10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

The results of the Swarovski Optik Digiscoper of the Year 2011 have just been published and once again, they show just what is possible with a telescope and everything from a cheap compact camera to a semi-pro DSLR. It was by far the most exciting time I’ve ever had photographing a bird.

2011 236

2011 Eagles Bald Eagle Owls 236

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

This last year of the twenty-teens was a monumental birding year for me. I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. I birded Uganda, which was my first time on the continent of Africa. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen.

2019 141

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 141

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2011

Don’t you just love sharing your best bird of the weekend with people that actually appreciate exciting sightings? Three scoter species and two loon species are nice, but my favorite sighting was a Great Cormorant , a bird I don’t see nearly enough. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2011 172

2011 Owls Birds Experience 172

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2011

Must be the way you’re dressed… The best bird of my weekend was Tufted Titmouse , which has become more prominent here as we approach winter. I forgot how much bigger these birds are than the other species like chickadees they pal around with. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2011 178

2011 Birds Experience Experiments 178

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2011

Perfect weeks like the hot (but not too hot) one we’ve just enjoyed here in western New York remind me how good summer is for so many things other than birding. My best bird of the weekend was the energetic Red-tailed Hawk that appears to live right beside the pool my kids and I visit. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2011 162

2011 Jamaica New York Birds 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2011

Truly, there are few more constructive ways to spend your Monday morning than firing up the computer, leaning back with a hot, hopefully caffeinated beverage, and watching the weekend birding reports roll in. But why does birding always have to be about appreciating birds? Allow me to kick off the festivities.

2011 157

2011 Birds Experience Experiments 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2011

Now how about those birds… Corey has really beaten the summertime birding blues by focusing on the best of what the season of resident breeders has to offer: baby birds! What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2011 157

2011 Breeders Suffering Birds 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Wood-Warbler Week has drawn to a close here on 10,000 Birds , yet all around the world the warbler watching remains hot and heavy. Ivy and I visited a new hiking trail in hopes of decent birding, but got completely skunked warbler-wise. What was your best bird of the weekend?

Skunks 154

Skunks 2011 Birds Experience 154

10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2011

Far too many Americans live in ignorance of the fact that these United States are home to more than one crow species. This bird was the size of an American Crow, consorting with an American Crow, and in an area only frequented by American Crows. I bet most of you can even separate American and Fish Crows by voice, right?

2011 157

2011 United States Fish Birds 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2011

My best bird of this wonderful weekend was a Brown Creeper , the first I’ve seen in a long while. Corey found himself at the northern edge of Carolina Chickadee territory and was rewarded with that species in song. Share your guesses while you share your best bird of the weekend!

2011 145

2011 United States Birds Breeding 145

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2011

Interestingly (if you find such things interesting) Corey and I both share the same species as our best birds of the weekend though not the same exact birds. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. Welcome back!

2011 140

2011 New York Birds Experience 140

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Cuban Trogon, the national bird who wears the colors of the Cuban flag! There is an island of fascinating birds out there, and I want to see them all. ” birding destination.* The full name of this unique volume is Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Guide Including West Indian Endemics Living in Cuba.

Cuba 235

Cuba Birds United States 2000 235

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

And it looks even better in my hands while I dream about a visit to regions of Brazil I had scarcely heard of before being provided with a review copy of the first volume of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil.*

Brazil 207

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Birds 207

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2017

Way back in February when I was enjoying a family-and-friends vacation on New Providence in the Bahamas I wisely hired the best – and the only – bird guide on the island, Carolyn Wardle , for half a day to show me around some of the hotspots and help me find endemics and other species I wanted to see.

Bahamas 103

Bahamas Papua New Guinea Guinea 2007 103

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

There is GISS and there is Birding by Impression and they are not the same. GISS—general impression, size, shape—is intuitive, the result of an unconscious cognitive process derived from experience in the field. Experienced birders can identify birds using GISS; all birders can identify birds if they adopt the BBI approach.

Birds 171

Birds New Jersey Science Groups 171

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2013

There were three profound questions my birding group discussed while we birded Trinidad and Tobago, back in December 2012: (1) How many Bananaquits could fit on a banana? (2) 3) What was the best guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago? The bird guide question was a conundrum.

Trinidad 201

Trinidad Birds South America Research 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2011

The vast majority of guests that visit these “birder-friendly&# lodges are birders and the primary target market of these places is the birding segment. This is not a birding lodge. Add to this the fact that you can be birding within 2 hours of leaving the USA and you have a pretty unbeatable birding vacation!

Dominican Republic 190

Dominican Republic 2011 Birds Deer 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

And Flamingos and Hornbills and a Secretarybird and birds with names like Hamerkop and Thick-knee and Eremomela (which I know is a scientific term, but which, when pronounced correctly, reminds me of a Yiddish term of endearment my grandmother used). And so, I went on the American Birding Association Safari to South Africa.

South Africa 254

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 254

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

These will be a series of shorter posts that will be scheduled while I’m traveling and filming for Nikon’s Birding Adventures TV. On the contrary, if you are a traveling birder, you might just find your next birding destination right here on 10,000 Birds. And this place has birds to boot!

