Archivos de Diario para diciembre 2022

sábado, 31 de diciembre de 2022

Looking back on 2022

2022

Observation of rarest species:

Baillon's Crake - this bird is rarely ever seen in the Cape where I live, so when not one, but several turned up at the Strandfontein Sewerage Works, I had to go check it out! Two other species would have beaten this observation if I could have made them: the Snowy Sheathbill that turned up earlier in the year (which I could not go observe as I have a day job alas), and the Eurasian Golden Oriole that I spent two fruitless mornings this past week chasing. The Baillon's Crake is super cool though.

This year, in terms of new species lifers, I seem to have mostly landed herps (reptiles and amphibians) - shoutout to @gianluca_de_gasparis! New species I saw in 2022 were:

Another group of organisms I got lifers for were fungi. I have gained a new appreciation for these underrated organisms ever since I came across Paul Stamets a couple of years ago. New species this year were:

As for my favourite observation of 2022 - this is a tough one for me. I have a soft spot for the local chameleons that are native to where I live, and to see them at nighttime is a special experience. I love these little critters.

The other awesome observation is from when I made a visit to the rural coastal town of Hermanus to see these magnificent creatures: Southern Right Whales

In second place would be this Cape Fur Seal having calamari for dinner.

In terms of a common species displaying unusual behaviour, I was surprised to see this Red-winged Starling eating leaves. I knew that other birds such as mousebirds and the famous hoatzin include leaves as part of this diet, but I had no idea starlings did it too!

Looking forward to a even better year in 2023.

Publicado el sábado, 31 de diciembre de 2022 a las 06:07 AM por dinofelis dinofelis | 3 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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