Zoochat Big Year 2023

Great Argus said:
Just wondering, is this entry supposed to be White-headed Buffalo Weaver or White-browed Sparrow Weaver? The scientific name you gave is for the latter.
Click to expand...
Actually I saw both, and I must have got them confused. Must admit getting these done in the time available is a bit difficult. So I am at:
120. White-headed buffalo weaver Dinemellia dinemellia
181. White-browed sparrow-weaver Plocepasser mahali

Thanks for noticing and letting me know. :)
 
One extra over Yorkshire Wildlife Park today (can't be far off my most northerly sighting of this species):

Birds:
103. Red Kite - Milvus milvus

:)
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ
red river hog said:
Mammals:

2. White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
3. Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
4. Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Birds:

16. Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
17. Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)
18. Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
19. American Crow (Corvus americanus)
20. Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
21. White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
22. Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
23. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
24. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
25. American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Invertebrates:

7. Bathroom Moth Fly (Clogmia albipunctata)
8. Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys)
9. House Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata)

Mammals: 4
Birds: 25
Herptiles: 3
Fishes: 9
Invertebrates: 9
Total: 50
Click to expand...
Birds:

26. Snow Goose (Anser caerulescens)
27. Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
28. Limpkin (Aramus guarauna)
29. Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)
30. Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)
31. Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
32. Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritum)
33. Great Egret (Ardea alba)
34. American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)
35. Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
36. Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)
37. Carolina Wren (Thrythorus ludovicianus)
38. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
39. American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

Herptiles:

4. Common Slider (Trachemys scripta)
5. American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Invertebrates:

10. Orange-barred Sulphur (Phoebis philia)

Mammals: 4
Birds: 39
Herptiles: 5
Fishes: 9
Invertebrates: 10
Total: 67
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ
5/2/2023
127. Australian owlet-nightjar
128. blue-faced honeyeater
129. diamond firetail
 
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ
ThylacineAlive said:
Update time! So I was hoping to pick up a 60th bird for the year to give me a clean 60 going into this past weekend's activities. I went out birding a few times over the last week and while I saw plenty of birds, I unfortunately didn't pick up anything new.. That is, until I was standing outside work on break Friday afternoon and nabbed one more welcome addition:

60) House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus


So what did I do this weekend? Well to celebrate a few personal milestones in my life, I decided to make a short getaway to the sunshine state, Florida. Sarasota and Punta Gorda to be specific. My trip was short with only one and half days worth of actual activity, but I made the most of it.

Day One: my first day began a little rough, I had a very late night flight in, which was further delayed. I ended up spending the night in the airport which equated to maybe only an hour and half of sleep... Not great, but once the sun was up I was off! Funny enough, the very first bird I saw were more House Finches! From the airport I first drove to a small spot right on the coast near the airport. Sarasota doesn't really have much in the way of preserved coastal habitat and as such I decided I wasn't going to make much of an attempt at searching for seabirds. I did want to make some effort, however, so I popped in to a small marina at first light.

After that, I headed south to Oscar Scherer State Park to spend some time in Florida's sand pine scrub habitat on a search for scrub-jays. I spent about four hours in the park, but sadly didn't find any of the resident jays.

After the park, I continued south to Punta Gorda where I visited my only zoo of the trip: Iguanaland. Following the zoo visit, I made my way towards the Prairie Creek Preserve. There was no particular target for this site, it's just near the zoo and I wanted to get a little more birding in before sunset. Unfortunately, a fallen pine across the road meant I had two options: quit and head to the hotel early or take a very large detour to get around the tree. After some contemplation and confirming that there weren't any other good birding sites nearby, I decided to call it a day and go get some sleep. Fate would have it, however, that the roads leading up to the preserve are very remote and specious themselves. The drive back out would take me past some telephone lines featuring my initial target bird, the elusive scrub-jay!

