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Discussion in 'Wildlife & Nature Conservation' started by jbnbsn99, 30 Dec 2014.

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  1. LaughingDove

    LaughingDove Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for writing this out fully, I like to know all of the "rules". I personally don't count heard birds, mainly because I can't recognise the calls but also (this is my excuse for not trying to recognise calls), what if it is a lyrebird mimicking something else? (Or any other mimic for that matter.)

    Is it a case of don't take it too seriously on all years or just don't take it too seriously on years when Chlidonias is stuck in New Zealand and has no chance of coming anywhere near to winning? ;):p
     
  2. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I have a vague "heard" category on my taxonomic life lists for very special cases, but they don't contribute to the actual total. I have heard wolves howling in Mongolia and that was just too cool not to note but they won't contribute to the canid total until I see one. Same with the various kiwi species - I just noted them as heard until I actually saw them and could add them to the total list.

    Not many species are of that nature for me though. I don't do it for owls or nightjars, for example. They have to be special (in an entirely personal and subjective way).
     
  3. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Had a related crisis to this last year when I went along on a bat-box check. The bats were entirely wild animals, and were voluntarily in the boxes in lieu of other roosts, so I took the view that as long as I saw them in the boxes before/after they were handled for ID/monitoring they were OK - being analogous to the rescued/ringed bird being released and immediately 'counting' again. In the end the only species unique to that day was Leisler's Bat - the others were ones I'd seen out and about earlier in the year.

    I also remembered it's meant to be fun, stopped worrying about it and just enjoyed the bats. :D
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    that would be my position on the bats also. Mammal-watchers are funny creatures though. Many of them spend a lot of time live-trapping rodents and mist-netting bats and then counting them because they have them in their trap. I find it strange because I want to just see animals in the wild, not trap them so I can add numbers to a list. Each to their own I suppose.
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    lyrebirds are easy because they imitate multiple species all at once. They sound like a swarm of birds is having some kind of fight to the death. However mimicing is a valid reason for not counting by call, in my opinion.

    definitely the latter! :p
     
  6. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Different strokes for different folks :) what with the UK only having the one nightjar, I'd certainly count that species by call alone. That said, I've had pretty good luck in seeing actual birds in the past.
     
  7. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    I'm quite happy to take a look at ones that are already being humanely trapped for some reason (particularly if I get to see the release afterwards!) - whether I'd set out to trap them just to see them... not sure. In principle, done well I'm not against it per se but it's not a clear-cut one. I'd much rather tag on to a 'proper' survey (as with the bat group work).
     
  8. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    In the U.S., heard birds are perfectly acceptable. We only have 1 true mimic (Northern Mockingbird), so we can be fairly assured of calls.

    One particular case in the U.S. is the Buff-Collared Nightjar. There is reliably a single breeding pair in the U.S. in SE Arizona. This is a heard only bird for probably 90% of the birders who have it on their list (myself included). This particular pair has just started breeding within the last year or so on this side of the border, so it is a range sensitive species. We count this one as heard only because to see it is to disturb it.
     
  9. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    Also, we call it birding not bird watching. Bird watching is what your grandmother does in her backyard. Birding is what naturalists do.
     
  10. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    "we" who? Birding is just a term made up to make it sound more exciting. It is exactly the same thing as bird-watching.
     
  11. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    'Muricans! That's who!
     
  12. adrian1963

    adrian1963 Well-Known Member

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    I have heard the term Birding used by old and young in many hides over the past ten years, It does seem like the term Bird Watching relates to the old days.

    Even photographers I know through Birding, call it this .

    I think it's a term more widely used these days to try and bring in younger people into the hobby.

    Must admit I don't really care what they call it I loved doing It!!!!!!
     
  13. Hevden

    Hevden Well-Known Member

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    Just one more today on the way to Chester

    154. Mediterranean Gull
     
  14. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Hadn't planned on birding (or bird-watching ;) ) this weekend - the weather forecast was poor and I had other stuff to do at home. However, when the rain started clearing up a bit at lunchtime today I thought I'd just look to see if there was anything interesting within a half-hour drive or so. A very tempting report from Carr Vale seemed the best bet, and the short trip just past the M1 paid off!

