Zoochat Big Year 2022

Tetzoo Quizzer said:
However I have a feeling that at least one authority splits Eurasian and American Black Terns...
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Who does such a thing? I couldn't see anything with Google. I bet it's some vague Tobias Criteria nonsense.

The few Australian records are of American Black Terns (C. n. surinamensis) but there is a suggestion that this New Zealand bird is of the Eurasian race, which would make it even more lost than if it had come from the Americas.
 
Ok, looking into it I see that it is nothing more than a suggestion that such a split could well be overdue, but none of the authorities have made a concrete proposal. Certainly when I had the opportunity to compare a vagrant American to a Eurasian in the field, they were clearly distinguishable! (And I fully recognise that is nothing more than a single line of evidence).
 
One last chunky update before it's back to dribs and drabs for a couple of weeks.

Spent today at WWT Slimbridge - while construction and avian influenza restrictions mean the collection side is looking very meagre right now, the wildlife is still top-notch. Being such a well-monitored site means you can easily tip yourself off to what is about in advance - such as a Glossy Ibis feeding each day alongside the entrance road, or that one of the goldfinch flocks harbours redpolls, so they should all be checked.

This all means that I've been able to roll on to 110 to start February.

Birds:
104. Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus
105. Bewick's Swan - Cygnus columbianus
106. Pied Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta
107. Common Crane - Grus grus
108. Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons
109. Water Rail - Rallus aquaticus
110. Lesser Redpoll - Acanthis cabaret

The escaped Ross' Goose we saw earlier in the winter was also still present in the goose flocks, as were three presumed-escaped Snow Geese, so lots of weirdo interest..!

One other bit of business concerns the alluded-to Forest of Dean photo ID from yesterday.

While at RSPB Nagshead and trundling along quietly through the woods looking for boar, we disturbed a small mammal that ran off into a hole about 2m away and up the slope of the hill from us. 99% of the time you see a small mammal in daylight like this in UK woodland it's a Bank Vole, but as that would be a new species for the year we stood silently and staked it out. When it reappeared at the hole, it became immediately obvious this was No Vole, but an Apodemus mouse. Up here in Derbyshire, we only have A. sylvaticus, so ID is no problem, but in Gloucestershire there are two species - A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis. The only 100% reliable field mark, if you can see it, is that the latter has a full yellow-brown 'collar' under the neck, joining the upper-body colour on each side near the front legs (illustrated nicely here: Mammal Society on Twitter). By contrast, sylvaticus has a fully white underside of the neck, or just a small yellow spot in the centre of a mostly-white neck. Fortunately, as I noted above, our particular mouse had moved a little up the hill when it retreated from us. This allowed me enough leeway to crouch to the ground and take photos from a couple of angles showing the neck and fur between the front legs that I hoped would confirm if the collar was present or not. The light wasn't great, but it was the only hope of a confident ID, as I would eternally doubt myself if I tried to do it in the field by eye. Either species is rare to see in daylight, but flavicollis would be a wild lifer. Checking the image on the camera back in the field was no hope. Checking the camera back in the Premier Inn last night was not much better, as it was too hard on the small screen to distinguish shadow from darker fur, but it looked yellow-brown. Now I have them on the laptop - and, well, they're not good photos, but there is definitely uninterrupted yellow-brown fur running between the legs. My excellent mammal month ends with the first lifer of the year!

Mammals:
12. Yellow-necked Mouse - Apodemus flavicollis

:)
 
Maguari said:
One last chunky update before it's back to dribs and drabs for a couple of weeks.

Spent today at WWT Slimbridge - while construction and avian influenza restrictions mean the collection side is looking very meagre right now, the wildlife is still top-notch. Being such a well-monitored site means you can easily tip yourself off to what is about in advance - such as a Glossy Ibis feeding each day alongside the entrance road, or that one of the goldfinch flocks harbours redpolls, so they should all be checked.

This all means that I've been able to roll on to 110 to start February.

Birds:
104. Glossy Ibis - Plegadis falcinellus
105. Bewick's Swan - Cygnus columbianus
106. Pied Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta
107. Common Crane - Grus grus
108. Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons
109. Water Rail - Rallus aquaticus
110. Lesser Redpoll - Acanthis cabaret

The escaped Ross' Goose we saw earlier in the winter was also still present in the goose flocks, as were three presumed-escaped Snow Geese, so lots of weirdo interest..!

One other bit of business concerns the alluded-to Forest of Dean photo ID from yesterday.

