ZooChat Big Year 2021

from todays dog waking with one big suprise
birds
18 european green finch
19 eurasian hawkfinch
mammals
1 brown rat (Rattus norvegicus)
2 gray seal (Halichoerus grypus)
the seal was a suprise i barly se them yearly in my local area. i also thick this is the first time ever my frist mammal in sweaden was not a red squirrel
 
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You have the squirrel numbered as 5, but then say mammals are at 4, but you appear to have only listed two mammals previously.

If your numbers aren't kept straight you won't be included in the overall tallies.
Oh, So sorrry! I was confusing it with birds!
Mammals, 3.
Just a mistake! I hope all is forgiven!!
 
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Birds
1. Common Pigeon Columba livia
2. Black Kite Milvus migrans
3. Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
4. Purple-rumped Sunbird Leptocoma zeylanica

Mammals
1. Indian Flying-fox Pteropus medius

... and could everybody please put in scientific names? They’re a short Google away!
 
01/01/21 ('S Hertogenbosch, Noord Brabant)
BIRDS:
1) Greylag Goose, Anser anser
2) Mute Swan, Cygnus olor
3) Common Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna
4) Northern Shoveler, Spatula clypeata
5) Gadwall, Mareca strepera
6) Eurasian Wigeon, Mareca penelope
7) Mallard , Anas platyrhynchos
8) Northern Pintail, Anas acuta
9) Common Pochard, Aythya ferina
10) Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula
11) Velvet Scoter, Melanitta fusca
12) Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula
13) Smew, Mergellus albellus
14) Stock Dove, Columba oenas
15) Common Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus
16) Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto
17) Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra
18) Little Grebe. Tachybaptus ruficollis
19) Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus
20) Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
21) European Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
22) Caspian Gull, Larus cachinnans
23) Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
24) Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea
25) Northern Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis
26) Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo
27) Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
28) Common Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
29) Eurasian Jay, Garrulus glandarius
30) Eurasian Magpie, Pica pica
31) Western Jackdaw, Coloeus monedula
32) Carrion Crow, Corvus corone
33) Eurasian Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus
34) Great Tit, Parus major
35) Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus
36) Common Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita
37) Goldcrest, Regulus regulus
38) Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
39) Common Blackbird, Turdus merula
40) Song Thrush, Turdus philomelos
41) European Robin, Erithacus rubecula
42) House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
43) Common Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
 
01/02/21 (Strabrechtse Heide, Noord-Brabant)
BIRDS:
44) Canada goose, Branta canadensis
45) Feral pigeon, Columba livia
46) Great egret, Ardea alba
47) Great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major
48) Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus
49) White wagtail, Motacilla alba
51) Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
52) Eurasian skylark, Alauda arvensis
53) Eurasian nuthatch, Sitta europaea
54) Coal tit, Periparus ater
55) Crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus
 
Happy new year everyone!

Birds:
1. Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
2. Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)
3. Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis)
4. Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis)
5. Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)
6. White Headed Pigeon (Columba leucomela)
7. Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus)
8. Scaly Breasted Lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus)
9. Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
10. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus funereus)
11. Figbird (Sphecotheres vieilloti)
12. Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata)
13. Torresian Kingfisher (Todiramphus sordidus)
14. Red-backed Fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus)
15. Masked Plover (Vanellus miles)
16. Peewee (Grallina cyanoleuca)
17. Great Egret (Ardea alba)
18. Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
19. Lewin’s Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii)
20. Pied Comorant (Phalacrocorax varius)

Reptiles:
1. Eastern Water Skink (Eulamprus quoyii)
Birds:
21. Torresian Crow (Corvus orru)
22. Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
23. White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus)
24. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
25. Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
26. Australian Magpie (Cracticus tibicen)
27. Feral Pigeon (Columba livia)

Reptiles:
2. Asian House Gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus)

Fish:
1. Mosquito Fish (Gambusia affinis)
 
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Mostly an at-home-trying-to-get-things-done day today, but a lunchtime stroll around my regular loop across the park and along the river did produce one nice addition:

Birds:
60. Common Kingfisher - Alcedo atthis

:)
 
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Alright, a walk this morning got me some nice Surprises.

Birds:
5. European Starling, (photos will be uploaded later today)
6. Downy Woodpecker, (photos will be uploaded later today)
7. Red-bellied Woodpecker, (Sadly, No photos).

And I guess this Doesn't Count, but I heard a Call of a Red-Tailed Hawk, (Checked back home to see If I was right, and I was).
Current score,
Birds: 7.
Mammals, 3.
 
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I spent most of the day in a car back from a trip I will talk about in the Big Year 2020 thread soon, so my count is a bit lower than it usually is at this time. This is by far the coolest first bird of the year I've ever had though. It's a shame that is was run over by a car about half a second after I saw it - by the vehicle I was in. Well camouflaged birds shouldn't sit in the middle of the road before sunrise on a street the same color as them in the middle of Duluth!

