10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2013

Back in January of last year I said in my list for the year that I’d be happy if I hit 300 birds in 2012. The equation is simple, surely, if seeing birds makes me happy, then surely lots of birds makes me lots of happy, right? For starters, the enjoyment of birds is not actually directly correlated with enjoyment.

2012 157

2012 New Zealand Thailand Albatross 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

The last time I had seen a Summer Tanager was during a Christmas Bird Count in 2012. Sightings in Trinidad have been sporadic, 38 to be exact since the formation of the T&T Bird Status and Distribution Committee. This is an immature bird, as evidenced by the yellow wash on his underparts.

Trinidad 218

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

As 2012 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 and 2011 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2012 155

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 155

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2012

What is up with the birding community in the northern part of the US recently? The event brings in people of color in the birding world and we engage in discussion to find out why birding is a bit white in nature and what we can do to be more inclusive. The 2012 event was held at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

Family 167

Family Beavers Minnesota Sparrows 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Way back on 16 May I managed to see my 312 bird species in Queens to add to my Queens list. Whimbrel – Undoubtedly this is the easiest bird left for me to find in Queens. Sedge Wren – This is a bird that rarely shows up on the coast in fall migration. Sooty Shearwater – This will take some more dedicated seawatching.

2013 160

2013 2010 2012 2011 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

The month and this particular period is all the more auspicious for me and mine, as so many friends and families celebrate spring birthdays. My family took our annual post-Easter Egg hunt hike at Powder Mills Park, where I spied several gorgeous matched pairs of Wood Ducks along with lots of different woodpecker species.

2012 192

2012 Birds Eggs Hunting 192

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2020

A bird of prey showed up in the tiny park across the boulevard from me yesterday, setting himself down on a park bench and ignoring a crowd of socially-distanced smart phone wielding photographers. Sadly, I did not, which is probably why I think a field guide to birds is a must in every household. ” people proclaimed.

North America 237

North America America 2020 Hawaii 237

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

This weekend, however, I didn’t see any special birds, unless you count the bird M.I.A. Corey, on the other hand, birded like a boss; his Best Bird of the Weekend™ was either of the two Snowy Owls at Breezy Point in Queens. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 162

2012 Owls New York Birds 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2012

Speaking of July, every year around this time an assemblage of my family and friends gather in a remote part of Pennsylvania for food, fun, and flaming chickens. Yes, I will be birding at the Chicken Inferno this weekend. Corey will be spending the weekend with family in NYC and doubts he’ll get much birding in.

Chickens 164

Chickens 2012 Pennsylvania 2011 164

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2012

My family and I have taken our show to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. We haven’t seen many birds yet, but did enjoy the sight of a juvenile Peregrine Falcon unruffled by a mob of belligerent Blue Jays. Corey’s best bird of the weekend was a Common Raven that flew over his apartment on Saturday afternoon.

2012 158

2012 Michigan Falcons Birds 158

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

Some families will travel, while others might prefer to hunker down and hibernate. What will you be doing this weekend and will you be birding? My family is driving up from NYC for a long Rochester weekend. Since none of them particularly enjoy or even appreciate the beauty of nature, I don’t foresee much birding.

2012 158

2012 United States New York Australia 158

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2021

Consider that Paulson’s Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East (2012) covers 336 odonate species and think about the difference in geographic size and you get a sense of the concentrated diversity in Costa Rica (though the authors note that the rate of diversity is still less than the increase in diversity for butterflies and orchids).

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica North America Family America 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2012

Hope you made the most of a precious May weekend… I took my kids down to the family gravel pit for some fishing. I caught glimpses of lots of fine, fine birds including a heroic Killdeer protecting a nest and my first Willow Flycatcher of the season. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 159

2012 New York Fish Birds 159

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2012

Thus, I was surprised and a little saddened to learn from my Kentucky family that kids in the Bluegrass State go back to school next week. I’ll be driving from one Great Lake to another this weekend and will have to settle for highway birds. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? How about you?

Kentucky 160

Kentucky 2012 Michigan United States 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

Obviously, that means a lot of things in a lot of contexts, but here, of course, I’m talking about birding. North of the equator, schools will be letting out for the summer and families will be packing up for adventure. Exotic locales make for exotic birding and even the most mundane territory can astound the first time visitor.

Botswana 162

Botswana 2012 Birds Fish 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 234

Dissection Birds Research Europe 234

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2012

I’m taking my kids down to NYC to get in touch with their Bronx roots and family. Guess we’ll have to postpone our next epic birding adventure… How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend !

2012 159

2012 Trinidad Birds Family 159

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In fact, the last one was back on 15 May 2012 when my Queens list stood at 289 and I guessed what my next eleven birds would be that would get me to 300. Note that starred birds are birds that have since been seen and are not indicative of how well I predicted each time.).

2012 158

2012 2013 New York City Jamaica 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2012

My family and many others are looking forward to veritable feasts to honor the fall harvest, for which I am also thankful. I also give thanks today for 10,000 Birds, our awesome writers, and our awesome readers… love you guys! I’m in northern Pennsylvania farm country looking for rural birds. How about you?

