Canterbury Big Year

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Canterbury Big Year

Postby andrewcrossland » Tue Dec 25, 2018 10:03 pm

Hi folks, there's at least 250 bird species on the Canterbury list so fair pickings for the avid birder. So we're announcing a challenge to Cantabrian birders out there, as well as visitors - to go for a Canterbury regional BIG YEAR in 2019.

The rules are:

1. Birds seen or heard within the boundaries of Canterbury out to the 12 mile limit and defined by the land borders as shown on ebird.

2. Everyone who is up for the challenge needs to register their participation by (a) posting the fact on this thread; and (b) entering their list on ebird so people can track progress on the regional total/year list.

3. All rare birds need a UBR accepted by BirdsNZ Records Appraisal Committee (unless you're following up on a bird previously recorded by others)

4. Only 1 sp of Redpoll is listable - and records of dodgy ferals are ok, but they have to be bone fide feral birds not dumpsters of escapes.

5. The point of this exercise is to showcase Canterbury as a not-too-shabby region for birds - so finders of good birds are encouraged to share these quickly so others can see them too, and not conceal them. Lets be super observant in finding birds, not super secretive.

At the moment, BIG YEARERS are Niall Mugan, Phil Crutchley, Scott Butcher and myself. More to follow...............

cheers and happy New Years
Last edited by andrewcrossland on Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Davidthomas
Posts: 1310
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:05 am

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby Davidthomas » Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:13 am

I’ll join in Andrew!

Do we have a map defining Canterbury? Thanks,
David
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby andrewcrossland » Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:11 am

Yep, so if you log in to ebird and go to the "submit" tab and type in "Canterbury" on the "find it on a map" box. A map of NZ appears. So just click on the satellite option, select the +/- bar, scroll inwards so the scale reduces and you can then navigate N, S, E or W and eventually the precise ebird boundaries are shown. This is important because there are a few bird species that can be found just inside those boundaries or the easiest place to see them is just inside (eg; Kaka, Fernbird, formerly Stewart Island Shag, etc), A couple of examples below:

boundary.JPG
boundary.JPG (90.19 KiB) Viewed 6258 times


boundary 2.JPG
boundary 2.JPG (90.26 KiB) Viewed 6258 times
User avatar
RussCannings
Posts: 1216
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:23 am

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby RussCannings » Wed Dec 26, 2018 11:57 am

A fun idea Andrew!

Probably won't make it down to Canty this year so might have to try a modest attempt for the Waikato :)

Russ C
Morrinsville, NZ
Davidthomas
Posts: 1310
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:05 am

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby Davidthomas » Wed Dec 26, 2018 5:08 pm

Awesome I’ll have a gander sometime. Will probably try and organise some pelagics then I guess!

Out of curiosity why the 12nm limit? Just because that’s what Wrybill have used in the past? It might be interesting to try and see if we could get a boat out of Lyttleton or Timaru our wide...
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby andrewcrossland » Wed Dec 26, 2018 7:42 pm

My children, Xavier (age 9, NZ list 101), Chelsea (7, NZ list 84 sp) and Ashton (5yrs, NZ list 23 sp) have all decided they want to join the BIG YEAR too.
User avatar
Adam C
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 8:58 am

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby Adam C » Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:34 pm

Would love to but I fear with work, family and too many other hobbies (Can hear my better half groaning now) I'd fall well short of any serious birders on here. Also Ebird baffles me. I like my old notebook and broken pencil ;)
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Samuel Ullman
User avatar
erikforsyth
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:16 pm

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby erikforsyth » Sat Dec 29, 2018 7:52 am

Hi Andrew

great idea, will mount a challenge for the Bay of Plenty, just need to find the boundries on a Regional map.

Cheers
Erik
Rockjumper Birding Tours
www.rockjumperbirding.com
gmckinlay
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 12:42 pm

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby gmckinlay » Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:20 am

Great event Andrew, Canterbury has much more bird diversity than many realize and this is a great way to draw attention to that. So count me in.

I will almost certainly get the lowest tally though, as I will only be in ChCh till Jan 24th, before I have to head back to Palau. So anyone tempted to join but fearful of being immortalized at the the bottom of the list, can now jump in with confidence that you will beat one person for sure.

A question, is this a sighting only list or Ebird's protocol which includes birds identified by sound but not seen.

If anybody is planning a pelagic, Lake Ellesmere or other outing early January I would be keen to link up.

Glenn McKinlay
Davidthomas
Posts: 1310
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:05 am

Re: Canterbury Big Year

Postby Davidthomas » Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:58 am

Hi Glenn,

I believe there is an extended pelagic out of Kaikoura planned for the 5th of January, which I will probably jump on just to ensure I can get the summer seabirds! But I’m unsure how booked out it is as I’m currently not booked on it...

Return to “General Birding Discussion”