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Instead of going on about zip lines and other modern, adventure tourism attractions, the birding crowd talks about taking photos of Resplendent Quetzals , seeing dozens of hummingbird species, and the seemingly odd absence of raptors in Costa Rica but nope, we don’t really talk about extinction. Resplendence.
This natural space of almost a thousand acres – once a deforested area for extensive cattle ranching – has been restored for four decades, considering every detail in the aesthetics and functionality of the landscape, seeking the regeneration of bird and wildlife populations that inhabit the ecosystem.
Its great diversity of habitats hosts an incredible bird count of over 900 species, including Africa’s 2nd highest list of endemics and near-endemics (after South Africa). Quality time was spent with a friendly Hamar family at their homestead of grass huts surrounding their cattle corral. Yellow-billed Stork.
Other species I was looking forward to as possibilities included Anhingas , Magnificent Frigatebirds , and seeing as the sun was supposed to shine, some raptors soaring. Creatures like another species of monkey, White-headed Capuchin , Cebus capucinus , which are also known as White-faced Capuchins.
In an unhurried half-day of birding, we racked up over 90 species, including killers like Denham’s Bustard , Northern Carmine-throated Bee-eater , and Shelley’s Rufous Sparrow. Plus, the food, service, and accommodations meet the highest standards. How is birding in Murchison Falls, you ask? Mind boggling, I answer!
Wildlife conservation is concerned with protecting wildlife at the level of species or perhaps population. With the exception of species that number in the hundreds, conservation biologists are not as concerned with the fates of individual animals, it is only when such fates of many individuals are added up do they begin to worry.
The prospect of identifying a certain number of species in a given amount of time pushes us to pay more attention to birds no matter what the circumstances (although I suggest keeping the exclamations about species identifications to yourself during such solemn situations as funerals, graduations, and watching episodes of The Sopranos).
Birds with white on them are much more likely to take the form of goodies like the Snowy Cotinga , or two species of tityras. The Caribbean slope of Costa Rica also differs from the islands in having a lot more bird species. The Bat Falcon that joined us for breakfast. . I recommend staying there but what about the birds?
We have nearly 930 species on the official list and with some effort, 700 in a year is a feasible goal. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis; San Joaquin de Heredia, 1-Jan. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis; Tirimbina, 9-Jan. After all, Costa Rica is no small player on the world birding stage. Snowy Egret – Egretta thula; Tirimbina, 9-Jan.
The pressure is on if you can only get certain species during the first month of the year but if you just want to add any old birds to the year list, everything is fresh! Since I’m in no big hurry to reach any number of species in 2018, my year birding is going to be a fresh one hopefully touched with a good dose of Zen.
To surpass a challenging number of species, the planning, the conniving for major birding should have begun back in the past, in 2018. Every day counts and to seriously maximize the species total, a birder needs to maximize time in the field at the most productive places during the most productive times and then some.
They birded 7 countries during August and recorded 542 species. The year list remains sluggish at 1489 , but the life list received a boost from the eBird taxonomy reshuffle and now includes 4076 species. Stay vigilant and safe. 10 of the beats have submitted 124 checklists which are collated below for your perusal.
9 beats from 8 countries (Australia, USA, UK, Serbia, Costa Rica, China, Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico), shared 138 checklists for 703 species. The year list to date is 1015 species and 7 have been added to the life list ( 4059 ) from Costa Rica, China and Trinidad and Tobago. 201 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis.
11 beats have been out this month and have submitted 136 checklists from 7 countries ticking 634 species. 251 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. 483 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 251 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Beats are getting restless too with a couple of them venturing further than of late.
beats have still managed to share 82 checklists and accounted for 737 species. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. The trend at this time of year is a downturn in shared lists and birds reported, nevertheless, 12 (is this a record?) Gray-chested Dove – Leptotila cassinii. 01 Jun 2019.
They accounted for 562 species at this sluggish time of year. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. During July, 11 beats birded 11 countries (USA, UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Japan, UAE, Mexico, China and Saudi Arabia) and submitted 82 checklists. These are the numbers.
They contributed 150 lists accounting for 1032 species and more than 36,000 individual birds. Thus 100 species were missed by the time he woke up and noticed that eBird had reset the counters at midnight(do you guys have nothing better to do?). Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Hawk – Macheiramphus alcinus.
9 beats submitted 172 checklists from 7 countries (UK, USA, Costa Rica, Australia, Serbia, China and Trinidad and Tobago) for 640 species. The list for the year has reached 1276 and the life list has been stretched to 4066 with red ticks from China, Australia and Trinidad and Tobago, thanks to Kai, Claire and Grant and Faraaz respectively.
At time of writing (usually a couple of days early to avoid the deadline panic), UK is fielding 63 species. 102 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. 141 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 102 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. 141 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Costa Rica has also submitted 63.
The year list ends on a provisional 1803 species from 1608 checklists submitted by 12 beats from 16 countries. Most species-prolific was Patrick in Costa Rica, followed by Paul from Mexico. December’s beats found 609 birds after submitting 116 checklists from 8 countries (USA, UK, Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Serbia and Australia).
8 of them sent 153 lists, noting 645 species of bird across 7 countries (Mexico, UK, USA, Serbia, Australia, Costa Rica, Colombia). It has not resulted in extraordinary numbers of sightings personally, but the beats have been busy on their respective patches and have sent me their lists to collate. The year list finishes at 1628.