While at RSPB Nagshead and trundling along quietly through the woods looking for boar, we disturbed a small mammal that ran off into a hole about 2m away and up the slope of the hill from us. 99% of the time you see a small mammal in daylight like this in UK woodland it's a Bank Vole, but as that would be a new species for the year we stood silently and staked it out. When it reappeared at the hole, it became immediately obvious this was No Vole, but an Apodemus mouse. Up here in Derbyshire, we only have A. sylvaticus, so ID is no problem, but in Gloucestershire there are two species - A. sylvaticus and A. flavicollis. The only 100% reliable field mark, if you can see it, is that the latter has a full yellow-brown 'collar' under the neck, joining the upper-body colour on each side near the front legs (illustrated nicely here: Mammal Society on Twitter). By contrast, sylvaticus has a fully white underside of the neck, or just a small yellow spot in the centre of a mostly-white neck. Fortunately, as I noted above, our particular mouse had moved a little up the hill when it retreated from us. This allowed me enough leeway to crouch to the ground and take photos from a couple of angles showing the neck and fur between the front legs that I hoped would confirm if the collar was present or not. The light wasn't great, but it was the only hope of a confident ID, as I would eternally doubt myself if I tried to do it in the field by eye. Either species is rare to see in daylight, but flavicollis would be a wild lifer. Checking the image on the camera back in the field was no hope. Checking the camera back in the Premier Inn last night was not much better, as it was too hard on the small screen to distinguish shadow from darker fur, but it looked yellow-brown. Now I have them on the laptop - and, well, they're not good photos, but there is definitely uninterrupted yellow-brown fur running between the legs. My excellent mammal month ends with the first lifer of the year!

Mammals:
12. Yellow-necked Mouse - Apodemus flavicollis

:)
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Since Snow and Ross's Geese are usually found together in the wild, doesn't 3 Snow Geese with a Ross's seem to indicate some wild vagrants?
 
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At the weekend I visited WWT Martin Mere, my first visit in 3 years! I was very excited to see both the captive and wild birds. Their collection didn't have many missing except for their sheldgeese, brent geese, female smew, some Patagonian crested ducks, red shovelers and the two crane species.
On the visit I brought my newer camera so I was able to photograph species I haven't previously, I saw:

38) Greylag goose
39) European greenfinch (female, and lifer)
40) Marsh harrier (not photographed before, and a pair!)
41) Black-tailed godwit (not photographed before, and lifer)
42) Eurasian wigeon (not photographed before, and lifer)
43) Eurasian kestrel
44) Common pochard (not photographed before, and lifer)
45) Common shelduck (not photographed before, I think)
 
birdsandbats said:
Since Snow and Ross's Geese are usually found together in the wild, doesn't 3 Snow Geese with a Ross's seem to indicate some wild vagrants?
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They arrived separately, the Ross's some months before the Snow Geese. Slimbridge tends to attract escaped geese - possibly as the result of the combination of large wild flocks with a large collection of captive species on site as well - so I tend to approach weirdo geese there with caution!

Ross's Goose has never been recorded as truly wild in the UK, I don't think. The Snow Geese could be wild, but would be very unusual this far south. I'm trying to read up on these birds to see what their origin is believed to be - one of the reasons I mention them is that they are not impossibly genuinely wild, but my understanding from other birders is that these three are believed to be escapes for now.

EDIT: One I didn't mention is that there is also a Snow x Bar-headed hybrid goose in the mix as well, but again not hanging out with either of the above..!
 
birdsandbats said:
Since Snow and Ross's Geese are usually found together in the wild, doesn't 3 Snow Geese with a Ross's seem to indicate some wild vagrants?
Click to expand...

Maguari said:
Ross's Goose has never been recorded as truly wild in the UK, I don't think. The Snow Geese could be wild, but would be very unusual this far south. I'm trying to read up on these birds to see what their origin is believed to be - one of the reasons I mention them is that they are not impossibly genuinely wild, but my understanding from other birders is that these three are believed to be escapes for now.
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Just tracked this down, tweeted by the Slimbridge wardens: Slimbridge Sightings on Twitter: "@emma_esl We don't know the origin of either of these North American birds, both occur in the UK as genuine vagrants but are usually with a'carrier' species such as Pink-footed Goose. The Ross's arrived in Spring and alone, we don't consider it of wild origin. The Snow's, who knows? " / Twitter

So, yeah - Ross's, an escape, Snows... maybe?
 
Maguari said:
They arrived separately, the Ross's some months before the Snow Geese. Slimbridge tends to attract escaped geese - possibly as the result of the combination of large wild flocks with a large collection of captive species on site as well - so I tend to approach weirdo geese there with caution!

Ross's Goose has never been recorded as truly wild in the UK, I don't think. The Snow Geese could be wild, but would be very unusual this far south. I'm trying to read up on these birds to see what their origin is believed to be - one of the reasons I mention them is that they are not impossibly genuinely wild, but my understanding from other birders is that these three are believed to be escapes for now.

EDIT: One I didn't mention is that there is also a Snow x Bar-headed hybrid goose in the mix as well, but again not hanging out with either of the above..!
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the britsh rariety comity decidede to move ross gosse to cat A last year bace one a few records of birds ariveing with other wild gosse as well that the population has increast in the last years. not sure if they moved every record
 
Just realized I forgot to highlight my lifers in my previous post. Those would be the Mountain caracara, Creamy-rumped and Rufous-banded miners, Greater yellow finch, Austral parakeet (previously seen only in captivity), White-throated treerunner, Southern grumbler, Garín's lizard, Lobo's rock lizard, Northern painted tree iguana, Hugo's frog and Bronze tarantula.

