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The post First snow of 2014, a time lapse appeared first on 4 The Love of Animals. I saw that we had snow in the forecast yesterday, so I set up our time lapse camera just for fun to capture it. If you look closely you will see a few birds too, small and large. The little birds are called juncos, and they love to come eat our walnuts. We also get a few woodpeckers, and pigeons. You will see both juncos and pigeons in the video. Note, this video has no sound. MORE
The calendar says that this is the last weekend of the winter of 2014. Keep your eyes to the skies and look out for bull dust ! For those of us in the northeastern United States, this winter has been rough. Even if you snapped enough Snowy Owl photos to make a bird-a-day calendar, you’ve got to be sick of the excessively frigid temperatures and relentless precipitation. I’m writing this still aching from shoveling the 18+ inches that blanketed Rochester yesterday. MORE
The calendar year 2014 has just about run its course. What a way to end 2014’s birding. And that’s a wrap. It’s all over but the year bird counting, so take stock of any species you’ve added this weekend. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was New York State’s first Couch’s Kingbird in the incongruous location of the West Village in Manhattan. MORE
Can the best bird of your weekend be one you didn’t see? Obviously, not seeing a desired bird can place the offender in the Worst Bird of the Weekend category. We’ve all been there, right? But search your soul… could you possibly take pleasure in a special bird like the tasty vagrant that popped up in the most unlikely place or maybe one far from home that a friend just added to the life list? MORE
Henry James knew all about how transcendent this time of year can be, at least up here in the northern temperate zone: “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Beautiful indeed. I enjoyed exquisite weather while criss-crossing Central New York to no avail in search of a Red Crossbill , but enjoyed a Common Nighthawk closer to home as a consolation prize. MORE
2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. Larry starts us off right with an owl that makes birders drool: I was able to see and photograph many great birds in 2014 but my Best Bird of the Year would have to be the Great Gray Owl , the largest Strix in North America. Patrick had many birds to choose from for his Best Bird of the Year but he chose a new species for him in Costa Rica, a real regional rarity: My BBOTY for 2014 goes to Hudsonian Godwit. MORE
Keep your eyes to the skies for brilliant sunrises, like the one my buddy Beau Walsburger snapped in Virginia Beach this morning. The month of July is more than half over, but those of us enjoying summer still have many weeks of hot fun ahead. Folks on the chilly side of the Equator can take solace in the fact that spring will be here soon enough. I’ll be finishing up my Virginia Beach vacation and admiring birds on the Chesapeake Bridge Bay Tunnel on the way back to Rochester this weekend. MORE
I wonder how many of you enjoyed this weekend as much as I did. Was the joy a natural result of a delicious Easter brunch or the welcome warmth of a dilatory spring? Perhaps the weekend’s pleasure proceeded from the arrival of birds not seen here for months. All this surely contributed to my great satisfaction, but I suspect the smile on my face results, in no small part, from the fact that my kids are going back to school after a long spring break! Who else is feeling good today? MORE
I finally saw my first migratory Eastern Phoebe of 2014 today at Rockaway Community Park in Queens! As I have for the last several years, I will now ask the same question of midwesterners and northeasterners that I ask every year: When did you see your first Eastern Phoebe of 2014? Here are my arrival dates for my first Eastern Phoebes of the year for the last nine years: 2014 – 29 March. MORE
Summer, by which I mean accepted as opposed to seasonal, surges towards its inevitable end and I find myself wondering when real summer, by which I mean hot weather, will arrive. Somehow, I suspect fall migrants and summer heat will arrive at the same time… sounds awesome!! My favorite birds this weekend were a mess of Mallard ducklings I could share with my kids, niece, and nephew. Mallards are best when they are fuzzy and cute. MORE
Last week might have been the official observance of International Migratory Bird Day along with innumerable Big Days, Big Sits, and Great Texas Birding Classics (well, maybe only one of those!), but spring is still springing and birds still winging towards their breeding or wintering grounds. No matter what events are scheduled where you live, you’ll have reason to celebrate if you get outside. MORE