Day Two: today, my second and last day, was considerably simpler. I visited a lovely and lesser known spot known as The Celery Fields. Owned by the Audubon, this area consists of a large manmade hill and walking trails surrounded on all sides by a series of manmade wetlands and flood retention pools with some roads crossing through. This creates a series of varied aquatic habitats and woodlands that can be hiked around and in-between. The famous Myakka River State Park is definitely more well-known and certainly more of a guarantee for Limpkins, however TCF is free to visit, opens earlier, and features a lot more diversity at any given time, a fact confirmed by several of the local birders I bumped into throughout the day.

As far as Limpkins go, I had planned on also stopping by Myakka if I had time, but I learned that the Limpkins had stopped frequenting the site following Hurricane Ian. It sounds as though they are starting to return, thankfully, but the site is no longer the guarantee for the species it once was. That said, TCF is also a local hotspot for the species, but they are far less common there than Myakka. Despite this, I managed to find four of the birds, which are quite the disappear artists as it turns out.

Another benefit of the site is that it's pretty much a guarantee for Marsh Rabbits. In fact, searching iNaturalist for rabbit sightings in Sarasota is how I initially discovered the place. Hispid Cotton Rats are also regularly seen here, though I did not find any. As far as the rabbits are concerned, I found about a dozen with no effort!

I spent pretty my entire day exploring and revisiting different parts of the TCF. I really didn't need to go anywhere else and I kept finding new stuff throughout the day. When it came time to head to the airport, I left and made a final quick revisit to the same marina I started off with the day before, just to check since I had the time.

Altogether, I had a very busy, very fun, and very successful weekend here in Florida. I highly recommend anyone visiting the area spend some time at The Celery Fields if you can! Now without further ado, the birds:

The Marina
61) American White Ibis Eudocimus albus
62) Snowy Egret Egretta thula
63) Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis
64) Double-Crested Cormorant Nannopterum auritum
65) Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla
66) Boat-Tailed Grackle Quiscalus major

Oscar Scherer State Park
67) Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea
68) Great Egret Ardea alba
69) Osprey Pandion haliaetus
70) Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula
71) Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
72) Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
73) Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura
74) Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
75) Loggerhead Shrike Lanius ludovicianus
76) Palm Warbler Setophaga palmarum
77) Black-and-White Warbler Mniotilta varia
78) Grey Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
79) Red-Shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus
80) Pied-Billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps

Punta Gorda Back Roads
81) Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
82) Red-Headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus
83) American Robin Turdus migratorius
84) Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe
85) Florida Scrub-Jay Aphelocoma coerulescens
86) Sandhill Crane Antigone canadensis
87) Anhinga (American Darter) Anhinga anhinga
88) Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

The Celery Fields (Sarasota Audubon)
89) Nanday Conure Aratinga nenday
90) Purple Martin Progne subis
91) Brown-Headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
92) Red-Winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus
93) Common Ground-Dove Columbina passerina
94) Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata
95) American Coot Fulica americana
96) Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
97) American Purple Gallinule Porphyrio martinicus
98) Blue-Winged Teal Spatula discors
99) North American Wood Duck Aix sponsa
100) Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor
101) Grey-Headed Swamphead Porphyrio poliocephalus
102) Wood Stork Mycteria americana
103) Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
104) Sora Porzana carolina
105) Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
106) Mottled Duck Anas fulvigula
107) Roseate Spoonbill Platalea ajaja
108) Limpkin Aramus guarauna
109) Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii
110) Forster's Tern Sterna forsteri
111) Wilson's Snipe Gallinago delicata
112) Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis

The Marina (return)
113) Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius

I still have a handful of photos to ID once I'm home, but I don't really expect this list to grow much if at all.

Of course, one small downside to this trip is that I picked up a lot of CT summer birds, meaning the warmer weather won't have as much for me this year as usual! Guess I'll just need to travel elsewhere some more...

I have a mammals and now also reptiles update to post soon as well.

~Thylo
Click to expand...

Two final birds from Florida to update here, both surprise lifers! The warbler was spotted and photographed for later ID at Oscar Scherer with a mixed flock of gnatcatchers and other warbler species. The cowbird I had heard was present at The Celery Fields the day I was there from some other birders, associating with the Brown-Headed. While I saw a lot of cowbirds, the early morning sun made good looks at the eyes difficult and so I photographed for a look back later. First time going through my photos I didn't notice any unusual individuals, so I'd thought I'd missed it. Looking through a second time, however, I found a few photos of a red-eyed bird with some of the Nanday Conures!

