Zoochat Big Year 2022

[Platypusboy]

Birds

34. White wagtail, Motachilla alba 19/4/22

Invertebrate

1. White tailed bumblebee, Bombus lucorum 18/4/22
2. Small tortoiseshell, Aglais urticae 19/4/22

 

[Najade]

Went out spotlighting yesterday just to get something for the list:

Helgoland main island

Mammals
18. Western European House Mouse (Mus domesticus helgolandicus)

Düne

Reptiles
02. Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta scripta)

 

[BerdNerd]

Mammals:

1. Eastern Gray Squirrel- 1/3/22
2. White-Tailed Deer- 1/5/22

Birds:

47. Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)- 4/8/22

Invertebrates:

3. Three-Band Garden Slug (Ambigolimax valentianus)- 3/30/22
4. House Fly (Musca domestica)- 3/31/22
5. Rabid Wolf Spider (Rabidosa rabida)- 4/4/22
6. Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica)- 4/7/22
7. Metricus Paper Wasp (Polistes metricus)- 4/7/22
8. Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes)- 4/8/22

4/19/22


Mammals:

3. Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)


Birds:

48. House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)


Invertebrates:

9. Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta)
10. Two-Spotted Bumblebee (Bombus bimaculatus)


Total:

Mammals: 3
Birds: 48
Reptiles: 1
Invertebrates: 10

 

[DesertRhino150]

I managed a very brief walk today (got about ten minutes down my usual route before I encountered a dog of maneater size and chose life instead), but while out I did manage to see a new bird for the year that has made the headlines in British bird news in the past couple of days.

In the UK, greenfinches have seen a decline of about 62% since 1993 as a result of a severe outbreak of trichomonosis but the RSPB are reporting that this year there has been an increase in the number of sightings during the Big Garden Birdwatch which suggest that the population may be beginning to recover. On today's walk, I saw two brilliant males in the sunshine singing from the tops of neighbouring trees.

75. European greenfinch Chloris chloris

Information about the greenfinch and its potential budding recovery can be found here:
Garden bird survey gives glimmer of hope for Greenfinch - BirdGuides

I have managed another couple of summer migrant birds over the past couple of days. Yesterday, I was looking out of my bedroom window when my first two swallows of the year flew past. And early this morning I went out for a walk hoping to beat the dog walkers (no success there) where I managed to see another new species flying around the fishing lake:

76. Barn swallow Hirundo rustica
77. Common tern Sterna hirundo

Last year, I didn't reach 77 birds until the end of May so I'm still on track to do a lot better than that this year.

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

Invertebrates
36 Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus

 

[German Zoo World]

Intervertebrates

Bees and Wasps

5. Bombus lapidarius

Butterflys and Moths

6. Anthocharis cardamines


Birds

Passerines

24. Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)

 

[carl the birder]

118 red breasted merganser Mergus serrator

 

[oflory]

A successful trip to the Lea Valley in search of nightingale. Found one singing in the traditionally good spot for then by the power station, then waited 15 minutes or so for a 30 second view. Glorious song and a fabulous start to a Saturday.

123. Sedge warbler
124. Common nightingale

A quick post work walk at Beddington (swiftly becoming something of a local patch for me) nets me my first swallows of the year, two hawking above the North Lake.

125. Barn swallow

 

[Mr. Zootycoon]

Wader migration has started to take off! A short excursion to the polders yielded huge numbers of waders, including three new species for the year list. I was especially pleased with a decent number of whimbrels, which are an easy species to miss in my area as they only pass through in small numbers within a rather narrow time window.

Birds
162. Eurasian Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus
163. Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia
164. Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola

I might now disappear for a while. When I'm back you can expect at least 80-90 new birds, hopefully at least a dozen herptiles, multiple insects and perhaps even a couple of mammals. And a significant number of them should be lifers!

 

[Dhole dude]

Two more species seen on a walk today.

Birds
151. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
152. Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

Mammals: 24
Birds: 152
Reptiles: 12
Amphibians: 1
Fish: 3
Invertebrates: 2

Birds
153. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
154. Red-Winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Mammals: 24
Birds: 154
Reptiles: 12
Amphibians: 1
Fish: 3
Invertebrates: 2

 

[German Zoo World]

Birds

Cranes and Rails

25. Common Gallinule (Gallinula chloropus)

I have seen the Gallinule inside the Flamingo Enclosure at Wilhelma Zoo.

 

[Chlidonias]

72) NZ Little Blue Penguin Eudyptula minor

When I'm biking to and from work each day I keep an eye out for any interesting wildlife I might see in the harbour. Recently I've seen pods of Common Dolphins on several occasions, and now and again I see Short-tailed Stingrays and Fluttering Shearwaters. One species I always hope to see on my commute are the Little Blue Penguins which nest in the rocks along the waterfront, but I have never been so lucky. However we are coming into winter and the clocks changed the other week, so now I'm biking home in the dark - and the penguins come ashore at night. This evening as I was on my way home I suddenly heard the distinctive braying of penguins! I circled back round and there amongst the rocks was a pair of penguins.

