December, 2016

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That Time of the Year Again

10,000 Birds

How many species have I observed this year? The malicious eBird answers: only 186! Yuck! Yes, I know, I’ll reach 190, but 200? No way. Not with these prices of petrol. What have I missed? Hmm, Black-throated Diver (a.k.a. Arctic Loon), Lesser Black-backed Gull , Middle Spotted Woodpecker and Goldcrest should easily make 190, although the pecker is a bit uncertain.

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Fancy Feast Feastivities (giveaway and a gift guide)

4 The Love Of Animals

This post is sponsored by Purina. As always we only share things we think our readers will love. All opinions are our own. The holiday season is here, and with it comes gift giving, getting together, and celebrating! And of … Continue reading → The post Fancy Feast Feastivities (giveaway and a gift guide) appeared first on 4 The Love of Animals.

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Statistics

Animal Ethics

This blog had 1,600 visits during November, which is an average of 53.3 visits per day. A year ago, the average was 54.9.

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Highlights from the 2016 Arenal, Costa Rica Christmas Count

10,000 Birds

The Christmas Count season has begun! For us birders who partake, this is a big deal. You see, we don’t just go outside and randomly watch birds during a set day in December. The significant amount of time and effort associated with organizing the count, focusing on all birds in one given area, trying not to double or triple count that flock of waxwings flying around, and simply getting out of bed on a dark December night make Christmas Counts much more involved than a simple day of birdin

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Webinar & PDF Test

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America: A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Birds know habitat. They don’t read treaties or draw maps or build walls and, as far as we can tell (since we can’t talk to birds, yet), they have no concept of political boundaries. So, if you are going to write a field guide on the birds of the countries south and east of Mexico–Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—it makes the utmost sense that you embrace the whole geographic area.

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We are Just Money Grubbers

10,000 Birds

Out of just under 200 bird species I observed this year in SE Europe, there are 6 threatened species. Some of them were always uncommon in the region, others are highly localised, some are hard to notice among thousands of similar birds, but others were abundant recently and one of them still is, despite the decrease in numbers. For example, I simply cannot comprehend how such seemingly common species such as the Common Pochard (yes, for the third time, the common), still allowed for shooting in

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Birdwatching in Peru and You

10,000 Birds

For two blog posts now, we’ve been telling you about how you could win an amazing, 7-day bird watching trip for two to Peru. The Grand Prize not only includes roundtrip flights from anywhere in the US on LATAM Airlines, but also accommodations at three fascinating Inkaterra properties. Assuming you’re the Grand Prize winner, your trip to Peru wraps up with two days in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

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The Long and the Short of It: Corvid Wings and Morphology

10,000 Birds

As the old saw goes, birds of a feather flock together—and more often than not, those birds resemble one another, versus birds that live in a faraway place. Scientists are learning, though, exactly how birds in different locations are similar across species. A new study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B posits that differences in wing shape and size synch up where with birds live.

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Justified and Ancient

10,000 Birds

They call it a shell pit because of the vast array of fossilized mollusks who once lived and died there, then became a resource to be mined as gravel and fill. But the Macasphalt (or APAC) shell pit just east of Sarasota, Florida contains plenty of vertebrates as well – the mortal remains of the extinct (various species of kingfisher and duck and gull, Titanis walleri ), the extirpated ( California Condor, Southern Lapwing ), and a few species that are still well-known and well-loved in Fl

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Darkness comes in shades of brown

10,000 Birds

You may have missed it. Birders tend to miss things outside the birding universe, what with being out and about in the woods and using our smartphones to check rare bird alerts and eBird lists rather than the news. Thankfully though, you can always rely on your favourite bird blog to supply you with all the information you should not have missed but did due to your focus on birds: There has been an election recently.

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PDF 9.21.23

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The 117th Audubon Annual Christmas Bird Count Has Begun!

10,000 Birds

The 117th Audubon Christmas Bird Count began yesterday and runs through January 5th. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 100 years of citizen science involvement. It is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the US, Canada and many countries in the Western Hemisphere, go out over a 24 hour period on one calendar day to count birds.

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Top ten birds for 2016

10,000 Birds

Firstly I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas today if you are reading this first thing Sunday morning! Of course if you are in Australia or New Zealand you probably won’t be reading this until Boxing Day, because it goes up late in the day here! Of course it also means that there is only one week left of birding to top up your year list and I am not really expecting to add anything new to my year list over the next week unless the tropical low that is buffeting the north-west of

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The Berkeley Pit – An Overview

10,000 Birds

Last week many birders were shocked and saddened by the deaths of thousands of Snow Geese who, trapped by adverse weather conditions, landed at the Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana. While Snow Geese are not exactly endangered – indeed far from it – the existence of a large open body of death-water is a pretty alarming condition to contemplate!

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Just the Tip

10,000 Birds

I spent the early hours of Sunday morning taking the long trudge out to the tip of Breezy Point, the southwesternmost part of Queens. Strong northwest winds gave me hope of finding a Cave Swallow , a Western Kingbird , a Northern Shrike , or some other interesting bird. I was correct about finding an interesting bird but it was not one of those that I just named.

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CST Sample_VideoTour

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The Thing About Colombia

10,000 Birds

The nation of Colombia has been the victim of some bad press over the last few decades, not all of this is entirely unjustified. The 70s and 80s were not a good time for the South American nation, nor were they for much of the continent. The government of Colombia was involved in a long-simmering and occasionally boiling war with guerilla groups in the rural parts of the country.

