Zoochat Big Year 2023

I just had possibly the best bird watching experience I’ve ever had! I went to one of the best birding spots in my area, where I joined a guided tour group in hopes of getting some help spotting and identifying some rare birds. That strategy worked and I managed to see a lot of rare and interesting species with them. Highlights include a pair of Common cranes, a very active White-backed woodpecker and a extremely rare sight in Finland, a Great white egret. Some disappointing misses include Little ringed plovers and Stock doves. Despite those misses it was still one of the best experiences of my life.

Birds

38. Common crane, Grus grus
39. European robin, Erithacus rubecula
40. Northern lapwing, Vanellus vanellus
41. Gray heron, Ardea cinerea
42. Canada goose, Branta canadensis
43. Great crested grebe, Podiceps cristatus
44. Eurasian coot, Fulica atra
45. Great white egret, Egretta alba
46. Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis
47. Green sandpiper, Trisha ochropus
48. White-backed woodpecker, Dendrocopos leucotos
49. Song thrush, Turdus philomelos
50. Redwing, Turdus iliacus

All 16/4/23
 
Kakapo said:
Two new ones today, even when both are nuisances of house and garden respectively.

INVERTEBRATES:

126. Anthrenus verbasci
127. Autographa gamma
Click to expand...


Brief trip to the river shore with a friend today. No new birds except by the song of one, and very few inverts but some of those are new. I fished some shrimps for my aquarium fishes and had a very good sight of a night heron resting.

BIRDS:

51. Common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos)


INVERTEBRATES:

128. Gammarus pulex
129. Runcinia grammica
130. Gonocephalum granulatum
131. Timarcha perezi
132. Atyaephyra desmaresti
133. Chaitophorus populeti
134. Polyommatus icarus
 
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ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
Today I went out in the early morning and drove around the country roads, looking out into the cornfields of Champaign County. I found two nice lifers, although unfortunately two longspur species evaded me. The horned lark in particular had been a long time coming.

Birds
145. Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
146. Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) (Lifer)
147. Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) (Lifer)​
Click to expand...
I've gotten some good spring wildlife watching in.

Mammals
Both seen on the side of the road at night, same road, different nights. The opossum was actually eating roadkill in the middle of the road, dangerously close to becoming some itself. I also saw my first ever shrews, a whole family of them, but I'll write more about that if I manage to ID them.
15. Common Racoon (Procyon lotor)
16. Virginia‌ ‌Opossum‌ ‌(‌Didelphis‌ ‌virginiana)‌
​
Birds
I'm really happy with this group of birds, including many I haven't seen frequently, and a couple county or total lifers

Busey woods, Wednesday morning
148. Purple finch (Haemorhous purpureus)
149. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
150. Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
​
Harper's ferry road brush and fluddle. This is an area of undeveloped land, part of a growing subdivision and likely soon to be developed, next to a corn field that frequently produces a massive fluddle that has attracted the likes of Black-necked stilts and White-faced ibises, local rarities. This is also where I found the shrews, and in general, there are a lot of very interesting and locally uncommon animals, like insects, found here. I'd hate for it to be developed, but I'm not sure what I can do about it.
151. Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
152. Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
153. Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) (Lifer)
154. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
155. Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) (Lifer)​

Insect/Inverts
45. Ground beetle (Lebia viridipennis) (Lifer)
46. Flea jumping spider (Naphrys pulex)
47. Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina)
48. Rove beetle (Astenus discopunctatus) (Lifer)
49. Eastern calligrapher (Toxomerus geminatus)
50. Transverse-banded flower fly (Eristalis transversa)
51. Wedgling moth (Galgula partita)
52. Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica)​
 
here's another update...

