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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

2017 Western Palearctic Big Year (3 Viewers)

wintibird said:
Sabine's Gull can be very tricky in Svalbard. I once spent 3 months there and had just two sightings....

André
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Captain_of_Crunch said:
As far as I am aware, the Sabine's Gull breeds only a few remote islands (e.g. Moffen) in the north of the archipelago. May be tricky unless they are planning on taking one of the cruises?

https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com/spitsbergen-information/fauna/sabines-gull.html
Click to expand...

Thanks both noted.

lewis20126 said:
http://opus.bath.ac.uk/48355/1/Thesis_Alex_Ball_electronic.pdf

bottom of page 172

cheers, a
Click to expand...

I think that they did well to get a better photo. I think that it is unrealistic for them to collect a sperm sample. :-C

More seriously, up there with the Cormorants and the Whitethroats (as Maffong pointed out on their Facebook page), for creating confusion in a WP context!

All the best
 
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Latest from the steppes is Black Lark in the bag(100 plus individuals!)
Demoisselle Crane also added, so main targets are now safely on the yearlist and they are free to move on to the next port of call. A methodical, relentless sweep of the WP continues....very impressive.
 
Hi, can anybody explain what is the point of people posting a photo of a camera screen showing the bird, rather than the photo itself?
 
jurek said:
Hi, can anybody explain what is the point of people posting a photo of a camera screen showing the bird, rather than the photo itself?
Click to expand...

Quicker way to share news if you are still in the field and not near computer - snap a picture of camera screen with a smartphone camera and if there is mobile network coverage you can straight away upload it to twitter/facebook/etc.
 
jurek said:
Hi, can anybody explain what is the point of people posting a photo of a camera screen showing the bird, rather than the photo itself?
Click to expand...

It is something that you can then upload straight from your mobile device rather than needing to find a way to download the photo from the camera to the mobile device in order to upload it.

All the best
 
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Paul Chapman said:
It is something that you can then upload straight from your mobile device rather than needing to find a way to download the photo from the camera to the mobile device in order to upload it.

All the best
Click to expand...

Some cameras do have a wi-fi option and can upload to the smartphone. However, if you're photographing in raw it will need to be converted before any normal device can read it, for instance.

Taking a photo off the back of the camera and post it on social media takes seconds.

EDIT: up next " Kazakhstan two more days, then Russia, Urals"
 
Astonishing numbers:-

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

NW Inderbor, Kazakhstan , Kazakhstan 06:30-08:48
Rosy Starling Pastor roseus, 1500
Calandra Lark Melanocorypha calandra, 3000
Rock Dove Columba livia, 1
White-winged Lark Alauda leucoptera, 50
Lesser Short-toed Lark Alaudala rufescens, 50
Isabelline Wheatear Oenanthe isabellina, 400
Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis, 40
Hooded Crow Corvus cornix, 1
Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops, 20
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica, 1
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea, 25
Greater Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla, 7000
Red-headed Bunting Emberiza bruniceps, 1
Short-toed Snake Eagle Circaetus gallicus, 1
Common Swift Apus apus, 10
Sand Martin Riparia riparia, 1
Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, 120
European Bee-eater Merops apiaster, 20
White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla, 2
Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus, 15
Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni, 2
Sykes's Warbler Iduna rama, 25
Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus, 2
Black Lark Melanocorypha yeltoniensis, 102

All the best
 
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Around Yekatinburg I think they will try to find these ones

Oriental Turtle Dove
Oriental Cuckoo
(White-backed Woodpecker)
Azure Tit
Greenish Warbler
Booted Warbler
Common Grasshopper Warbler
River Warbler
Lanceolated Warbler
Thrush Nightingale
Long-tailed Rosefinch
Yellow-breasted Bunting
Rustic Bunting

Also Siberian Chiffchaff should come on their list, eventhough it doesn't have species status under IOC

Then in the central Urals (Severouralsk area) they try for

Western Capercaillie
Rock Ptarmigan
Willow Ptarmigan
Eurasian Dotterel
Pin-tailed Snipe
Swinhoe's Snipe ?
Great Snipe
Grey-headed Chickadee
Yellow-browed Warbler
Arctic Warbler
White's Thrush
Siberian Rubythroat
Red-flanked Bluetail
Black-throated Accentor
Olive-backed Pipit
Two-barred Crossbill
Little Bunting

I really wonder if they are going to try for Pallas's Reed Bunting. Does anyone know how much north they'd have to go from Severouralsk area to the spot(s) where PAC and others had their Pallas's Reed Buntings last year? Could they get there without a tank?
http://www.caligata.com/tripreports/en/polar-ural-venaja-18-6-2-7-2016
They might also sack some non-vagrant Siberian Accentors en route just for fun...
 