    115. Garganey - Anas querquedula

    2. Common Toad - Bufo bufo


    :)
     
  15. LaughingDove

    LaughingDove Well-Known Member

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    I am now in Ostrava in the Czech Republic and today I was driving driving there from Warsaw so from the car and also in a woodland/lake near to the lunch stop that I stopped on the way, I saw:

    187) Greater white-fronted goose
    188) Northern Lapwing
    189) meadow pipet
    190) Raven
    191) Collared Dove - actually saw this a couple of weeks ago but seeing one again today reminded me that I hadn't listed it
    - Also saw a white stork which is the first one I've seen in Europe this year (saw it earlier in the year in Tanzania)

    33) Hare
    34) Red deer
     
  16. LaughingDove

    LaughingDove Well-Known Member

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    Today I visited Ostrava Zoo which in my opinion is fantastic and probably lands itself in my top 5 zoos. (Stay tuned for a review of the zoo in the trip thread that I am making http://www.zoochat.com/9/laughingdoves-trip-march-april-2015-poland-403988/).

    Anyway, I also saw a few more birds.


    In the zoo:

    192) Green Woodpecker
    193) Song Thrush


    In a flooded quarry that I did some birding around after the zoo (which wasn't as big as I expected, only took 5 hours to do extremely thoroughly and see everything)

    194) Garganey
     
  17. DesertRhino150

    DesertRhino150 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Went for a mid-afternoon visit to Abberton Reservoir today. Unfortunately, the velvet scoters and green-winged teal on the lake yesterday were hidden, but did manage to get one new lifer duck:

    103. Greater scaup Aythya marila
     
  18. BeardsleyZooFan

    BeardsleyZooFan Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    BIRDS:
    16. Tufted Titmouse
    17. Red-Shouldered Hawk
     
  19. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    time for the monthly round-up.


    BIRDS:
    jbnbsn99 –245
    mstickmanp – 194
    LaughingDove – 194
    Ituri – 164
    Hevden – 154
    robmv – 149
    boof – 134
    adrian1963 – 125
    Hix – 116
    Maguari – 115
    DesertRhino150 – 103
    nanoboy – 95
    lintworm – 96
    zooboy28 – 77
    TeaLovingDave – 58
    Chlidonias – 57
    vogelcommando – 44
    AverageWalrus – 21
    Javan Rhino – 19
    BeardsleyZooFan – 17
    ThylacineAlive – 15
    Pleistohorse – 12

    MAMMALS:
    LaughingDove – 34
    Ituri – 19
    jbnbsn99 – 17
    Maguari – 11
    zooboy28 – 9
    DesertRhino150 – 9
    lintworm – 9
    Hix – 6
    Pleistohorse – 6
    ThylacineAlive – 4
    AverageWalrus – 3
    mstickmanp – 2
    Chlidonias – 2
    BeardsleyZooFan – 2

    HERPTILES:
    Hix – 5 Herptiles total (0 Amphibians, 5 Reptiles)
    LaughingDove – 3 Herptiles total (1 Amphibian, 2 Reptiles)
    Ituri – 2 Herptiles total (0 Amphibians, 2 Reptiles)
    lintworm – 2 Herptiles total (1 Amphibian, 1 Reptile)
    Maguari – 2 Herptiles total (2 Amphibians, 0 Reptiles)

    FISH:
    LaughingDove – 2
    lintworm – 1

    BUTTERFLIES:
    lintworm – 4

    SPECIAL POOTLE CATEGORY:
    Pootle – 3 animals at once (blackbird, barn owl, bat)
     
    Last edited: 3 Apr 2015
  20. Maguari

    Maguari Never could get the hang of Thursdays. 15+ year member Premium Member

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    Minor point, but unless there have been dramatic taxonomic changes, my herptiles are both amphibians. ;)
     
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