Mammals
  • Gold Coast
8. Eastern Grey-Kangaroo
9. Grey-Headed Flying-Fox

Birds
  • Moreton Bay
66. Australian Pied-Oystercatcher
67. Pied Cormorant
  • Sandy Camp Road Wetlands
68. Chestnut Teal
69. Eurasian Coot
70. Grey Shrike-Thrush
71. Intermediate Egret
72. Magpie Goose
73. Rufous Whistler
74. Spotless Crake
75. Sacred Kingfisher
76. Straw-Necked Ibis
77. Striated Heron
78. Tawny Grassbird
  • Eagleby Wetlands
79. Australasian Grebe
80. Grey Teal
  • Gold Coast
81. Little Wattlebird
  • Kumbartcho Sanctuary
82. Golden Whistler
83. Pacific Baza
84. Red-Capped Robin
85. Rufous Fantail
  • Toowoomba
86. Brown Falcon
87. Pale-Headed Rosella
  • Sam's Track (Western Creek SF)
88. Australian Raven
89. Brown Quail
90. Buff-Rumped Thornbill
91. Cockatiel
92. Hooded Robin
93. Jacky Winter
95. Striped Honeyeater
96. Weebill
97. White-Backed Swallow
98. White-Plumed Honeyeater
  • Mosquito Creek Rd
99. Apostlebird
100. Australian Ringneck
101. Australian Hobby
102. Blue Bonnet
103. Galah
104. Grey-Crowned Babbler
105. Ground Cuckoo-Shrike
106. Nankeen Kestrel
107. Purple-Backed Fairywren
108. Red-Rumped Parrot
109. Red-Winged Parrot
110. Spiny-Cheeked Honeyeater
111. Spotted Pardalote
112. Wedge-Tailed Eagle
113. White-Winged Fairywren
114. Yellow-Faced Honeyeater
115. Yellow-Throated Miner
  • Yelarbon
116. Australasian Shoveler
117. Black-Fronted Dotterel
118. Black-Shouldered Kite
119. Black-Tailed Native-Hen
120. Black-Winged Stilt
121. Common Starling
122. Emu
123. House Sparrow
124. Pacific Swift
125. Pink-Eared Duck
126. Red-Kneed Dotterel
127. Spotted Bowerbird
128. White-Faced Heron
129. White-Necked Heron
130. Yellow-Billed Spoonbill
131. Yellow-Rumped Thornbill
  • Durikai SF
132. Fuscous Honeyeater
133. Squatter Pigeon
134. Yellow-Tufted Honeyeater
  • Cunningham's Gap (Main Range NP)
135. Bell Miner
136. Brown Gerygone
137. Eastern Spinebill
138. Large-Billed Scrubwren
139. Noisy Pitta
140. Russet-Tailed Thrush
141. Satin Bowerbird
142. Spectacled Monarch
143. White-Browed Scrubwren
144. Yellow-Throated Scrubwren

Reptiles
  • Gold Coast
7. Coastal Carpet-Python
8. Murray River-Turtle
  • Mosquito Creek Rd
9. Elegant Snake-Eyed Skink
10. Jacky Lizard
  • Inglewood
11. Eastern Brown-Snake

Amphibians
  • Gold Coast
3. Eastern Dwarf Tree-Frog
 
Great Argus said:
Normally by this time of year I'm watching butterflies and the first big wave of spring migrants arriving. However it continues to be one of the coldest and wettest winters in a long time, and this storm of the last two days triggered a fallout of waterbirds moving north and another small influx of mountain birds down to lower elevations. The result being watching the neighborhood pond gave a large addition of birds to the list, including several I was not expecting. Swallows remain the only spring migrants to be pushing forwards, along with a few Rufous hummers which I haven't seen yet. The wood-warblers, orioles, and flycatchers normally arriving by now are nowhere to be seen, instead I've got north-bound waterfowl forced down by storms and wandering mountain finches...

Mammals:

6. Beechy Ground Squirrel (Otospermophilus beechyi)

Birds:

80. Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
81. Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata)
82. Cassin’s Finch (Haemohorus cassini)
83. Lewis’ Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis)
84. Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
85. Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
86. Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)
87. Common Loon (Gavia immer)
88. American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
89. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripinnis)
90. Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)

6-90-5-1-0-7
Click to expand...

