ZooChat Big Year 2020

Last week I was lucky to have some time available for birding. Most additions are from a few local birding hotspots and include various spring migrants. I was especially pleased with Savi's Warbler, a lifer that turned up in a local spot where it did not occur before. It was singing non-stop for quite some time and it actually gave some good views (in contrast to what I was expecting). The Whimbrels were also very cool, being the first for me in my local area.

Birds
149. Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis
150. Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus
151. Yellow Wagtail, Motacilla flava
152. Ring Ouzel, Turdus torquatus
153. Common Redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus
154. Savi's Warbler, Locustella locustoides
155. Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
156. Eurasian Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla

Mammals
11. Bank Vole, Myodes glareolus

Herptiles
2. Sand Lizard, Lacerta agilis
3. Barred Grass Snake, Natrix helvetica

Invertebrates
22. Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines
23. Rhyparochromus vulgaris
24. Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas
25. Marpissa muscosa
26. Pill Millipede, Glomeris marginata
27. Green-veined White, Pieris napi
28. Giant House Spider, Eratigena atrica
29. Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria
30. Nigma walckenaeri
 
Birds

On a neighbouring property

287. Bell miner Manorina melanophrys

Mammals

Was waiting to check to make sure which species of rat we had, turns out we have both. Joy.

32. Brown rat Rattus norvegicus
33. Black rat Rattus rattus

Invertebrates

As I plan on treating invertebrates more seriously this year I thought I would start with some I know I've seen. All I've known all my life but are new to my list.

18. Spitfire sawfly Perga affinis
19. Western honey bee Apis mellifera
20. German cockroach Blattella germanica
21. Australian bush fly Musca vetustissima
22. Slug Cystopelta purpurea
 
Wow! A quick detour from a neighbourhood walk to pick up a singing Savi's made me look around a bit, and made me find two good flyover scarcities! They're migrating through the country right now but in fairly small numbers, and purple herons have been observed flying over there a few times in the past weeks, but the black stork was only the third one for the province of Eastern Flanders this year!

BIRDS:
159) Garganey, Spatula querquedula
160) Savi's warbler, Locustella luscinioides
161) Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia
162) Purple heron, Ardea purpurea
163) Black stork, Ciconia nigra

FISH:
2) Common carp, Cyprinus carpio

INVERTS:
10) Map butterfly, Araschnia levana
 
Mehdi said:
Had to remove Greylag goose (#70) from my list as the only Greylag geese found around Parc de Capçalera are domestics (but I didn't know that at the time) so I'm at 100 bird species seen for the year right now.
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Can't bird as even my local spot is too far away to go by foot so this is my first addition since confinement, two individuals seen from my balcony:

12/04/2020 (Agadir, Morocco)
BIRDS:
101 - Eurasian thick-knee, Burhinus oedicnemus
 
An unexpected find in my backyard yields bird number 89. Only the second time I have seen this species which is a good thing as it isn’t native

89. European Goldfinch

My lifelist stands at

11 Mammals
124-129 birds (forgot the exact number)
10 Reptiles
1 Amphibian
??? Fish
 
WhistlingKite24 said:
I had a quiet afternoon exploring my backyard appreciating the simple things in life. No new birds seen today but I enjoyed watching the usual backyard residents like the pied butcherbird and Australian magpie families raising last year’s fledglings. The more colourful characters – rainbow and scaly-breasted lorikeets, blue-faced honeyeaters and Australasian figbirds – were all feasting on the abundant palm flowers. The occasional kookaburra, currawong or black-faced cuckoo shrike would dart through the sky, noisily making an appearance. I also saw an unexpected reptilian lifer – a strikingly-patterned Eastern Striped Skink darted through the bushes. I also finally saw the resident Eastern Blue-tongue.

Insect-wise, today was butterflies galore – blue triangles, several swallowtail species, evening browns, common crows and even a monarch! A pair of blue-banded bees busily travelled from flower to flower whilst in the undergrowth several moth species made an appearance. I also found my first planthopper for the year - one of my favourite groups of insect.

Being stuck at home certainly makes you appreciate what’s beyond your back door.


Herptiles
9. Eastern Bluetongue Tiliqua scinoides
10. Eastern Striped Skink Ctenotus robustus

Invertebrates
40. Granny’s Cloak Moth Speiredonia spectans
41. Poinciana Looper Pericyma cruegeri
42. Green Mottled Planthopper Siphanta hebes
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A bird I saw earlier in the year and a nice lifer in my backyard.

