10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

A lot of folks, including this very blog, are using this as an occasion to memorialize not just the Passenger Pigeon but the extinct birds of the Holocene as a group. If you choose to consider 1944 the year, most people were a little busy right then. In 1952, at least in the US, no one wanted to be a Debbie Downer. Good, I say.

California Condor 203

California Condor United States Guam Whales 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Any day of birding in New York State that includes a sighting of a Vesper Sparrow is a better-then-average day. Grassland birds have been hit the hardest across the northeast and Vesper Sparrows like closely cropped landscapes and eschew taller grasses, so they have been hit particularly hard. What has caused the decline?

Sparrows 165

Sparrows North Dakota United States Downers 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2011

As you read this, I am riding my trusty Grizzly Bear through the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, helping my colleague Seagull Steve find some new birds. Birding by bear is by far the best way to view the park, although it seems to terrify the hoofed animals. Birds do remarkable things every day, as a matter of their nature.

Grizzly Bear 170

Grizzly Bear North Dakota Downers Bears 170