Weather has properly turned towards spring in the last two weeks, and as a result migration is on full throttle. Most of the migrants that should be here have now arrived, and the butterflies are out as well. Took long enough! :p

Mammals:

7. Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
8. Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Birds:

91. Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
92. Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)
93. Merlin (Falco columbarius)
94. Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullocki)
95. Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)
96. Hammond’s Flycatcher (Empidonax hammondi)
97. Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus)
98. Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus)
99. Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)
100. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
101. Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
102. Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
103. Cassin's Vireo (Vireo cassini)
104. MacGillivray’s Warbler (Geothlypis tolmiei)
105. Black-throated Gray Warbler (Setophaga nigrescens)
106. Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Fish:

1. Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)
--. Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) - unclear whether a established or routinely stocked population

Invertebrates:

8. Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
9. European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula)

--. Blue spp (Celastrina spp) - didn't get a good enough look to try and identify it.
--. Crane Fly spp - thought it would be more straightforward than it turned out.

8-106-5-1-1-9
 
WalkingAgnatha said:
Trip-report, in the travel thread,

Mammals:
3. Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus)
4. NZ Fur-Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri)

Birds:
76. Red-Necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)
77. Ring-Necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
78. Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
79. Cape Pigeon (Daption capense)
80. Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli)
81. Black-fronted Tern (Chlidonias albostriatus)
82. Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans)
83. Northern Royal-Albatross (Diomedea sanfordi)
84. Salvin's Mollymawk (Thalassarche salvini)
85.White-Capped Mollymawk (Thalassarche cauta steadi)
86. Westland Petrel (Procellaria westlandica)
87. White-Chinned Petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis)
88. Short-Tailed Shearwater (Ardenna tenuirostris)
89. Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea)
90. Southern Royal-Albatross (Diomedea epomophora)
91. Buller's Albatross !! #100 (Thalassarche bulleri)
92. Spotted Shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus)

INVERTS TALLY: 36
Insects:
28. Blue-Damselfly (Austrolestes colensonis)
Click to expand...
Trip write-up in the NZ forum if anyone's interested in reading it, not the greatest show for 5 days :3

Mammals:
5. Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)

Birds:
93. Tomtit (Petroica macrocephala macrocephala)
94. Kakaruai [SI Robin] (Petroica australis)
95. Kea (Nestor notabilis)
96. Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
97. New Zealand Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae)
98. Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
99. Californian Quail (Callipepla californica)
Wonder what the record breaker'll be... (hopefully hoiho :p)
 
Went to a nature reserve close by to search for black grouse hen that had been reported.Didn't find the grouse or any new birds,this years first warbler a common chiffchaff was heard but sadly not seen.But it was still a nice day out with beutiful weather,and it was a real woodpecker day.I had great views of all species you can find at this time of year in my part of the country (Black,Eurasian green,Little spotted and Greater spotted).Fish were the only new species today.
Lota lota said:
1 Northern pike (Esox lucius
Click to expand...

Fish:
2 Common bleak (Alburnus alburnus)
3 European perch (Perca fluviatilis)
 
Kakapo said:
Brief trip to the river shore with a friend today. No new birds except by the song of one, and very few inverts but some of those are new. I fished some shrimps for my aquarium fishes and had a very good sight of a night heron resting.

BIRDS:

51. Common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos)


INVERTEBRATES:

128. Gammarus pulex
129. Runcinia grammica
130. Gonocephalum granulatum
131. Timarcha perezi
132. Atyaephyra desmaresti
133. Chaitophorus populeti
134. Polyommatus icarus
Click to expand...


Today I saw some new insects, and 15 species of birds - not bad from a daily urban day without visiting any park, river or nothing extra.

INVERTEBRATES:

135. Scytodes thoracica (inside my house)
136. Musca domestica (probably saw some earlier in the year but just didn't checked them)
137. Lachnaia pubescens
138. Dictyla nassata (Lifer!!!)
 
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Bisonblake said:
4/15/2023
Birds:
Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus

Total Species: 42
Birds: 32
Mammals: 7
Herptiles: 3
Click to expand...
I had a fantastic day for birding, probably my best ever since I considered this a hobby of mine. I was able to identify 25 total species, including one lifer. I went to some development ponds on the west side of campus and was pleasantly surprised to find a female bufflehead. Apparently, I'm the first person to ever record a sighting of this species at this location on eBird.

