Zoochat Big Year 2022

[DesertRhino150]

Since the start of March, I have been able to go out walking more (now that I have replaced my walking boots, the old ones of which had a gaping hole in the back) and added five new birds. Four of these were seen locally, while bird number 60 was seen on a lake at the local RHS gardens. Number 59 was particularly exciting, as it is the first time I have ever seen a pair of red kites in my area.

I would say that I have now pretty much exhausted the birds within walking distance of my house that can be reasonably expected, although earlier today I did hear my first singing chiffchaffs, so I imagine I will be adding them to the list soon.

59. Red kite Milvus milvus
60. Gadwall Mareca strepera
61. Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus
62. Eurasian treecreeper Certhia familiaris
63. Fieldfare Turdus pilaris

I have also seen two new invertebrates in or around the house.

5. Varied carpet beetle Anthrenus verbasci
6. Seven-spot ladybird Coccinella septempunctata

As expected, I went on a walk today and managed to lay eyes on a chiffchaff as well as hearing several more all along the river. Earlier, in the weekend, I saw another bird clearly from the car window as we were crossing a bridge over a lower, more estuarine part of the river.

I would say that, until the spring migrants arrive, the local birds are now practically exhausted - my hope is that, as the winter rain starts to die down and the river becomes clearer, the local kingfishers will soon be moving back upriver from the coast where they winter.

Comparing this year's list to the one from last year, it took me until late May to see 65 species of birds, so I'm well on track to do much better this time around.

64. Eurasian oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus
65. Common chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

 

[Maguari]

Spring is on the way...

Invertebrates:
1. Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae

 

[dinosauria]

Inverts
20. House Fly Musca domestica

21. European Crane Fly Tipula padulosa

22. Garden Snail Cornu aspersum

 

[Chlidonias]

The day after I saw the Black Tern at Plimmerton a Common Tern was also seen at the tern roost there. In NZ the "Common Tern" is more of an "Extremely Rare Tern" (the first NZ record was in 1984, and there are only one or two seen a year). I went back there the following morning but it wasn't amongst the terns present that morning - not sure if it still around or not. It would be another lifer if I can get to see it.

Yesterday I had thought about dropping into Plimmerton on my way back from not seeing the Sooty Tern at Pukerua Bay, just in case the Common Tern was there. I didn't, because I was just too wet and cold. Turned out the Common Tern was there that afternoon! Bugger.

Today I figured I'd stop first at Plimmerton for the Common Tern and then head up to Pukerua Bay afterwards for the Sooty Tern. It wasn't raining at all today, which was much appreciated, although it was very windy. Instead of getting there early, like I should have done, I woke up a bit later and didn't get to Plimmerton until about 10.30am. There was a guy already there watching a group of roosting White-fronted Terns. The Common Tern had just left about half an hour before. Bugger, again. I wandered around the corner to the main roost of terns. There were two more birders there photographing the Black Tern. One of them had seen the Sooty Tern right there earlier in the morning, about 8 or 9am. Bugger again, again.

Still, this meant that the Black, Common, and Sooty Terns were all in the same place. All I had to do was wait. I spent some time photographing the Black Tern. About an hour after I arrived the Sooty Tern flew in. It remained at the roosts for about two hours before leaving again, and lots of birders (and interested passers-by) got to see it.

The Common Tern didn't come back while I was there, but a non-breeding Common Tern looks extremely similar to a non-breeding White-fronted Tern so I don't know if I'd even be able to identify it confidently if it had. (Edit: of course the Common Tern returned to the roost and was seen by others not long after I had left...)

68) Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Finally!

There was a bit of a gap where the Common Tern wasn't being seen, but yesterday it was photographed back at the Plimmerton roost. I decided to give it another try - I can't remember how many times I've looked for it, probably about half a dozen - and so I went up there before work this morning. The problem with a non-breeding Common Tern in New Zealand is that it looks extremely similar to the White-fronted Terns. It is a bit smaller and has small plumage differences, but when it is sitting amongst a couple of hundred terns of varying ages with all the attendant size ranges and plumage variation, it's like trying to pick out an Emerald Tree Boa in a tree full of Green Tree Pythons. Fortunately, however, it has started to colour up a bit, so (eventually) I managed to find the somewhat smaller, somewhat greyer tern amongst the flock.

