eurasian moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
6 - Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
7 - Yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis
8 - Common loon, Gavia immer
9 - White stork, Ciconia ciconia
10 - Great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
11 - Grey heron, Ardea cinerea
12 - Little egret, Egretta garzetta
13 - Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
14 - Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus
15 - Osprey, Pandion haliaetus
16 - Black-crowned tchagra, Tchagra senegalus
17 - Great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor
18 - Maghreb magpie, Pica mauritanica
19 - Thekla's lark, Galerida theklae
20 - Zitting cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
21 - Eurasian crag martin, Ptyonoprogne rupestris
22 - Barn swallow, Hirundo rustica
23 - Common bulbul, Pyconotus barbatus
24 - Common chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita
25 - Eurasian blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla
26 - Sardinian warbler, Sylvia melanocephala
27 - Spotless starling, Sturnus unicolor
28 - Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula
29 - Moussier's redstart, Phoenicurus moussieri
30 - European stonechat, Saxicola rubicola
31 - House sparrow, Passer domesticus
32 - Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis
33 - Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
34 - Common chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
35 - European greenfinch, Chloris chloris
36 - European serin, Serinus serinus
37 - Cirl bunting, Emberiza cirlus
38 - House bunting, Emberiza sahari
39 - Greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus
40 - Common crane, Grus grus
41 - Common ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula
42 - Mediterranean gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
43 - Audouin's gull, Ichthyaetus audouinii
44 - Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus
45 - Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
46 - Black-winged kite, Elanus caeruleus
47 - Eurasian kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
48 - Whinchat, Saxicola rubetra
49 - Common wood pigeon, Columba palumbus
50 - Black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus
51 - Ruff, Calidris pugnax
52 - Dunlin, Calidris alpina
53 - Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos
54 - Common redshank, Tringa totanus
56 - White wagtail, Motacilla alba ssp. yarrelli

MAMMALS:
1 - Barbary ground squirel, Atlantoxerus getulus
Click to expand...

Accidentally skipped n°55 so I'm on 55 species right now.

Birding has been very scarce because of a hectic work schedule but I've finally had some time to go to my local spot (Oued Souss) and hopefully get some of the common species I had missed on the first day.

Turns out the streak of very good birding continued as I got two species that I've only seen once before: Peregrine falcon (not that common in Morocco where Eurasian kestrels fill their niche in cities basically) and Lesser crested tern (a species I am VERY fond of which is good to get this early in the year).

Along with that I've had a lifer that is part of what I call my trio of "nemesis species" (composed of purple heron, this species and marbled teal which is the last one I have yet to see) and which brings me closer to completing my Moroccan swallow set as I'm at 6 species seen out of the 7 we get. This year has started extremely well when it comes to swallows as the crag martins I saw the other day were also a Moroccan first for me.

10/02/2020 (Oued Souss, Morocco)
BIRDS:
56 - Pied avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta
57 - Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola
58 - Lesser crested tern, Thalasseus bengalensis
59 - Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus
60 - Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata
61 - Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
62 - Brown-throated martin, Riparia paludicola

INVERTEBRATES:
1 - Bath white, Pontia daplidice
 
MRJ said:
Kandy, Sri Lanka. Kandy was largely a social stop to see family friends but we did manage a mornings birding in the Royal Forest Park with good results.

Birds.

Bird of the stop was the Sri Lankan hill myna, a bird full of character.
Click to expand...
I'm sceptical that Sri Lankan Hill Mynah would be seen in Udawattakele.

It's difficult to work out from online lists if the species is actually there or not because of the confusion factor with Lesser Hill Mynah. Official surveys don't record it, that I have seen. However Lesser Hill Mynahs are common in that forest, and Sri Lankan bird guides in my experience commonly identify this species as the endemic Sri Lankan Hill Mynahs (whether this is deliberate or through confusion I can't say). There are e-bird records from there, although as most people bird with guides that doesn't mean much and the only photos I have seen from there are Lessers. It's worth noting that the e-bird map for Sri Lankan Hill Mynah has sightings from all over the island, whereas the endemic species is definitely not found in half the places it has been recorded on e-bird.
 
Chlidonias said:
I'm sceptical that Sri Lankan Hill Mynah would be seen in Udawattakele.

It's difficult to work out from online lists if the species is actually there or not because of the confusion factor with Lesser Hill Mynah. Official surveys don't record it, that I have seen. However Lesser Hill Mynahs are common in that forest, and Sri Lankan bird guides in my experience commonly identify this species as the endemic Sri Lankan Hill Mynahs (whether this is deliberate or through confusion I can't say). There are e-bird records from there, although as most people bird with guides that doesn't mean much and the only photos I have seen from there are Lessers. It's worth noting that the e-bird map for Sri Lankan Hill Mynah has sightings from all over the island, whereas the endemic species is definitely not found in half the places it has been recorded on e-bird.
Click to expand...
We were in the company of a local ornithologist who pulled it. We had good sightings and it had the red-orange bill and I certainly could not see yellow around the face so am inclined to go with the Sri Lanka hill myna given the circumstances.
 
