2017 Western Palearctic Big Year (1 Viewer)

Paul Chapman · Jun 4, 2017

neiltovey said:
Hi Paul,
Would it be possible to get the hi-res of your stint? We (KORC) are working on the decision as we speak and these two images are the best I have seen (far better than my pitiful efforts!), so they would help!

Re the martin, as the finder, I'm hoping for a positive outcome but the work is still going on regards that bird!

BTW - do you know anything about the Marbled Duck claim from Jahra Pools when you were in Kuwait? I think the guys who claimed them were part of your group?

Neil

They are ridiculous crops but I'll send you a PM to get your e-mail address. You are very welcome to anything but I was with AbdulRahman and he is ten times the photographer that I will ever be so I imagine his will be better than mine. The only picture of Long-toed with Little Stint that I found was this one:-

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aby1220/30510132824/

My only experience of the species was twitching Ireland's first on 16th June 1996 - it is written up in Birding World Vol.9 No.6 pages 224 to 225. The miniature Sharp-tailed Sandpiper look - capped appearance and buff background to breast colouration - was something I recalled but I am very realistic with my birding experience and ability. Looking forward to having time to improve it. I believe that I photographed the right bird:-

http://www.bigyearwp.com/index.php/2017/04/12/rarity-hunting/

It certainly did not strike me structurally as a Little Stint - added a typical posture photo of one (in my view).

Good luck on the Martin. I am very intrigued by that and the identification features.

We were at Jahra Pools the day that the Marbled Duck was claimed but it was not by us.

All the best

Paul

Maffong · Jun 4, 2017

It is very difficult to determine what species shall become category C or not. Normally the criteria used is if a population is self-sustaining without human help for a certain amount of time (normally 25 years or three generation lengths). This leads to Muscovy Duck or Swan goose being tickable but e.g. Chilean Flamingo not (human help). However only certain approved populations (only one population near Lago di como un Italy for Muscovy Duck. However you want an objective way to judge category C species. Either you leave out Pheasant and Canada Goose or you accept Muscovy Duck...

Paul Chapman · Jun 4, 2017

timsg80 said:
Which category c species do they still need?

Red-billed Firefinch C (Algeria)
Helmeted Guineafowl C (Cape Verde)
California Quail C (Corsica)
Reeves's Pheasant C (France)
Swan Goose C (Germany)
Yellow-headed Amazon C (Germany)
Nanday Parakeet C (Israel) - extinct? - but Spain?
Northern Bobwhite C (Italy)
Erckel's Francolin C (Italy) but extinct?
Black-headed Weaver C (Portugal)
Yellow-crowned Bishop C (Portugal)
Black-headed Munia C (Portugal) but extinct?
Lady Amherst's Pheasant C (United Kingdom) but extinct?

All the best

Paul Chapman · Jun 4, 2017

flownek said:
So Muscovy Duck is tickable according to IOC? I'm getting more and more in favour of the Dutch system where all this plastic is just ignored.

These things end up far more difficult and nuanced - reintroductions, supplemented populations, translocated populations, artificial feeding, artificial assistance with nesting, etc, etc......... Even absolute approaches tend to get difficult on their edges.

Looking forward to the time to twitch the Muscovies. 3

All the best

Paul Chapman · Jun 4, 2017

Paul Chapman said:
Red-billed Firefinch C (Algeria)
Helmeted Guineafowl C (Cape Verde)
California Quail C (Corsica)
Reeves's Pheasant C (France)
Swan Goose C (Germany)
Yellow-headed Amazon C (Germany)
Nanday Parakeet C (Israel) - extinct? - but Spain?
Erckel's Francolin C (Italy) but extinct?
Black-headed Weaver C (Portugal)
Yellow-crowned Bishop C (Portugal)
Black-headed Munia C (Portugal) but extinct?
Lady Amherst's Pheasant C (United Kingdom) but extinct?

Correction - Bobwhite now seen. 606.

http://www.bigyearwp.com/index.php/igoterra-ticks/

All the best

John Cantelo · Jun 4, 2017

DanielDoer said:
What does this commonly used "gen" (abbreviation?) mean? I thought I am used to birders language :-(...

