EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
Web page link is NOW in my sig!
Ed Forum birdwatching 2008
- Thread starter Kotatsu
- Start date
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- birds birdwatching
Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
Hi everyone (and especially EHocking who is doing an excellent work, and far more than I thought he'd do; many heartfelt thanks!). I've been in Stockholm for a while, and have nothing significant to add to the list, apart from Rough-legged hawk Buteo lagopus seen from the bus to Stockholm at Vara Sweden, the 5th of March. Well, I did see a lot of other things, but nothing that hasn't already been reported from Sweden.
I've been looking at lice at the Museum of Natural History for a few days, which was very rewarding. There's something special about opening a jar of preserved lice that hasn't been opened for a hundred years and find that it contains lice collected by some species of birds which are now extinct in Sweden! The oldest samples in the collection was from 1865, and the lice were still well preserved; well enough, at least, so that I could establish what kind of lice it was to genus level at least (beyond that requires keys I didn't have with me).
At the moment, I've just seen my girlfriend off at the airport, and don't really know when I'll see her again, so I'm not in the mood for adding to the list tonight. However, I'd like to thank everyone who's participated while I was away, particularly the new people. I'm especially pleased that we now have an emu on the list, as they have been among my favourite birds for many years. I'll also try to take some photos when I go out catching birds, to get some hand-held comparison pictures. I have heaps of those from Ottenby last year, but the light in the laboratory there was quite bad, so they can only serve as documentation.
Now I'll go and be all sad and emo for a while until I get a text from Germany saying that she's come home safely^^.
I've been looking at lice at the Museum of Natural History for a few days, which was very rewarding. There's something special about opening a jar of preserved lice that hasn't been opened for a hundred years and find that it contains lice collected by some species of birds which are now extinct in Sweden! The oldest samples in the collection was from 1865, and the lice were still well preserved; well enough, at least, so that I could establish what kind of lice it was to genus level at least (beyond that requires keys I didn't have with me).
At the moment, I've just seen my girlfriend off at the airport, and don't really know when I'll see her again, so I'm not in the mood for adding to the list tonight. However, I'd like to thank everyone who's participated while I was away, particularly the new people. I'm especially pleased that we now have an emu on the list, as they have been among my favourite birds for many years. I'll also try to take some photos when I go out catching birds, to get some hand-held comparison pictures. I have heaps of those from Ottenby last year, but the light in the laboratory there was quite bad, so they can only serve as documentation.
Now I'll go and be all sad and emo for a while until I get a text from Germany saying that she's come home safely^^.
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
Kotatsu is being overly gracious perhaps - considering the dog's dinner I made of his original list! But it's been fun and let's hope we can get our 1000 species before 2009.
I for one will be trying over the easter break to add to the Europe list as well our gallery.
I for one will be trying over the easter break to add to the Europe list as well our gallery.
Today I happen to be in North Carolina. Spotted what looked like a new bird for the list:
Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhee
The scientific name is already on the list as Rufous-sided Towhee (an obsolete name, now split into two species) and was spotted in Nevada. I suspect that sighting should have been Pipilo maculatus Spotted Towhee instead, since the Eastern Towhee doesn't hang out in Nevada.
Probably could have added some more, but couldn't find my Eastern US field guide while packing for this trip.
Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhee
The scientific name is already on the list as Rufous-sided Towhee (an obsolete name, now split into two species) and was spotted in Nevada. I suspect that sighting should have been Pipilo maculatus Spotted Towhee instead, since the Eastern Towhee doesn't hang out in Nevada.
Probably could have added some more, but couldn't find my Eastern US field guide while packing for this trip.
Hokulele
Deleterious Slab of Damnation
Found the dove! ETA: It should be listed for March 9 in Okpo-dong S. Korea. It just took me this long to make the positive identification.
Oriental turtle dove - Streptopelia orientalis
I am hoping that when I get back to Maui, I will be able to get up to the park to look for more native birds, and maybe get a picture of the "Flaming Asian Sandwich" for EHocking.
Oriental turtle dove - Streptopelia orientalis
I am hoping that when I get back to Maui, I will be able to get up to the park to look for more native birds, and maybe get a picture of the "Flaming Asian Sandwich" for EHocking.
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EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
I want to add : Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) for London UK 11th March.
But I see Scotland has beaten England again.
(Hokulele - I've PM'd the email address for flaming photos).
