10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

Like the best Big Year books, Adventures of a Louisiana Birder has a deeply personal layer to the bird quest, in this case experiences of danger and recovery, frailty and loss, mourning and hope. Adventures of a Louisiana Birder: One Year, Two Wings, Three Hundred Species. by Marybeth Lima. LSU Press, 2019, 272 pp.

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2021

(The White-tipped Dove is actually called, in Spanish, the Paloma Arroyera , or “Gully Dove” And sorry, I have yet to get a photo of this shy species. Like most of the species on this list, this tiny highland bird prefers to make its presence know by singing, rather than by being seen. The site is much-degraded now.)

Trinidad 191

Trinidad Emotional Transported Mexico 191

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

But I would never have imagined how important it would be to my emotional well-being to have a bird-friendly garden during lockdown. And while Dogwoods and Eastern Redbuds may be great options in Massachusetts, they won’t grow for me in Morelia, Mexico. Those who follow my posts know by now that I love gardening.

Birds 159

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 159

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

We sing about them, we paint them, we use them as mythic and poetic symbols for our spiritual and emotional feelings, we wear them in myriad and often colorful ways, we adopt them as household pets. Cocker writes about the species within each family with a literary specificity softened by a tone of conversational patience.

Birds 224

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 224

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

I flew into Denver from Mexico. My hosts could confidently tick off the species on their life list. Coming down from the emotional high we noticed our grumbling stomachs: time to eat. We got at least three sub-species but the highlight was a Wilson’s Snipe we flushed. We stopped at Rosie’s Diner.

Denver 176

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

The 26 essays in When Birds Are Near are all about the real-life and emotional spaces where people overlap with birds. The essays range widely in place, bird, and voice, though the emphasis is on the North American.

New York City 199

New York City Birds Owls Fox 199

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. This may sound mundane, but my Best Bird of the Year is a species we all know quite well in one form or another.

2012 156

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 156