ZooChat Big Year 2021

Another update with lots of spring migrants and another rarity that showed up close to home (the hoopoe, which is a great bird to see regardless of rarity!)

Birds
173. Eurasian Hoopoe, Upupa epops
174. Common Whitethroat, Curruca communis
175. Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenabaeus
176. Savi's Warbler, Locustella luscinoides
177. Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia
178. Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos

Invertebrates
27. Red Mason Bee, Osmia bicornis
28. Stenodema laevigata
 
Mehdi said:
A decent outing this morning to look for migrant terns mainly did indeed bring two species of those but most importantly a goal species that I've been seeking to see since a while now!

10/04/2021 (Embouchure de l'Oued Souss, Morocco)
BIRDS:
136 - Black tern, Chlidonias niger
137 - Gull-billed tern, Gelochelidon nilotica
138 - Collared pratincole, Glareola pratincola

No particular date (Multiple places)
INVERTS:
14 - Red-veined darter, Sympetrum fonscolombii
15 - Lang's short-tailed blue, Leptotes pirithous
16 - Hyles livornica
17 - Small copper, Lycaena phlaeas

The day started nicely with a Black tern perching on a log, which is always a great species to see (especially in breeding plumage, only second time I see one in said plumage). Moving along, a nice group of 15 Gull-billed tern stopped on the bank of the river: they were my main goal today because they are a relatively easy species to get in spring (especially there) but are otherwise easily missable.

Best of all though is when I heard weird tern-like sounds I didn't recognize and when I looked up at the sky I saw swallow-like birds but larger in size and with a contrasting black/reddish underwing and white belly: I knew immediately that the three birds in question were Collared pratincoles, a species that although quite common here I had never seen (because there is no breeding habitat for them in my region). I watched them for less than a minute as they flied away (and what a weird and charismatic flight they have!) towards the sea, probably trying to reach their breeding grounds in Northern Morocco or Europe.
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Had to wait a few days before posting this one because of invertebrate identification process. A rather dull day at Tamri last Sunday (at least terms of species number) still got me a nice year addition that I was afraid on missing out as well as many inverterbrates of which I got some identified:

18/04/2021 (Estuaire de l'Asif N'Srou, Morocco)
BIRDS:
139 - Red-knobbed coot, Fulica cristata

INVERTS: (not in order)
18 - Bath white, Pontia daplidice
19 - African monarch, Danaus chrysippus
20 - Crimson-speckled flunkey, Utetheisa pulchella
21 - Black admiral, Vanessa atalanta
22 - Loryma egregialis
23 - Amata mogadorensis
24 - Calomera lunulata
25 - Adonis ladybird, Hippodamia variegata
26 - Southern blue, Polyommatus celina
27 - Silver Y, Autographa gamma
28 - Purpled white, Eublemma ostrina
 
The value of scientific names; I’ve never seen Vanessa atalanta called a Black Admiral before; always Red Admiral. Well done on the Pratincoles; there was one at one of my regular sites for an hour yesterday, but sadly I wasn’t!
 
Today we released 12 orange-bellied parrots not far away but adjacent to salt marsh and within sight of Western Port Bay. While waiting for them to come out of their aviary (they took over two hours, who said animals were desperate for freedom) I saw the following birds:

184. White-necked heron Ardea pacifica
185. Blue-winged parrot Neophema chrysostoma
186. Red-capped robin Petroica goodenovii
 
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Ituri said:
BIRDS
113 Fish Crow - Corvus ossifragus
114 Yellow-throated Warbler - Setophaga dominica
115 Greater Prairie-Chicken - Tympanuchus cupido
116 American Avocet - Recurvirostra americana
117 Baird's Sandpiper - Calidris bairdii
118 Long-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus scolopaceus
119 Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus
120 Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla
121 Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes
122 Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
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BIRDS
123 Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina
124 Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla
125 Swainson's Hawk - Buteo swainsoni
126 Lark Sparrow - Chondestes grammacus
127 Little Blue Heron - Egretta caerulea
128 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea
129 Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor
130 Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
131 Horned Grebe - Podiceps auritus
132 Purple Martin - Progne subis
133 Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca
134 Western Meadowlark - Sturnella neglecta
135 Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Stelgidopteryx serripennis
136 Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
137 Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata
138 Hermit Thrush - Catharus guttatus
 
6/3/2021
133. little black cormorant. ( one ofthose birds that you assume youve already seen so you don"t add itto your list. I overlooked this bird.)
6/4/2021
134. Australian king parrot
135. crimson rosella
136. great cormorant
137. kelp gull
138. little wattlebird
139. satin bowerbird
140. silver gull
141. sooty oystercatcher
142. spotted dove
143. white headed pigeon
7/4/2021
144. cattle egret
145. great bowerbird
146. radjah shelduck
147. red-tailed black-cockatoo
148. white bellied cuckoo shrike
8/4/2021
149. crimson finch
150. bush stone-curlew
151.helmeted friarbird
152. masked finch
153. pheasant coucal
154. plumed whistling duck
155. silver-crowned friarbird
156. wandering whistling-duck
157. white-throated honeyeater
9/4/2021
158. black bittern
159. brolga
160. red kneedd dotterel
161. sharp-tailed snadpiper
10/4/2021
162. Australian hobby
163. Australian pratincole
164. little woodswallow
165. SPINIFEX PIGEON*
11/4/2021
166. Australian bustard
13/4/2021
167. New Holland honeyeater
168. White-cheeked honeyeater
169. yellow-faced honeyeater
14/4/2021
170. Australian logrunner
171. brown thornbill
172. eastern osprey
173. lewin's honeyeater
174. red-browed finch
175. white-browed scrubwren
176. yellow-throated scrubwren
15/4/2021
177. golden whistler
16/4/2021
178. crested tern
179. eastern spinebill
180. eastern whipbird
181. gang-gang cockatoo
182. large-billed scrubwren
183. rufous fantail
184. striated thornbill
185. yellow-tailed black-cockatoo
 
Smaggledagle said:
Now for Unidentified creatures (these aren't as detailed you all have written it down here and in other posts).