2012 141

2012 Pennsylvania New York Turkey 141

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2012

El Dia de los Muertos is a splendid Mexican holiday that should be celebrated by remembering friends and family who have died, eating delicious food, and admiring Mexican warblers. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Also be sure to come back Monday to share your best bird of the weekend ! How about you?

2012 140

2012 New York Parrots Mexico 140

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Are seabirds the last frontier of bird identification? They say so right here in the Preface of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide —seabirds are “some of the most challenging of all birds to identify.” Which makes the publication of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide a significant and happy event.

Albatross 167

Albatross North America Birds Groups 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2012

Here in the United States, students and their families are no more than two weeks from the beginning of school, notwithstanding those poor kids who have already commenced their academic year. Corey is likely hard-pressed to pick a top bird from his European vacation, so let’s not pressure him. How about you?

2012 113

2012 United States Birds Experience 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2015

It’s December and that means one thing—a great excuse to buy books on birding. I thought I’d do a round-up of some of the best bird books reviewed this year, a few memorable titles from recent years past, and one that wasn’t reviewed but which I love, that would be great holiday gifts. Books for Beginning Birders.

Papua New Guinea 187

Papua New Guinea 2014 Penguins Birds 187

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2012

Tropical Kingbird is likely to be one of the last birds I see in 2012 and first I see in 2013. Not a hard bird to come by in Costa Rica. This confiding Central American bird was far away from its normal home, near Half Moon Bay, CA. That’s what you need to do to be Great. That’s all for this year birders.

Costa Rica 160

Costa Rica 2012 2013 Family 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2017

I was recently reminded of how heavy (in my mind and heart) that second reason weighs when I got a copy of “Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago” by J. Phillipps: A field guide to the birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali (1993): based on taxonomic order from 1975 with some changes on colour plates for practical reasons.

Brunei 164

Brunei 2009 2016 2014 164

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

Louisiana is a magical place to bird. At the same time I was ogling Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Upland Sandpipers, Marybeth Lima was also birding Louisiana. The book focuses on two listing events: her 2012 Louisiana Big Year and her 2016 Louisiana 300 Year. ’ What was left to write about? ” I wondered.

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2012

Just two weekends into 2012, I already love this year. Sure, I’m likely omitting some other far more important factors involving family, friends, and professional success, but the little things mean a lot. Not a bad bird at all! What was your best bird of the weekend? Don’t you agree?

Debeaking 164

Debeaking Atlanta 2011 United States 164

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

On October 29 th 2012, “superstorm” Sandy devastated the east coast of the USA, affecting states from Florida to Maine, with severe damage in New Jersey and New York. We know that Corey and his family came through the ordeal safely, but what of the warblers? Birds Yellow-rumped Warblers'

New Jersey 215

New Jersey New York Jamaica Transported 215

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. It provides goals and a definite direction for your birding travels and thoughts; sometimes it even becomes the basis of a book!

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The end of 2012 – and the holidays – are coming fast. On the plus side, it’s almost time for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, and by all accounts, it’s shaping up to be a very finchy winter across much of North America. Now if you’re a regular 10,000 Birds reader (and the cool kids are, amiright?),

Bald Eagle 141

Bald Eagle Puffins 2012 Baltimore 141

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2012

Two-thousand-and-eleven was a pretty darn good year for me, birding-wise. Sure, I didn’t leave the United States but my first trip to the Pacific Northwest allowed me to see lots of new birds and spending the beginning of the year in southern California didn’t hurt the ol’ year list either. Those birds are big!

2011 174

2011 Puffins United States New York 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

It actually makes a lot of sense, the geographic features of the isthmus between North America (including Mexico, because Mexico is part of North America) and South America cut across political lines, as do birds. It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America (plus the islands governed by those countries).

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2014

Derby is approximately 225 kilometres from Broome and has had almost three times the rainfall that Broome has had so far this month and so we thought it would be interesting to go and investigate the various birding areas that we knew of from other visits during our dry months. Birds visiting the puddle in the track! Long-tailed Finch.

Birds 145

Birds Ducks 2015 2014 145

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

What do you do when you are a bird guide in a Central American country incredibly rich in birds and other natural resources but which has no birding field guide? selling original art plates, and sponsorships and donations from birding and conservation companies and agencies from the U.S., You write your own. Gallardo did.

Honduras 106

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 106

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? The bird guide question was a conundrum.

Trinidad 205

Trinidad Birds South America Research 205

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2013

As I mentioned a few weeks ago , it was our time to go and find some new birds! Our actual first bird for Queensland was a Common Myna at the airport and we were surprised that they did not seem as prolific as in Sydney. There’s nothing quite like being woken up by a bird literally laughing at you! Pair of Tawny Frogmouth.

Birds 151

Birds Cattle Litter 2012 151

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Are there birders out there who do not dream of birding Australia? Possibly birders who have already birded Australia (but, wouldn’t you want to go back?) or birders who live there (but, how can you bird it all?). So, I welcomed the opportunity to review The Australian Bird Guide.

Australia 109

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 109