10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2024

Until recently the cattle that grazed here were tethered, but they are now allowed to range freely, and by doing so they have opened up the marsh considerably, creating fine habitat. Several Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters were seen during our stay, but we only managed to see one that flew right over our heads.

Cyprus 226

Cyprus Tethering Breeding 2016 226

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2021

Whiskered Terns will breed in this area if the conditions are right. Attempting a photograph of the cattle beside the highway was pointless, because you only got photographs of locusts! If I zoom in on the larger flocks of Whiskered Terns you only get to see a handful of the thousands of birds! Whiskered Terns feeding.

Cattle 263

Cattle Breeding Family Birds 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2019

I have seen this bird right at the Bund waterfront, possibly the most famous tourist spot in all of Shanghai. The Cattle Egret (or Eastern Cattle Egret , to be exact, but that would mess with my alphabetic order) can be seen in farmland around Shanghai. But the way it is, familiarity breeds (relative) contempt.

Germany 133

Germany Cattle Blackbirds Birds 133

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2020

Cattle Egrets using public transport. Some more Mkuze birds for which I cannot come up with a semi-interesting caption right now … African Jacana. Alone time. Taking a bath …. And drying on a giraffe with your friends. What a life. Kingfishers – the poor man`s Pittas? African Pygmy Kingfisher. Brown-hooded Kingfisher.

South Africa 202

South Africa Giraffes Birds Africa 202

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

The average annual rainfall for Broome is around 500mm and we receive that rainfall over a few months in the summer, which is right now. A local cattle station out of town received 652mm in the same 24 hour period, so we got off lightly! Some of the local ephemeral lakes completely dried up and others almost did before the rain came.

Parrots 236

Parrots Cattle Breeding Ducks 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2022

Dongfang is a smallish coastal city on the west coast of Hainan – with one or two main roads, some massive and apparently empty apartment blocks right next to the beach – and some strange swampy area pretty close to the main road. Here, nervous Cattle Egrets trying to quit smoking pace restlessly on buffalos.

Branding 193

Branding Micronesia Birds Buffalo 193

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

Now you can check the fish farm lakes on your left (but here you have to ask for permission in the management building, the last one on the right hand side) or you can drive on until the first, very slight band in the road. Before that, on a rather sharp right bend, 1.8 We continued on to Sakule.

Farming 264

Farming Birds Fish Boars 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2021

We sailed right into a group of more than a dozen Hoatzins (cover photo, by Tyler Ficker) with their orange mohawks and blue facial skin. Indigenous community of El Remanso, right underneath the imposing monoliths of Cerros de Mavecure. Left to right: my guide Edson Moroni and the local shop keeper Daniel Luis.

Dolphins 263

Dolphins Colombia Otters Birds 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2022

This will change over time of course and once it rains again you would need to consider if you had the right vehicle to access the area. Dragonflies photobombing on the right as we approach. You wouldn’t necessarily take any vehicle in there, but you no longer need to worry about high clearance or four-wheel drive.

Geese 211

Geese Ducks Breeding 2015 211

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2019

Right beside the road and the irrigation channel were a mixed flock of Cattle Egret , Intermediate Egrets and Little Black Cormorants all “caged” in. Last week I introduced you to a family of Radjah Shelducks taking advantage of the channel. Another significant flock of birds were to be found “caged” in!

Cattle 106

Cattle Research Family Rights 106

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2022

According to the HBW, “only female incubates and cares for young … [while] males leave during [the] incubation period” Right on, sharpies! Apparently, the choice is for the nests to be flooded (those near streams) or to be trampled by cattle (those near the agricultural ponds). No need to remind us all the time.

Cattle 147

Cattle Portugal Buffalo Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2021

The water is right to the edge of the highway in some areas as you across the plains. The cattle are clever enough to move across the property and get away from the deep water. Around Broome we observe creatures climbing onto the signs at the edge of the highway. It has also lapped the edges in a few sections.

Chickens 180

Chickens Ducks Cattle Australia 180

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

I drove out a bit late because of an almost-flat tire that needed attention, and then managed to drive right past the reservoir without seeing it. Would Las Mesas, the closest to Morelia of these sites, join their ranks as a prime birding spot? Not the most auspicious start to my day!