Birds
1. Ruffed Grouse Bonasa umbellus
2. Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapillus
3. Rock Pigeon Columba livia
4. Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
5. Herring Gull Larus argentatus
6. Northern Shrike Lanius borealis
7. Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
8. Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
9. Common Raven Corvus corax
10. American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
11. Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
12. Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata
13. Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo
14. Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
15. Canada Goose Branta canadensis
16. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
17. European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
18. Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

Mammals
1. Eastern Gray Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis
2. White-tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus
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
 
Garganey are migratory and will all be in Africa now....

Oh I'll have to look at my photos again. I've probably Id'd it wrong. I'm sure about the rest apart from perhaps the Mew gull because I'm not very good at juvenile gulls...

Edit: Yes I think it was a female Gadwall. Thanks for pointing that out :), still clearly haven't improved in the identification field :D
 
Very slow start of the year for me, as I had to work on the first and the second. However, I work outside so I still saw a handful of really common species and a surprise Green Woodpecker!

Birds
01 Common Blackbird, Turdus merula
02. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
03. Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo
04. Carrion Crow, Corvus corone
05. Common Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus
06. Western Jackdaw, Coloeus monedula
07. Eurasian Magpie, Pica pica
08. Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto
09. European Robin, Erithacus rubecula
10. Great Tit, Parus major
11. Common Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
12. Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons
13. Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis
14. Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
15. Dunnock, Prunella modularis

Mammals
1. Norwegian (Brown) Rat, Rattus norvegicus

Invertebrates
1. Silverfish, Lepisma saccharina

01/02/21 (Strabrechtse Heide, Noord-Brabant)
BIRDS:
44) Canada goose, Branta canadensis
45) Feral pigeon, Columba livia
46) Great egret, Ardea alba
47) Great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major
48) Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus
49) White wagtail, Motacilla alba
51) Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
52) Eurasian skylark, Alauda arvensis
53) Eurasian nuthatch, Sitta europaea
54) Coal tit, Periparus ater
55) Crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus

Strabrechtse Heide is a really cool place (I've birded there many times). Where there no Great Grey Shrikes?
 
Today, after a failed attempt to visit a park next to my home (which was closed for unknown reasons), I went to my local patch, where I saw some of the most common species; nothing exceptional, but still a good start, at least for my standards.

Birds

1. Yellow-legged Gull, Larus michahellis
2. Italian Sparrow, Passer italiae
3. White Wagtail, Motacilla alba
4. Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
5. Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
6. Sandwich Tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
7. Black Redstart, Phoenicorus ochrusos
8. Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix

And obviously, loads and loads of feral pigeons.
Surprisingly, no blackbirds yet...

A brief walk in my local patch brought some species I missed yesterday.

Birds

9. Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea
10. Common Blackbird, Turdus merula

Today I also had some very brief and unsatisfactory views of an European kingfisher, a species I knew occur here, but never saw until this morning.
At least I know where to look for it now...
 
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MAMMALS:
1 Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger

BIRDS:
13. Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus
14. Cackling Goose - Branta hutchinsii
15. Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus
16. Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor
17. American Robin - Turdus migratorius
18. Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis




19. Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus
20. Downy Woodpecker - Dryobates pubescens
21. Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
22. American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
23. Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis
24. Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
25. Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus
26. American Coot - Fulica americana
27. Rock Pigeon - Columba livia
28. House Sparrow - Passer domesticus
29. American Tree Sparrow - Spizelloides arborea
30. White-crowned Sparrow - Zonotrichia leucophrys
31. Harris's Sparrow - Zonotrichia querula
32. Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia
33. Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus
 
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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
Birds
25. Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
26. House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
27. Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
 
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That happened last year.

I suspect that is why TLD made that remark, although it was in fact St James's Park last year :p
In all fairness, at the time I didn't actually know the waterfowl were captive - I wasn't trying to cheat the system or anything... :)
 
I suspect that is why TLD made that remark, although it was in fact St James's Park last year :p
In all fairness, at the time I didn't actually know the waterfowl were captive - I wasn't trying to cheat the system or anything... :)

Actually it was coincidental :P I just happened to recall that the collection in question does contain Garganey, and that there is a pretty substantial population of Egyptian Goose throughout the park - moreso, in my experience, than other parks in London.
 
Actually it was coincidental :p I just happened to recall that the collection in question does contain Garganey, and that there is a pretty substantial population of Egyptian Goose throughout the park - moreso, in my experience, than other parks in London.

Quite, quite, and St James is home to possibly the largest group of Greylag geese in London - I’ve seen hundreds of them there in the past, and only because people feed them.
 
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