The derivation is uncertain but it's thought that 'gen' originates from and abbreviated version of general information used by the British forces in WWII.

John Cantelo · Jun 4, 2017

Paul Chapman said:
Nanday Parakeet C (Israel) - extinct? - but Spain?
All the best

Nanday Parakeets are still found in Barcelona but their foothold still seems somewhat tenuous (although I believe there may be some in the Canaries too). Other parrot species - Red-masked, Mitred & Blue-crowned - arguably have as strong a claim as Nanday in mainland Spain but, personally, I'd regard all of them as somewhat dubious. I've not looked at their list but, presumably, they have Black-headed Weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus), Red Avadavat & Common Waxbill all of which have a far better claim to avian citizenship in Spain than Nanday Parakeet (as, perhaps, does Black-rumped Waxbill).

Paul Chapman · Jun 4, 2017

Very impressively a Facebook post proclaiming - "Happy Mårten in frensh alps after ticking Rock Partridge, Citril Finch and Nutcracker."

https://www.facebook.com/bigyearwp/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

I've dipped Rock Partridge a couple of times. I must make a dedicated effort.

(I know that this is appalling because my Swedish is non-existent but I love their English typos. Every time I read - "Long gone are the days when every day in the field is finished with a beer, pen, pencil, paper lists, poor lightning and a shared session with the total checklist." - I do smile. Writing up a day's notes to background lightning would I think be quite dramatic. :king

All the best

Nutcracker · Jun 4, 2017

Maffong said:
It is very difficult to determine what species shall become category C or not. Normally the criteria used is if a population is self-sustaining without human help for a certain amount of time (normally 25 years or three generation lengths). This leads to Muscovy Duck or Swan goose being tickable but e.g. Chilean Flamingo not (human help). However only certain approved populations (only one population near Lago di como un Italy for Muscovy Duck. However you want an objective way to judge category C species. Either you leave out Pheasant and Canada Goose or you accept Muscovy Duck...

What human help have the Flamingos had that e.g., Pheasants reared & released for shooting have not had?

timsg80 · Jun 5, 2017

Nutcracker said:
What human help have the Flamingos had that e.g., Pheasants reared & released for shooting have not had?

I guess those Pheasants shouldn't be tickable, only ones from long-established, self-sustaining populations should be. When I lived in England, I had to remove Red-legged Partridge from the garden list after discovering a local farmer had been releasing them for shooting. It's obviously a very difficult situation to judge when such species can be ticked!!

flownek · Jun 5, 2017

Paul Chapman said:
These things end up far more difficult and nuanced - reintroductions, supplemented populations, translocated populations, artificial feeding, artificial assistance with nesting, etc, etc......... Even absolute approaches tend to get difficult on their edges.
All the best

I know. Even the Dutch allow to count Canada Goose, because they can not exclude the presence of wild birds.

But Swan Goose and Muscovy Duck, please no! That's definitely going too far, in my opinion.

Maffong · Jun 6, 2017

They are now done with their Italy/France trip and did pretty well, but not a complete clean-up, by leaving for species for later, though all are pretty easy to get later on and don't need specific targeting
Black Heron
Muscovy Duck
Northern Bobwhite
Western Capercaillie
Rock Ptarmigan
Rock Partridge
African Sacred Ibis
Red-footed Falcon
Eleonora's Falcon
Spotted Nutcracker
Red-billed Leiothrix
Dartford Warbler
Moltoni's Warbler
Italian Sparrow
Citril Finch

In their last blog update Cyprus is stated as the next stop, even though the Albatross is back and Cyprus was originally planned two days later. I wonder why they are so reluctant to twitching the damn Albatross!?

