Zvezda & Alex Big Year 2016 - first attempt

[xelas]

286. Sri Lanka (Crested) Drongo - Dicrurus (paradiseus) lophorhinus

 

 

[xelas]

287. Yellow-browed Bulbul - Acritillas indica

 

 

[xelas]

288. Orange-billed Babbler - Turdoides rufescens

 

 

[xelas]

289. Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill - Ocyceros gingalensis

 

 

[xelas]

That's it, folks! At least that are the birds we were able to ID, 114 of them by my count. We will do another sweep through all the bird photos hopefully finding a couple more.

But that will be done only before the end of the year. For now, we are both thanking all of you that have followed our Sri Lanka part of Big Year 2016!

 

When we have started with Big Year I have had not the slightest idea we could come to such a high number ... 289 ... and the year is still not at its end ! Maybe we will be able to join the "300" club already next week .

[PeterHG]

Yes, those Sinharaja conditions! With that in mind, you did well and you certainly saw some good birds there. What a magnificent bird, that Legge's Hawk Eagle!

[michael-ibk]

Particularly like the Frogmouth, what a cool bird. Sri Lanka was very productive birding-wise indeed!

 

Getting to 300 next week? Let´s try for THIS week, Alex! Problem is, you shot a lot of Seewinkel birds in Sri Lanka ...

[Peter Connan]

More beautiful birds!

 

Love the Trogon.

[xelas]

For anyone interested, I have started the trip report about our visit to Sri Lanka: http://safaritalk.net/topic/16738-sri-lanka-2016-self-driving-and-self-birding/ . I hope you will enjoy it!

[TonyQ]

@@xelas

Sorry it has taken me a long time to catchup - so many beautiful birds and great photos. I have really enjoyed it.

I remember saying before you wentto Sri Lanka that you would get to 300, and here you are not far away. It certainly looked like a wonderful trip.

When we went we were not particularly interested in birds but did see (for us at the time!) a lot. But nowhere near what you have seen!

[xelas]

Thanks for your kind words, @@TonyQ ! Having a birding guide would surely get us to 300 ... but not having one increased our awarness of the local habitat! Plenty more to be seen than birds alone, so you might want to follow also our trip report!

[xelas]

While I was reviewing all the photos for trip report, I was kinda hoping to find more "hidden" birds. Well, I have found at least one. Very very ebc photo ... but every bird counts !!

 

 

290. Spot-winged Trush - Zoothera spiloptera

 

[PeterHG]

Ah this definitely looks like my Spot-winged Thrush capture.....

[xelas]

It is time to catch up with others. In September we have been invited by Michael and Andrew to explore the Neusiedler See - Seewinkel National Park, a wetland birds sanctuary on the border between Austria and Hungary; @@michael-ibk has posted already some excellent photos from that area from his spring visit. We did have two days of fun, chat and food ... just the weather did not cooperate for great photography. But as said in other occasions, EBC .

 

 

Neusiedler See - Seewinkel / 17.09.2016

 

 

291. Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres

 

 

 

292. Eurasian Curlew - Numenius arquata

 

 

 

293. Red-crested Pochard - Netta rufina

 

Edited November 13, 2016 by xelas

[xelas]

Neusiedler See - Seewinkel / 18.09.2016

 

 

Second day in the morning we have started with some sunshine, and on the Hungary side of the park

 

 

294. Dunlin - Caldiris aplina

 

 

 

 

295. Bar-tailed Godwit - Limosa lapponica

 

 

 

296. Curlew Sandpiper - Calidris ferruginea

 

 

 

297. Savi's Warbler - Locustella luscinioides 8yeah, the infamous one from Kopački Rit)

 

 

 

298. Sedge Warbler - Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

 

 

 

299. White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons

 

Edited November 13, 2016 by xelas

[xelas]

I know #300 should be something special but I prefer to stick to the timeline (and there is always a possibility that I have misidentified one of the above birds).

 

 

300. Grey Plover - Pluvialis squatarola

 

 

 

301. Pied Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta

 

 

 

302. Common Ringed Plover - Charadrius hiaticula

 

 

 

303. Common Shelduck - Tadorna tadorna

 

 

 

304. Pygmy Cormorant - Phalacrocorax pygmeus

 

 

 

305. Little Stint - Calidris minuta

 

 

 

306. Common Snipe - Galinago galinago

 

 

 

307. Spotted Redshank - Tringa erythropus

 

[xelas]

With 17 new birds, it was a good trip, and being in the company of Michael and Andrew is always filled with fun and excitement ... and good food! So thank you both and thanks Michael for helping me with ID all those hard to distinguish waders. We are looking forward to have one more visit to Seewinkel, maybe next spring??

 

Special thanks to Zvezda who has managed to get the best out of very bad light that she has had to work with most of the time.

 

To all of you out there please do notify me if there are any mistaken identities among above posted birds. I am just beginning my learning curve.

[PeterHG]

In spite of the grey conditions you managed to get some good new ones to your collection and I agree Zvezda did an excellent job to work with the available light! The Pygmy Cormorant is (to me, at least) something quite special. I've never seen one and I did not realize they could be found in the Seewinkel region. I do have some doubts about the id of one of your waders, #296. To me the messy underparts point more to a Dunlin than to a Curlew Sandpiper. Those waders are always tricky, don't I know.......

Peter

[michael-ibk]

Congrats on surpassing 300, Alex - and great job by Zvezda under very challenging circumstances. 2017 weather will be wonderful in Seewinkel, promise.

 

@@PeterHG

 

The Pygmy Cormorants are relatively new, they started breeding in the late 90ies.

[xyz99]

Yeah, too bad about the weather...but Zvezda did very well :-)

With a few new birds, friends and good food around, this sounds like a wonderful few days. Congrats for 300 and more.

[Galana]

Great photos as always. My lasting memory of Neusiedler See were the mossies. The white walls of our rooms were bloodstained.

Toss a coin with that Curlew Sandiper. Something does not look quite right to make it a Dunlin. Head and general colouration look wrong but it may just be the light.

[xelas]

Thank you all, my birding friends. Looks likle #296 Curlew Sanpiper is voted to be another Dunlin so let me find another bird for you!

[PeterHG]

Please, don't count my doubts as a vote, @@xelas. They are indeed no more than doubts and with waders, doubts are all too frequent...

[TonyQ]

@@xelas

That sounds like a fun trip - and some great sightings and photos Congratulations on reaching 300 - did you imagine you would reach such a number?

I did not know there was a Pygmy Cormorant!

[xelas]

@@TonyQ

Honestly, never! But 300 is not anymore our target for 2016! Coubertain ... maybe some other time