114) Chestnut-Sided Warbler Setophaga pensylvanica
----
115) Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus

And now an update from today. The past couple weeks, there have been reports of a few alcid species hanging around the far side of the state at the mouth of a river just shy of the Rhode Island border. I hadn't gotten a chance to make it down that way until this weekend, which was perfect since it gave me an opportunity to test out my brand-new spotting scope. Unfortunately, Thursday through Saturday saw a major winter storm blow through with temperatures dropping down to -23 C with a windchill as low as -50 C in some parts of New England. With that kind of weather, it's hard to say what will stick around or get blown elsewhere, or what may blow in. My hope was more alcids would blow in, however I wouldn't know it, since the waters remained so choppy at the alcid spot that it was very difficult to see anything smaller than a loon if it wasn't near-shore. I did spot a Razorbill fly by, which a wild lifer for me and my first wild alcid, but no guillemots or murres.

I decided to move to a second spot nearby which was known for grebes. This spot proved considerably calmer and much more successful. Finally, I planned to conclude my day with a check-back visit to the alcid spot to see if the water had calmed down at all, but I bumped into another birder who'd just come from there with no such luck. Fortuitously, as I was leaving she got a live update from a friend that a Vesper Sparrow had been found about 20 minutes earlier at a nearby location that also happened to be along my route home.

116) Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
117) American White-Winged Scoter Melanitta deglandi
118) Brant Goose Branta bernicla
119) Razorbill Alca torda
----
120) Greater Scaup Aythya marila
121) Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
122) Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus
123) Long-Tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
124) Black-Necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis
----
125) Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus

~Thylo
 
A number of small local and semi-local birding sessions gave me a number of decent winter birds. I'm still missing several reasonably common local species, but this winter has not been great. Beside unfavourable weather for birding, there are simply a lot fewer winter migrants than other years - it seems like they stayed further north. There are fewer waterfowl and thrushes, and no invasions of crossbills or coal tits or redpolls either. Most species are present - even if in very low numbers-, but it simply takes a lot more work to see them.

Of the list only whooper swan is a real winter migrant, redwing also winters here but they are more typically seen on passage. The rest is all mostly residents, and the gull is even a bit of an early spring migrant!

Birds
101. Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes
102. Northern Raven, Corvus corax
103. Little Owl, Athene noctua
104. Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus
105. Eurasian Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis
106. Song Thrush, Turdus philomelos
107. Black Woodpecker, Dryocopos martius
108. Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Leiopicus medius
109. Redwing, Turdus illiacus
110. Skylark, Alauda arvensis
111. White Wagtail. Motacilla alba
112. Rook, Corvus frugilegus
113. Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus

Mammals
10. House Mouse, Mus musculus

Butterflies
1. European Peacock, Aglais io

Fish
2. Common Rudd, Scardinius erythrophthalmus
 
Mt. Moroto

On Route

Birds
182. Laughing dove Spilopelia senegalensis
183. Grey crowned crane Balearica regulorum
184. White-bellied go-away bird Crinifer leucogaster
185. Western banded snake eagle Circaetus cinerascens
186. African grey woodpecker Dendropicos goertae
187. D'Arnaud's barbet Trachyphonus darnaudii
188. Lesser falcon Falco naumanni
189. Orange-tufted sunbird Cinnyris bouvieri
190. Tacazze sunbird Nectorinia tacazze
191. Viteline masked weaver Ploceus vitellinus
192. Black-rumped waxbill Estrilda troglodytes
193. Moustached grass-warbler Melocichla mentalis (new Family)
194. Tawny-flanked prinia Prinia subflava

Moroto

Birds
195. Hemprich's hornbill Lophoceros hemprichii
196. Red-and-yellow barbet Trachyphonus erythrocephalus
197. Northern fiscal Lanius humeralis
198. Cinnamon-breasted bunting Emberiza tahapisi

