Zoochat Big Year 2025

Another weekend, another wildlife adventure!

This time I went looking for something quite out of the ordinary, for it is not every day one can see an entirely new class of chordates. It was very brisk morning when I visited the Veluwe with friends, the heather still covered in a thin layer of frost. The area is well-known for a diverse reptile fauna, but given the temperature it was no surprise we didn't find those. Instead, we went looking along a small but very clear stream to find a rare inhabitant of gravel banks: the brook lamprey. The search itself was rather anticlimactic: finding the lamprey was super easy, barely an inconvenience. We watched them for a good while, then went on a walk in the surround area which did not produce many wildlife sightings but was very pleasant nonetheless.

The inverts are just a bunch of species from all over the place. I'm a little on the fence still which groups I'm going to record in detail, so maybe the next updates will also feature spiders or true bugs or neuropterans.

Fish
1. Brook Lamprey, Lampetra planeri
2. Three-spined Stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Butterflies
4. Comma, Polygonia c-album

Moths
3. Fox Moth, Macrothylacia rubi

Bees
2. Red-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius
3. Tawny Mining Bee, Andrena fulva

Beetles
5. Minotaur Beetle, Typhaeus typhoeus

Flies
1. Hoverfly sp., Meliscaeva auricollis

Mr. Zootycoon said:
This year could really go in any direction to be honest, both wildlife-related and not, which is quite exciting and also a little terrifying. I do have this weird idea in my head of seeing one hundred butterfly species in one year, but that will take significant traveling abroad. I have a few plans, but I'm quite unsure how many of then, if any at all, will materialise. I guess we'll see what happens.
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100-butterfly tally: 4/100*

* Given how things are moving, it seems like I might actually have a shot at this! I'm not going to be obsessive about it, but I'm very eager to see how many I can get.
 
I spent last weekend with my friends at possibly one of the best birding spots in all of the country: Hanko bird observatory. Situated at the southernmost tip of continental Finland, the observatory is a place to watch migration like no other. Traveling there wasn't without its mishaps however (one friend missed his train and to others forgot their entry documents on the previous train), and both days were also predicted to be quite cold and immensely windy, so the success of the trip was slightly in doubt at first. Despite these problems, the trip turned out to be very successful, with us enjoying great migration on both days! We observed good numbers of migrants and some rarities on both days, with the best sighting being unfortunately heard only: a flyover unusually early Common ringed plover!

I'll be returning to the station two, maybe three more times over the spring, so expect more updates like this!

75. Black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus 15/3/25
76. Red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator 15/3/25
77. Eurasian linnet, Linaria cannabia 15/3/25
78. Common eider, Somateria mollissima 15/3/25
79. Parrot crossbill, Loxia pytyopsittacus 15/3/25
80. Bean goose, Anser fabalis 15/3/25
81. Greater white-fronted goose, Anser albifrons 15/3/25
82. Common wood-pigeon, Columba palumbus 16/3/25
83. Mistle thrush, Turdus viscivorus 16/3/25
84. Velvet scoter, Mergus fusca 16/3/25
85. Eurasian sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus 16/3/25
86. European rock pipit, Anthus petrosus 16/3/25
87. European crested tit, Lophophanes cristatus 16/3/25
88. Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis 16/3/25
 
First day in Japan, a brief morning walk along Kyoto's Kamo River proved quite productive.

BIRDS
80 - Eurasian Wigeon
81 - Eastern Spot-billed Duck
82 - Mallard
83 - Eurasian Teal
84 - Eurasian Coot
85 - Grey Heron
86 - Carrion Crow
87 - Large-billed Crow
88 - Brown-eared Bulbul
89 - Warbling White-eye
90 - White-cheeked Starling
91 - Eurasian Tree Sparrow
92 - Japanese Wagtail
93 - White Wagtail
 
Up in the Japanese Alps, today I walked a small segment of the Nakasendo, a historical path between Tokyo and Kyoto. Wasn't too cold today but still a lot of snow around, and being a tropical creature I had no idea how to walk on it without slipping and falling on my bum - so unfortunately most of the time I was looking down trying not to slip, rather than up at birds! Even so, I snagged two lifers - both a new family for me! I also spotted the tracks of an even-toed ungulate in the snow, but I did not see their maker.