This year Redgannet has agreed to include birds on his year list only if they are logged from a site that he has either not birded before, or has not visited for more than 5 years. Whilst his nomadic lifestyle allows him to bird all around the world, he tends to favour certain spots and sticks to where he knows. If he is to become a better birder, he must try harder! So this year he will have to stretch his wings a little and explore further afield if he is to amass a decent roll call. MORE
Now that Winter Olympic fever has gripped the global imagination, I can’t help but wonder why we don’t have more international birding competitions like the International Birding Rally in Peru. You’ve got to imagine that the only thing better than winning a gold medal would be getting the gold AND a bunch of lifers. Who can make this happen? A Cooper’s Hawk almost killed me this weekend. MORE
James Russell Lowell famously wondered , “And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days…” Of course, he was on the mark concerning the quality of June days, but don’t you think he might have overlooked September? Corey and I were most pleased to see that shorebirds haven’t entirely abandoned the Esat Pond at Jamaica Bay. My BBOTW was a weird Dunlin while Corey was most partial to the Pectoral Sandpiper pictured above. How about you? MORE
The sun shines over Deep Bay, Hong Kong’s shorebirding playground. What is more restful for a birder than the weekend after a big birding trip? Obviously, when we’re away from home on extended journeys, various tasks and issues accumulate in our absence. But mundanities and minutia are easier to handle while reminiscing about avian adventures. Part of being a birder entails dealing daily with that gnawing realization that, at any given moment, birds are out there that need to be seen. MORE
Spring migration may be dwindling to a trickle by now, but vast movements of mammals are about to commence. I’m speaking, of course, about summer vacation! Summer in the United States unofficially begins this weekend. Are you on the road? I’m on my way down to NYC, which apparently so unnerved Corey that he fled the country. Look for him somewhere in Canada! How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Share your plans in the comments below. MORE
Ready to close the books on the summer of 2014, northerners? Keep your eyes to the skies for chickadees and t**s. We in the United States like to usher out the season in style with a three-day weekend. While we used to honor the American Labor movement during this time, we’ve turned our collective focus from work to play and plenty of it. Hope you’re on board! MORE
On a larger scale, I have no particular plans to get outside the ABA area in 2014, but I would like to time a trip back east with the spring migration this time around, and it’s been far, far too long since the west coast has seen hide or hair of me. One more thing – I don’t know whether 2014 will bring any new bird tattoos, but if it does, you guys will be the first to know. MORE
Less than two weeks into the new year and I’m already used to writing 2014 instead of 2013. That must be a new record! This weekend, I took time to appreciate the sight of ten American Robins congregating in a leafless tree. The use of the robin as a symbol for spring seems inapt considering how beautiful those rust red breasts appear in the gray of winter. MORE
Quick show of hands… how many of you in the U.S. kept a special eye out for Bald Eagles ? My favorite sighting this weekend was not of the regal representative of my nation’s pride but rather a single brilliant Indigo Bunting at Lake Skaneatles. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a bird that has frustrated him for quite some time now. MORE
Let a hot Merritt Island sunset keep you warm! Here in the northeastern United States, stultifying forces assail us from every side. Not only has the polar vortex established a permanent chill in our collective bones, but those who care about such things must also endure the winter doldrums. Very little is happening on the birding front these days. MORE
Why is camping so interesting? I ask because, despite my deep affection for warmth, indoor plumbing, and uninterrupted Internet access, I found myself and my family enjoying an overnight out of doors. Camping and birding both fall under the category of “nature” activities, yet the two seem only tangentially related. How many of you birders enjoy camping and how many of you would rather skip the whole thing? MORE
What a weekend for those of us experiencing the exhilaration of spring migration! Assuming that your over-worked eyes are as blurry as mine at the moment, we should get right down to business and talk birds… The best of the many warblers I uncovered at Cobbs Hill this weekend was an entirely improbable Kentucky Warbler. MORE
Keep your eyes to the skies… you never know what you’ll see! Autumn in October means many things to many people more eloquent by half than I. Rabindranath Tagore observed, “The music of the far-away summer flutters around the Autumn seeking its former nest.” ” According to Percy Bysshe Shelley, “There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky…” What are your favorite fall quotes? MORE
