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ZooChat Big Year 2015

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

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  1. Maguari

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

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    Went for an evening stroll on the moors. No new birds (got my first Derbyshire whinchats, though) - but I did get a new mammal, a year to the day since I added it to the 2014 list!

    30. Red Deer - Cervus elaphus

    :)
     
  2. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    Fascinating story. The story about the Dusky Woodswallow is also a good one.

    On a slightly related note, have there been many birding hoaxes wherever you guys are (UK, UZ, NZ, continental Europe etc)?

    Earlier this year, there was a 'birding scandal' that rocked the Victorian (Australian) birding community, involving a relatively young birder who did a 'Vic Twitch' in 2014 to set a new 'big Victorian year' record. He had support from some of the best birders in Australia re: advice on where to find specific species, assistance with identifying tricky species, and swift notifications when rarerities were reported. At the end of 2014, the birder had seen 401 species in Victoria, beating the previous record of 392 set in 2010 by a birding duo.

    He became a minor celebrity in the birding world, giving talks about birds to school kids, and perhaps being interviewed on the radio (I think). His blog received thousands of hits from around the world as birders followed his adventures; Victorian birders were willing him on to break the record and were genuinely elated when he broke it and set a new 400+ record.

    The only problem was, he faked some of the sightings that he supposedly made on his lonesome. Around Easter this year he wrote a long post on the Victorian Birders Facebook Group admitting to a few hoaxes - including a House Crow sighting in downtown Melbourne that wasted the resources of various government departments that tried to capture the bird (re: it being a destructive invasive species). A photo of a frigatebird supposedly taken in Victoria weeks after the initial report turned out to be a photo he took in Fiji. Another photo of a sandpiper I believe, was taken of the web. It is believed that he set up fake accounts to verify sightings.

    He retracted his claim on the record and it is still unclear how many sightings were faked. He wrote about having psychological problems, issues at university, stress etc and how he thought the problems would go away by breaking the record blah blah blah. Birders were initially supportive, but then angry - many wasted resources (time, petrol, accommodation etc) chasing birds that never existed. He was then expelled from a few Facebook groups (including one he founded!) and banned for life from posting rare bird sightings to the local 'bird line'. It was a cautionary tale to many Victorian birders who were either chasing a record, or chasing birds based on supposed sightings.

    Have there been any bird hoaxes in your neck of the woods?
     
  3. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    wow, I never heard about all that. So the house crow was not really there after all!!

    I'm sure one of the UK lot (probably TLD) will come in to tell you about the most famous of English birding hoaxes.
     
  4. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    Just a little mammal update

    38. Short-Beaked Common Dolphin
    39. Blue Whale

    No biggie.
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    which one is no biggie? :p
     
  6. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    Oh, you know....
     
  7. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Lucky bastard...:p

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  8. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    244. European dipper

    and a fish I have forgotten to add for 2 months now:

    7. Roach

    This was my first dipper I have seen in Switzerland and I have now seen dippers in 10 different countries throughout Europe...
     
  9. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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  10. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    In reviewing some of the birds I saw, I have one addition. Turns out, one of the birds I saw I misidentified as a Cordilleran Flycatcher was a Buff-Bellied Flycatcher. I had to go through all the eBird data to confirm this (it was my gut reaction on the day, but I second-guessed myself).

    399 Buff-breasted Flycatcher - Empidonax fulvifrons
     
  11. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    Location:
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    Day 14(ish)

    400 Violet-green Swallow - Tachycineta thalassina
    401 Yellow-footed Gull - Larus livens
    402 California Gull - Larus californicus
    403 Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus
    404 Heermann's Gull - Larus heermanni
    405 Western Gull - Larus occidentalis
    406 Wrentit - Chamaea fasciata
    407 California Towhee - Melozone crissalis

    https://bretsbirdingblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/day-14-ish/
     
  12. Maguari

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

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    A few new additions from Potteric Carr today:

    174. Black-necked Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis
    175. Green Sandpiper - Tringa ochropus
    176. Spotted Redshank - Tringa erythropus

    :)
     
  13. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I realised I haven't posted any "how things are going" for a couple of months I think. So here is where everyone is at the moment. Seems someone is making sure they come out on top this year!

    BIRDS:
    jbnbsn99 – 407
    LaughingDove – 266
    Ituri – 244
    lintworm – 243
    mstickmanp – 224
    Hevden – 222
    robmv – 205
    boof – 193
    Maguari – 176
    TeaLovingDave – 144
    Hix – 143
    DesertRhino150 – 142
    nanoboy – 138
    adrian1963 – 125
    zooboy28 – 103
    Pleistohorse – 76
    Chlidonias – 62
    vogelcommando – 50
    AverageWalrus – 29
    BeardsleyZooFan – 28
    ThylacineAlive – 25
    Javan Rhino – 19

    MAMMALS:
    jbnbsn99 – 39
    LaughingDove – 38
    Pleistohorse – 31
    Maguari – 30
    TeaLovingDave - 26
    lintworm – 24
    Ituri – 23
    DesertRhino150 – 17
    Hix – 11
    zooboy28 – 9
    Chlidonias – 6
    ThylacineAlive – 4
    AverageWalrus – 3
    BeardsleyZooFan – 6
    mstickmanp – 2