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
118. Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax
119. Yellow-headed Blackbird Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
120. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
121. Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis
122. Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
123. Great Egret Ardea alba
124. Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus
125. Bonaparte's Gull Chroicocephalus philadelphia
126. Whooping Crane Grus americana
127. Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri

Birds
128. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
129. Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

 

[oflory]

A quick post work walk at Beddington (swiftly becoming something of a local patch for me) nets me my first swallows of the year, two hawking above the North Lake.

125. Barn swallow

Another singleton from an early morning walk. Pleased to see a pair of stonechat, treecreeper and red kite but they are on the list already.

126. Lesser whitethroat

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

S was letter of the day yesterday!
Birds
114 Sand Martin Riparia riparia
115 Sedge Warbler Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Invertebrates
37 Speckled Wood

 

[MRJ]

I might now disappear for a while. When I'm back you can expect at least 80-90 new birds, hopefully at least a dozen herptiles, multiple insects and perhaps even a couple of mammals. And a significant number of them should be lifers!

Sounds exciting!

 

[carl the birder]

a bird i sean a month ago but forgot to post
119 common pochard Aythya ferina
and a few new ones includng a vaigrant
120 Ferruginous duck Aythya nyroca( swedish lifer)
121 red kite Milvus milvus
123 ruff Philomachus pugnax

 

[birdsandbats]

Birds
128. Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
129. Cliff Swallow Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

Birds
130. Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum

 

[German Zoo World]

Mammals

Mice and Rats

2. House Mouse (Mus musculus)

I have seen some wild mice inside the north american aviary at wilhelma zoo.

 

[Coelacanth18]

I’m now all caught up... just in time for my desert birding this weekend!

Birds
112. Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)
113. California Thrasher (Toxostoma revividum)
114. Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata)
115. Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)
116. Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala)
117. Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
118. Cinnamon Teal (Spatula cyanoptera)
119. Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
120. Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)
121. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
122. Green Heron (Butorides virescens)
123. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
124. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
125. Neotropic Cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum)
126. American Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
127. Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria)
128. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)

Mammals
11. Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Nobody asked me how my desert birding trip went all those weeks ago, but that's okay... it went great! I picked 21 new species over that weekend, with visits to Living Desert; a riparian cottonwood forest in a desert canyon; a beach on the Salton Sea; a large botanical garden; and some settling ponds right off the beach.

I'll leave all of the minute details for me myself and I, but I'll share the biggest highlight. One of my desert targets was a pair of nesting Great Horned Owls in a public park, which (thanks in part to talking it up with a couple of local birders around) I was able to locate easily. The female sat in the nest with a chick while the male stood guard in a nearby tree. I was lucky enough to get some good shots of the chick, which is still in "Star Wars puppet" phase. Hopefully it’ll be a big impressive night hunter like its ‘rents some day!

From there I headed out to my beach campsite on the Salton Sea, where I picked up a couple of new birds in the evening but saw a lot fewer than I anticipated. Hoping to pick things back up in the morning, I was walking back to the campsite at dusk when I heard hoots – suspiciously like Great Horned Owl hoots. I thought, “Nah, I’m still a ways off and have them on my mind; it’s probably just a dove.” But I was wrong; sitting in a bush and a palm tree across the parking lot from each other were that day’s fourth and fifth Great Horned Owls. It was just light enough for a while that I got some great shots of the one in the palm tree, which was crying out softly to the other; just as it started becoming dark and shadowy, the two birds alighted to the same tree and began vocalizing together. I’d seen several wild GHOs before, but between seeing the chick and witnessing a dusk duet the owls alone would have made my whole weekend if I hadn't already been enjoying myself immensely.

My updated list (which includes a few species I saw in the weeks following that trip):

Birds
129. Costa’s Hummingbird (Calypte costae)
130. Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps)
131. Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii)
132. Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii)
133. Abert’s Towhee (Melozone aberti)
134. Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus)
135. Lawrence’s Goldfinch (Spinus lawrencei)
136. Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)
137. White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
138. Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)
139. Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
140. Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
141. California Gull (Larus californicus)
142. Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus)
143. Townsend’s Warbler (Setophaga townsendi)
144. Nuttall’s Woodpecker (Dryobates nuttallii)
145. Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
146. Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
147. Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
148. Gadwall (Mareca strepera)
149. Sora (Porzana carolina)
150. Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii)
151. Cassin’s Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans)
152. White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi)

Mammals
12. American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
13. Elk (Cervus canadensis)

I've also decided to start casually counting reptiles this year, though it'll be more of an incidental thing:

Reptiles
1. Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
2. Common Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana)
3. Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus)
4. Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)