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Vision said:
BIRDS:
113) Willow tit, Poecile montanus
114) White-tailed sea eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla
115) European greenfinch, Chloris chloris
116) Oriental turtle dove, Streptopelia orientalis
117) Bohemian waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus

MAMMALS:
3) European hare, Lepus europaeus
4) European roe deer, Capreolus capreolus
Click to expand...

A very enjoyable three-day trip to the Northern Netherlands got me a good few additions! The eagle was in Oostvaardersplassen, one of the most prominent Dutch national parks for this species, the turtle dove was a vagrant in Sneek, and the waxwings a small group of 5 birds near Groningen.
The day after (together with @KevinVar) we visited a few spots near Lauwersmeer, where we saw a very nice selection of water birds and up to 13 short-eared owls at the same time. Today we drove back down south and stopped by a wonderful great white pelican, which has been roosting together with a group of storks for a few months now (and was seen flying through half of Germany and the Netherlands before that).

BIRDS:
118) Red-necked grebe, Podiceps grisegena
119) Red-breasted merganser, Mergus merganser
120) Brant goose, Branta bernicla
121) Common eider, Somateria mollissima
122) Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima
123) Short-eared owl, Asio flammeus
124) Red knot, Calidris canutus
125) Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus
126) Eurasian rock pipit, Anthus petrosus
127) Common reed bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus
128) Great white pelican, Pelecanus onocrotalus

MAMMALS:
5) Harbour seal, Phoca vitulina
 
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Horton Plains, Sri Lanka. I think an explanation is required here. I am travelling with my friend, Graeme, who some of you may know of as he was previously Principle Curator at Taronga and until recently was teaching zookeeping, and my partner Sue. I myself am no longer a young man, while Graeme is a decade older than me and recovering from a knee replacement. Sue is a lover of animals but not so much discomfort or 5 o'clock starts to the day for birdwatching. All this means we travel differently to, say, @Chlidonias. One difference is we have our own vehicle and driver, and so decided to stay in Nuwara Eliya and drive up to Horton Plains for animal watching. Like Chlidonias we were put off by the $30 per person admission, and were further informed that birdwatching in the park was interrupted by other groups of tourists chatting and otherwise making a disturbance on the paths. it seemed you were also at risk of being assaulted by sambar deer expecting a free feed. So Graeme and I did what Chlidonias did with a slight modification. We were driven to the entry gate then walked back down the road with our driver keeping a bit in front of us until we were ready to leave. I had allocated two mornings. The first was somewhat of a disaster in that the weather closed in, and we were walking through cloud, drizzle and wind. The second day the weather had improved and we had great birding while admiring the spectacular scenery.

Mammals

23. Dusky striped squirrel Funambulus obscurus

Birds

Bird of the stow was the dull-blue flycatcher, a terrible name for such an attractive bird.

201. Sri Lanka wood pigeon Columba torringtoniae
202. Bar-winged flycatcher-shrike Hemipus picatus
203. Sykes's warbler Iduna rama
204. Yellow-eared bulbul Pycnonotus penicillatus
205. Green leaf-warbler Phyllosopus nitidus
206. Sri Lanka white-eye Zosterops ceylonensis
207. Indian white-eye Zosterops palpebrosus
208. Cincereus tit Parus cinereus
209. Indian blackbird Turdus simillimus
210. Dull-blue flycatcher Eumyias sordidus
211. Grey wagtail Motacilla cinerea
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
A few additions from a recent trip to the beach and my visit to Darling Downs Zoo yesterday.

Birds
82. Eastern Osprey Pandion cristatus
83. White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae
84. Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica
85. White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus
86. Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides
87. Red-rumped Parrot Psephotus haematonotus
88. Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus :)

Invertebrates
35. Soldier Crab Mictyris longicarpus
Click to expand...
WhistlingKite24 said:
Invertebrates
36. Red House Spider Nesticodes rufipes
Click to expand...
All seen from in and around the grounds of Australia Zoo except for the Saw-shelled Turtle who was crossing the road on a major highway! I have now reached my 2019 bird total of 93.:) I also saw a new species of reptile; a brave Eastern Water Skink in one of the zoo’s Tasmanian devil enclosures.

Mammals
3. Little Red Flying Fox Pteropus scapulatus

Birds
89. Scarlet Honeyeater Myzomela sanguinolenta
90. Peaceful Dove Geopelia placida
91. Bar-shouldered Dove Geopelia humeralis
92. Great Egret Ardea alba
93. Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

Herptiles
7. Eastern Water Skink Eulamprus quoyii
8. Saw-shelled Turtle Myuchelys latisternum

Invertebrates
37. Three-banded Ladybird Harmonia octomaculata
38. Black House Spider Badumna insignis
 
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