Cattle Egret has been introduced by humans to Hawaii and the Seychelles. Will Raup is a birder from upstate New York who helped Corey learn a lot about birds when Corey was first starting out as a birder. He blogs at The Nightjar – The tales of an Upstate New York Birder and otherwise stays busy being an eBird reviewer, taking care of his kids, and, recently, planning a trip to Europe where he hopes to see lots of new birds. MORE

This is The Seychelles. They are all recognisable from their families in Africa and are simply referred to by prefixing with “Seychelles” With most species being the only representative of their family, it made identification easy. Some such as the Seychelles Blue Pigeon , can be seen across much of the archipelago, but others such as the Seychelles Warbler , are restricted to just one island. Birding endemic endemism Seychelles MORE

Seychelles Blue-Pigeon – Alectroenas pulcherrimus. Seychelles Swiftlet – Aerodramus elaphrus. A big thank you goes out to Tristan, who demonstrated that at least one person reads this drivel. He pointed out that Illinois had been sadly neglected up to this point, so Redgannet made a special visit to Chicago to redress this oversight. MORE

A plan to eradicate an introduced species , the Ring-necked Parakeet , from the Seychelles, a small archipelego in the Indian Ocean, to protect the Seychelles Black Parrot , an endemic and the national bird of Seychelles, is going forward. MORE

Seychelles Blue-Pigeon – Alectroenas pulcherrimus. Seychelles Swiftlet – Aerodramus elaphrus. So what do you want first? The numbers? The accolades? The lifers? December’s collaborative results also summarises the year’s efforts, so this is December 2018 and the rest of 2018 all rolled into one sentence. MORE

Seychelles Swiftlet – Aerodramus elaphrus. Seychelles Bulbul – Hypsipetes crassirostris. Seychelles Blue-Pigeon – Alectroenas pulcherrimus. Seychelles Kestrel – Falco araeus. Seychelles Sunbird – Cinnyris dussumieri. Is it wrong of me to go birding to get away from the kids now that they are at home all day? August is the make or break month for relationships. Can the whole family live together in harmony during the school holidays? MORE

As well as being an early pioneer in the field of island restoration, clearing the first New Zealand Islands of rats in the 1960s, he was also part of the export of that knowledge, in particularly teaming up with the Jersey Wildlife Trust to help save Round Island in Mauritius, and helping protect critically endangered birds in the Seychelles by eliminating invasive rats. MORE

Seychelles Swiftlet – Aerodramus elaphrus. Seychelles Bulbul – Hypsipetes crassirostris. Seychelles Blue-Pigeon – Alectroenas pulcherrimus. Seychelles Kestrel – Falco araeus. Seychelles Sunbird – Cinnyris dussumieri. In a month that contained the eBird Big Day , we can naturally expect that the beats have been racing about providing much fodder for the collaborative list. MORE

Seychelles Swiftlet – Aerodramus elaphrus. Seychelles Bulbul – Hypsipetes crassirostris. Seychelles Blue-Pigeon – Alectroenas pulcherrimus. Seychelles Kestrel – Falco araeus. Seychelles Sunbird – Cinnyris dussumieri. The nights are drawing in and the mornings are cooler and noticeably damper. It’s September and time for birds to start their southerly journeys. MORE

Redgannet continues his quest to bring colour to the profile map (one pixel at a time), by visiting The Seychelles (this time, on purpose!). Seychelles Swiftlet – Aerodramus elaphrus. Seychelles Bulbul – Hypsipetes crassirostris. Seychelles Blue-Pigeon – Alectroenas pulcherrimus. Seychelles Kestrel – Falco araeus. Seychelles Sunbird – Cinnyris dussumieri. And so to summer. MORE

There are actually more species like this than popular culture would suggest, but even knowing this doesn’t detract from the shock of seeing them on a beach that wouldn’t look out of place in the Seychelles. Well, I’m finally back from Africa. In fact, I’ve been back a week and a half… and I’m still trying to readjust to normal life, and work out how I can go back sooner rather than later. MORE