Birds
95. Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus

Invertebrates
43. Celtis Leaf Beetle Menippus cynicus
45. Humped Golden Orb-weaver Nephila plumipes
46. Leaf-curling Spider Phonognatha graeffei
 
First swift of the year, three days earlier than my earliest ever. :)

BIRDS:
164) Common swift, Apus apus

INVERTS:
11) Old world swallowtail, Papilio machaon
12) Nursery web spider, Pisaura mirabilis
13) Large red damselfly, Pyrrhosoma nymphula
14) Red admiral, Vanessa atalanta
15) Large white, Pieris brassicae
 
Crowthorne said:
Now I'm walking the same stretch of reasonably tamed river, I'm always surprised to see something new (and if it hadn't been singing, I wouldn't have noticed it, or known what it was. In all fairness, it was in a willow!)

Birds
44. Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus
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From yesterday, the river keeps throwing up surprises!

Birds
45. Common Tern, Sterna hirundo
 
Dannelboyz said:
An excellent week of fieldwork in Gippsland got me quite a few additions. Particularly stoked about the Masked-Owl!

MAMMALS
24 - Sambar (Rusa unicolor)*
25 - Dingo (Canis familiaris)*
26 - Feral Cat (Felis catus)*

Note that I am using the term "Dingo" loosely to include dingo/feral dog hybrids, as virtually all dingoes in Gippsland are.

BIRDS
212 - Australian Masked-Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae)
213 - Eastern Cattle Egret (Bubulcus coromandus)
214 - Southern Emuwren (Stipiturus malachurus)
215 - Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus)
216 - Large-billed Scrubwren (Sericornis magnirostra)

AMPHIBIANS
3 - Pobblebonk (Limnodynastes dumerili)
--- Red-groined Froglet (Paracrinia haswelli) [heard]
4 - Southern Toadlet (Pseudophryne semimarmorata)
5 - Eastern Common Froglet (Crinia signifera)
6 - Southern Brown Tree Frog (Litoria ewingi)
7 - Blue Mountains Tree Frog (Litoria citropa)
8 - Leaf Green Tree Frog (Litoria nudidigita)
9 - Lesueur's Tree Frog (Litoria lesueuri)
10 - Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peroni)
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While walking today, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a Swift Parrot flying past about 1 km from home! Having only seen this species twice before, it was a super cool find.

BIRDS
217 - Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor)
 
A few more additions from my daily exercise walks - nothing you wouldn't expect for spring but very welcome nonetheless and keeps things ticking over nicely while bunkered down:

Birds:
143. Eurasian Blackcap - Sylvia atricapilla
144. Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
145. European House Martin - Delichon urbicum

Mammals:
17. Bank Vole - Myodes glareolus

And the invert list so far (full list going back to late Feb/early March - hence being able to identify the lacewing - only one species of green lacewing in the UK overwinters as an adult):

Invertebrates:
1. Tree Bumblebee - Bombus hypnorum
2. Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris
3. Common Green Lacewing - Chrysoperla carnea
4. Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae
5. Peacock - Aglais io
6. Small White - Pieris rapae
7. Orange Underwing - Archiearis parthenias
8. White-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lucorum
9. Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni
10. Orange-tip - Anthocharis cardamines
11. Red Lily Beetle - Lilioceris lilii
12. Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius
13. Common Carder-bee - Bombus pascuorum
14. Common Green Shieldbug - Palomena prasina
15. Garden Spider - Araneus diadematus

:)
 
Najade said:
Hedgehogs are awake, swallows are back and herps are about. Must be summer in the air^^

Mammals
12. European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)

Reptiles
01. Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta scripta)
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Mammals
13. Coypu (Myocastor coypus)

Birds
81. Garganey (Anas querquedula)
82. Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina)
83. Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
84. Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos)
 
One more migrant this morning:

Birds:
146. Willow Warbler - Phylloscopus trochilus

:)
 
birdsandbats said:
Birds
122. Carolina Wren Thryothorus ludovicianus
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Birds
123. Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla
124. Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
125. American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus
126. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
127. Yellow-headed Blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Herps
4. Northern Leopard Frog Lithobates pipiens
 
205 garganey
206 ruff
207 common redshank
208 ring ouzel
the trush was my second ever. the first on was during havy rarin and wind and was quite far awey this was much bether
 
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