10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2012

Tropical Kingbird is likely to be one of the last birds I see in 2012 and first I see in 2013. December 25th is possibly the worst day of the year to be posting a blog, because lets face it, even the dispensing of wisdom from the world’s leading birder (past, present, and future) can compete with family duties.

Costa Rica 158

Costa Rica 2012 2013 Family 158

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2012

Thus, I was surprised and a little saddened to learn from my Kentucky family that kids in the Bluegrass State go back to school next week. Maybe Kentucky has it right. No kid should be stuck in school in early August! Then again, my position is based on my personal experience and preferences.

Kentucky 160

Kentucky 2012 Michigan United States 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2017

Since 2012, I was fortunate to spend a considerable amount of time birding through southern Borneo almost each year, and this new book meant that I now have four field guides for Borneo at my service. The figures show the order of bird families in the four field guides mentioned above. Order of bird families, non-songbirds.

Brunei 161

Brunei 2009 2016 2014 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In fact, the last one was back on 15 May 2012 when my Queens list stood at 289 and I guessed what my next eleven birds would be that would get me to 300. 3 July 2010 31 October 2010 11 April 2011 15 May 2012. John’s the Divine Cemetery.

2012 158

2012 2013 New York City Jamaica 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The end of 2012 – and the holidays – are coming fast. But on the other hand, there was so much more I wanted to do in 2012 … and wow, I really need to start buying gifts for my family and friends. That’s right … and … BAM! Y to the ikes. Go ahead, give it a little click. Gift worries solved!

Bald Eagle 139

Bald Eagle Puffins 2012 Baltimore 139

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2019

Its holiness may not be in question, but from the label drawing, I’m not quite sure which species of the family Columbidae the Sainte-Colombe pigeon belongs to. The Château de Colombe estate was purchased in 2012 by Henry Lathwaite, scion of the famed English wine merchant family and a trained winemaker in his own right.

2017 115

2017 France Lifestyle Feral 115

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. He sat…his crown giving searing shafts of violet as the light caught the feathers at just the right angle.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2011

Will it come back in 2012? Though wood-warblers, the mostly brightly colored birds of the family Parulidae, are only found in the New World we felt that birders the world over would be pleased to see a plethora of posts about these striking and sought after species. Wood-Warbler Week is finally over for 2011. Below is the logo.

United States 155

United States South America 2011 2012 155

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

Looking through this compact yet extensive guide, I realized that I have been amiss in not reviewing the first book of this series, the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie (same authors, order reversed), published in 2012. Moths are more than bird food. Let that sink in.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

They say so right here in the Preface of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide —seabirds are “some of the most challenging of all birds to identify.” Coverage of all families is not comprehensive. The reasoning is that most of the species in these families are birds seen near shore, but not at sea.

Albatross 164

Albatross North America Birds Groups 164

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2020

Didn’t every household have a copy of a Peterson Field Guide on the shelf, maybe a third or fourth edition that family members grew up with, which they could quickly consult to see the arrow pointing to that belly band? Text for the species accounts are on the right-hand page. Where were their field guides?

North America 234

North America America 2020 Hawaii 234

4 The Love Of Animals

OCTOBER 4, 2012

That’s right! Iams Lifelong Rewards – Join the Iams community by mobile sign up at www.Iams.com or at a participating pet adoption center when you adopt your new family member. Be quick, we only have until October 12, 2012! Are you ready for this? There are other ways you can help too! A win win if you ask me!

Adoptable 100

Adoptable Shelters Homelessness Pets 100

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 7, 2012

The first of the series premiers June 10th, 2012. Then travel to the Rockies, for a ringside seat as male bighorn sheep go head-to-head in a bloody battle for breeding rights. Then go to the Atacama Desert where Humboldt penguins raise families in the driest place on earth. Untamed Americas: Deserts. Untamed Americas: Coasts.

