ZooChat Big Year 2020

A nice walk at banyule flats yielded a lifer and a year bird.

91. Pied Cormorant
92. Australian Reed Warbler

I also got close up views of species that I normally only get a distant glimpse of like Pink Eared ducks and Australasian grebes.

I should be heading out to go fishing in the next couple days (on a boat) so I will most likely see some sea birds and increase my fish total.
 
I finally managed to see some Riflemen at Zealandia today (a pair of them). The North Island subspecies seems to spend all its time in the canopy where they are very difficult to find (they are only about the size of a golf ball) whereas South Island birds commonly search for insects on tree trunks like a treecreeper or sitella and are much easier to see.


59) Rifleman Acanthisitta chloris
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ
Chlidonias said:
I finally managed to see some Riflemen at Zealandia today (a pair of them). The North Island subspecies seems to spend all its time in the canopy where they are very difficult to find (they are only about the size of a golf ball) whereas South Island birds commonly search for insects on tree trunks like a treecreeper or sitella and are much easier to see.


59) Rifleman Acanthisitta chloris
Click to expand...
i saw one at Mt Bruce, in a tree about 8 metres up. Tiny. I was walking down the path and there it was right in front of me. Didn't realise they were so hard to see.
 
MRJ said:
i saw one at Mt Bruce, in a tree about 8 metres up. Tiny. I was walking down the path and there it was right in front of me. Didn't realise they were so hard to see.
Click to expand...
It might be the case that they are difficult to find when looking specifically for them (that generally seems to be the way with birds). However I don't have trouble finding South Island Riflemen when I go to where they are found, so I think the difference is probably real.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ
Spring keeps on giving! Yesterday night I spent a few hours trying in a nearby marsh to listen for a corn crake that has been singing there, and with success! Heard-only so I won't count it here, but definitely a great experience that completes my set of rails in the Benelux.

This morning I woke up early to go a bit further, to a vagrant black-winged kite that was found yesterday! Immediately upon arrival I found it hovering in the air, catching a vole of some sort and eating it, and the 2 hours after that were spent looking at this amazing bird from up close. This is the first time I see one in Europe, but I have seen them in South Africa and in Vietnam. Good birding these days, can't wait for what the next few weeks will bring!

BIRDS:
194) Black-winged kite, Elanus caeruleus
 
Vision said:
Not yet, unfortunately, though that's definitely a big goal of mine! They only really pass through my area as far as I know, so I sadly don't see them as often as I'd want to.
Click to expand...

Its not easy to see. When they first arrive on the breeding grounds about now is one of the best times. I visited breeding places here in England for many years before I finally saw one displaying with the wingclapping. I've since seen the lower level display over the forest canopy a few times now. One year I saw a really high intensity display, the bird went high up until it was just a speck in the sky, then commenced soaring and wing-clapping with big dives in between- I counted at least forty series of 'steps' and wingclaps. Perhaps still trying to attract a mate maybe rather than advertising its territory. I last saw the lower level display again in the South of France a couple of years ago.
 
Up early this morning to get round Padley Gorge while it was quiet, and this was well-rewarded:

Birds:
163. Common Redstart - Phoenicurus phoenicurus
164. European Pied Flycatcher - Ficedula hypoleuca
165. Spotted Flycatcher - Muscicapa striata
166. Wood Warbler - Phylloscopus sibilatrix

:)
 
And ended up on an afternoon excursion as I couldn't pass up a very showy lifer in north Notts:

Birds:
167. Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Calidris subruficollis

:)
 
At Moonlit today

Reptiles

17. Eastern long-necked turtle Chelodina longicollis
 
Dannelboyz said:
From between Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance :)

BIRDS
225 - Little Eagle (Hieraaetus morphnoides)
226 - Black-faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscescens)
Click to expand...
Stockyard Point today :)

BIRDS
227 - Australian Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon macrotarsa)
228 - Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon nilotica)
229 - Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus)
230 - Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus)
 
An unexpected bird to see on a local pond near the end of May! Molting to summer plumage, as well, which makes this the closest I've come to seeing a breeding plumage loon of any species.

BIRDS:
195) Black-throated loon, Gavia arctica
 
Given our new freedom to travel, we went out to Long Forest on the other side of Melbourne this morning. This is the closest patch of Mallee to Melbourne.

Birds

297. White-plumed honeyeater Ptilotula penicillata
298, Striated pardalote Pardalotus striatus
299. Yellow thornbill Acanthiza nana
300. Grey currawong Strepera versicolor
301. White-winged chough Corcorax melanorhamphos
 
Vision said:
An unexpected bird to see on a local pond near the end of May! Molting to summer plumage, as well, which makes this the closest I've come to seeing a breeding plumage loon of any species.

BIRDS:
195) Black-throated loon, Gavia arctica
Click to expand...

They are fabulous in breeding plumage. I have seen all three species(RT,BT& GN) in Scotland but IMO Black-throated is the most stunning. I get them in winter occassionally near me- such a dull-looking bird then by contrast.
 
A day out fishing produced some excellent wildlife results. Note: not all fish were caught, some such as the stingaree and the flathead were seen from the boat.


Mammals

8. Common Dolphin


Birds

93. Kelp Gull
94. Australian Pelican
95 Little Black Cormorant
96. Australian Little Penguin
97. Australasian Gannet
98, Black Faced Cormorant
99. Pacific Gull
100. Southern Giant Petrel
101. Great Cormorant
102. Fairy Tern
103. Intermediate Egret

fish

7. King George Whiting
8. Little Weed Whiting
9. Snapper
10. Sparsely Spotted Stingaree
11. Southern Sand Flathead
12. Smooth Toadfish
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top