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2018 Big Year
Topic Started: Dec 27 2017, 08:05 PM (7,790 Views)
Anton
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King of Cotingas

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If there's one thing that brings all of the TRT members together, it's the love of animals. For most members this probably means an interest in zoos and animals in captivity in general, but there are a lot of members interested in observing wild animals as well.

Those that do are probably familiar with the "big year" concept: keeping track of all animals you see within a single calendar year. This can be done within a certain region (which is how the idea and name came to existence, after birders aimed to see as many species within the USA in one single year), but because we have members from all over the world we decided world listing would be more interesting.

Basically, the idea is as follows; from the 1st of January until the 31st of December, everyone who participates keeps track of the animals they see and identify, and lists them all in the order of seeing them. Every time you see a new species, you add onto that list by posting a new post in this topic. At the end of the year you can then easily compile a total list of the animals you saw that year, and keep the memories of seeing those species forever!
Of course, we'll add a little extra competition by bringing pointies into the mix. You'll be rewarded in pointies for every few animals you see, and at the end of each month the person with the most new species will be given a silhouette!

Rules:
  • Number your lists. This way it's always easy to check how many species you've seen.
  • We keep track of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. If you choose to only list the groups that interest you most, that's fine! A lot of people generally don't bother counting invertebrates.
  • Keep different lists for different classes (except with fish and invertebrates, list all different fish classes together and all different invertebrate classes together for those). Separate the lists for birds, mammals, reptiles etc. from each other.
  • Highlight the species you see for the first time ("lifers") in bold. This makes for a more interesting overview, and makes the listing of species more rewarding as you can draw more attention to the species that are more special to you!
  • We only list species, not subspecies, to prevent taxonomical debates. However, if you see a different subspecies worth mentioning, it's always interesting to include that in your post (without numbering it and putting it on the list). Hybrid animals don't count either.
  • We only list species we've seen directly, not species we've only heard. Similarly to different subspecies, it's always interesting to add the heard-only species to your post without listing them!
  • We only list actual wild species, escaped exotic species don't count unless they've become self-established (like feral pigeons everywhere, ring-necked parakeets in Europe and common starlings in North America).
  • List common names and binominal names of all species you see. Common names differ immensely per bird checklist (Clements, IOC, etc.), so to keep things clear we ask this as a requirement.
  • You are welcome to join in after January, but people starting in another month will not be counted for the first month they enter. For example, if you join in March and immediately have a list of 50+ species when most of these were seen in January and February, it'd be unfair to others that already saw the majority of their species in January, when the competition for "new" species was a lot higher.
  • You do not have to provide photographic evidence, your word is your bond. We trust our members won't lie about seeing things they didn't just to get a higher score.

Prizes:
  • On the first day of every month starting February 1st, I will be giving an overview of how many species of each category people have seen in total. I will also calculate how many species everyone gained compared to the previous month.
  • For every species you gained compared to the previous month, you will receive 5 pointies for use in the pointies store.
  • The person with the most species gained that month will receive a pointies animal.

Extra:
  • The double-posting rule will be less strict here than it is in other areas of the forum (as it's possible that you see something new before someone else has), but keep it sensible. Try not to post list updates twice in the same day if you see or identify another species later, it's easier to just edit your previous post.
  • Have fun!
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Danny
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January 11, 2018

BIRDS
61 - Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus)
62 - Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus)

Total
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

Mammals:

3. Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
4. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
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Anton
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King of Cotingas

Second lifer of the year! In the same place as the last one :D

BIRDS:
70) Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis
71) Mediterranean gull, Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

Total
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Danny
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January 12, 2018

BIRDS
63 - Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)
64 - Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
65 - White-Throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaea)
66 - Rock Pigeon (Columbus livia)

Total
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Danny
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January 13, 2018
BIRDS
66 - Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus)
67 - Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus)
68 - White-Naped Honeyeater (Melithreptus lunatus)
69 - Common Bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera)
70 - Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris)

I have to remove Clamorous reed warblers from the total list, as I realised it was more Australasian reed warblers and an outdated website that led me to the wrong conclusion... :P
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Anton
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King of Cotingas

That's fair, and another bunch of nice species! I want to see bowerbirds too... :P
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Keniafan
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So last week was not the best week birdwise, on monday I saw:

58 - Rook (Corvus frugilegus)

While today has been more succesful! Saw 4 more species around my home town, including (8) velvet scoters!

