ZooChat Big Year 2021

birdsandbats said:
Are you sure? These should all be long gone from Minnesota until May.
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Indeed; according to eBird the only two wrens that should be around in Minnesota during the winter are Carolina Wren and Winter Wren.

Dhole dude said:
Fairly certain it was one. It also may have been a house wren or maybe an American robin.
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A House Wren is what you already said it was. American Robin is a completely different size, shape, and color, so if you're not sure between those two I don't see how you can be "fairly certain" that it was a House Wren.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Indeed; according to eBird the only two wrens that should be around in Minnesota during the winter are Carolina Wren and Winter Wren.



A House Wren is what you already said it was. American Robin is a completely different size, shape, and color, so if you're not sure between those two I don't see how you can be "fairly certain" that it was a House Wren.
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I ment i was sure it was a black-capped chickadee. And from a distance it sort of looked like an American Robin.
 
Today I saw another Pileated woodpecker, (yay), but sadly didn't get a picture like usual. One of these days...
Anyway, Today I did finally see,
13. Northern cardinal
14. Mourning dove.
 
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d1am0ndback said:
Just some local birding.

Birds

1. House Sparrow - Passer domesticus
2. Brown Thrasher – Toxostoma rufum
3. Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
4. Yellow-rumped Warbler - Setophaga coronata
5. Orange-crowned Warbler - Leiothlypis celata
6. Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus
7. White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis
8. Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
9. American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
10. Pine Siskin - Spinus pinus
11. American Pipit - Anthus rubescens
12. Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum
13. Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
14. Brown Creeper - Certhia americana
15. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula
16. Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa
17. Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis
18. American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos
19. Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata
20. Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus
21. Hairy Woodpecker - Dryobates villosus
22. Downy Woodpecker - Dryobates pubescens
23. Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus
24. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus varius
25. Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis
26. Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
27. Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus
28. Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus
29. Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis
30. White-winged Dove - Zenaida asiatica
31. Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps
32. Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
33. American Kestrel - Falco sparverius
34. Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
35. European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris

Herptiles

1. Green Anole - Anolis carolinensis

Mammals

1. Brown Rat - Rattus norvegicus
2. House Mouse - Mus musculus
3. Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger
4. Hispid Cotton Rat - Sigmodon hispidus
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Did some more local birding, highlights including a local rarity Purple Finch, and two difficult to find for the area LeConte's Sparrows. A surprise was an Evening Bat flying around in the daylight, a lifer for me.

Birds

36. Great-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus mexicanus
37. Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza lincolnii
38. Fox Sparrow - Passerella iliaca
39. Purple Finch - Haemorhous purpureus
40. Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos
41. Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe
42. American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
43. Neotropic Cormorant - Phalacrocorax brasilianus
44. Herring Gull - Larus argentatus
45. American Coot - Fulica americana
46. Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola
47. Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis
48. Northern Pintail - Anas acuta
49. Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
50. Northern Shoveler - Spatula clypeata
51. LeConte's Sparrow - Ammospiza leconteii

Herptiles

2. Red-eared Slider - Trachemys scripta

Mammals

5. Evening Bat - Nycticeius humeralis


 
Yesterday I Saw

Birds:
1.Northern Cardinal
2.Sharp-shinned Hawk
3.Blue Jay
4.Song Sparrow
5.Canada Goose
6.American Robin
7.Mallard
8.American Black Duck

Mammals:
1.Red Fox
2.White-tailed Deer
3.Eastern Gray Squirrel
 
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DesertRhino150 said:
Managed a couple of local walks today; unfortunately my main walking route down to the river was completely flooded, so there are some fairly obvious species I failed to find:

1. Eurasian magpie Pica pica
2. Common woodpigeon Columba palumbus
3. European blackbird Turdus merula
4. Mistle thrush Turdus viscivorus
5. Black-headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
6. Dunnock Prunella modularis
7. Eurasian blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus
8. Long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus
9. House sparrow Passer domesticus
10. Great tit Parus major
11. European robin Erithacus rubecula
12. Goldcrest Regulus regulus
13. Great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major
14. Eurasian wren Troglodytes troglodytes
15. Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
16. European green woodpecker Picus viridis
17. Eurasian sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
18. Carrion crow Corvus corone
19. Common buzzard Buteo buteo
20. Northern lapwing Vanellus vanellus (NT)
21. Eurasian jay Garrulus glandarius
22. Pied wagtail Motacilla alba yarrelli
23. Meadow pipit Anthus pratensis (NT)
24. Song thrush Turdus philomelos
25. Ring-necked pheasant Phasianus colchicus
26. Common starling Sturnus vulgaris
27. European golden plover Pluvialis apricaria
28. Stock dove Columba oenas
29. Common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs
30. Redwing Turdus iliacus (NT)
31. Grey wagtail Motacilla cinerea

1. European brown hare Lepus europaeus
2. European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (En)

Unfortunately, birding will have to take a backseat until late February (when my dissertation is due to be handed in) so any additions until then will be incidental sightings from my window.
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Over the past three days, I have seen two new birds from my bedroom window. The first was a flyover species while the second was seen feeding in the floodwater in the field behind my house. It was the first one I have seen locally, so definitely a highlight of the year so far.