Reptiles
4. Kenya rock agama Agama lionotus
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Two final birds from Florida to update here, both surprise lifers! The warbler was spotted and photographed for later ID at Oscar Scherer with a mixed flock of gnatcatchers and other warbler species. The cowbird I had heard was present at The Celery Fields the day I was there from some other birders, associating with the Brown-Headed. While I saw a lot of cowbirds, the early morning sun made good looks at the eyes difficult and so I photographed for a look back later. First time going through my photos I didn't notice any unusual individuals, so I'd thought I'd missed it. Looking through a second time, however, I found a few photos of a red-eyed bird with some of the Nanday Conures!

114) Chestnut-Sided Warbler Setophaga pensylvanica
----
115) Bronzed Cowbird Molothrus aeneus

And now an update from today. The past couple weeks, there have been reports of a few alcid species hanging around the far side of the state at the mouth of a river just shy of the Rhode Island border. I hadn't gotten a chance to make it down that way until this weekend, which was perfect since it gave me an opportunity to test out my brand-new spotting scope. Unfortunately, Thursday through Saturday saw a major winter storm blow through with temperatures dropping down to -23 C with a windchill as low as -50 C in some parts of New England. With that kind of weather, it's hard to say what will stick around or get blown elsewhere, or what may blow in. My hope was more alcids would blow in, however I wouldn't know it, since the waters remained so choppy at the alcid spot that it was very difficult to see anything smaller than a loon if it wasn't near-shore. I did spot a Razorbill fly by, which a wild lifer for me and my first wild alcid, but no guillemots or murres.

I decided to move to a second spot nearby which was known for grebes. This spot proved considerably calmer and much more successful. Finally, I planned to conclude my day with a check-back visit to the alcid spot to see if the water had calmed down at all, but I bumped into another birder who'd just come from there with no such luck. Fortuitously, as I was leaving she got a live update from a friend that a Vesper Sparrow had been found about 20 minutes earlier at a nearby location that also happened to be along my route home.

116) Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
117) American White-Winged Scoter Melanitta deglandi
118) Brant Goose Branta bernicla
119) Razorbill Alca torda
----
120) Greater Scaup Aythya marila
121) Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
122) Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus
123) Long-Tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
124) Black-Necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis
----
125) Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus

~Thylo
Click to expand...

Finally had a moment to catch up on some turtle IDs and update my mammals. Spoiler, my mammals and reptiles lists are not as robust as my bird list... yet.

For mammals, the first five are from CT, the last two were seen in Florida.

Mammals
1) Eastern Grey Squirrel (Neo)Sciurus carolinensis
2) Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
3) White-Tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus
4) Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus
5) Northern Raccoon Procyon lotor
6) Bobcat Lynx rufus
7) Marsh Rabbit Sylvilagus palustris

Reptiles
1) American Alligator Alligator mississipiensis
2) Pond Slider Trachemys scripta
3) Peninsula Cooter Pseudemys peninsularis
4) Florida Softshell Turtle Apalone ferox

~Thylo
 
Lota lota said:
39 Common woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
Click to expand...
40 Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
41 Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans)
Nice lifer in central stockholm that has been drawing quite some attention the last few days.Caspian gulls are sighted in sweden yearly,but usually only during the autumn.And trying to see it last year was kinda a hit or miss.It being a juvenile made it a little harder to differentiate it from the other gulls.But with the help of other birders at the site who confirmed my suspicion about what individual it was,I was able to tick it of the list.
42 Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)
 
Kakapo said:
Seen a while ago climbing a corner of my house. First of the year, suprisingly early (they're an almost daily sight at the end of spring), the larva of a common anthropogenic beautiful beetle in my house and other houses in my city.

18. Melyris oblonga
Click to expand...


Today I had a small surprise under the same bridge where I saw the great egret the other day.

BIRDS:

24. Common stonechat (Saxicola torquata)

And in the outside of the building where I work there was a small spider resting, after comparing photos of several related species I concluded that is a:

INVERTEBRATES:

19. Enoplognatha mandibularis
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top