BIRDS
94 - Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker Yungipicus kizuki
95 - Long-tailed Tit Aegithelos caudatua

Actually saw this yesterday but didn't get around to properly identifying it until today
96 - Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
 
Chlidonias said:
My first birds (and mammal) from Japan, from Izumi in Kyushu, with one visit to Arasaki and two visits to Kogawa Dam. I was just fitting in Izumi at the start of the Japanese trip to see the wintering cranes there, and so have now left Kyushu on my way north. There is only one crane on the list below because I had already seen the others in China this month.


BIRDS:
136) Japanese Grosbeak Eophona personata
137) Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchus
138) Feral Pigeon Columba livia
139) Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis
140) Rook Corvus frugilegus
141) Black Kite Milvus migrans
142) Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna
143) Daurian Jackdaw Corvus dauuricus
144) Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicus
145) Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus
146) Common (Eurasian) Wigeon Anas penelope
147) Russet Sparrow Passer cinnamomeus
148) Sandhill Crane Antigone canadensis
149) Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
150) Dunlin Calidris alpina
151) Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus
152) Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus
153) Osprey Pandion haliaetus
154) Common (Eurasian) Teal Anas crecca
155) Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides
156) Japanese Wagtail Motacilla grandis
157) Carrion Crow Corvus corone
158) Falcated Duck Anas falcata
159) Common Pochard Aythya ferina
160) Baikal Teal Anas formosa
161) Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia
162) Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata
163) Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
164) Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus
165) Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis
166) Masked Bunting Emberiza personata
167) Varied Tit Sittiparus varius
168) Japanese Pigmy Woodpecker Yungipicus kizuki


MAMMALS:
Japanese Badger Meles anakuma
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Chlidonias said:
I left Kyushu, and spent one day in Tokyo on my way northwards, where I looked for birds in the morning at Inokashira Park.

169) Gadwall Anas strepera
170) Indian Ringneck Psittacula krameri
171) Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata
172) Japanese Bush Warbler Horornis diphone
173) Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus
174) Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis


The ferry between Honshu and Hokkaido is supposed to be seabird paradise but I saw almost nothing on the route, and only one species even came close enough to identify.

175) Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis
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Chlidonias said:
HOKKAIDO birds and mammals

I have finished my time in Ice Japan, flying out tomorrow morning from Hokkaido to Honshu. There will still be ice and snow in some places I go in Honshu (I'll be starting out in Nagano and Karuizawa) but it won't be quite the conditions of Hokkaido.

I'm not going to be seeing any extra animals in Hokkaido this evening or tomorrow morning, so the following are what I got while there.

I saw 54 species of birds in Hokkaido, which doesn't seem like many but Hokkaido in winter is more about specific birds rather than lots of different birds. There are 405 species listed for Hokkaido on eBird, with a lot obviously being ones I wouldn't see because they are either not there in winter or they are vagrants or whatever. Just checking February lists there are 194 species recorded, so I saw over a quarter of that. A good proportion of the year birds I saw were lifers (19 species out of 28), and those 19 lifers were also about a third of the total species I saw in Hokkaido so I'm not complaining about that!


BIRDS:

176) Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus
177) Red-crowned Crane Grus japonensis
178) Steller’s Sea Eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus
179) Asian Rosy Finch Leucosticte arctoa
180) Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
181) Slaty-backed Gull Larus schistisagus
182) Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena
183) Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
184) Pelagic Cormorant Urile pelagicus
185) White-tailed Sea Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla
186) Vega Gull Larus vegae
187) Black Scoter Melanitta americana
188) Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
189) Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
190) Glaucous-winged Gull Larus glaucescens
191) Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus
192) Ancient Murrelet Synthliboramphus antiquus
193) Blakiston’s Fish Owl Ketupa blakistoni
194) Naumann's Thrush Turdus naumanni
195) Eurasian Siskin Spinus spinus
196) White's Thrush Zoothera aurea
197) Willow Tit Poecile montanus
198) Goldcrest Regulus regulus
199) Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea
200) Temminck's (Japanese) Cormorant Phalacrocorax capillatus
201) Greater Scaup Aythya marila
202) Japanese Auklet Synthliboramphus wumizusume
203) Common Murre Uria aalge


