ZooChat Big Year 2020

Were you at Steart Marshes in Somerset? That is the only known( and well-publicised) breeding location for BW Stilt in UK this year.
Yes, I was. It's a very good reserve, though I think from experience it's better to see all the areas at different days, and always at dusk.
 
Had three days in southern France around Le Val. We didn't go too hard, but still managed a nice list.
There might be some more birds (gulls/terns), but I wanna double check and wait for the pelagic report before adding them.

(Also decided to count the Fallow Deer from my visit to Brachter Wald back in June)

Mammals
15. Fallow Deer (Dama dama)
16. European Badger (Meles meles)
17. Long-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala melas)
18. Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus)

19. Black Rat (Rattus rattus)
20. Edible Dormouse (Glis glis)
21. Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis)


Birds
106. Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus)
107. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)
108. Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
109. Scopoli's Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea)
110. Yelkouan Shearwater (Puffinus yelkouan)
111. European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
112. European Serin(Serinus serinus)
113. Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus)
114. Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba)
115. Eurasian Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris)
116. Western Orphean Warbler (Curruca hortensis)

Reptiles
02. Common Wall Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica)
03. Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)
04. Viperine Snake (Natrix maura)

Amphibians
06. Marsh Frog (Pelophylax ridibundus)

Quick day-trip to the Eifel

Mammals
22. Red Deer (Cervus elaphus)
23. Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber)

Birds
117. Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
118. Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
119. Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)
120. European Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)
121. Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
122. Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
123. Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
 
Gordon Rolfe Reserve

315. Little pied cormorant Microcarbo melanoleucos
 
Probably the rarest bird I've ever seen, 4th ever for Europe... Still shaking! Unfortunately no real pictures because of the distance, but what a bird!

BIRDS:
240) Oriental plover, Charadrius veredus

INVERTS:

105) Gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar
106) Japanese froghopper, Orientus ishidae

A much-anticipated lifer passerine for me hung out on one of the fields close to my house today!

BIRDS:
241) Tawny pipit, Anthus campestris

INVERTS:
107) Common grass-veneer, Agriphila tristella

108) Box tree moth, Cydalima perspectalis
109) Hummingbird hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum
 
Went to Souss-Massa National Park yesterday, hoping to pick up a few early fall additions but sadly arrived there too late when the sun was too hot for there to be much bird activity.

There were still nonetheless quite some waders, as is usual in said place, as well as many passerines (of which a few were heard-only), which means I've been able to pick up 40 species there.

Seemingly none of those seemed to be additions for my year list from first sight but some of the sandpipers seen were seemingly quite small and their giss was quite particular in the terrain and certainly enough while looking at pictures back home, they happened to be Little stints!

It's only the third time I ever see Little stint (even if it's not a rare bird at all here, I just don't seem to find them much compared to the other common sandpipers we get) and the first time I see them in this region so I'm happy with this sole addition:

14/08/2020 (Embouchure de l'Oued Massa, Morocco)
BIRDS:
133 - Little stint, Calidris minuta

Wow, what a day!

On the 20th, I went back to Souss-Massa National Park but this time to les Champs d'Aghorimze, which are fields of mainly alfalfa and corn manually cultured surrounding the Massa river. I wasn't hoping for much but some key species that are common there and that I've been missing (like Cetti's warbler) as well as getting some fall migrants for my yearlist were my main goal.

Well, that goal was more than completed!

20/08/2020 (Champs d'Aghorimze, Morocco)
BIRDS:
134 - Cetti's warbler, Cettia cetti
135 - Common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus
136 - Great spotted cuckoo, Clamator glandarius
137 - Lesser kestrel, Falco naumanni

Looks like it was a "peak migration" day because fields were swarming with birds, hundreds or dozens of individuals of most common species (barn swallows, thekla's lark, olivaceous warblers and so on) and a total of 41 species seen.

The highlights of the day were no less than 15 Cetti's warbler (although most heard-only), a really nice lifer, 3 Common cuckoo which means I've now seen both native cuckoo species in Morocco, 6 Great spotted cuckoo (second time I see them in my life) and a lone Lesser kestrel.
 
17/8/2020
166. Regent parrot
167. Chestnut-rumped thornbill
I spent a week in Euston at the New South Wales/Victorian border checkpoint. Although it wasn't a lifer I got my best ever views of Regent parrots. Stunning parrots.
 
Birds
239. Variegated Fairy-Wren
240. Spotted Quail-thrush
241. Glossy Black Cockatoo
242. Collared Sparrowhawk
243. Wonga Pigeon

:p

Hix

Birds
244. Noisy Friarbird
245. Australasian Gannet
246. Tawny-crowned Honeyeater
247. Topknot Pigeon
248. Chestnut Teal
249. Large-billed Scrubwren

Mammals
16. Australian Fur Seal

:p

Hix
 
BIRDS:
221 Violet-green Swallow - Tachycineta thalassina
222 Trumpeter Swan - Cygnus buccinator
223 Pacific Loon - Gavia pacifica
224 Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus
225 American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus
226 Canada Jay - Perisoreus canadensis

227 Brewer's Sparrow - Spizella breweri
228 Lark Bunting - Calamospiza melanocorys
229 Clark's Nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana
230 Mountain Bluebird - Sialia currucoides
231 Sage Thrasher - Oreoscoptes montanus
232 White Ibis - Eudocimus albus

MAMMALS:
17 - Elk
18 - American Bison
19 - Grizzly Bear

20 - Desert Cottontail - Sylvilagus audubonii
 
Gordon Rolfe Reserve

316. Red-browed finch Neochmia temporalis
 
This post is not what it should have been. Up until at least February I had the expectation that my post here in late August would be filled with avifauna virtually unknown to me: fairy-wrens and currawongs and honeyeaters. Since the end of 2018 I had been planning to travel to Australia this year to study Zebra Finches in the wild. But alas, it was not meant to be. All things considered I am still in a very good position given the current epidemic, but it was, to say the least, a major let-down.