59 - Velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca)
60 - Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
61 - Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius)
62 - Common siskin (Spinus spinus)
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Posted Image Xenephos
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ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴏʙsᴇssᴇᴅ

January 13th

BIRDS:
14. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Really short update. I spotted some Mallards while I was driving over the river. Nothing too special but it's better than nothing new xD

All Species Seen
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Orca Freak
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Killer Whales rule the World

Let's see if I can keep up with all of you :P

January 5th - 14th:
My wintervacation is over, which means I won't have much time to go out.
But on the plus side: This also means I spent a lot more time at the beach.
And today was a really beautiful day, so I took my daughter out for a hike in the local nature reserve.
We saw some really nice birds there, and a big surprise with four legs and a white coat
:P

Birds:
28. Eurasian oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus
29. Common gull - Larus canus
30. Great black-backed gull - Larus marinus
31. Dunlin - Calidris alpina
32. Northern lapwing - Vanellus vanellus
33. Common starling - Sturnus vulgaris
34. Bar-headed goose - Anser indicus
35. Common goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
36. Red-breasted merganser - Mergus serrator
37. Pink-footed goose - Anser brachyrhynchus
38. Great egret - Ardea alba
39. Barnacle goose - Branta leucopsis
40. Common loon - Gavia immer
41. Western marsh harrier - Circus aeruginosus

Mammals:
3. Red fox - Vulpes vulpes
4. Harbor seal - Phoca vitulina
5. Stoat - Mustela erminea

Total list


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Anton
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King of Cotingas

Ooh, nice list! You made me double check if the bar-headed goose population in Belgium is significant enough to be countable, but I suppose it is.

Also, did you see the loon in the spuikom in Oostende? That's the only one mentioned on Waarnemingen.be at the moment in West-Flanders, so if you saw it elsewhere it might be worth uploading, so that other people can go find it as well. ;)

(if you did see it there, odds are we've seen the same bird, as I first saw it there about a month ago and it seems to have been staying there all winter :P )
Edited by Anton, Jan 14 2018, 03:27 PM.
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Orca Freak
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Killer Whales rule the World

I had to look up the goose as well, apparently it's in exotic animal xD

Yeah, the Spuikom is where I saw the loon. I come there quite frequently.
Nice website, I'll have to check it out some time :)
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Dwarfbomb
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January 1 to January 14

Birds
1. American White ibis (Eudocimus albus)
2. Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura)
3. Sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis)
4. Muscovy Ducks (significant invasive population in Florida) (Cairina moschata)
5. Rock dove (significant invasive population) (Columba livia)
6. Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
7. Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis)
8. Wood stork (Mycteria americana)
9. Great blue heron (Ardea herodias)
10. Great egret (Ardea alba)
11. Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)


Reptiles
1. Brown anole (significant invasive population) (Anolis sagrei)

Mammals
1. Humans (Significant invasive population) (Homo sapiens)

Invertebrates:
1. Red imported fire ants (Signifcant invasive population) (Solenopsis invicta)
Edited by Dwarfbomb, Jan 14 2018, 03:55 PM.
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Anton
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King of Cotingas

Dwarfbomb
Jan 14 2018, 03:45 PM
2. Virginia opossum (dead, roadkill) (Didelphis virginiana)
Nice list! You definitely gave me a laugh with the text next to humans. :P

However, I realize I probably didn't put this in the rules but I can't allow dead animals, as that could lead to questions regarding things like extinct animals, museum collections, fossils, dead shells you find on the beach... It'd become too complicated, and we have to draw the line somewhere. :/
Could you edit your post to remove it? :D
Edited by Anton, Jan 14 2018, 03:54 PM.
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

Maybe the opossum was just pretending to be roadkill?

Haha.. ha...
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caviar
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January 10-13, 2018

BIRDS

66 - Northen Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway)
67 - Yellow headed Caracara (Milvago chimachima)
68 - White Collared Swift(Streptoprocne zonaris)
69 - Ochre-Bellied Flycatcher (Mionectes oleagineus)
70 - Plumbeous-Crowned Tyrannulet (Phyllomyias plumbeiceps)
71 - Yellow Tyrannulet (Capsiempis flaveola)
72 - Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)
73 - Southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis)
74 - Great Egret (Ardea alba)


Soooo i had to come back to Armenia for a family emergency, but i could see some new birds, Yaaay.

Edit:Sorry i forgot to add 2 birds that i saw at my family terrain.
Edited by caviar, Jan 14 2018, 10:49 PM.
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