But I see Scotland has beaten England again.
(Hokulele - I've PM'd the email address for flaming photos).
Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
Apart from the Northern Flicker, are these birds you have seen this year, or just ones which occur in Florida? I am guessing the latter, but hoping the former. The photo you provided, was that taken the same day, so that counts as an observation?
Also, at least for Europe and North America, "layman's lingo" is fine, as I have good books covering these areas. The same goes for Japan, where I also accept Japanese bird names, in case the English is unknown (though I'd prefer to have it written in Romaji). At least for European birds, I also accept German names. The important thing is that people go out there and use their eyes and see what a wonderful world the world of birds is. Learning names and classification can be left to systematists like me^^.
Great! And I see you got pretty close as well. It's an uncommon visitor here in Sweden, and the closest I've ever been is about 1 km...
Glad that you like it, and decided to participate! Apart from the two above, which I believe need further qualification (or is there only one Crow in America? My birdbook is at work...), I have added your sightings. As mentioned earlier in the thread, they have been added at the latest possible date in the timeframe provided, which means they are listed as "February 29th".
[waves hand enthusiastically]
North Central Victoria, Australia
Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae
And it's "ee-myu" not "ee-moo"
Again, that is awesome... I envy you... I've only seen ones in zoos.
I believe I will be able to send you a lot of pictures later on, when I have started catching birds again. At the moment I've taken down all nets and stuff, but as soon as possible, I'll try to put them up again. I just have to remember to get my camera as well...
First Asian bird! Is Okpo-dong a place or a province?
Is this also from Okpo-dong?
It does indeed seem interesting, and not in the T'ai Chi way.
I have added this to the list tentatively, so I won't forget it later on, but this appear to be a case where a sighting definitely needs to get accepted by a local rare birds committee or so before it could really be on the list. I don't know how that works in England, though.
I have heard it told that there are actually Peregrine falcons living in central New York. Does anyone know anything about this?
I have corrected this now. Are the Eastern and Spotted Towhees the species into which the Rufous-sided one was split? Clements sadly does not provide such details.
I have also added some sightings of my own from Stockholm:
Buteo buteo
Cygnus olor
Cygnus gygnus
Pica pica
Corvus monedula
Corvus corone cornix
Parus major
Cyanistes caeruleus
Sitta europeae
Columba palumbus
Columba livia domestica
Anas platyrhynchus
Mergus merganser
Bucephala clangula
Picus viridis
Aythya fuligula
Passer montanus
Fringilla coelebs
Carduelis chloris
Carduelis spinus
Turdus merula
Turdus pilaris
Erithacus rubecula
Some of these were not actually seen in Stockholm, but in that region. I have also added the following to the region of Vestrogothia:
Buteo buteo
Buteo lagopus
Cygnus cygnus
Corvus monedula
Pica pica
Corvus frugilegus
Corvus corone cornix
Columba palumbus
Columba livia domestica
Turdus merula
Branta canadensis
Anser anser
Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
I also added Raven to Vestrogothia, and will now finally start going through all the odl stuff and make sure we have everything and so on...
Scratch that, I will have to wait with doing that until tomorrow or so, because my girlfriend just got a webcam^^.
Scratch that, I will have to wait with doing that until tomorrow or so, because my girlfriend just got a webcam^^.
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Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
Eric:
Before you upload the new list, could you perhaps change the family of Padda oryzivora to Estrildidae? I was looking this up for the sparrow thread, and discovered that I had misremembered, and Clements does separate Estrildidae, Passeridae, and Ploceidae. I was sure I had seen a list recently which didn't, and couldn't think of any list other than Clements' that I had read, so I gave it that family allocation without checking.
ETA:
And for some reason I wrote "Puffinidae" instead of "Procellariidae" in one location.
Before you upload the new list, could you perhaps change the family of Padda oryzivora to Estrildidae? I was looking this up for the sparrow thread, and discovered that I had misremembered, and Clements does separate Estrildidae, Passeridae, and Ploceidae. I was sure I had seen a list recently which didn't, and couldn't think of any list other than Clements' that I had read, so I gave it that family allocation without checking.
ETA:
And for some reason I wrote "Puffinidae" instead of "Procellariidae" in one location.
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Hokulele
Deleterious Slab of Damnation
Okpo-dong is the name of the town, as far as I can tell (I think "dong" means "town". My Korean isn't very good.). It is on Geoje Island which is in Gyeongsangnam-do province just southeast of Pusan (sometimes spelled Busan).