America 100

America Sheep Penguins South America 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

2008 and this video recommended by the Ted Talk people: The Early Birdwatchers ), or the social behavior of Common Guillemots (what we North Americans call Common Murres) ( Bird Sense: What it Is Like to Be a Bird , 2012). The drawing on the left is from 1714, the one on the right is the result of Birkhead’s own dissection.

Dissection 229

Dissection Birds Research Europe 229

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

Somewhere below that mysterious eagle, at the far shore of the lake, lies one Bengal Tiger … and further to the right – two more! In 2012, the Hindustani Times claimed that from January 2011 to June 2012, a further 9 tigers were killed in the Tadoba buffer zone. He has earned his tip. Very dusty Swarovski CLs.

Tigers 250

Tigers India Killing 2012 250

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2012

After 28 days of sharing the duty of sitting on three eggs we finally had the arrival of our first Pied Oystercatcher chicks for 2012 on Friday August 3rd. There was little movement by the family during the heat of the day except to fly to the shoreline for a drink and to cool their feet.

Eggs 177

Eggs Dogs Shelters Family 177

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

Working in an area for which there are few official checklists, no governing taxonomic body, and much new information on species relationships coming in, the authors were faced with a multitude of questions about family sequence, genus arrangements, English common names, and species taxonomy. Co-author Frank E. Species Accounts.

Indonesia 131

Indonesia Brunei Birds Malaysia 131

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2019

We see a closer shot of the river itself, hawks flying across the span, and then we see that brown line again, close up, a wall of brown panels filling the right side of the screen, continuing into the distance, no end in sight, while a white pick-up truck drives parallel to it at the far left of the screen.

Advocacy 268

Advocacy Mexico United States Texas 268

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

A friend of 10,000 Birds, he talked to Corey about his mission to create this guide in 2012 and wrote about his goal to create a Spanish-language version of the guide in 2017. Illustrations are old school, in a separate section, with images of the right and brief descriptions of the left–73 plates offering 1,000 images.

Honduras 105

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 105

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2016

It is the only member of the roller family to come to Australia and migrates right down the east coast of Australia, but does not travel much further south than Broome on the west coast. In 2012 one lone Dollarbird never went north at all and remained at a nearby wetland until the adults returned from the north in September that year.

Australia 100

Australia 2012 Parrots Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2013

A little further, there’s a family group of Savannah Elephants with two two-year olds. This time they appear more relaxed, but nervousness might be a better politics: in 2007, poachers killed only 13 rhinos in South Africa, but in 2008 already 83, in 2009 – 122, in 2010 – 333, in 2011 – 448 and in 2012 a staggering 668!

Africa 197

Africa South Africa Elephants Rhinos 197

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Within families, the species are arranged less taxonomically and more in line with “design and space considerations,” (Introduction), and on the plates themselves, species are arranged to facilitate comparison. Text is on the left, plates are on the right. The two plates above are both by Dale Dyer.

America 214

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 214

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) And, to make things even more confusing, why did Ian’s 2012 ffrench guide list the motmot under its old name, Blue-crowned Motmot? . I was confused.

Trinidad 201

Trinidad Birds South America Research 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

There is a path that leads right along the beach that is used all day by tourists, joggers, cyclists and skateboarders, and the dawn of a new year was no exception. Dawn of 2012 from the beach at Cairns Esplanade. A Bar-tailed Godwit ( Limosa lapponica ) feeding right next to the walkway.

Alligators 168

Alligators Guinea 2012 Australia 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2013

We saw several of the kingfisher family whilst on our trip, including Azure Kingfisher, Red-backed Kingfisher and Sacred Kingfisher. We did have the good fortune of finding an individually marked Bar-tailed Godwit that was marked in Yalu Jiang Nature Reserve in China last April 15th and was last seen there on May 11th 2012.

Birds 151

Birds Cattle Litter 2012 151

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

But, as with many avian families, the more you look, the more complicated it gets. A minor item, but I like to get these things right.) The “Colour Plates” section is a quick identification guide, presenting text on the left and meticulous drawings on the right. (I So much simpler than pinning down those warblers!

