Just realized I skipped #232 so I'm actually on 243 birds now.
I also forgot another reptile I saw today. For reptiles, I gave my last two the same number so I'm actually on 8:
8) Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina
~Thylo
Zoochat Big Year 2023
- Thread starter Chlidonias
- Start date
Just realized I skipped #232 so I'm actually on 243 birds now.
I also forgot another reptile I saw today. For reptiles, I gave my last two the same number so I'm actually on 8:
8) Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina
~Thylo
Herps
8. Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina
9. Mink Frog Lithobates septentrionalis
Summer has been in full swing for a couple weeks now. I have to say, this spring wasn't quite as good as last year, but was still very nice.
Birds
Seen at Kickapoo, and also elsewhere since, forgot to mention 5/14
207. Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) (Lifer)
First seen in my backyard 5/19
208. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
Seen at Meadowbrook park 5/21
209. Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
Both seen in the Upper Sangamon River Land and Water Reserve, very nice habitat with breeding birds not common elsewhere in the area, but the paths were completely overgrown. It was quite fun to wade through the grass however.
210. Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii) (Lifer)
211. Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)
211. Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)
Seen at Robert C. Porter Family Park, where there is a martin nest that is the only reliable sighting for the species in the county
212. Purple Martin (Progne subis)
A breeding pair of this species was a pleasant surprise at Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve. They don't summer here too frequently.
213. Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
Also, a heard only Eurasian Collared Dove and Acadian Flycatcher
I think the ordering for my inverts list was incorrect in the last post, Black Swallowtail should be 79, and Common Sootywing starts 80. Summer is really the season for inverts here.
Insect/Inverts
80. Common sootywing (Pholisora catullus)
81. Black onion fly (Tritoxa flexa) (Lifer)
82. Asiastic wall jumping spider (Attulus fasciger)
83. Pigweed flea beetle (Disonycha glabrata)
84. American dog/wood tick (Dermacentor variabilis)
85. Bathroom moth fly (Clogmia albipunctata)
86. Hairy spider weevil (Barypeithes pellucidus) (Lifer)
87. Two spotted bumble bee (Bombus bimaculatus)
88. Spotted pink lady beetle (Coleomegilla maculata)
89. Zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus)
90. Four-lined plant bug (Poecilocapsus lineatus)
91. Bristle fly (Archytas apicifer)
92. Greenhouse millipede (Oxidus gracilis)
93. Polished lady beetle (Cycloneda munda)
94. Widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)
95. Red soldier beetle (Podabrus tomentosus)
96. Golden-backed snipe fly (Chrysopilus thoracicus) (Lifer)
97. Prince baskettail (Epitheca princeps)
98. Brown-belted bumble bee (Bombus griseocollis)
99. White-margined burrower bug (Sehirus cinctus)
100. Metallic Crab Spider (Philodromus marxi)
101. Honeylocust treehopper (Micrutalis calva)
102. Yellow wood soldier fly (Xylomya tenthredinoides) (Lifer)
103. Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)
104. Eastern tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas)
105. Common buckeye (Junonia coenia)
106. Ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata)
107. Eastern amberwing (Perithemis tenera)
108. Twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella)
109. Brilliant jumping spider (Phidippus clarus)
110. Elegant grass-veneer (Microcrambus elegans)
111. Blue-tipped dancer (Argia tibialis)
112. Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis)
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Wow, can you tell us more about this sighting? I am always interested in hearing stories about encounters with such sporadically elusive species.
6/12/23
6. Two-Lined Spittlebug (Prosapia bicincta)
Total:
Mammals: 13
Birds: 111
Reptiles: 8
Amphibians: 6
Invertebrates: 6
Yes, it wasn't an exciting encounter as it was only for a couple seconds, but it was a great surprise.
I am currently interning at a zoo in Indiana, and one of the exhibits on my route has mole burrows all over the exhibit. Even though it is the smallest exhibit I tend to, it seems to attract moles more than the others. When I finished morning prep for that exhibit, I saw the ground move. I looked down at the ground and out popped the head of an eastern mole. It was only viewable for a second or two before crawling back into the burrow. The sighting happened between 8:00-8:30am.
Only one additional bird from a recent trip to Amsterdam
145. Alexandrine parakeet
However, two herps from a drink with friends in South London.
Herps
1. Common newt
2. Common frog
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Kakapo
Well-Known Member
A new insect for the year at the entry of my job place.
INVERTEBRATES:
287. Rhagonycha fulva
Mammals
18. Fisher Pekania pennanti
Was this at the Macbeth Arms?