By the way: So far I have found reports for 779 species recorded in the WP this year with 33 annual visitors or breeders still missing from those. In 2016 there were 825 species recorded at the end of the year.

So far all code 1s and 2s have been observed (with Wilson's Storm Petrel finally the last one of these has just recently arrived).
Of the 16 codes 3 that are still unreported 6 could be added by birders in the Urals. The other 10 breed in inaccessible areas (except Desertas Petrel, African Skimmer and Algerian Nuthatch where I believe reports could still come).
Also only 17 code 4s have yet to show up and most will probably do so in autumn.
Last year 55 code 5 and 25 code 6 species turned up, so far this year we're at 21 and 8 species respectively

I believe that at the end of the year there'll be reports of around 840 species for the WP this year
 
Maffong said:
By the way: So far I have found reports for 779 species recorded in the WP this year with 33 annual visitors or breeders still missing from those. In 2016 there were 825 species recorded at the end of the year.

So far all code 1s and 2s have been observed (with Wilson's Storm Petrel finally the last one of these has just recently arrived).
Of the 16 codes 3 that are still unreported 6 could be added by birders in the Urals. The other 10 breed in inaccessible areas (except Desertas Petrel, African Skimmer and Algerian Nuthatch where I believe reports could still come).
Also only 17 code 4s have yet to show up and most will probably do so in autumn.
Last year 55 code 5 and 25 code 6 species turned up, so far this year we're at 21 and 8 species respectively

I believe that at the end of the year there'll be reports of around 840 species for the WP this year
Click to expand...

Maffong

Not sure what others you are missing but certainly Desertas Petrel is on ebird:-

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37369356

Could you post again your spreadsheet?

All the best
 
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Maffong said:
....
I really wonder if they are going to try for Pallas's Reed Bunting. Does anyone know how much north they'd have to go from Severouralsk area to the spot(s) where PAC and others had their Pallas's Reed Buntings last year? Could they get there without a tank?
http://www.caligata.com/tripreports/en/polar-ural-venaja-18-6-2-7-2016
They might also sack some non-vagrant Siberian Accentors en route just for fun...
Click to expand...

They need to go to Vorkuta, which they can only do by train or internal flight. No idea how to arrange transport locally.
 
Paul Chapman said:
Maffong

Not sure what others you are missing but certainly Desertas Petrel is on ebird:-

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37369356

Could you post again your spreadsheet?

All the best
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info about the Desertas Petrel. I must have overlooked it as it isn't split yet by ebird/Clements.
http://ebird.org/ebird/region/wp?yr=cur&m=&rank=lrec

Algerian Nuthatch and African Skimmer have been reported in recent years to ebird, whereas I consider these as truly inaccessible:
African Darter: breeds in Iraq, I heavily doubt (m)any people travel there for birding purposes
Verreaux's Eagle: there are no recent reports from Egypt or Israel, but they might persist in Jordan or Saudi Arabia, but I guess nobody knows for sure
Siberian Crane: Believed to breed (or at least migrate) through the Western Palearctic. The last reamining bird was definitely observed in Iran this winter so it's still not extinct, eventhough finding it seems about as difficult as finding Slender-billed Curlew
African Skimmer: It was a regular visitor in the last decades, but reports seem to be declining?!
Caspian Tit: There are reports from the iranian side of the border and they certainly occur in Azerbaijan, but I have yet to see a single report from there
Algerian Nuthatch: Very few people might travel to Algeria for birding purposes, however a few local people report to ebird and it was reported last year. Also if you believe PAC's account it might actually be possible to try for it and Red-billed Firefinch again.
Hume's Wheatear: Apparently breeding in an inaccessible site in Kuwait and in Iraq
Pygmy Sunbird: Found in northern Chad
African Silverbill: Breeds in southern Algeria (and maybe northern Mauritania)

Reports of Pin-tailed Snipe, Oriental Cuckoo, White's Thrush, Siberian Rubythroat, Yellow-breasted Bunting and Pallas's Reed Bunting should come as soon as someone visits the central and northern Urals.

The code 4s I'm still awaiting are
Solitary Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Red-eyed Vireo
Radde's Warbler
Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler
Grey-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Pechora Pipit
Blackpoll Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Bobolink
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
 

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