2020 280

2020 Birds South America Reptiles 280

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

My outing’s total count for water-dependent waterfowl, shorebirds, herons, gulls, and terns (I’m leaving land-loving Cattle Egrets out of this count) was around 120; the count for a similar date in 2018 was around 2000 individuals. They’re riding horses on my lake. I had never seen so little life at the lake.

San Francisco 264

San Francisco 2018 Mexico Ducks 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2016

After camping in the bush on 18th November we headed off along a gravel road and noticed some cattle near a small dam beside the road about 08:45am on the 19th November. Hundreds of Budgerigars were swooping down to the water and almost blocked our view of the cattle! Budgerigars blocking our view of the cattle! 58 East!

Cattle 101

Cattle Australia Birds Rights 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2022

While it is laudable to point out the plight of homeless woodpeckers, this is hardly the right subject for an upbeat bird photo contest. Cattle Egret (Nanhui, China). Indeed, it would have been a great entry for a contest titled “Lamps in the City”, but a failure for a bird photo contest. My wife tells me this all the time.

China 230

China India South Africa Homelessness 230

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2021

The Cerro de Punhuato (poon-WA-toe) nature reserve, officially denominated a biological garden, is right on the northeastern edge of Morelia’s urban zone. But these Cattle Egrets didn’t seem to mind. Instead, I visited a local site for my first time this year. A hand-painted sign told not to enter with a dog.

Los Angeles 205

Los Angeles San Francisco Costa Rica Birds 205

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2020

The first thing to appear was its yellow bill – a locally rare Cattle Egret ! The local levee warden sometimes shepherds his cows here, and the eagle would stand right above him, giving him no second glance. This was only my seventh observation of this species in Europe (3 in Greece, 4 in Serbia). I am a stranger in his realm.

Greece 247

Greece Bulgaria Birds Serbia 247

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2017

On other occasions we would encounter numerous caravans being towed or large trucks up to 54 metres long transporting fuel or cattle and we would wisely leave the bitumen if it was not a full width road and let the larger vehicles pass. Cattle can be anywhere! Of course another danger is the presence of snakes and crocodiles!

Australia 100

Australia Kangaroos Cattle Reptiles 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2023

A low branch is decorated by a Green Bee-eater and a tree top above it holds several Cattle Egrets. We have almost forgotten that Manoj has promised us some creatures of the night, when he raised his hand to point at three Mottled Wood Owls right above us (cover photo), beautiful large Strix owls slightly amused by us.

India 147

India Lions Boars Mammals 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2014

They have only a brief window to find the right spot to send down roots – a spot with the combination of moisture, sunlight, and fine silty soil they need. Despite this, they are in some ways quite fragile. Those seeds, borne aloft on a tenuous parachute of white fibers, are of necessity small and delicate.

Montana 170

Montana Cattle Deer Humane 170

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2018

Of the estimated 500 million cattle in India, only 4% were destined for consumption by humans as meat. Out of all sights of the city, from Ghandi’s Sabarmati Ashram to Adalaj Stepwell and from Sidi Saiyyed Mosque to Bhadra Fort, these weird tourists want to go to a dead cattle dumping site?? House Crow vs. White-rumped Vulture.

India 140

India Stray Dog Cows Rats 140

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2012

.” Which roughly translates to “Stationary in the area of the cattle pasture and the surrounding bushes and adjacent reed bed” This was going to be easy. Cattle is mostly kept in housings in Germany (sadly), and cattle out on a pasture is a rare sight in our landscape. I found the grid cell – no problem.

Cattle 120

Cattle Germany Iran Breeders 120

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2021

Then, I was not sure whether this was the right thing to do. Cattle Egrets have perfected that smudgy look. It looked truly terrifying – so terrifying that after taking just a few photos I got out of the car (which they had totally ignored) and walked towards them until they separated. A happier shrike. But do we really care?

