ZooChat Big Year 2021

Bosjesman said:
Figured to join this and post my whole list of this year so far:

01-01-2021:
1: - Great Cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
2: - Great Egret, Ardea alba
3: - Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea
4: - Barnacle Goose, Branta leucopsis
5: - Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons
6: - Greylag Goose, Anser anser
7: - Tundra Bean Goose, Anser serrirostris
8: - Mute Swan, Cygnus olor
9: - Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo
10: - Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus
11: - Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra
12: - Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus
13: - Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
14: - European Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
15: - Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
16: - Eurasian Wren, Troglodytes troglodytes
17: - Dunnock, Prunella modularis
18: - Common Blackbird, Turdus merula
19: - Redwing , Turdus iliacus
20: - Blue Tit, Cyanistes caeruleus
21: - Great Tit , Parus major
22: - Eurasian Nuthatch, Sitta europaea
23: - Carrion Crow, Corvus corone
24: - Jackdaw, Corvus monedula
25: - Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
26: - House Sparrow, Passer domesticus
27: - Common Reed Bunting , Emberiza schoeniclus

03-01-2021:
28: - European Robin, Erithacus rubecul
29: - European Magpie, Pica pica
30: - Goldcrest, Regulus regulus
31: - Eurasian Jay, Garrulus glandarius
32: - Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula
33: - Common Pochard, Aythya ferina
34: - Eurasian Teal, Anas crecca
35: - Common Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna
36: - Bewick's Swan, Cygnus columbianus bewickii
37: - Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus
38: - Stock Dove, Columba oenas
39: - Common Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
40: - Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major

04-01-2021:
41: - Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus
42: - Little Grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis
43: - Red-necked Grebe, Podiceps grisegena
44: - Egyptian Goose, Alopochen aegyptiaca
45: - Common Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
46: - Eurasian Wigeon Mareca penelope
47: - Gadwall Mareca strepera
48: - Northern Pintail Anas acuta
49: - Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata
50: - Greater Scaup Aythya marila
51: - Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina
52: - Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
53: - Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
54: - Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
55: - Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata
56: - Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
57: - Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis
58: - Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
59: - Common Merganser Mergus merganser
60: - Smew Mergellus albellus
61: - European Siskin Spinus spinus
62: - Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula
63: - European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
64: - Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
65: - Common Gull Larus canus
66: - Lesser Redpoll Acanthis flammea
67: - Short-toed Treecreeper Certhia brachydactyla
68: - Firecrest Regulus ignicapilla
69: - Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus
70: - Willow Tit Poecile montanus

05-01-2021:
71: - Eurasian Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
72: - Thick-billed Murre Uria lomvia
73: - Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
74: - Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis
75: - Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus
76: - Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
77: - Little Egret Egretta garzetta
78: - European Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis
79: - Common Scooter Melanitta nigra
80: - Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
81: - Brant Branta bernicla (Including rare ssp that the netherlands splits as a full species, nigricans)
82: - Canada Goose Branta canadensis
83: - Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus
84: - Water Pipit Anthus spinoletta
85: - Common Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus
86: - European Greenfinch Chloris chloris
87: - Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
88: - Common Eider Somateria mollissima
89: - Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
90: - Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima
91: - Velvet Scooter Melanitta fusca
92: - Sanderling Calidris alba
93: - Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
94: - Black-throated Loon Gavia arctica
95: - Common Loon Gavia immer
96: - White-tailed Sea Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla
97: - Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
98: - Ring-necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus
99: - Song Thrush Turdus philomelos
100: - Black-throated Thrush Turdus atrogularis
101: - Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola

06-01-2021:
102: - Little Owl Athene noctua
Click to expand...
Well you have a great start!
 
Late posting this but I have obviously picked up a few birds these last days, whether it'd be while birding or just casually. My goal this year is hopefully to get to 200 bird species in a year, which I've never done before and which should definitely be realistically doable.

To get there, I started by hitting my local spot on the second of January as well as Massa on the third to get going a little: all-in-all some very fun birding and Aghorimze is slowly but surely becoming one of my favourite birding spots!