Mammals:
1. Common degu, Octodon degus

Birds:
53. Long-tailed meadowlark, Leistes loyca
54. Diuca finch, Diuca diuca
55. Mourning sierra finch, Rhopospina fruticeti
56. Giant hummingbird, Patagona gigas
57. Dusky-tailed canastero, Pseudasthenes humicola
58. Black-chested buzzard-eagle, Geranoaetus melanoleucus
59. Turca, Pteroptochos megapodius

Reptiles:
9. Shining tree iguana, Liolaemus nitidus
10. Black-green tree iguana, Liolaemus nigroviridis
11. Mountain tree iguana, Liolaemus monticola

Invertebrates:
30. Tarantula hawk, Pepsis limbata
31. Western painted lady, Vanessa carye
32. Chilean fire ant, Solenopsis gayi
33. Black-tailed bee, Svastrides melanura
34. German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica
35. Du Buysson's paper wasp, Polistes buyssoni

 
More from around Moonlit including short excursions to a local estuary (Rutherford Inlet) and wetland (Tootgarook Swamp).

Birds
70, Eastern great egret Ardea modesta
71. Royal spoonbill Platalea regia
72. Australian white ibis Threskiornis molucca
73. Spotted harrier Circus assimilis
74. Galah Eolophus roseicapilla
75. Eastern spinebill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris

Fish
1. Smooth toadfish Tetractenos glaber

Invertebrates
6, Cabbage white butterfly caterpillar Pieris rapae
7. Harlequin red bug Dindymus versicolor (new Order and Family)
8. Passionvine hopper Scolypopa australis (new Family)
9. Haswell's crab Helograpsus haswellianus (new Family)

A couple of hours today at You Yangs Regional Park. Some nice birds but nothing new. With a warm day and lots of granite boulders around I was hoping to see some basking reptiles, but no luck.

Mammals
4. Eastern gray kangaroo Macropus giganteus

Birds
76. Musk lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna
77. Pallid cuckoo Cacomantis pallidus
78. New Holland honeyeater Phylidonyris novaehollandiae
79. White-plumed honeyeater Ptilotula penicillata
80. Buff-rumped thornbill Acanthiza reguloides
81. Striated thornbill Acanthiza lineata
82. White-throated gerygone Gerygone olivacea
83. Rufous whistler Pachycephala rufiventris
84. Pied currawong Strepera graculina
85. White-winged chough Corcorax melanorhamphos
86. Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum


Two-year new species targets
Mammals 0/100
Birds 3/1000
Bonus ectotherms 7
 
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Maguari said:
. The Snow Geese could be wild, but would be very unusual this far south.
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Some months ago I was driving on the south coast and a flock of white birds flew high overhead in classic goose 'chevron' formation. I was perplexed at the sighting but believe they were later seen by other birders, when they landed for a while not far away and reported as being a flock of 14 Snow Geese! There were no further reports of them though that I heard of.
 
Birds
77 Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
78 Barnacle Goose Branta bernicla
The Snow Goose is one associating with the local Pink-footed Geese, the Barnacle is more likely one of the local feral flock.
 
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Tetzoo Quizzer said:
Birds
77 Snow Goose Chen caerulescens
78 Barnacle Goose Branta bernicla
The Snow Goose is one associating with the local Pink-footed Geese, the Barnacle is more likely one of the local feral flock.
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Is this the Burton Mere Snow Goose, by any chance? I've been told by another birding friend that that one is considered a 'real' wild one so maybe I should just go and see it and settle the issue that way. :D
 
Yes, the Burton Mere bird, although I saw it from the cycle path at Burton Point; happy to give hints if you don’t know the area.
 
Tetzoo Quizzer said:
Yes, the Burton Mere bird, although I saw it from the cycle path at Burton Point; happy to give hints if you don’t know the area.
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Thanks! I've been a few times (nice site!) - just wondered if it were the same one. Probably be long gone before I get a chance to get over but who knows? :)
 
oflory said:
Just two additions this weekend, having failed at seeing target Little Bunting and Brambling (ah well!). Fingers crossed for a black throated diver and some seals next weekend at Cliffe Pools RSPB.

Mammals
6. Red Fox

Birds
87. Water Rail
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A very successful trip to Welney WWT, in glorious weather brings me to a pleasing century for the year in birds. No Bewicks swans or short earred owls compensated by the bean geese and two pairs of flyover cranes.

Mammals
7. Roe deer

Birds
88. Feral pigeon (forgot to add to previous totals...)
89. Eurasian tree sparrow
90. Rook
91. Western marsh harrier
92. Cattle egret
93. Great white egret
94. Black-tailed godwit
95. Common crane
96. Common pheasant
97. Northern pintail
98. Tundra bean goose
99. Pink-footed goose
100. Whooper swan
 
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