Yes. All of the birds I have positively identified so far have all been from Okpo. The cormorant is from Pusan. I think it is a Pelagic or Baird's Cormorant, but I am hoping to get a better look this week as it could possibly be a Red-faced Cormorant.
Yes, the Rufous-sided Towhee was split into two species, the Spotted Towhee and the spotless but otherwise similar Eastern Towhee.
Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
These are beautiful birds.
RedIbis
Philosopher
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2007
- Messages
- 6,899
Both. These are birds that I've seen recently only in Florida. The Red Shouldered Hawk (the bird the American golfer killed recently and was rightfully arrested for) was not taken the day I posted it, but a few months earlier.
Any new photos that I email for the website will be same day photos. I have some great guides, so I can easily look up the scientific names, as well. I plan on going to a state park soon so I can take a shot of the swallow-tailed kite, one of the more majestic sights around here.
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
I'm going to break my own rules for the moment and leave it on the webpage until we get a 2008 shot, if you don't mind. Page looks a bit sparse without other member contributions.
EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
Webpages have been updated (link in sig).
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Hokulele
Deleterious Slab of Damnation
Nice job on the webpages! I do have a minor nitpick with the List page. Any name that goes to two lines is wiped out by the following line. For example, in the Africa list, there are the Red-winged ??? and Ring-necked ??? and in the Australia list, you have a Sulphur-Crested ???.
Other than that, I really like being able to go back and see what other people have spotted.
I also have a quick general question for the thread. I thought that Kotatsu was originally looking for new species, rather than new sightings of previously listed species. Since I have been in Korea I have seen a bunch of birds that were previously listed, but would be unique for this country (sparrows, crows, Japanese white-eye, and more). I hadn't bothered to take notes on these and determine the exact species, as I didn't think it would be necessary. I only have a couple more days in the country, so am wondering if I should be trying to specifically identify anything with wings, or just anything that looks new.
Most of the birds I have listed are rather beautiful and distinctive. Some of this is because North America has lots of interesting birds.
But mostly it's because I can't determine the species for all those dull little brown things.
Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
Well, it started out like that, because I was alone in the beginning, and thought it would be way too much work to list everything. But EHocking came and improved the list by adding some functions, and now it is much MUCH easier for me just to list everything that's reported and let the computer sort it out. So basically, we're accepting everything we can get. And as we're still in the beginning of what we can do with the list, and are still open to suggestions, I invite you report as much as possible. We already have lists for individual countries (or continents, in two cases...) and months, so as long as it doesn't feel forced, just report away. I have added a few sightings that were neither new to the list, nor even new to Sweden, because they were new to another part of Sweden or new to the month. Feel free to do the same, but don't feel forced to do it^^.
Kotatsu
Phthirapterist
A general question to Americans:
We are thinking of subdividing the US into areas for greater clarity. What would be natural --- preferably faunal --- regions?
Eric:
Why is it that there's always some family placed out of alphabetical order at the end of the list? It used to be Threskiornithidae, then Columbidae and Muscicapidae, and now it's Estrildidae.
We are thinking of subdividing the US into areas for greater clarity. What would be natural --- preferably faunal --- regions?
Eric:
Why is it that there's always some family placed out of alphabetical order at the end of the list? It used to be Threskiornithidae, then Columbidae and Muscicapidae, and now it's Estrildidae.
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EHocking
Penultimate Amazing
Nice job on the webpages! I do have a minor nitpick with the List page. Any name that goes to two lines is wiped out by the following line. For example, in the Africa list, there are the Red-winged ??? and Ring-necked ??? and in the Australia list, you have a Sulphur-Crested ???.
Other than that, I really like being able to go back and see what other people have spotted.
As for the country list, it actually came from someone on the Forum asking for it so that they could check whether they had a new species or not for the list. I could see that checking up and down a list of 200+ species and allowing for local English names as well as Latin names was a chore (it was for me). Luckily, using pivot tables in Excel, we can get a quick overall summary to save Kotatsu time. Then we realised that it wasn't even necesasry to look up the previous list. Just append all valid sightings and let the tabling do the work.
Kotatsu has enough on his hands sorting out the regional naming conventions, and I'm happy to take the listing/sorting/tabling of his list for the web page.