ZooChat Big Year 2020

I saw two lifers today that were high on my 2020 wish list.
Birds
72. Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus
73. Eastern Whipbird Psophodes olivaceus
74. Red-backed Fairy Wren Malurus melanocephalus

Red-backed Fairy Wren (Malurus melanocephalus) by WhistlingKite24 posted 14 Jan 2020 at 3:09 PM

Invertebrates
26. Blue-banded Bee Amegilla cingulata
27. Daddy Long-legs Spider Pholcus phalangioides
28. St Andrew’s Cross Spider Argiope keyserlingi
29. Blue Tiger Butterfly Tirumala hamata
30. Bush Fly Musca vetustissima
31. Common Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina

 

Birds
41. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
42. Grey Jungle-fowl Gallus sonneratii
43. Great Tit Parus major
Reptiles
1. Peninsular Rock Agama Psammophilus dorsalis

 

Lifers aren't always where you expect them or what you expect!

Mammals:
4. Eastern Cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus
Fishes:
1. Banded Killifish Fundulus diaphanus

 

My bimonthly update:

Birds
15. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
16. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
17. Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
18. Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
19. Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
20. Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
21. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
22. Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
23. American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
24. Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

In other news, my efforts to see Pileated Woodpecker have continued into the new year and remain as discouraging as before.

 

MAMMALS
12 - Short-beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

BIRDS
138 - Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
139 - Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus)
140 - Forest Raven (Corvus tasmanicus)
141 - Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)
-- Horsfield's Bronze-cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis) [heard]
142 - Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
143 - Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
144 - Striated Fieldwren (Calamanthus fuliginosus)
145 - Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)

 

Heavy smoke on the weekends in Sydney has kept me indoors so I haven't had a chance to go birding until recently. Hopefully, with the rains forecast for tonight and tomorrow, with any luck I'll be able to get out some more soon.

Birds
1. Pacific Black Duck
2. Feral pigeon
3. Crested Pigeon
4. Eastern Koel
5. Dusky Moorhen
6. Eurasian Coot
7. Australasian Swamphen
8. Black-fronted Dotterel
9. Little Pied Cormorant
10. Little Black Cormorant
11. White-faced Heron
12. Australian White Ibis
13. Straw-necked Ibis
14. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
15. Red-rumped Parrot
16. Rainbow Lorikeet
17. Satin Bowerbird
18. Superb Fairywren
19. Bell Miner
20. Noisy Miner
21. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
22. Dusky Woodswallow
23. Grey Butcherbird
24. Australian Magpie
25. Willie Wagtail
26. Magpie-Lark
27. Australian Raven
28. Fairy Martin
29. Tree Martin
30. Common Starling
31. Common Myna

Mammals
1. European Rabbit



Hix

 

Birds:
42. Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus)
43. Pacific Swift (Apus pacificus)
44. Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
45. Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
47. Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)
48. Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons)
49. Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis)
50. Scarlett Honeyeater (Myzomela sanguinolenta)
51. Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta)
52. Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
53. Red Footed Booby (Sula sula)
54. Scaly Breasted Lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus)
55. Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
56. Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)
57. Bush Turkey (Alectura lathami)
58. Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Mammals:
3. Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus)

Reptiles:
3. Eastern Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii)
4. Short Necked Turtle (Emydura macquarii)

 

birds
46 goldcrest Regulus regulus
47 eurasian treecrepper Certhia familiaris

 

This is going to be a conundrum. Do the Gippsland water dragons at Melbourne Zoo count? They derive from escaped individuals in the 80’s but have bred readily creating a population.

other than that

birds

49. Bell Miner
50. Willie Wagtail

 

Minutes after my last post flying overhead with its distinctive call. (52) also forgot one

Melbourne Zoo
51. Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Just outside melbourne Zoo

52. Little Lorikeet

 

What sites did you find the information on. I can’t find much on them.

Okay then that leads to even more problems. Do I count the split between the Eastern and Gippsland water dragon. It’s not widely accepted but the Gippsland has slightly different structure as well as colouration.

Ima count it for now and I’ll change it if I need to later.

Herptiles

1. Gippsland Water Dragon (Intellagama howittii)

 

Im not going to start a lengthy discussion and considering I won’t be travelling up north this year I don’t think I’ll be seeing an Eastern Water Dragon anyway so it won’t matter in the big year side of things

 

You are claiming the Gippsland water dragon is a separate species? Never heard that before, separate subspecies, sure. (but subspecies are not counted here). What is your source?

 

Thought someone might ask about that

Bit of an interesting story. I saw it while I was swimming in my pool. I did not see it at the ocean but around 7kms inland.

My list really isn’t in order, some of those birds were seen as early as the 6th of January while others others were seen today, so that’s why it’s mixed in with a bunch of random birds, and also I didn’t see it out on the ocean.

I am well and truly within the range of red footed boobies.

I’ll explain the bird I saw, see if anyone agrees or disagrees on the ID (I’m not entirely certain on red footed booby, I just chose this as it was the best fit with the thought that I could always just change into later or remove it). For reference I saw the bird from directly below it and it was quite high up. It had very angular wings, like that of a frigate birds. It had a cream white belly and much darker wings. It had a yellow bill and a short tail that was slightly triangular. It was a decent size, bigger than a black kite. It was definitely a seabird.

@Dannelboyz you seem to have seen your fair share of seabirds, what’s your opinion?

 

Birds
44. Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius
45. Coppersmith Barbet Psilopogon haemacephalus
46. Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata

 

My exam schedule was finally open enough to be able to miss two half days, in which I went back to the long-tailed duck I saw in December and the dusky thrush I saw two weeks ago - Definitely the dusky thrush was one I felt like I really needed to enjoy as often as I could, and since today's views weren't exactly spectacular I might have to go back another time. Very likely my favourite ever bird in Belgium, so I'll have to enjoy it while it lasts!
The forests in which the dusky thrush currently continues to linger are also great for other birding, and thus got me another thrush that I managed to miss entirely last year, and my first good views ever of a pair of feeding red crossbills.

BIRDS:
85) Caspian gull, Larus cachinnans
86) Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis
87) Ring-necked parakeet, Psittacula krameri
88) Northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis
89) Woodlark, Lullula arborea
90) Mistle thrush, Turdus viscivorus
91) Eurasian bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula
92) Eurasian nuthatch, Sitta europaea

 

17/1/2020
76. Cattle Egret