North America 157

North America Asia Europe America 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2017

Considering this adherence to scientific accuracy, it is intriguing that the authors have put aside a taxonomic form of organization and have instead opted for “a pragmatic field guide sequence… that groups bird families according to the broad biomes in which they are most likely to be encountered—marine, freshwater and terrestrial…” (p.2).

Australia 108

Australia Birds Penguins 2015 108

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

However very few birders ever venture to areas off this well-beaten track, so with this in mind, I decided to explore a fascinating but ornithologically little known corner of Ethiopia in January 2012, to see what surprises awaited me. As the sky turned rosy with dawn, we stopped for some excellent additions to our burgeoning bird list.

Ethiopia 247

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Birds 247

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2017

My trips abroad were limited to short family vacations to the Cote d’Azur during the first days of January and a week-long vacation to northern Tuscany / Italy in May. Thanks, Marsh Sandpiper (seen on the right with a redshank on the pic below), your presence was highly appreciated! Arctic Tern , Große Rosin, Germany.

2016 101

2016 Germany Italy Netherlands 101

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

Things looked right. But then the bird turned, and things didn’t look quite right. Our encounter was the first report in 2012 of this particular individual’s return. The darker purplish gorget. The white blaze between throat and cap. I called out, “Costa’s!” Target nailed. COSTA’s!!

Arizona 159

Arizona Wounded North America 2012 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2013

I haven’t done any surveys, but I would bet my binoculars that images and stories of hawks attract more attention and adoration from birders and the average person on the street than any other bird family. Families do not hike up mountains to sit all day on pointy rocks to watch woodpeckers. Those cameras are aimed at hawks.

North America 218

North America Bald Eagle Falcons Owls 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2011

May 2012 bring you even better best birds and lots of them! My family also farms so that limits places we are able to go throughout the year. We were walking through a field of dry grass in a Hamilton County park, looking for sparrows and pursuing three Bobolinks when we flushed a Yellow Rail , literally right at our feet.

2011 162

2011 Birds Ohio North Dakota 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2015

We had not done “year lists” until we started here in 2012 , because a few other Beat Writers had decided to and really…why not! Firstly I would like to just do a little update on the Pied Oystercatcher family that were a large part of my life for the last few weeks of 2014. What a nice way to end the year!

2015 188

2015 2014 Ducks Ponies 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2014

And I, like some dowager countess in a birding vest, am expected to know each one’s family at a glance and greet them by name. Read James’s account of the 2012 Birding Rally and Alfredo’s account of the 2013 Birding Rally. Left to right: Rich Hoyer, Jake Mohlmann, Manuel Bryce, Gustavo Bautista, Paul French, Steve Howell.

Peru 255

Peru Birds South America Owls 255

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

JOHOR, MALAYSIA, DECEMBER 2012 – If you’re traveling to Singapore for birding, you might want to think outside the box or, in this case, the island. Some of the best birding in the area is just 90 minutes or so north in peninsular Malaysia, home of the infamous Panti Forest. Malaysian raptor clinic photo courtesy of Con Foley.

Malaysia 179

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Birds 179

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2012

Kaufman guides are colorful and well-designed and convenient, just the right size and weight to slip into a backpack or even a pocket. It is the perfect reference source for the family on a trip or living in New England. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. It is the perfect field guide for the beginning naturalist. Eaton, Eric H.

Massachusetts 211

Massachusetts North America Rhode Island Ohio 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2012

Jake lives in southern Florida, so he and his friends had to be interested in learning about these birds, which they saw everyday, right? The boys knew what Owls looked like, they saw Screech Owls (and Barred and Great Horned Owls) at a local wildlife park, and we photographed Burrowing Owl families every year at Brian Piccolo Park.

Birds 219

Birds Owls Switzerland Lions 219