10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

This book is the story of his search for his grail and what he does with it and why, a quest that took place from 2005 to 2010 in the Russian province of Primorye. The fish owl is Jonathan Slaght’s grail and also, more prosaically, his dissertation topic. Primorye is officially part of Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District.

Owls 130

Owls Russia Fish Research 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Which, naturally, got me to thinking about the newly erected order Suliformes, a development I mentioned in my December column, 2010′s Top 10 Developments in Bird Taxonomy and Systematics , but which I thought deserved further examination, for it’s one of those stories that defines the era in which we are living and birding.

2011 151

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 151

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Gulls in Larnaca, taken 22/02/2010 by ©Stavros Christodoulides Recognizing that gull identification is confusing doesn’t help your average birdwatcher however. It is also familiar at inland sites in winter, especially reservoirs and refuse tips, and breeds in the relatively-Northerly regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Species 157