I'm hoping it sticks around long enough to see it in breeding plumage. This is the Chinese subspecies which has a black bill when breeding (rather than red) but it will still look quite different then to the White-fronted Terns.

This is the sixth tern species I have seen so far this year - White-fronted, Caspian, Black, Black-fronted, Sooty, and Common. I'm quite pleased with that because normally in Wellington I'd only see two (White-fronted and Caspian), and of those six terns three of them are very rare birds in New Zealand (the Black Tern in particular, being the first New Zealand record).

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

Good to hear your success; one good tern deserves another (and another)!

 

[DesertRhino150]

Went out for another walk today - as expected, I didn't see any new birds. Fortunately, I did have a pretty good day for mammals. As well as grey squirrel, rabbit, Reeve's muntjac and red fox, I saw a new mammal for the year - I stopped by the side of a ditch to look for a shrew I had heard scurrying through the leaves when another small mammal swam across the ditch in my direction and sat in clear view for a couple of minutes.

6. Bank vole Myodes glareolus

Also, down by the river, the water has become clear enough for me to finally start seeing my first fish.

1. Eurasian minnow Phoxinus phoxinus

The warmer weather is also bringing out a few more invertebrates - the first was hanging around on the wall of the house and the second was basking on a fence post.

7. Zebra spider Salticus scenicus
8. Common drone fly Eristalis tenax

 

[MRJ]

I've been staying at Kingscliff, a New South Wales beachside community just south of the infamous Gold Coast, the Australian equivalent of the Florida coast. While more subdued than the Gold Coast it is still very developed. Where I am staying it is all hotels and holiday apartments with beautifully manicured but small gardens. Not much space for wildilfe, and anybody seriously interested is advised to visit the rainforest-clad mountains to the west, which include world famous birding locations such as O'Rieilly's.

Because of urban development, and because most of the region was cleared for agriculture long ago, there are not a large number of bird species present, but there is an interesting mixture of temperate and tropical species. Immediately noticeable are the many Brush Turkeys. That such a large megapode should not only survive but thrive in urban areas is interesting.

I've now moved to the Sunshine Coast so here is my report from Kingscliff. I saw 23 bird species and one mammal.

Mammals
7. Black flying-fox Pteropus alecto

Birds
134. Australian brushturkey Alectura lathami
135. Bar-shouldered dove Geopelia humeralis
136. Eastern osprey Pandion cristatus
137. Blue-faced honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis
138. Noisy friarbird Philemon corniculatus
139. Torresian crow Corvus orru

Reptiles
2. Australian water dragon Intellagama lesueurii

Two-year new species targets
Mammals 1/100
Birds 11/1000
Bonus ectotherms 19

 

[Dhole dude]

Saw a few more species today .

Mammals
5. White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Birds
52. Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
53. Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
54. Rock Dove (Columba livia)

Mammals: 5
Birds: 54
Reptiles: 7
Fish: 3
Invertebrates: 1

Three more species seen at the Minnesota Zoo yesterday, and one more seen while on a walk in my neighborhood.

Birds
55. Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
56. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
57. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
58. House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)

Mammals: 5
Birds: 58
Reptiles: 7
Fish: 3
Invertebrates: 1

 

[DesertRhino150]

Today I managed to go for a walk in the morning rather than mid-afternoon, which has paid off well. Spring is very much on the way now - within a week of hearing my first chiffchaff, they have gone from one or two individuals to easily twenty-five plus. I have also seen the local kestrels mating and managed to roughly triangulate where one of the local long-tailed tit pairs are building their nest.

More importantly for the list I saw two birds that, around here, come upriver in spring to breed. The first species were in two pairs that rose off a water treatment reservoir to mob a passing buzzard while the second was seen flying across a field between two stretches of river.