I also had plans to go the island of Texel this year. After several years of visiting Texel in late summer or autumn, I had dreamed about seeing this island in its full glory in spring. I spend far too many hours daydreaming about listening to singing nightingales, watching the various species of tern nesting, or simply enjoying the mating displays of the godwits. But it was also not to be. Luckely, that trip was a bit easier to compensate. So I went (again) on a 6-day birding road-trip to the north of the Netherlands with a good friend, and Texel was a major part of it. Like always, the flocks of waterfowl and waders were overwhelming, and despite songbirds being unusually hard to find, we had many great moments.

We listened to the morning calls of cranes at the edge of the peat bogs; observed eagles soar over endless reedbeds; watched enormous flocks of terns collect on the sandbanks; and spied rails foraging around at dusk. But especially memorable where the large flocks of eiders congregating on the Waddenzee to moult. Among them was a very special individual, one with a bright orange knob. A male King Eider. After having ruled the very top position of my wish list for years, I finally saw one. Yet, because it was in full eclipse plumage it was not what I had hoped to see. Instead of the gorgeous black duck with a blue head, green cheeks and peach-coloured neck, I saw what was basically a slightly darker regular eider with an orange knob. I have seen one, so I shouldn’t - no, I can't! - complain, but it doesn’t feel entirely right. Much like the rest of the trip, I suppose.


Birds
208. Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus
209. Gull-billed Tern, Gelochelidon nilotica
210. Sandwich Tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
211. King Eider, Somateria spectabilis
212. Bar-tailed Godwit. Limosa lapponica
213. Red Knot, Calidris canutus
214. Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea
215. Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus
216. Red Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra
217. Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus
218. Spotted Redshank, Tringa erythropus
219. European Turtle Dove, Streptopelia turtur
220. Caspian Tern, Hydroprogne caspia
221. Temminck’s Sandpiper, Calidris temminckii
222. Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus
223. Common Crane, Grus grus
224. Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus


The inverts will follow later, I still have a few to ID.
 
Had a bit of free time today so decided now was a good time to list my wild animal totals so far this year. I'm not a super avid or experienced birder so my bird list is fairly small, but I'm happy with my mammal list. Most species were just seen around my local area, although a few were seen further afield (it's not very hard to guess which:D)

Birds:
  1. Common Pigeon, Columba livia
  2. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
  3. Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea
  4. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
  5. Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
  6. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
  7. Mute Swan, Cygnus olor
  8. Red-Necked Grebe, Podiceps grisegena
  9. Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata
  10. American Robin, Turdus migratorius
  11. Great Egret, Ardea alba
  12. Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
  13. Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
  14. Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus
  15. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
  16. Black-Capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus
  17. Ring-Billed Gull, Larus delawarensis
  18. Herring Gull, Larus smithsonianus
  19. Common Grackle, Quiscalus quiscula
  20. Common Raven, Corvus corax
  21. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus
  22. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
  23. Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus
  24. Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
  25. Cooper’s Hawk, Accipiter cooperii
  26. Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula
  27. Wood Duck, Aix sponsa
  28. Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus
  29. Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
  30. Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus
  31. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
  32. Common Loon, Gavia immer
  33. Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo
  34. Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus
  35. American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis
  36. Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
Mammals:
  1. American Red Squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
  2. Eastern Grey Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis
  3. Eastern Chipmunk, Tamias striatus
  4. Northern Raccoon, Procyon lotor
  5. Virginia Opossum, Didelphis virginiana
  6. Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis
  7. Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus
  8. Eastern Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus
  9. Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus
  10. Brown Rat, Rattus norvegicus
  11. House Mouse, Mus musculus
  12. Groundhog, Marmota monax
  13. Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes
  14. White-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus
  15. American Mink, Neovison vison
  16. Beluga Whale, Delphinapterus leucas
  17. Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae
  18. Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus
  19. Common Minke Whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata
  20. Grey Seal, Halichoerus grypus
  21. Harbour Seal, Phoca vitulina
Herptiles:
  1. Northern Leopard Frog, Lithobates pipiens
  2. Red-Eared Slider Turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans
  3. Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis
  4. American Toad, Anaxyrus americanus
 
Birds
233. Common Nighthawk Chordeiles minor
234. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Empidonax flaviventris
I'm removing the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, after looking into it a bit more I believe it was misidentified. But I stay ate the same number because:

Birds
234. White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis
 
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Mammals

3. Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

4. Wild Boar, Sus scrofa

Birds

33. Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea

Fish

20. Mediterranean Moray, Muraena helena

21. Gilt-head Seabream, Sparus aurata
 
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