DanielDoer · Jun 6, 2017

Paul Chapman said:
Very impressively a Facebook post proclaiming - "Happy Mårten in frensh alps after ticking Rock Partridge, Citril Finch and Nutcracker."

https://www.facebook.com/bigyearwp/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

I've dipped Rock Partridge a couple of times. I must make a dedicated effort.
...
All the best

I have just seen my second Rock Partridge yesterday (a quite poor observation of a flying bird though here in Croatia, but the first one in my youth in Southern Tirol was great)! You should definitely do a dedicated effort, Paul! And Croatia would be a good choice. Yesterday morning on a short round with the dog also: many Blue Rock Thrushes, Eastern Orphean, Mustached (edit: meant Subalpine of course, although that could be not the acute name after splitting!) and Sardinian Warblers as well as Eastern Black-eared Wheatear! It's great to do real foreign birding instead of the virtual one with the Swedish guys...

Maffong · Jun 6, 2017

Haha, we're on a schedule. No time for the albatross. If it's still there in July, we'll try for it. Otoh, we've spoken to quite a few people that have dipped it. That makes us a bit reluctant to try for it.

This is their reply to my question why they won't try for the Albatross.
Hell, it has never ever been so easy to twitch an Albatross in the history of twitching, but there's a tiny chance of dipping, so they won't do it...

Richard Prior · Jun 6, 2017

Maffong said:
This is their reply to my question why they won't try for the Albatross.
Hell, it has never ever been so easy to twitch an Albatross in the history of twitching, but there's a tiny chance of dipping, so they won't do it...

Err, that's twisting the sense of their reply a little n'est-ce pas?
With 600 plus under their belt they seem to know what they're doing

Maffong · Jun 6, 2017

You're right of course, that I might be exaggerating a bit, however this is certainly not the first time they could have twitched something but didn't. They are doing extremely well with local WP species, but they had more luck with longstaying vagrants than they deserve. And apparently there are mistakes in their online itinerary, as according to that one they would have had two days left for the Albatross...

DMW · Jun 6, 2017

DanielDoer said:
I have just seen my second Rock Partridge yesterday (a quite poor observation of a flying bird though here in Croatia, but the first one in my youth in Southern Tirol was great)! You should definitely do a dedicated effort, Paul! And Croatia would be a good choice. Yesterday morning on a short round with the dog also: many Blue Rock Thrushes, Eastern Orphean, Mustached (edit: meant Subalpine of course, although that could be not the acute name after splitting!) and Sardinian Warblers as well as Eastern Black-eared Wheatear! It's great to do real foreign birding instead of the virtual one with the Swedish guys...

I've just got home from a few days in Croatia and certainly agree that it's an excellent place to see Rock Partridge - we had hardly got out of the car before we saw a pair! Also found a good site for Olive-tree Warbler.

Selsey Birder · Jun 6, 2017

Richard Prior said:
Err, that's twisting the sense of their reply a little n'est-ce pas?
With 600 plus under their belt they seem to know what they're doing

Hi Rich,

Agree with you entirely, at the end of the day the Albatross (in the context of the Big Year) counts exactly the same as any other bird.

Ian

Maffong · Jun 6, 2017

But at the end of the year you will most certainly not remember every little brown job, but you won't ever forget that Albatross. It's their Big Year, they can do whatever they want to and they could even decide not to twitch any birds at all. They will still set a record that will be remembered, but to me it just seems as if they never had the ambition to see the Albatross in the first place...

Paul Chapman · Jun 6, 2017

DanielDoer said:
I have just seen my second Rock Partridge yesterday (a quite poor observation of a flying bird though here in Croatia, but the first one in my youth in Southern Tirol was great)! You should definitely do a dedicated effort, Paul! And Croatia would be a good choice. Yesterday morning on a short round with the dog also: many Blue Rock Thrushes, Eastern Orphean, Mustached (edit: meant Subalpine of course, although that could be not the acute name after splitting!) and Sardinian Warblers as well as Eastern Black-eared Wheatear! It's great to do real foreign birding instead of the virtual one with the Swedish guys...

DMW said:
I've just got home from a few days in Croatia and certainly agree that it's an excellent place to see Rock Partridge - we had hardly got out of the car before we saw a pair! Also found a good site for Olive-tree Warbler.

Daniel & DMW

Many thanks both. Snowed at work currently and desperate to get a trip in! I was trying to arrange a Madeira break but the boat trips were not available on the week I wanted so will be looking for another destination or two soon!

All the best

2017 Western Palearctic Big Year (1 Viewer)

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