32. Grey heron Ardea cinerea
33. Green sandpiper Tringa ochropus
 
Vision said:
BIRDS:
1) Canada goose, Branta canadensis
2) Carrion crow, Corvus corone
3) Common buzzard, Buteo buteo
4) Common wood pigeon, Columba palumbus
5) Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
6) House sparrow, Passer domesticus
7) Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
8) Common starling, Sturnus vulgaris
9) European herring gull, Larus argentatus
10) Redwing, Turdus iliacus
11) Great black-backed gull, Larus marinus
12) Eurasian magpie, Pica pica
13) European robin, Erithacus rubecula
14) Eurasian wren, Troglodytes troglodytes
15) Common blackbird, Turdus merula
16) Eurasian collared dove, Streptopelia decaocto
17) Great tit, Parus major
18) Western jackdaw, Coloeus monedula
19) Common chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
20) Greater white-fronted goose, Anser albifrons
21) Grey heron, Ardea cinerea
22) Grey partridge, Perdix perdix
23) Pink-footed goose, Anser brachyrhynchus
24) Common kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
25) Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus
26) Song thrush, Turdus philomelos
27) Rock dove, Columba livia
28) Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres
29) Great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
30) Eurasian coot, Fulica atra
31) Eurasian oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus
32) Dunlin, Calidris alpina
33) Red knot, Calidris canutus
34) Northern gannet, Morus bassanus
35) Common kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
36) Purple sandpiper, Calidris maritima
37) Little grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis
38) Common goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
39) Red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator
40) Great crested grebe, Podiceps cristatus
41) Northern lapwing, Vanellus vanellus
42) Egyptian goose, Alopochen aegyptiaca
43) Eurasian wigeon, Mareca penelope
44) Mediterranean gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
45) Common gull, Larus canus
46) Horned grebe, Podiceps auritus
47) Red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius
48) Greylag goose, Anser anser
49) Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis
50) Black-throated loon, Gavia arctica
51) Common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
52) Common chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita
53) European goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis
54) Dusky warbler, Phylloscopus fuscatus
55) Eurasian blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus
56) Sanderling, Calidris alba
57) Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
58) Snow bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis

Heard only:
0) European green woodpecker, Picus viridis
0) European rock pipit, Anthus petrosus
0) Great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major
0) European greenfinch, Chloris chloris
0) Dunnock, Prunella modularis
0) Long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus

INVERTS:
1) Two-spot ladybug, Adalia bipunctata
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Vision said:
BIRDS:
65) Dunnock, Prunella modularis
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I haven't had a lot of time to write a short text with my posts much, but I feel like my Jan 1st list was weird enough to probably warrant more information! Instead of heading to the local marshes and flooded grasslands in my area like the past 3 years on the first of January, I decided to head to the coast for a trio of nice lingering seabirds (Long-tailed duck, Horned grebe, Black-throated loon) and an overwintering Dusky warbler, an Asian passerine that is becoming less and less rare the past few years (still definitely a good rarity though!), and a nice group of Snow buntings. I had already made those plans when on the 31st of December, a Hooded crow (annual vagrant here, 1-2 winter in Belgium each year) got reported not too far away from all of those good birds.
I ended up dipping the crow, but got all the rest, plus an amazingly closeby Red phalarope found by someone while I was there, that gave incredible views. Unfortunately the crow dip meant that I lost about 2-3 hours of daylight, meaning my day total was only 58(+6) (compared to 70+2 last year) and that this is the first year since 2016 that I didn't increase my Jan 1st total. However, I believe this year's start will prove to be worth much more, given that I saw a good amount of rarities!

Today (on the 4th) I went to the coast again, for something of a much much higher magnitude than all of the birds I mentioned before... On the evening before, a Thick-billed murre had been found in the Netherlands! The eleventh Dutch record, but only 4 of those were found alive and only 2 of those (including this bird) were twitchable. It gave very satisfying views, and because the opportunity of a day list with two vagrant Alcids showed itself I put in an attempt to try see a Black guillemot as well. No luck there, but did get the 3 native loon species together plus a bonus Razorbill, and a wintering group of Sandwich terns that I didn't know existed. Fantastic birding this winter!

BIRDS:
66) Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris
67) Great egret, Ardea alba
68) Tufted duck, Aythya fuligula
69) Mute swan, Cygnus olor
70) Stock dove, Columba oenas
71) Thick-billed murre, Uria lomvia
72) Black-necked grebe, Podiceps nigricollis
73) Gadwall, Mareca strepera
74) Common shelduck, Tadorna tadorna
75) Little egret, Egretta garzetta
76) Common loon, Gavia immer
77) Greater scaup, Aythya marila
78) Brant goose, Branta bernicla
79) Barnacle goose, Branta leucopsis
80) Eurasian teal, Anas crecca
81) Tundra bean goose, Anser serrirostris
82) Common pheasant, Phasianus colchicus
83) Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata
84) Common redshank, Tringa totanus
85) Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
86) Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola
87) Razorbill, Alca torda
88) Red-throated loon, Gavia stellata
89) European golden plover, Pluvialis apricaria

(+4 heard only)

MAMMALS:
1) Harbour seal, Phoca vitulina
 
Noah Butas said:
Well whenever there’s water, there’s life
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Very true, but can you describe the details? Thats a super cool experience to see those two animals in the wild. Did you wait long? Take any pictures? Where were the animals hanging out?
 
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