ZooChat Big Year 2020
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
Dannelboyz
Well-Known Member
MAMMALS
27 - House Mouse (Mus musculus)*
Bislicher Insel
Birds
85. Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
86. Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
87. Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
88. White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
89. Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin)
Also found a couple tiny dark shrews but didn't get a good enough look to be sure of the ID. Will see if I can get back there sometime. Hoping for them to be Pygmy Shrews since the range of Common Shrew and Crowned Shrew overlap here so I wouldn't be able to make the call if it was one of the latter.
I keep finding shrews in lots of places but IDing them is f*** frustrating (worse than dasyurids).
A few more migrants to add from walks from home out into the fields around this side of town. Where I saw the pipit was a place I'd not been before, despite the proximity - looks a good spot for a few summer breeding birds so will keep an eye on it.
Birds:
147. Common Whitethroat - Sylvia communis
148. Eurasian Hobby - Falco subbuteo
149. Tree Pipit - Anthus trivialis
Fishes:
2. Rudd - Scardinius erythropthalmus
Invertebrates:
16. Comma - Polygonia c-album
17. Speckled Wood - Pararge aegeria
18. Holly Blue - Celastrina argiolus
19. Green-veined White - Pieris napi
Tantalisingly close to hitting 150 birds in April despite lockdown - come on, swifts!
(actually, I have also heard a cuckoo, so if I need to console myself I can at least say I've encountered 150 species)
Birds:
147. Common Whitethroat - Sylvia communis
148. Eurasian Hobby - Falco subbuteo
149. Tree Pipit - Anthus trivialis
Fishes:
2. Rudd - Scardinius erythropthalmus
Invertebrates:
16. Comma - Polygonia c-album
17. Speckled Wood - Pararge aegeria
18. Holly Blue - Celastrina argiolus
19. Green-veined White - Pieris napi
Tantalisingly close to hitting 150 birds in April despite lockdown - come on, swifts!
(actually, I have also heard a cuckoo, so if I need to console myself I can at least say I've encountered 150 species)
Birds
139. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
birds
217. common tern Sterna hirundo
217. common tern Sterna hirundo
Birds
96. Little Friarbird Philemon citreogularis
Sometimes there are these days where every bird you would want to see there, shows itself well and you get some goodies too. Such days aren't very common
, sightings are from a small wetland next to the Dutch coast:139. Mediterranean Gull
140. Little Gull
141. Little Tern
142. Ruddy Shellduck
143. Lesser Whitethroat
144. Peregrine Falcon
145. Grey Plover
On the way back home we decided to stop at a small reed-fringed wetland to look for 2 birds I have never seen: Savi's Warbler and Cetti's Warbler. Though the Cetti's Warbler was heard multiple times, non seen, but the other warbler wasn't singing. We did pick up two other birds though
146. Bearded Reedling
147. Common Tern
And when arriving home we noticed an owl sitting in a conifer around the corner.
148. Long-eared Owl
Highlight of the past days was however a mammal, we saw really well, only the second time I see one in the Netherlands:
Mammals
11. Stoat
Invertebrates
19. Orange-tip
I heard a Yellow Rail today for the first time yesterday, I didn't see it of course. For those who aren't aware of this species, it one of the world's most secretive birds. It is rarely even heard, the species has no reliable locations, and many birders try for years to see this species with no success. My quest to do so has begun.
What's the opposite of tempting fate?
No swifts yet, but walking back from the supermarket along the side of the local lake this evening (in the rain) I caught a loud song from a nearby bush and on turning to the left suddenly found myself eye to eye with number 150!
Birds:
150. Lesser Whitethroat - Sylvia curruca
Invertebrates:
20. Garden Snail - Cornu aspersum
Forgot one from a couple of days ago:
Birds
140. Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus
150. Lesser Whitethroat - Sylvia curruca
They seem extraordinarily hard to actually see- a lot more difficult than Common Whitethroat IMO. I've heard singing males, with that Chaffinch-like trill they have, several times already this year- on the South Coast- and yesterday one actually showed itself for me- rather briefly of course. They seem very site faithful too, found in the same few yards of hedgerow each year.
Yes, they're much harder to see than Common as a rule. Last year I didn't see one in the UK at all.
This one was a total (but very welcome) fluke!
The one I saw yesterday was the first one I've actually seen for a long time. You can always track them by the song, but if you then approach they usually fall silent and quietly disappear...
Birds
141. Broad-winged Hawk Buteo platypterus
142. Palm Warbler Setophaga palmarum
143. Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia
144. Veery Catharus fuscescens
145. House Wren Troglodytes aedon
Mammals
12. Bobcat Lynx rufus
13. Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
Since everyone was talking about the thing I decided to go and get Cetti's Warbler too^^
Urdenbacher Kämpe
Birds
90. Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)
91. Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti)
92. Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)
93. Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
94. Common Swift (Apus apus)
95. Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
96. Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
97. Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
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Perfect conditions for migration today! Note that the last bird on the list was seen in my yard, the most exiting yard sighting to date:
Birds
146. Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
147. Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
148. Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
149. Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
150. Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia
151. Great Crested Flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus
152. Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius
153. Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons
154. Least Flycatcher Empidonax minimus
155. Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
156. Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula
157. Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustulatus
158. Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens
159. Northern Parula Setophaga americana
160. Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas
161. Nashville Warbler Leiothlypis ruficapilla
162. American Redstart Setophaga ruticilla
163. Northern Waterthrush Parkesia noveboracensis
164. Orange-crowned Warbler Leiothlypis celata
165. Orchard Oriole Icterus spurius