Portugal 176

Portugal 2011 Deer Birds 176

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 154

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 154

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2014

The 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival is less than a month away and while we don’t have snow down yet here in New York City I am pretty sick of cold weather and could use some warmth and Florida sunshine! Last year we had an amazing array of great birds and also were lucky enough to see an otter up close.

Wildlife 157

Wildlife 2015 Bald Eagle New York City 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Wood-Warbler Week is finally over for 2011. What species is shown? And, as a bonus question, from what blog post on 10,000 Birds is the picture taken? And, as a bonus question, from what blog post on 10,000 Birds is the picture taken? Read about them here but also get out and experience them. Below is the logo.

United States 155

United States South America 2011 2012 155

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2016

British birders are very serious about birding and their birds. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S. This is a very good thing; it means they publish a lot of books about birds (probably more at this point than U.S.

Ireland 147

Ireland Birds Groups Falcons 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2016

What is the best bird you’ve seen in New York State and why has it stayed in your memory? This is the question I posed to 10,000 Birds readers in celebration of Corey’s first book, the ABA Field Guide to Birds of New York (by Corey Finger, author, and Brian E. So, I treasure every sighting.

New York 100

New York Bald Eagle Birds New York City 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

And, sure enough, as the sun set birds came over in ones and twos and fours and fives, adding to what was already a pretty darn big flock of birds spread out on the West Pond. Mostly the ducks were Red-breasted Merganser and Greater Scaup , the two most prevalent species on the pond, but there were a few other birds mixed in as well.

Ducks 172

Ducks 2011 Jamaica New York 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Twitching is a British term used to mean “the pursuit of a previously located rare bird.” Basically, I never had the time to chase birds. My second twitch, during the winter of 2011, was also in the area of McArthur where an American Tree Sparrow ( Spizella arborea ) was spotted during a Christmas Bird Count.

California 100

California North America Wildlife Campaign 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / The plovers of Estero Lagoon, Florida The plovers of Estero Lagoon, Florida By James • March 8, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share For as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by shorebirds.

Florida 196

Florida South Africa 2011 Africa 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Being winter, this bird is in non-breeding plumage with more brown upper parts and lacking the white face it acquires in its aternate (breeding) plumage. • Explore These Related Posts Another California Bird? Larry wanted to share his passion for birds and conservation and hatched The Birders Report in September of 2007.

Wildlife 155

Wildlife 2011 Sacramento Jordan 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Spring is for Wheatears Spring is for Wheatears By Dan • March 18, 2011 • 3 comments Tweet Share What is true in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US holds true for Cyprus as well: Spring is prime-time for Passerines.

Cyprus 145

Cyprus 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2011

The next seven days, today until the fourteenth, are hereby declared Wood-Warbler Week on 10,000 Birds! Parulidae is just too great a family of birds and our only debate here was whether we would have Wood-Warbler Week or Wood-Warbler Month! Read about them here but also get out and experience them.

United States 187

United States South America Cooking Family 187

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

Found throughout South America in ever-dwindling numbers these extremely beautiful birds – threatened by habitat destruction and collection for the wild bird trade – are often difficult to see and hard to find. The experience is one of the ornithological highlights in the world.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 South America 255

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Richard Fried spent 2011 doing a New York State Big Year and managed to top the record of 350 species which was only set in 2008 by Scott Whittle. Richard totaled 352 species, an impressive number, by seeing almost all of the regularly occurring New York birds and the vast majority of the rarities that showed up in 2011.

New York 177

New York Puerto Rico 2011 Japan 177

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2013

A breeding bird atlas is a special kind of book. For birders, it’s the extremely large book, shelved in a place where it can’t crush the field guides, used to research the history of a bird in their area. Corey did just this in this 2011 posting about Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus in New York State.

Pennsylvania 235

Pennsylvania Breeding Birds Sparrows 235

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2012

On this final day of 2012 it is time, just like it was on the final days of 2010 and 2011 , to share your Best Birds of the Year. Well, actually, your Best Bird of the Year will only be shared here if you took the time to respond to the post in which we here at 10,000 Birds shared our Best Birds of the Year.

2012 133

2012 Ghana Ireland Birds 133

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2011

The Common Raven , sometimes called the Northern Raven , is an amazing bird. Largest of the passerines, or perching birds, it has long been noticed, loved, and reviled for its size, its smarts, its je ne sais quoi. But I am a lowly bird blogger with no scientific credentials at all. … a.

2011 268

2011 Protection Humane Experience 268

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2015

I successfully spotted a pair of Australian Painted Snipe on Grant’s birthday 24th April 2011 and I only mention the date, because that is significant to the situation. This was hardly a lake any more, but a muddy area containing some water and no doubt ample food for the bird-life around. Australian Painted Snipe.

2001 103

2001 2013 2011 Australia 103

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2014

What that meant for me, birding wise, is that I could get out for a few hours in the morning and then get home and get to it on my laptop without having to worry about things like showering, getting dressing, or commuting. The first bird that came into view made me think. And this bird was way out over the water.

New York City 202

New York City New York Battery Experience 202