ZooChat Big Year 2021

CheeseChameleon2007 said:
Oh yeah? Well I walked around my town for 2 hours this morning and saw Nothing, No sign of life. I'm just some stupid kid who's few ways to see animals is too look up pictures of Animals That I want to see, I have No patience, and I don't have the luck that everyone else has on this thread.
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Walking around in a urban area usually isn't the best place for wildlife. Go visit local parks, forests or other nature reserves. Use online resources like ebird to look for bird hotspots. You can find a lot of wildlife if you are looking for it, and willing to spend time for it.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
Oh yeah? Well I walked around my town for 2 hours this morning and saw Nothing, No sign of life. I'm just some stupid kid who's few ways to see animals is too look up pictures of Animals That I want to see, I have No patience, and I don't have the luck that everyone else has on this thread.
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In addition to what other people have already said (which is true, everyone has days when they see almost nothing!), don't forget that it is the middle of winter now. Birds are silent to save energy and migrants are firmly in their wintering area. In a few months, the migrants will return and the local birds will become easier to see as they start singing again. In the meantime, try to find good birding websites or even better a decent bird guide, and practice finding birds (even if they are the same old species over and over again). Don't forget to listen, especially smaller birds are often easier to hear, and if you recognize their song and call you'll know what to expect.

Also, while luck is not something you should focus on, patience is certainly a skill worth acquiring for birding.
 
Birds

2.American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
3. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
4. Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Insects/Invertebrates
  1. Wooly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella)

  2. Pot worms (Enchytraeidae sp.)
 
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@CheeseChameleon2007, I find myself in a similar situation to you, being in the midwest with practically not a sign of life other than the ever abundant crows and squirrels. I also spent about 2 hours walking through a state park, next to a river, and didn't see anything. That just might be a testament to our inexperience, but hey, at least your list is longer than mine ;)
I am waiting for the spring, when there will certainly be much more to see. In the meantime, we should just consider this practice for when we are older or more experienced, and perhaps we will look back on these days with fondness, reminiscing on what noobs we used to be.
I am going out again today, wonder if I'll see anything.
 
ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
@CheeseChameleon2007, I find myself in a similar situation to you, being in the midwest with practically not a sign of life other than the ever abundant crows and squirrels. I also spent about 2 hours walking through a state park, next to a river, and didn't see anything. That just might be a testament to our inexperience, but hey, at least your list is longer than mine ;)
I am waiting for the spring, when there will certainly be much more to see. In the meantime, we should just consider this practice for when we are older or more experienced, and perhaps we will look back on these days with fondness, reminiscing on what noobs we used to be.
I am going out again today, wonder if I'll see anything.
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Thank you.
I am going to that state park again today, wonder if It was just not the right day last time.
 
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birdsandbats said:
Birds
46. Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
47. Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum
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birdsandbats said:
Mammals
4. Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus
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LBBG is one the last normally occurring Wisconsin birds I hadn't seen yet, so I was hapy to run into two of them today. The creeper is from several days ago but I forgot to post it then.

Birds
48. Brown Creeper Certhia americana
48. Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
49. Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa

Mammals
5. Common Muskrat Ondatra zibethicus
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
Thank you.
I am going to that state park again today, wonder if It was just not the right day last time.
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A couple more tips:

- The best birding time is at dawn. The second best is late afternoon as sunset approaches but still dawn is much better.
- Midwinter in the northern US would be very hard, I remember birding in the snow in Toronto in March. A few weeks later would have been so much better.
- Check out E-bird for local birding hotspots. Use the map to zoom in on where you are located.
https://ebird.org/hotspots
 
Hix said:
Birds
17. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
18. Welcome Swallow
19. Australian Swamphen
20. Little Wattlebird
21. Pied Currawong
22. Eastern Rosella
23. Spotted Dove

:p

Hix
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Had a big day yesterday (Saturday), leaving home at Midnight in order to be at Round Hill in Central NSW at dawn. Then visited the Bridge over Booberoi Creek, Chat Alley, Liberty Park in Lake Cargelligo and the Treatment Works, then finished off with the West Wyalong Wetlands (where I saw an Echidna go for a swim) before driving back home again, arriving at 21:30. Ended up with a couple of Lifers, too.

Birds
Round Hill Nature Reserve - Whoey Tanks
24. Common Bronzewing
25. Diamond Dove
26. Bar-shouldered Dove
27. Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo
28. Australian (Mallee) Ringneck
29. Spotted Bowerbird
30. White-fronted Honeyeater
31. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
32. Singing Honeyeater
33. White-fronted Chat
34. Striped Honeyeater
35. Noisy Friarbird
36. Inland Thornbill
37. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
38. Southern Whiteface
39. Grey Shrike-thrush
40. Olive-backed Oriole
41. Masked Woodswallow
42. White-browed Woodswallow
43. Willie Wagtail
44. Australian Raven
45. Red-capped Robin

Booberoi Creek
46. Little Eagle
47. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
48. White-plumed Honeyeater
49. Apostlebird

Chat Alley
50. Straw-necked Ibis
51. Orange Chat
52. Zebra Finch
53. Australasian Pipit
- plus a raptor still to be identified

Liberty Park
54. Black-fronted Dotterel
55. Silver Gull
56. Australian Pelican
57. White-faced Heron
58. Australian White Ibis
59. Black Kite
60. Sacred Kingfisher
61. Yellow-throated Miner
62. Blue-faced Honeyeater
63. White-breasted Woodswallow
64. Common Starling
65. House Sparrow

Lake Cargelligo Wastewater Treatment Plant
66. Grey Teal
67. Pink-eared Duck
68. White-headed Stilt
69. Masked Lapwing
70. Red-kneed Dotterel
71. Australasian Darter
72. Yellow-billed Spoonbill
73. Little Corella
74. White-winged Fairy-wren
75. Australian Reed Warbler
76. Little Grassbird

West Wyalong Wetlands and Wastewater Treatment Ponds
77. Magpie Goose
78. Musk Duck
79. Australian Grebe
80. Little Pied Cormorant
81. Little Black Cormorant
82. Laughing Kookaburra
83. Little Friarbird
84. White-winged Chough

plus, while driving through the countryside:
85. Bluebonnet
86. Wedgetail Eagle

Mammals
1. European Rabbit
2. Red Fox
3. European Hare
4. Echidna

:p

Hix
 
5. White-tailed Deer
I will upload a photo soon.
0. (Heard), Northern Flicker.
And an Unidentifiable Snail Species that Might be Identifiable.
 
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birdsandbats said:
Probably something else given the time of year (you probably won't start seeing flickers until March).
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eBird shows a large quantity of Northern Flicker sightings in Minnesota from the past few weeks? In some spots they are seen almost daily.
 
CheeseChameleon2007 said:
I checked what it was when I got home and the Bird Song book Doesn't Lie.
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Neither do the Ebird reports, which only show a scattered handful of recent reports in the southern part of Minnesota. More likely it was a Pileated, the long calls of the two sound fairly similar.
 
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