They submitted 124 checklists for 671 species of bird. In particular 272 species were noted from 14 checklists submitted on October 17th, eBird’s October Big Day. 31 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 646 Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. 31 Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis.
“Birding Over Time” compares the number of species recorded over a month with that month from previous years. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. But Fall is almost upon us and a gentle breeze stirs the Summer doldrums. Management ?) Crested Caracara – Caracara cheriway.
Our brave beats have been putting themselves at risk for your vicarious listing pleasure and 10 of them submitted 151 checklists for 692 species, 2 of which made it onto the life list. Please be careful, Corvid is still out there. Marsh Grassbird and Rufous-faced Warbler come to you all the way from China and bring the life list to 4061.
In publishing the most current thinking, eBird have become the month’s biggest contributor to the life list, expanding it by 7 brand new species and pushing it to 3774. 7 species were added to the life list in the time-honoured fashion of actually identifying the birds in the field. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis.
This shows the top birders, by species or checklists submitted. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Lago de Cuitzeo. 01 Jan 2020. Tricolored Heron – Egretta tricolor. Lago de Cuitzeo. 01 Jan 2020. Reddish Egret – Egretta rufescens.
The engaged and generous beats ( 10 of them) have shared 188 checklists during January and have accounted for 859 species from 8 countries (USA, Australia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, UK, New Zealand and Serbia. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa.
172 lists were shared and 1004 species were seen, both records for October, so well done beats! Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. 14 countries were birded this month by 13 beats; a record participative effort! has reached 54. Red-headed Barbet – Eubucco bourcierii. 13 Oct 2019.
Whatever it was, Corey was found at his keyboard 2 hours later, covered in blood and snot and sporting a cut lip, having announced that he and Mike would rescue the failing list by taking personal responsibility for adding 300 species. Bat Hawk – Macheiramphus alcinus. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. 26 Nov 2019.
The year list ends on a provisional (some beats will be birding ’til the final whistle to try and salvage a ravaged year) 1803 species from 1602 checklists submitted by 12 beats from 16 countries. Imagine that, 13 lists per year where once there were only 12.
The beats are famed for their inclusion on the nice side of the ledger and this month 9 of them shared 163 lists from 7 countries (Australia, Costa Rica, USA, UK, Serbia, China and Trinidad and Tobago) and accounted for 735 bird species. Mike doubled up with “smushed”, a new addition to the adjective list.
978 species were tallied this month from 163 checklists. Only 123 species appear on both sides of the life list. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. The yearly total has reached 1538 while the life list has been pushed to 3676.
April was a busy time for the beats with 10 of them contributing 164 lists to accumulate 744 species from 7 countries; Costa Rica, USA, Australia, Serbia, UK, Brazil and Barbados. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Back to numbers.
Their 185 checklists contained 951 species during April! Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Expanding that for the year so far gives 795 / 1512. Here they all are; Alphabetic Taxonomic. Great Tinamou – Tinamus major. 01 Jan 2018.
They found 673 species and advanced the yearly total to 1019. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. This month is when the hard work to fill the winter quota is put in. So bravo to the beats who have wrapped up, knuckled down and got out there. Tricolored Heron – Egretta tricolor.
They noted 598 species as a team, bringing the year total to 2118 and pushing the life list to 3555. There are a number of potential reasons for this, the most likely by far being that Pat has been batting for both teams for a couple of weeks. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis.
146 shared checklists (an increase on last year’s 97, well done chaps) noted 664 species (ooooh, down on 826 from last February) and brought the yearly total to 1063 (1303 at this time in 2016, ouch!). Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Airport Mangroves. 01 Jan 2017. Airport Mangroves.
They submitted 144 checklists, noting 628 species adding 72 to the year’s running total bringing it to 1890. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Those are the numbers, here come the birds; Alphabetic Taxonomic. Airport Mangroves.
10 countries were birded by 9 beats and 892 species were noted from 144 checklists. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Who is going to tell the clans? Does Mel Gibson know? These are they… Alphabetic Taxonomic. 23 May 2018.
During October, 7 countries (Costa Rica, Australia, USA, India, Hong Kong, UK, Serbia) were birded by 11 beats who shared 135 checklists and noted 697 species. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Alphabetic Taxonomic. 04 Apr 2018.
In reverse order, the medals were awarded for “most species seen in a country”, to Australia with 420, USA got the silver, scoring 556 while the runaway winner was Costa Rica with 646 species. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa.
During March, 11 beats shared 122 checklists to accumulate 680 species from 8 countries; USA, Costa Rica, Serbia, India, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Japan. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. The year list has progressed by 127 to reach 1257. 01 Jan 2018. 01 Jan 2018. 01 Jan 2018.
8 beats shared 126 checklists accounting for 704 species. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. Bat Falcon – Falco rufigularis. Cattle Tyrant – Machetornis rixosa. They birded 6 countries; USA, UK, Costa Rica, Serbia, Australia, and Mexico. The year and life lists have been pushed to 2214 and 3564 respectively.
Thus; As at April 30 th 2017, the collaborative year total stands at 1432 , with 895 species noted this month from 164 shared checklists. 9 beats contributed their sightings (this knocks last April’s efforts of 116 lists for 672 species into a cocked hat and claws back some ground on the 30th April 2016 running total of 1707).
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