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
And today, at centimeters away from the very same spot where yesterday I saw the soldier beetle. Coming out from my workplace I saw an interesting small moth:
INVERTEBRATES:
288. Brachodes nanetta
As a curious anecdote, also I went to watering my parents garden, and saw the two species of mud wasps,the introduced Sceliphron curvatum and the native Sceliphron destillatorium. It seems that the non-native don't damage populations of the other, as both thrive here since several years ago. Maybe they keep different ecological niches for avoid exclusion (S. curvatum is smaller, so I guess females store smaller spiders). However, a third native species, S. spirifex, was the most common one during my childhood, and now S. destillatorium is much more common than destillatorium. I have long time (several years) not seeing a spirifex in this garden.
Another surprising mammal sighting today at work! I was cleaning one of the ponds when I noticed a small gray animal walking on the other side of the fence. I was expecting another eastern mole but it was actually a northern short-tailed shew. This is probably the first time the scientific name of a species came to my mind before the common name. This sighting happened later in the morning than the eastern mole, around 10am.
6/15/23
Mammals:
12. Northern short-tailed shrew Blarina brevicauda
Total Species: 105
Birds: 86
Mammals: 12
Herptiles: 7
Gosh, It’s been awhile since I last posted. I spent most of the summer stuck at home, but 3 weeks ago I came back from my first trip to the Himalayas. It’s honestly a little embarrassing that I have spent my entire life under the long shadow of these mountains without visiting them till now, but I never really got the oppurtunity. Luckily for me, my school happened to be planning a school trip there. Although most of my classmates are quite interested in birding and wildlife-watching (I think I can say to some microscopic extent because of me) I could not focus too much on wildlife, as I was violently sick throughout, not to mention other things. However, being in such a new part of the country meant that nearly ever other bird we saw was a species new to me.
The trip consisted of a trek in Himachal Pradesh - now India’s northernmost state, and a popular tourist destination, but our route also took us through streams, pastures, and woodland and there was none of the buzz apparent in Manali town which we were adjacent to. It was very interesting noticing the change in vegetation and biomes with altitude - pine and deodar (cedar) at lower altitude, replaced by spruce, silver fir, golden oak, cherry and maple, and eventually mostly birch; wind also seemed to play a major part in their distribution. However more than anything human actions seemed to have affected the landscape - at lower elevations apple orchards dominated, and there was a profusion of rose bushes I doubt were natural. Even higher, we spent a lot of time crossing pastures probably created by livestock, and often met shepherds and their stock. There were also more ‘modern’ changes - hydroelectric project, and the roads, fencing etc. associated with it.
Birds
122. Himalayan Monal Lophophorus impeyanus
123. Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus
124. Himalayan Griffon Vulture Gyps himalayensis
125. Great Barbet Psilopogon virens
126. Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
127. Eurasian Hobby Falco subbuteo
128. Plum-headed Parakeet Psittacula cyanocephala
129. Yellow-billed Blue-magpie Urocissa flavirostris
130. Grey Treepie Dendrocitta formosae
131. Fire-capped Tit Cephalopyrus flammiceps
132. Black-crested or Spot-winged Coal Tit Periparus ater ssp. melanolophus
133. White-cheeked Bulbul Pycnonotus leucogenys
134. Himalayan Black Bulbul Hypsipetes leucocephalus ssp. psaroides
135. Streaked Laughingthrush Trochalopteron lineatum
136. White-collared Whiskered Yuhina Yuhina flavicollis ssp. albicollis
137. Brown Dipper Cinclus pallasii
138. White-collared Blackbird Turdus albocinctus
139. Blue Whistling-thrush Myophonus caeruleus
140. Blue-capped Rock-thrush Monticola cinclorhyncha
141. Plumbeous Water-redstart Phoenicurus fuliginosus
142. White-capped Water-redstart Phoenicurus leucocephalus
143. Grey Bushchat Saxicola ferreus
144. Cinnamon Sparrow Passer rutilans
145. Common Rosefinch Carpodacus erythrinus
146. Snow Pigeon Columba leuconota
147. Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis
148. European Cuckoo Cuculus canorus
- Red-billed/Alpine Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax/graculus
- Northern/Asian House-martin Delichon urbicum/dasypus
- Bar-tailed/Hogdson's Treecreeper Certhia hodgsoni/himalayana
The most exciting bird of the trip could have been the Monal, but frankly it wasn’t. We were all desperate to see it after hearing from the trek leaders that they were ’common’, and we heard them screaming dementedly frequently at higher altitudes. However when we finally did see a male, it was so far away we could not even see the colours. Frankly, the trek-leaders’ ability to spot birds that far away was what was most impressive. We later visited the Pheasantry at Manali town, which has a monal breeding facility, so we got to see them in captivity to our heart’s content. I will post a write-up later.
Without the monals, my first vultures were the stars of the show. At the maximum altitude of the trek we saw both juvenile and adult Lammergeiers soaring with their unbelievable magnificence, and totally more than a dozen Griffons between a number of carcasses at less than 10 meters away.