Unidentifiable

boof
- "Australasian songlark"
- Bluebonnet sp.

-.
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Thanks Smaggledagle.
Bird 56. on my list is a blue bonnet. My phone app and bird guide list the bird I get in my local area as blue bonnet. Spieces Northiella haematogaster. I know theres a few differént guides and in some they get called greater blue bonnet or yellow vented blue bonnet, but I'll just stick to blue bonnet.
Bird 64. on my list is a typo. It was meant to be an Australasian pipit. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
 
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boof said:
Thanks Smaggledagle.
Bird 56. on my list is a blue bonnet. My phone app and bird guide list the bird I get in my local area as blue bonnet. Spieces Northiella haematogaster. I know theres a few differént guides and in some they get called greater blue bonnet or yellow vented blue bonnet, but I'll just stick to blue bonnet.
Bird 64. on my list is a typo. It was meant to be an Australasian pipit. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
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Greater blue bonnet seems to be growing in popularity since the naretha blue bonnet was split off, however my edition of the Australian Bird Guide still has it as blue bonnet, Wikipedia have them as eastern blue bonnet which I have not heard before. Yellow-vented refers to a subspecies. I dare say a change will "officially" be made at some point however for the moment just blue bonnet is correct, if potentially confusing.
 
birdsandbats said:
Birds
219. Common Loon Gavia immer

Mammals
27. North American Porcupine Erethizon dorsatum
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Great influx of migrants today, plus a long staying vagrant that I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet and finally seeing my nemesis bird!:

Birds
219. European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
220. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Nyctanassa violacea
221. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
222. Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus
223. Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum
224. Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus

(The reason the goldfinch is 219 is because I accidentally counted Rusty Blackbird twice, this is my correct total).
 
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Well that was a long, odd, and fun day and I blame/thank @Chlidonias and @TeaLovingDave for putting silly ideas in my head. For the record: departed 6.10am and arrived 11am, with a 20-minute-or-so stop at Strensham services. Tenby's very nice, once you've parked, and RSPB Nagshead in the Forest of Dean is conveniently almost exactly halfway home to allow a leg stretch and another mammal search.

Birds:
119. Eurasian Rock Pipit - Anthus petrosus
120. Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus

Mammals:
12. Walrus - Odobenus rosmarus
13. Wild Boar - Sus scrofa

:)
 
Chlidonias said:
Yay! I am very excited that someone here saw the Walrus. I don't know why I find that so awesome. I think it's probably because I know it's likely to be the only chance most people would get to see a wild one.
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That was what sealed the deal (if you'll pardon the pinni-pun). No idea when I'll get chance to see another in the wild, so as it was decent enough to hang around until lockdown lifted enough to permit the journey it seemed rude not to! :D

And of course, which only occurred to me later, not just a species and genus lifer, but a whole new family for the life list.

Word on the street (by which I mean the little footpath past the lifeboat station where everyone watches it from) is that it has not been seen hauled out for the last 3 days and has been feeding a lot more - leading to speculation he may soon relocate. It sounds like the locals will miss him - lots of people were talking about all the different times they'd seen him.
 
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Maguari said:
Well that was a long, odd, and fun day and I blame/thank @Chlidonias and @TeaLovingDave for putting silly ideas in my head. For the record: departed 6.10am and arrived 11am, with a 20-minute-or-so stop at Strensham services. Tenby's very nice, once you've parked, and RSPB Nagshead in the Forest of Dean is conveniently almost exactly halfway home to allow a leg stretch and another mammal search.

Birds:
119. Eurasian Rock Pipit - Anthus petrosus
120. Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus

Mammals:
12. Walrus - Odobenus rosmarus
13. Wild Boar - Sus scrofa

:)
Click to expand...
Are wild boar in the UK a naturally occurring population, reintroduced or feral? Good work on the walrus.
 
MRJ said:
Are wild boar in the UK a naturally occurring population, reintroduced or feral?
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Well.

They're a native species of course but were completely extirpated by about 1300 - the animals present now are a result of a combination of escapes and 'unofficial' reintroductions (I've often wondered if some of the reported 'escapes' were just the latter under the cover of an accident!). They were the poster child of early rewilding before it was worked out that beavers were an easier sell. :D

They're still not widespread; the Forest of Dean holds the classic big (and visible) population but there are other parts of the south of England where they're increasing as well.
 
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Maguari said:
And of course, which only occurred to me later, not just a species and genus lifer, but a whole new family for the life list.
Click to expand...

And presumably a subspecies lifetick too, even when captive holdings are taken into consideration, unless you made it to Hamburg during the relatively-brief time they held an Atlantic Walrus?

Maguari said:
Word on the street (by which I mean the little footpath past the lifeboat station where everyone watches it from) is that it has not been seen hauled out for the last 3 days and has been feeding a lot more - leading to speculation he may soon relocate. It sounds like the locals will miss him - lots of people were talking about all the different times they'd seen him.
Click to expand...

It will almost certainly be too much to hope for that he would turn up somewhere on the Cumbrian coastline, and hence easier to reach :P
 
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