ZooChat Big Year 2021

CheeseChameleon2007 said:
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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Opossums are regular enough in many places, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. My handful of possums have all been skittering across open spaces or off the road at night.
 
Great Argus said:
Opossums are regular enough in many places, you just have to be in the right place at the right time. My handful of possums have all been skittering across open spaces or off the road at night.
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Yeah, but you've seen everything lol. I've never seen any in the wild.
 
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I have quite the list:

Mammals
  1. Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)

  2. Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Birds

1. Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

:P
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
Yeah, but you've seen everything lol.
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When I was growing up, opossums were actually one of the few wild mammals I saw regularly; they had a bad habit of crossing roads at night - and by crossing I mean going halfway, stopping in the middle, and staring your car down until you got annoyed and drove around it. In some places they are dirt-common and can be seen many or most nights; in other places (like a lot of those I've lived since) they are very rarely seen.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
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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I've seen Opossums and Bats in my backyard, and I don't live in a particularly rural area.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
I just see squirrels, as you've probably noticed from my media gallery.
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There are a few things that can help you improve your mammal count:
  • Check out this website, you might be able to find "hotspots" near your home: Mammal Watching - Mammal Watching
  • Mammal watching is a night-time activity, you will get plenty of squirrels during the day but not much else.
  • Get yourself a high-power headlamp. This will help you pick up eyeshine, and is much easier than trying to hold a torch next to your head.
But at the end of the day, wildlife watching is a factor of time, the more time you spend the more you will see. And the more time you spend the more skilled you will become.
 
MRJ said:
Mammal watching is a night-time activity, you will get plenty of squirrels during the day but not much else
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I would argue this to be more dependent on where you live. I get deer and otter in broad daylight fairly regularly, among other things. I definitely get a lot more at night, but I can see a good handful during the day with a little effort.
 
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MRJ said:
But at the end of the day, wildlife watching is a factor of time, the more time you spend the more you will see. And the more time you spend the more skilled you will become.
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That depends on how much time you Have, School work has been piling up for me so going outside for longer periods of time at night is more of a weekend option, and even then theres quite a bit of work to do around the house.
Great Argus said:
I get deer and otter in broad daylight fairly regularly, among other things
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Oh come on! :rolleyes:
 
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birds
24. feral pigeon Columba livia
25. fieldfare Turdus pilaris
26. white tailed sea eagle Haliaeetus albicilla
mammals
3. european red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris
 
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I don't get out at night very much too look for mammals, and even when I do I don't have much luck, the only thing I ever manage to see are flying squirrels which are dirt common as long as you go out at night. Really the only mammals I see regularly in daylights are squirrels, chipmunks, deer, muskrats, cottontails, and Woodchucks.
 
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birdsandbats said:
Birds
19. White-breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
20. Hairy Woodpecker Dryobates villosus
21. Downy Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus
23. American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
24. Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor

Mammals
3. American Red Squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
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Mammals
4. Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus
 
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Finally I had the opportunity to go for this year's first real birding session. I scoured a large area of farmland not far form where I live, primarily to find swans. It didn't take long to find a flock of over a hundred individuals that contained all three native Dutch species, though sadly only a single Whooper Swan. I also saw the Hooded Crow that has been wintering the area this year, as well as enormous flocks of hundreds of wigeons, filling the air with their whistling. It was quite reminiscent of the "wader smoke" one sometimes sees in estuaries, but with ducks instead of waders.

Birds
16. European Greenfinch, Chloris chloris
17. Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus
18. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major
19. Eurasian Jay, Garrulus glandarius
20. Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus
21. Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
22. Mew Gull, Larus canus
23. Little Grebe, Tachybaptes ruficollis
24. Greylag Goose, Anser anser
25. Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea
26. Mute Swan, Cygnus olor
27. Bewick's Swan, Cygnus columbianus bewickii
28. Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus
29. Egyptian Goose, Alopochen aegyptiaca
30. White Wagtail, Motacilla alba
31. Stock Dove, Columba oenas
32. Rook, Corvus frugilegus
33. Barnacle Goose, Branta leucopsis
34. Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix
35. Peregrine, Falco peregrinus
36. Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
37. Great Egret, Ardea alba
38. Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula
39. Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
40. Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
41. Eurasian Wigeon, Mareca penelope
42. Eurasian Teal, Anas crecca
43. Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus
44. Gadwall, Mareca strepera
45. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
46. Common Coot, Fulica atra
47. Common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
 
birdsandbats said:
I don't get out at night very much too look for mammals, and even when I do I don't have much luck, the only thing I ever manage to see are flying squirrels which are dirt common as long as you go out at night. Really the only mammals I see regularly in daylights are squirrels, chipmunks, deer, muskrats, cottontails, and Woodchucks.
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Pretty much the same for me, but I have never seen a flying squirrel.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
That depends on how much time you Have, School work has been piling up for me so going outside for longer periods of time at night is more of a weekend option, and even then theres quite a bit of work to do around the house.
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Yep, life will always get in the way. That is why it is always important to take what time you have available for the things you enjoy, believe me
 
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