    HERPTILES:
    TeaLovingDave - 15 Herptiles total (8 Reptiles, 7 Amphibians)
    lintworm – 13 Herptiles total (10 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
    Ituri – 8 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
    LaughingDove – 8 Herptiles total (2 Reptiles, 6 Amphibians)
    Hix – 5 Herptiles total (5 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
    DesertRhino150 – 5 Herptiles total (3 Reptiles, 2 Amphibians)
    AverageWalrus – 4 Herptiles total (4 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)
    Maguari – 4 Herptiles total (1 Reptiles, 3 Amphibians)
    ThylacineAlive – 1 Herptiles total (1 Reptiles, 0 Amphibians)

    FISH:
    lintworm – 7
    DesertRhino150 – 6
    LaughingDove – 4
    AverageWalrus – 3

    BUTTERFLIES:
    lintworm – 9
     
  14. DesertRhino150

    DesertRhino150 Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Forgot to add another species of new bird I saw late last week:

    143. Black tern Chlidonias niger
     
  15. jbnbsn99

    jbnbsn99 Well-Known Member

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    How could you forget Chlidonias?
     
  16. nanoboy

    nanoboy Well-Known Member

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    Yes I am not sure if the first sighting near Southbank was real, but the second sighting months later near the war memorial was definitely a fake. It got even more hilarious: seasoned birders ticked a raven (so blinded were they in believing it was a crow) only to publicly retract the tick months later when the story broke.
     
  17. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Location:
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    243 Cassin's Vireo - Vireo cassinii
    244 Mountain Bluebird - Sialia currucoides

    24 Meadow Vole - Microtus pennsylvanicus
    25 House Mouse - Mus musculus
    26 Columbian Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus columbianus
    27 Yellow Pine Chipmunk - Tamias amoenas
    28 White-tailed Antelope Squirrel - Ammospermophilus leucurus
    29 Merriam's Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus canus
    30 Least Chipmunk - Tamias minimus
    31 Pygmy Rabbit - Brachylagus idahoensis
     
  18. ThylacineAlive

    ThylacineAlive Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Connecticut, U.S.A.
    Just an update from my end with some lifeticks and a few species that definitely should have been counted a lot earlier.

    Birds
    26) Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
    27) American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
    28) Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina
    29) Pileated Woodpecker Hylatomus pileatus
    30) Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica
    31) Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris
    32) White-Breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
    33) Brown-Headed Cowbird Molothrus ater
    34) American Goldfinch Spinus tristis
    35) Rose-Breasted Grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus


    Mammals
    5) Eastern Chipmunk Tamias striatus

    Reptiles
    2) Northern Water Snake Nerodia sipedon

    Amphibians
    1) Wood Frog Lithobates sylvaticus

    And of course I am left with the oh so frustrating problem of having seen a cottontail, but not knowing definitively which species it is...

    ~Thylo:cool:
     
  19. Pleistohorse

    Pleistohorse Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Here is a consolidation of the 32 mammal species I've seen this year. I'm leaving out a bat in Texas and a vole or lemming in Alaska...couldn't identify either one. Texas was great but
    I missed out on Pronghorn, Javelina, Nutria, and Feral Hogs in areas I've seen them before. A side trip for Elk and Bison was a no-go due to a family medical delay. Hoped to see Armidillos, Striped Skunk, Ringtail, and Grey Fox near the San Felipe Springs in Del Rio...but again...time prevented a proper stay. Fairly confident that Black Bears will be spotted and a trip to Seward in July and Denali in August might yet secure several Sea Mammals, along with Wolves, Marmonts, and Pikas. If I'm lucky. Appears Musk Ox are a no show for me this year. I trip to Connecticut and Maine this fall may provide Grey Squirrels, Woodchucks, Opossums, and Chipmunks. Fisher, Lynx, and River Otters...you never know. I might still get to 40 species this year...I was hoping for more. Here is what I've got so far:

    1. Canadian Beaver
    2. North American Porcupine
    3. Muskrat
    4. Northern Red-backed Vole
    5. Fox Squirrel
    6. American Red Squirrel
    7. Texas Antelope Squirrel
    8. Black-tailed Praire Dog
    9. Arctic Ground Squirrel
    10. California Ground Squirrel
    11. Rock Squirrel
    12. Mexican Ground Squirrel
    13. Spotted Ground Squirrel
    14. Snowshoe Hare
    15. Desert Cottontail
    16. Black-tailed Jackrabbit
    17. Common Shrew
    18. Striped Skunk
    19. Northern Raccoon
    20. Brown Bear
    21. Arctic Fox
    22. Red Fox
    23. Coyote
    24. Rocky Mountain Goat
    25. Blackbuck
    26. Dall Sheep
    27. Aoudad
    28. Mule Deer
    29. Whitetail Deer
    30. Axis Deer
    31. Caribou
    32. Moose

    Working on birds next.
     
  20. Ituri

    Ituri Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    6 Racer - Coluber constrictor
    7 Western Fence Lizard - Sceloporus occidentalis
     
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