10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

There’s a Sloth Bear in tall, dry grass, barely 50 metres from us, but all we can see is a dark, shape-shifting shadow that eventually becomes all but invisible. The closer one raises her head, than lies back. Telia yawns, raises and sprays her urine on a dead tree stump, marking her territory. The Telia Lake.

Tigers 240

Tigers India Killing 2012 240

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2017

Sure, occasionally a bird has given me problems, like Black-backed Woodpeckers back in 2007 when I was doing an alleged Big Year in New York State, but not seeing a bird for a single year does not make it a nemesis. Well, that doesn’t even bear thinking about. I have never before had a true nemesis bird. But Black Woodpecker ?

Woodpeckers 100

Woodpeckers Austria Europe Hungary 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

A 2007 genetic review of pigeons and doves ( Pereira et al. 2007 ) found three major clades within the order Columbiformes, which are nicely laid out by John Boyd here. The bird’s skeleton bears similarities to New Guinea’s much smaller (!) The painting above is by 17th-century Flemish artist Roelant Savery.

Solomon Islands 273

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 273