66. Common shelduck Tadorna tadorna
67. Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis

The combination of increased sunshine and large patches of flowering blackthorn brought out a few more identifiable insects this morning - there were multiple individuals of all three butterflies. Also new for today, but sadly not countable, was a cattle pond that was positively fizzing with thousands of lesser water-boatmen - I have never seen so many in one place before.

9. Western honeybee Apis mellifera
10. Comma butterfly Polygonia c-album
11. European peacock butterfly Aglais io
12. Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
86. Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
87. Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura

Birds
88. Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
89. Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons

 

[dinosauria]

A quartet of killdeer decided to make a ruckus on a field this morning!
Birds
41. Killdeer Charadrius vociferus

42. Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

Inverts
23. Green Lacewing Chrysoperla carnea

 

[MRJ]

One for the Australian fish experts. In the lagoon at Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast in Qld. Smallish schooling fish with a yellow dorsal fin, with a black spot near the front. Otherwise appeared silver. Can't find anything on iNaturalist.

 

[Great Argus]

One for the Australian fish experts. In the lagoon at Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast in Qld. Smallish schooling fish with a yellow dorsal fin, with a black spot near the front. Otherwise appeared silver. Can't find anything on iNaturalist.

Young Monodactlylus argenteus? They sometimes have black tipping their dorsals, are silver, and they're an inshore species.

 

[MRJ]

Young Monodactlylus argenteus? They sometimes have black tipping their dorsals, are silver, and they're an inshore species.

Thanks, yes I kept looking at them, and that species has been observed exactly where I saw them. Think I will go with that. (edit) and then I opened up that observation and that was them.

 

[DesertRhino150]

Today I managed to go for a walk in the morning rather than mid-afternoon, which has paid off well. Spring is very much on the way now - within a week of hearing my first chiffchaff, they have gone from one or two individuals to easily twenty-five plus. I have also seen the local kestrels mating and managed to roughly triangulate where one of the local long-tailed tit pairs are building their nest.

More importantly for the list I saw two birds that, around here, come upriver in spring to breed. The first species were in two pairs that rose off a water treatment reservoir to mob a passing buzzard while the second was seen flying across a field between two stretches of river.

66. Common shelduck Tadorna tadorna
67. Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis

The combination of increased sunshine and large patches of flowering blackthorn brought out a few more identifiable insects this morning - there were multiple individuals of all three butterflies. Also new for today, but sadly not countable, was a cattle pond that was positively fizzing with thousands of lesser water-boatmen - I have never seen so many in one place before.

9. Western honeybee Apis mellifera
10. Comma butterfly Polygonia c-album
11. European peacock butterfly Aglais io
12. Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni

Today, I managed my first trip down to the estuary and gravel pits at Heybridge Basin. Normally, it is a great spot to take a long birding walk, but the combination of a rising high tide, low sun and masses of out-of-control dogs meant that my overall bird count was fairly low. It doesn't help that I am now probably on the tail-end of the time for winter birds but still too early for most summering species. Even so, I managed a fair haul of new species:

68. Black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa
69. Pied avocet Recurvirostra avosetta
70. Common reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
71. Common redshank Tringa totanus
72. Eurasian wigeon Mareca penelope
73. Ruddy turnstone Arenaria interpres

If I had more time, I could have managed a few more birds - there was a flock of greyish waders roosting but, because they were on the far bank of the river and I was being harried by a dog a the time, I didn't get to identify them. I also heard both curlews and dark-bellied brent geese and may have also seen both, but both were again on the far side of the river and in silhouette, so I cannot in all conscience count them.

Another potentially far more interesting 'one-that-got-away' was when we were on the way back home - I spotted, from the passenger seat of the car, a very large bird that appeared to be pale in colour and had a long neck being held straight out in front of it; I thought it might have been a white stork but, despite my best efforts, trying to clap binoculars on it from the wrong side of a moving car proved impossible.

I went for another walk down the river at home again today and found that, because it is probably near to a spring tide now, the brackish area where the river meets the estuary was experiencing an extreme high tide where water flows into a patch of woodland. This phenomenon does force small mammals into smaller, drier areas and after some searching I spotted a new mammal scuttling through the ivy.