MAMMALS:

6) Red Fox Vulpes vulpes
7) Sika Deer Cervus nippon
8) Kuril Seal Phoca vitulina stejnegeri
9) Sea Otter Enhydris lutris
10) Steller's Sealion Eumetopias jubatus
11) Stejneger's Beaked Whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri
12) Spotted Seal Phoca largha
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HONSHU BIRDS AND MAMMALS:


I am now back in Izumi on Kyushu, on my way southwards.

Including the day I spent in Tokyo near the start of the Japan trip I saw 108 species of birds on Honshu. Only 21 of them were lifers, mainly because I had seen a lot of what would have been lifers in Izumi or Hokkaido beforehand. Most days the bird lists were dominated by birds already seen, with usually only one or two year birds.

On Honshu I was at Nagano, Karuizawa, and then around the cities of Tokyo and Osaka for quite a while, and I also made a visit to the nearby island of Oshima and to the distant Ogasawara Islands - posts in my travel thread not written yet!



BIRDS:

204) Green Pheasant Phasianus versicolor
205) Long-tailed Rosefinch Carpodacus sibiricus
206) Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica
207) Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
208) Coal Tit Periparus ater
209) Japanese Accentor Prunella rubida
210) Japanese Green Woodpecker Picus awokera
211) Brown-headed Thrush Turdus chrysolaus
212) Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
213) Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris
214) Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
215) White-bellied Green Pigeon Treron sieboldii
216) Red-throated Flycatcher Ficedula parva
217) Ruddy-breasted Crake Zapornia fusca
218) Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus
219) Ryukyu Minivet Pericrocotus tegimae
220) Grey Bunting Emberiza variabilis
221) Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius
222) Chinese Hwamei Garrulax canorus

From the Ogasawaras

223) Streaked Shearwater Calonectris leucomelas
224) Black-footed Albatross Phoebastria nigripes
225) Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacificus
226) Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii
227) Brown Booby Sula leucogaster
228) Leach’s Storm Petrel Hydrobates leucorhous
229) Japanese Wood Pigeon Columba janthina (the Red-headed Wood Pigeon C. j. nitens)
230) Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
231) Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva
232) Bonin White-eye Apalopteron familiare
233) Brewster’s Booby Sula brewsteri
234) Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus


MAMMALS:

13) Japanese Macaque Macaca fuscata
14) Japanese Squirrel Sciurus lis
15) Japanese Serow Capricornis crispus
16) Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel Petaurista leucogenys
17) Japanese Raccoon Dog Nyctereutes viverrinus

From Oshima (Izu Islands)

18) Reeves’ Muntjac Muntiacus reevesi

From the Ogasawaras

19) Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Stenella attenuata
20) Bonin Flying Fox Pteropus pselaphon
21) Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae
 
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WalkingAgnatha said:
Any record shots? I assume you're certain of the ID right? Also do you have any seabirds that you think could potentially be ID'd but haven't yet? eg. sight records/photos
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No, I gave up trying to photograph any seabirds, they were just pixelated blobs. There are two white-rumped storm petrels in the area, and the Band-rumped is extremely rare now, out of season (they return to Japanese waters later than the Leach's), and has a full white rump.
 
A few additions from the Forest of Dean. Despite reasonable conditions my usual (lack of) luck with Goshawks here held - and my only boar sighting was on the back of a fellow birder's camera, but the rest of the regular gang were well in evidence and in many cases numerous. I'm also now up and going for both reptiles and amphibians.

The newt is the exception, which was from my parents' garden pond. :)

Mammals:
14. European Fallow Deer - Dama dama

Birds:
123. Mistle Thrush - Turdus viscivorus
124. Common Crossbill - Loxia curvirostris

Reptiles:
1. Common (Viviparous) Lizard - Zootoca vivipara

Amphibians:
1. Smooth Newt - Lissotriton vulgaris
2. Common Toad - Bufo bufo

Invertebrates:
5. Common Dor Beetle - Geotrupes stercorarius

:)
 
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