4/20/23
Birds:
33. Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
34. Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
35. Hairy woodpecker Leuconotopicus villosus
36. Pileated woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
37. Ruby-crowned kinglet Regulus calendula
38. American tree sparrow Spizelloides arborea
39. Hermit thrush Catharus guttatus
40. White-throated sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

Mammals:
8. Raccoon Procyon lotor

Total Species: 51
Birds: 40
Mammals: 8
Herptiles: 3
 
After my amazing experience last week, I was desperate to go birdwatching again as soon possibly. Unfortunately I have other responsibilities in life, so the earliest I could go anywhere was today. So right after I got out of school I biked down to my nearest nature reserve to see some birds. Target species were Common pochards and Horned grebes, which I both ended up seeing, plus some other cool birds.

Birds

51. Common moorhen, Gallinula chloropus 21/4/23
52. Common pochard, Aythya ferina 21/4/23
53. Horned grebe, Podiceps auritus
54. Eurasian teal, Anas crecca 21/4/23
55. Northern shoveler, Spatula clypeata 21/4/23
56. Osprey, Pandion haliaetus 21/4/23
 
Just realised I never added my new stuff from a day at Frampton Marsh on Tuesday (and a couple of inverts from the interim). A very sunny but very windy day, but some great additions with a distinctly summery flavour. Notable in particular are the Med Gulls - Frampton has beaten the Lincolnshire site record count this week - and of course, the lovely spoonbills.

Birds:
149. Mediterranean Gull - Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
150. Little Ringed Plover - Charadrius dubius
151. Eurasian Spoonbill - Platalea leucorodia
152. Western Yellow Wagtail - Motacilla flava
153. Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
154. Common Tern - Sterna hirundo

Invertebrates:
8. Garden Snail - Cornu aspersum
9. Specked Wood - Pararge aegeria
10. Seven-spot Ladybird - Coccinella septempunctata
11. Common Dronefly - Eristalis tenax
12. Small White - Pieris rapae
13. Tawny Mining Bee - Andrena fulva
14. Brown-lipped Banded Snail - Cepaea nemoralis

:)
 
Bisonblake said:
I had a fantastic day for birding, probably my best ever since I considered this a hobby of mine. I was able to identify 25 total species, including one lifer. I went to some development ponds on the west side of campus and was pleasantly surprised to find a female bufflehead. Apparently, I'm the first person to ever record a sighting of this species at this location on eBird.

4/20/23
Birds:
33. Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
34. Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
35. Hairy woodpecker Leuconotopicus villosus
36. Pileated woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
37. Ruby-crowned kinglet Regulus calendula
38. American tree sparrow Spizelloides arborea
39. Hermit thrush Catharus guttatus
40. White-throated sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

Mammals:
8. Raccoon Procyon lotor

Total Species: 51
Birds: 40
Mammals: 8
Herptiles: 3
Click to expand...
4/21/23
Birds:
41. Great blue heron Ardea herodias
42. Brown-headed cowbird Molothrus ater
43. Fox sparrow Passerella iliaca

Total Species: 54
Birds: 43
Mammals: 8
Herptiles: 3

Also, I'd like to note some heard-only species that aren't on my year list:
1. Northern flicker Colaptes auratus
2. Great horned owl Bubo virginianus
3. Swamp sparrow Melospiza georgiana
 
Kakapo said:
Today I saw some new insects, and 15 species of birds - not bad from a daily urban day without visiting any park, river or nothing extra.

INVERTEBRATES:

135. Scytodes thoracica (inside my house)
136. Musca domestica (probably saw some earlier in the year but just didn't checked them)
137. Lachnaia pubescens
138. Dictyla nassata (Lifer!!!)
Click to expand...


One new insect yesterday, a couple individuals jumped when I moved a honeysuckle branch in my parents garden.

INVERTEBRATES:

139. Ficocyba ficaria
 
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