7. Common shrew Sorex araneus

Finally, making it back to the house, I found a new insect feeding from the recently-opened primroses in the front garden.

13. Dark-edged beefly Bombylius major

 

[Ituri]

BIRDS
66 Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum
67 American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis
68 White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis
69 Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus
70 Eastern Meadowlark - Sturnella magna
71 Rusty Blackbird - Euphagus carolinus
72 Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater
73 Common Merganser - Mergus merganser
74 Great-tailed Grackle - Quiscalus mexicanus
75 Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura
76 Redhead - Aythya americana
77 Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps
78 Western Meadowlark - Sturnella neglecta
79 Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor

MAMMALS
3 Coyote - Canis latrans

MAMMALS
4 Eastern Cottontail - Sylvilagus floridanus

 

[CMP]

I've fixed my bird count, American woodcock should have brought me to 46, not 5. I saw the Cackling Goose much earlier in the year, but I've only now gotten to IDing them. They were technically my 'first lifer' or first new birds since the year I started keeping track, which is nice as I think they are a fitting species for a 'first lifer'.

Birds:
47. Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii) (Lifer)
48. Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
49. Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
50. Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Herptiles:
1. Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) (Lifer!)
Amphibians:
1. Small-mouthed Salamander (Ambystoma texanum) (Lifer!)

Insect/Invertebrate:
17. Small milkweed bug (Lygaeus kalmii)
18. Sweet click beetle (Aeolus mellillus)
19. Riparian woodlouse (Hyloniscus riparius)
20. Curly woodlouse (Cylisticus convexus) (Lifer)

I'm really quite happy about the salamander, my first wild one ever. After trying unsuccessfully last year, the timing and weather lined up just right, and I watched one slip into a creek from beneath a piece of bark along the bank that I lifted. They are commonly reported in Busey Woods, and the only salamander species in my county, but in nearby Vermilion county there are many more species, so now that I know how to find them here I think I'll try for some more.

Very happy about my second owl species of the year, barred owls on two occasions, as well as a surprising lifer hawk. Also, the first jumping spiders and butterfly of the year, the butterfly was a lifer too at that!

Mammal:
7. Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)

Birds:
51. Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
52. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
53. Barred Owl (Strix varia) (Lifer)
54. Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)
55. Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
56. Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) (Lifer)

Herptile:
2. Common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Reptile:
1. Common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Insect/Invertebrate:
21. Gray Comma (Polygonia progne) (Lifer)
22. Milky slug (Deroceras reticulatum)
23. Common pill woodlouse (Armadillidium vulgare)
24. Zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus)

 

[oflory]

Not seeing the plovers yesterday was bothering me, especially as someone in the Beddington whatsapp group posted some excellent pictures taken about an hour after I left. So I returned this afternoon and... success! Plus a bonus Caspian gull.

111. Little ringed plover
112. Caspian gull

A really good morning of South-West London / Surrey birding. An early morning trip to find lesser spotted woodpecker and then to Staines Reservoir for the scaup. Really pleased by species seen, and not even 1pm yet!

113. Eurasian treecreeper
114. Lesser spotted woodpecker
115. Black-necked grebe
116. Greater scaup

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

Invertebrates
11 Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
12 Comma Polygonia c-album
13 Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae

Birds
93 Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
94 Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea
95 Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus
96 Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita
97 Little Owl Athene noctua

 

[Najade]

Pretty short list considering I was out for about 10h.
Super windy and pissing rain so I spend most of that time freezing and drenched.
Seemed like all the small passerines were either in hiding or gone because of the big stormfront. Didn't find any of my four targets (Penduline Tit, Lapland Longspur, Pallas's Leaf Warbler, Zitting Cisticola) and then didn't have time to look for number five (Blyth's Reed Warbler). But I at least got one lifer and good close up views of the pink-footeds this time.

Het Zwin, Netherlands

Mammals
03. European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Birds
16. Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

National Park Zuid Kennemerland, NL

Mammals
04. European Fallow Deer (Dama dama)