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An American Avocet in Rookery Bay

10,000 Birds

Perhaps it’s not a surprise, but I think birders are delightful people. Who else could be continually thrilled each and every January when they tick of their first Northern Mockingbird of the year, knowing full well they’ll see another 4983457 mockingbirds before the year is through? While on a tour of Rookery Bay near the Florida Everglades, I was reminded of this lovely personality trait once more.

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Santa comes to La Paz early

10,000 Birds

In, what I am sure is an effort to keep ahead of his busy schedule, Santa Claus made an early delivery to the La Paz area. Actually, I guess I should give credit to one of Santa’s helpers, as the early arrival of this package was made possible by FedEx and my wife, who happened to be in Washington last week. She was visiting Seattle, for her Dad’s successful heart surgery.

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Alkborough Flats

10,000 Birds

We made two visits to Alkborough Flats during our UK visit and they were both incredibly different despite both visits being late in the afternoon. Alkborough Flats is an excellent place to go birding and walking and is where the River Trent and River Ouse join to meet the River Humber. Alkborough Flats were only formed in 2006 when the River Humber burst its banks and flooded 450 hectares of farmland and it is now a haven for wildlife.

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Gabriel PDF Webinar

Speaker: Gabriel Wagner Presenter

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Southern Black Bustards

10,000 Birds

I love bustards. They are attractive regal looking birds that scream African savannah to me, even if the first I ever saw was in Australia. They are proud stalkers of the plains that are every bit as fierce-some as the dinosaur ancestors they evoke in the mind’s eye. And if you like bustards, you could do a lot worse than the plains, deserts, fynbos and grasslands of Southern Africa, which hold a number of species including several endemics.

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Killingholme Haven Pits

10,000 Birds

This is dedicated to “Daddy” who sadly slipped away from us in the evening of November 27th. He will be sorely missed by his loving wife of over fifty years, myself and my sister and of course his two grandsons. He was the most loving father you could wish for and life will never be the same for any of us now, but we treasure all of the time we spent together and especially when we could all be together at the family home for a few days that one last time.

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Best Bird of the Weekend (Second of December 2016)

10,000 Birds

Around this time of year (or much, much earlier) we start hearing those beloved carols everywhere we go. But I don’t need reminding that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Unlike most of you, I live in what is currently the second snowiest city in the United States. I’m not dreaming of a white Christmas either… I’m dreading it.

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My Top Ten Birds of 2016

10,000 Birds

The year 2016 has been a pretty good year. I opened the year in California and even though I flew out in the evening on New Year’s Day I did see some species out there that I would otherwise not have seen for the year. Winter birding around New York City was just so-so but I did add one species to my Queens list. The Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Florida was a nice break from winter though the blizzard back home forced me to drive back to New York adding birds seen on the ro

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Webinar 5.9.22

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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Best Bird of the Weekend (Fourth of December 2016)

10,000 Birds

The vibe of generosity that pervades the holiday season makes us imagine we’ll be showered with gifts everywhere we go. Yet the frenzy of giving does not extend into nature, any more that it normally does. Rare birds don’t plot to turn up in our backyards just because we’re in the mood for just one more present. Fortunately, nature offers us so much all year long that a little something special under the tree is entirely unnecessary.

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Where Are You Birding This Second Weekend of December 2016?

10,000 Birds

Mid-December is an interesting time for birding, insofar as winter (or summer, in the Southern Hemisphere) species precede the official arrival of the season. So you still have time to add species you missed at the beginning of the year to your 2016 list. Just keep in mind that Santa sightings are growing more likely than reports of rarities in most areas.

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The Long-billed Curlew

10,000 Birds

In my continuing coverage of the return migrants to the lower Baja, todays story is of the Long-billed Curlew. This extremely large shorebird, coming is at nearly 24 inches. It is easily identified by not only by its overall size, but the extremely long bill. For the most part, there is little question about the appearance of the bird, for identification purposes.

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Best Bird of the Weekend (First of December 2016)

10,000 Birds

Many of us have finally and perhaps painfully figured out that online communication mostly occurs in an echo chamber. Our presence on the web can be expressed as a series of Venn diagrams, where each circle–representing worldview, geography, interests, and relationships–overlaps countless others, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot. This thought came to mind as I wondered how many of the people whose circles overlap mine put up their Christmas trees this weekend like we did.

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Test

Testing

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Where Are You Birding This First Weekend of December 2016?

10,000 Birds

If all that turkey talk last week didn’t tip you off, the holiday season is upon us. Don’t worry; you don’t have to start handing out gifts tomorrow, but you should certainly be thinking about your decorating strategy. You might also want to plan for how you’ll fit in the fun you enjoy all year long (e.g. birding). Remember that spending time in nature is the gift that keeps on giving!

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And it’s a wrap….

10,000 Birds

And so, here it is, the last story that I will be posting for 2016. I am scheduling this for next week at my regular time, as my wife and I will take Casa Paquito, our Shasta trailer and travel out to the remote desert area of the Baja for the Christmas to New Years vacation week. It has truly been an incredible honor joining the team here at 10,000 Birds.

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First Bird of the Year, 2017

10,000 Birds

It’s 2017! What was your first bird of the year? Share it, and the story, in the comment section. Hopefully, it was a good one!

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Where Are You Birding This Final Weekend of 2016?

10,000 Birds

Another memorable year pulls to a close with the new one bumping up behind it. Did you see enough birds this year? Do you see the ones you wanted to see, in the places you desired to visit, with the friends whose camaraderie you appreciate? Will there be more in 2017–more birds, more places, more friends? As you take stock of your last 365 days, consider what would have made that span richer, then resolve to have more of that this year.

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New Production Test

Speaker: cha cha dwyer

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