Birds 242

Birds LACS France Japan 242

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

That honor goes to the Gray-crowned Crane , a very sexy species in its own right. Unfortunately, the world cares little for weavers, no matter how rare or range-restricted. Nor is the Shoebill the national bird of Uganda.

Uganda 276

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 276

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks , Muscovy Ducks and Blue-winged Teals were around us, together with Green , Great and Little Blue Herons , Cattle and Great White Egrets , Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons , plus one locally rare Pinnated Bittern in the floating vegetation, as well as several dozen Neotropical Cormorants.

Costa Rica 248

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 248

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2022

The closest the poor writer of a blog has to a “Ius Primae Noctis” is the right to discuss things that are totally irrelevant to the supposed topic of the blog. The richest Cattle Egrets in Nabang own more than 50 animals each and guard them carefully. Below is either a Bianchi’s Warbler or a Marten’s Warbler.

Bangladesh 181

Bangladesh Birds China India 181

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2023

I hope he is right. Unfortunately, the house this nest is built on is about to be destroyed – no tenant rights for birds in China, I am afraid. I was a bit worried about the bird in the video but a friend assured me that birds do not get seasick. I wonder what Barn Swallows did before humans started building houses.

Birds 130

Birds China Research Tenant 130

Critter News

JANUARY 11, 2012

Animal rights activists are behind the burning of cattle trucks at Harris Farms in western Fresno County early Sunday, according to a statement released by a clearinghouse for activists. Full story here at the Fresno Bee.

Farming 100

Farming Fresno Animal Liberation Front Animal Liberation 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019

In Costa Rica, sandpipers are locally known as “correlimos”, which to me sounds something along the lines of “little runners” and that sounds about right. It’s more like hoping for them because the abundance of open land on cattle farms and little birding coverage brews up a fine needle in a haystack situation.

Costa Rica 158

Costa Rica Farming Texas Cattle 158

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2014

It was very damp along the edges of the road and there were two male Superb Lyrebirds busy kicking through the leaves right on the edge of the road. As we came through the open fields towards the coast there were numerous Cattle Egrets among the cattle and Straw-necked Ibis.

Cattle 160

Cattle Boston Investigation Australia 160

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2014

Palmerston lies to the south east and Darwin to the north west and there is a bicycle path almost right to the reserve. You first encounter the Magpie Geese with Cattle Egret along Fiddlers Lane in the mango orchards and they are taking advantage of the shade and the fallen mangos. Wood Sandpiper and Black-winged Stilt.

Geese 167

Geese Cattle Pelicans Ducks 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2015

Driving north along the Ionian seacoast through the city of Igoumenitsa, there is a place where the main artery takes you right, further away from the sea – follow it for 150 metres (500 ft) and then turn left just before a small stadium. The rest of the road follows the sea for some 3.5 Could they possibly be…?

Greece 237

Greece Dogs Pelicans Fish 237

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2014

All the tracks onto the station property were underwater and all of the Brahman Cattle have moved to the highest ground that they can find. In fact it is not just the cattle, but all of the creatures have moved into bushes and trees. Black-winged Stilt holding their ground! Another flooded track onto the station.

Barn Owls 162

Barn Owls Seals Birds Cattle 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

It didn’t take much imagination to name Cowbirds or Cattle Egrets or Cattle Tyrants , but there’s more fantasy, even more wit, involved in the naming of other bovine birds. Wicked, right? They’re all named for livestock. The genus Bucephala includes three familiar ducks with big heads. Hat-tip to Stella.

Cows 142

Cows Cattle 2011 Birds 142

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2019

There is very little traffic about at this time of year, but there are a lot of cattle wandering across the road and you need to be alert. The Derby Wharf was no good for observing Great-billed Herons , because the tide was right in and the wind was horrendous. Although we have not had much rain this year so far the land is now green.

Ducks 114

Ducks 2019 Cattle Species 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2020

In Costa Rica, a lot of those birds fly right overhead. No sparrows or migrant juncos nor hardly any Yellow-rumpeds and forget about Orange-crowned (a serious mega around here!) but there are other birds, many stopping to stay, many others moving to South America.

Costa Rica 274

Costa Rica South America Colombia Paraguay 274