The journey to the Himalayas and back was itself a major undertaking, involving several days on multiple trains, and we were forced to make a number of stops, including in the nation’s capital, Delhi. The city is almost constantly cloaked in a poisonous miasma of pollutants - to the point that it smells of firecracker smoke at higher levels of buildings. Despite this it swarms with bird and animal life upto the size of antelope. I certainly didn’t expect to see kingfishers near the train station, or a pair of hornbills not far from the parliament. What is more, growing up in the shadow of the Western Ghats I was completely unfamiliar with the Indo-Gangetic wildlife which we managed to spot while touring the historic city’s monuments (we tried to visit the zoo, but it was closed).
Birds
149. Jungle Babbler Turdoides striatus
150. Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
151. Yellow-footed Green-pigeon Treron phoenicopterus
152. Brown-headed Barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus
153. Indian Pied Starling Gracupica contra
The last is especially common along the Rajpath, near the President’s Residence and Office.
Unfortunately the ‘train-birding’ was not as successful as I hoped it would be - I did not see Sarus Crane - I nonetheless saw a couple of birds on the way back.
Birds
154. River Tern Sterna aurantia
150. Ashy Woodswallow Artamus fuscus
Lastly, ‘quadrupeds’. The most exciting find was a wild red fox - there are no red foxes on the peninsula, and nowhere on the continent are they city-dwellers.
Mammals
8. Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta
9. Five-striped Palm-squirrel Funambulus pennantii
10. Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
Tigeanderson
Well-Known Member
Wow that’s cool that you saw a northern short tailed shrew and it’s cool for me because I saw one in my backyard but I haven’t seen it since.
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Three new insects today. Not a bad number for a daily urban day without visiting any nature place, and in an advanced time of the year where most common species are already seen.
The bug was spotted at the entry of my work place, very near the Brachodes and Rhagonycha of previous days. The mayfly and the moth were spotted at night resting in walls of buildings in very urban environment.
INVERTEBRATES:
289. Tropidothorax leucopterus (not seen since 2015!)
290. Choroterpes picteti
291. Acontia lucida
Also, winged ants are now emerging from nests, so flocks of swifts, swallows, martins and bats are quite easily seen today together in the urban sky.
Herps
10. Northern Leopard Frog Lithobates pipiens
Mammals
19. Least Chipmunk Neotamias minimus
Birds
222. Limpkin Aramus guarauna
Vagrant? I've heard there's been quite a few records of them wandering up north.
Yeah. Since last summer years Limpkins have been turning up all over eastern North America. American birders called last summer the "Crazy Limpkin Summer", nearly every eastern state and province had multiple records over the season. This was Wisconsin's third record, and the first was in August of 2022. It seems like we're in for another Crazy Limpkin Summer. Not surprising, as there were even a few winter Limpkin records in some areas.
Kakapo
Well-Known Member
Today I had a very pleasant field trip along the river of my city in companion of two fellow entomologist friends. I said a predated penduline tit lying on the path, with the head already reduced to bone, and full of ants. There were some rare and interesting insects and even some lifers (surprisingly for my "neighbour" photographic hunt area that I visited so often during my childhood).
BIRDS:
57. Eurasian golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus) - only heard, at two different spots, tough one of my friends was lucky to see it when I pointed at the sound adress!
HERPTILES:
5. Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis hispanica)
INVERTEBRATES:
292. Menemerus bivittatus
293. Lycosoides coarctata
294. Calopteryx xanthostoma! Two females. Not seen since 2014!
295. Orthetrum cancellatum - a magnific male that fortunately returned to the same rush every time it flied, so we can photograph it
296. Paracinema tricolor - the nymphs mentioned in an earlier post have grown enough for ensure the identification, but still none adult.
297. Graphosoma lineatum - only one, in Torilis arvensis. This year I noticed the complete lack of Graphosoma of either species in areas where previously they was extremely common. I'm very surprised it lasted into June for find this species and just one individual. Worrying.
298. Dyroderes umbraculatus, a nymph
299. Coreus marginatus
300. Brachycarenus tigrinus
301. Spilostethus pandurus (one along the river, other inside my house just a while ago!)
302. Peirates stridulus
303. Hermetia illucens (two, one landed in my hand)
304. Xanthogramma marginale
305. Hoplia chlorophana!!!! LIFER
306. Anthaxia millefolii (I never saw it before in my city area)
307. Anthaxia scutellaris (fourth sight in my life)
308. Acmaeodera pulchra (two: one busy in Chondrilla juncea flower, other landed in a dry elm branchlet)
309. Thea vigintiduopunctata
310. Propylaea quatuordecimpunctata
311. Scaurus rugulosus
312. Oedemera flavipes
313. Anthidium florentinum
314. Camponotus truncatus (two queens already wingless in different places! second sight in my life!)
315. Delta unguiculatum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super LIFER!!!! Sadly the wasp was more quick than my camera.