01/01/21 (Home, Agadir)
BIRDS:
1) Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus
2) White wagtail, Motacilla alba
3) Maghreb magpie, Pica mauritanica
4) Feral pigeon, Columba livia domestica
5) Eurasian kestrel, Falco tinnunculus
6) Common wood pigeon, Columba palumbus
7) House sparrow, Passer domesticus
8) Sardinian warbler, Curruca melanocephala
9) Spotless starling, Sturnus unicolor
---
02/01/21 (Embouchure de l'Oued Souss, Morocco)
BIRDS:
10 - Eurasian collared dove, Streptopelia decaocto
11 - Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus
12 - Greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus
13 - Grey heron, Ardea cinerea
14 - Red knot, Calidris canutus
15 - Eurasian spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia
16 - Western osprey, Pandion haliaetus
17 - Black-tailed godwit, Limosa limosa
18 - Mediterranean gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
19 - Sandwich tern, Thalasseus sandvicensis
20 - Eurasian crag-martin, Ptyonoprogne rupestris
21 - Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola
22 - Eurasian curlew, Numenius arquata
23 - Common redshank, Tringa totanus
24 - Barn swallow, Hirundo rustica
25 - Common greenshank, Tringa nebularia
26 - Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos
27 - Little egret, Egretta garzetta
28 - Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpes
29 - Eurasian oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus
30 - Black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus
31 - Common ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula
32 - Dunlin, Calidris alpina
33 - Yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis
34 - Great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo
35 - European stonechat, Saxicola rubicola
36 - White stork, Ciconia ciconia
37 - Crested lark, Galerida cristata
38 - Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica
39 - European serin, Serinus serinus
40 - Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica
41 - Zitting cisticola, Cisticola juncidis
42 - Common shelduck, Tadorna tadorna
43 - Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus
44 - Spotted redshank, Tringa erythropus
45 - Eurasian teal, Anas crecca
46 - Pied avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta
47 - Common blackbird, Turdus merula
48 - Common chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita
49 - Moussier's redstart, Phoenicurus moussieri
50 - Common bulbul, Pyconotus barbatus
51 - Northern pintail, Anas acuta
52 - Bonelli's eagle, Aquila fasciata
---
03/01/21 (Champs d'Aghorimze, Morocco)
BIRDS:
53 - Common kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
54 - Brown-throated martin, Riparia paludicola
55 - Laughing dove, Streptopelia senegalensis
56 - Pallid swift, Apus pallidus
57 - House bunting, Emberiza sahari
58 - Thekla's lark, Galerida theklae
59 - Little swift, Apus affinis
60 - Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis
61 - Common chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
62 - Corn bunting, Emberiza calandra
63 - Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
64 - Great tit, Parus major
65 - Great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor
66 - Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis
67 - European greenfinch, Chloris chloris
68 - Eurasian coot, Fulica atra
69 - Common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus
70 - Little grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis
71 - Green sandpiper, Tringa ochropus
72 - Cetti's warbler, Cettia cetti
73 - Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus

(Estuaire de l'Oued Massa, Morocco)
74 - Little owl, Athene noctua
75 - Black redstart, Phoenicurus ochruros
76 - Black-winged kite, Elanus caeruleus
77 - Northern shoveler, Spatula clypeata
78 - Sanderling, Calidris alba
79 - Northern bald ibis, Geronticus eremita
80 - Eurasian linnet, Linaria cannabina

Happy to have gotten Red knot, Bluethroat and Corn bunting especially, as; although those species are not necessarily rarities at all, they're species I've had mixed luck with and species I've missed altogether last year.
 
Today:

Birds:
12.Wood Duck
13.Hairy Woodpecker
14.White-breasted Nuthatch
15.Great Blue Heron
16.American Goldfinch
17.Common Grackle
18.Carolina Chickadee
19.House Finch
20.Wild Turkey
21.Red-headed Woodpecker
22.American Crow
23.Brown-headed Cowbird

Mammals:
7.American Red Squirrel

Reptiles:
1.Painted Turtle
 
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At Moonlit Sanctuary. Including my first two new species for the year.

Birds

38. Little black cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
39. Laughing kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
40. Red-browed finch Neochmia temporalis

Invertebrates

1. Small white (cabbage white) Pieris rapae
2, Monarch Danaus plexippus
3. Ringed xenica Geitoneura acantha
4. Common brown Heteronympha merope
 
amur leopard said:
Had a nice encounter with a Red Fox tonight. I often get foxes in my backyard, especially during the night, but saw one particularly well just now. I often hear a high-pitched squealing coming from behind the house, so this time I went down and out into the yard with a torch. I opened the door and turned on the torch and the fox was standing still about 3 metres away from me. I tried to take a photo with my camera but unfrotunately it isn't too easy to focus when you have a torch in one hand, so gave up. It was one of those really fat ones which I could imagine being quite a bright red during the day. We kind of stood there watching each other for about half a minute and then it turned and left over the wall.

Anyways: 3. Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Click to expand...

Saw another fox today - watched it for about half an hour, and then while I was scouring the yard for it again from my window I spotted a Redwing, a lifer :).

32. Redwing (Turdus iliacus)

Will post a few pics in the gallery of the fox in a minute :)
 
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Vision said:
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
Click to expand...
BIRDS:
90) Red kite, Milvus milvus
91) European green woodpecker, Picus viridis
92) Short-toed treecreeper, Certhia brachydactyla
93) Eurasian nuthatch, Sitta europaea
94) Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes
95) Middle spotted woodpecker, Dendrocoptes medius

(+3 heard only)

Heard only:
0) European crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus
 
the racoon has spoken said:
Was alerted to a trio of very active NZ fantails directly opposite of my balcony, as of their very loud chirping. Very happy to see these, as I haven't seen one of them in ages and had no idea there were even any living that close to me!

Birds

14. New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa)
Click to expand...
Saw a bumblebee stuck in a spider's web which allowed me to get a proper id on it so that was cool. Also went for a walk to the beach at dusk and saw a pair of oystercatchers.

Birds

15. Variable Oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor)

Invertebrates

3. Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
 
6/1
i hade a real nice time birdwaching yesturday. until yesturday the winter have bean weary warm leading to a lot of birds staying. but now when the cold has come a lot of birds have bean on the move to the smaller areas of open water wich ledd my group to find something a bitt rare a white fronted gosse. in total we saw 30 difrent kind of birds
birds
27 white fronted goose (Anser albifrons)
28 Canada goose (Branta canadensis)
29 Hen harrier (Circus cyaneus)
30 rough legged buzzard
31 common buzzard (Buteo buteo)
32 great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor
33 marsh tit (Poecile palustris)
34 goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
35 yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
36 common redpole (Acanthis flammea)
37 euroasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
mammasl
4 bron hare (Lepus europaeus)
 
Was just looking at a picture of a termite mound and wondered what the rule would be on animals that create an unmovable edifice to live in, for instance coral or termites. Is it ok to just see the edifice or do you have to see the animals inside?
 
MRJ said:
Was just looking at a picture of a termite mound and wondered what the rule would be on animals that create an unmovable edifice to live in, for instance coral or termites. Is it ok to just see the edifice or do you have to see the animals inside?
Click to expand...
Thinking about it the colour in coral is created by the animal so I guess if the coral is a colour and not just white you have seen the animal. Still, what about termites?
 
MRJ said:
Thinking about it the colour in coral is created by the animal so I guess if the coral is a colour and not just white you have seen the animal.
Click to expand...

In most cases at least some polyps will be out, at which point you've seen the animal. I think your point depends on the species somewhat but overall works.
Not sure what the official ruling is on that sort of thing.
 
MRJ said:
Thinking about it the colour in coral is created by the animal so I guess if the coral is a colour and not just white you have seen the animal. Still, what about termites?
Click to expand...

Yeah, my instinct is that the coral would count, but not the termites unless you saw the actual insects.
 
For something like termite mounds, not countable on this thread's lists at least. To me it would be no different to counting a beaver lodge as seeing the actual beaver. But if you're seeing a termite mound then you'd probably be able to see the termites themselves wandering around.
 
Oh, nearly forgot one more from my stroll on Wednesday:

Birds:
61. Eurasian Treecreeper - Certhia familiaris

:)

A fairly limited pool of likely species remains given the lockdown in England now means walking distance from my house is pretty much my limit until at the very least mid-February, possibly quite a bit longer. If I get to 75 or 80 birds and 5 mammals before lockdown lifts that'd be a very good result - but then again I got more than I expected in the last long lockdown so who knows?
 
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