But the prospects of our trip grew even more exciting once we learned that our stay would coincide with the Conteo de Aves Arenal 2014 or 2014 Arenal Bird Count. When the proprietors of Costa Rica’s Finca Luna Nueva Lodge graciously invited Corey and me to visit, we were both thrilled at the prospect of awesome Costa Rican birds at an amazing ecolodge. MORE
American fashion dictates that we retire our white shoes and frocks once the sun sets on Labor Day. Most blame snooty millionaires and sloppy September weather for the changes, but we birders know better. Fall migrants are on the wing, which brings the teeming multitudes of avian observers out in force. What’s the connection? Easy… good birders don’t wear white ! MORE
This is an interesting time of year when people are coming and going while birds mostly sit still. Except, of course, that some birds are also coming and going too. The trick is to make sure your path crosses those of the right birds at the right time. While it was neither the rarest or most interesting bird I saw this weekend, the Eastern Bluebird that flew over my car as I drove through Virginia has to take Best Bird of the Weekend honors just because it will be my third blue bird in a row. MORE
Now that autumn has fallen, my part of the world feels like summer. Hopefully, October offers more of the same! My best birds this weekend were American Goldfinches on purple coneflowers, which is where I like them best. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a surprise Marsh Wren which popped up out of the reeds while Corey was busy counting Chimney Swifts feeding low over Willow Lake in Queens on Saturday morning. MORE
We birders seem to keep our own arcane calendar, with weeks and months symbolized not by numbers but rather by avian avatars. Each phenological totem evokes the confluence of time, climate, and geography that tells a richer story of a place than simply its position relative to the sun. Most North American birders I know would definitely represent the month of May with a bright and sprightly wood-warbler, though the argument about which bird would best serve would be epic indeed. MORE
The final weekend of October positively burns with activity, from spectacular seasonal fare to sports extravaganzas to Halloween hullabaloo. How does a person even find time to look at birds? I was able to spare a few moments to appreciate the Northern Cardinals that, while always present at my home, seem so much more welcome once days turn gray. MORE
The post Tex For Mayor 2014 appeared first on 4 The Love of Animals. Tex is one of 14 dog candidates running for a two year term to serve as the first canine mayor of Salt Lake County. American Dog Rescue Foundation and its founder Arthur Benjamin need YOUR votes to help Tex win! Tex is a death-row rescue from eight years ago. From death row to possibly becoming the first K9 Major of Salt Lake City! MORE
As much as I love hearing about and sharing Best Birds of the Weekend, sometimes I have cause to ponder just what that term means. Obviously, the birds themselves are not jockeying for recognition. Rather, we designate best birds according to our priorities and perceptions of value. The Feral Pigeon has many virtues to admire, but who is going to brag about encountering one of those? BBOTW speaks volumes about birders, not birds. MORE
I visited Hong Kong from February 20-27, 2014. The sprawling city-state of Hong Kong is, without a doubt, one of the great capitals of the world, a gleaming metropolis where centuries of Eastern and Westerns culture blend with commerce to produce a true 21st century society. Despite impressive, often rampant development, Hong Kong reserves 40% of its land as greenspace. The result is a nature lover’s paradise rich with mountains, beaches, and birds. Lots and lots of birds! MORE
One of the many ancillary benefits of becoming a birder, apart from an elevated social status and encyclopedic knowledge of taxonomy, is a subtle grasp of phenology. But you don’t have to be wise to nature’s ways to realize that spring is mighty slow to fully bloom in some parts of the world. The birds seem to be dragging their proverbial heels this year, but migration still rewards those who would brave the bitter May chill! MORE
Some may consider talking about the weather banal, but I can’t help complaining during a winter like this. While March earns a reputation for coming in like a lion, the season rarely seems as wild and cold as Winter Storm Titan threatens to be over the next few days in the American Northeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic. Seriously, if this continues into migration, the birds are all going to fly back south. MORE
The solstice serves as a sunny reminder of the mutable nature of our days. Some of us enjoyed our year’s longest stretch of daylight this weekend, while others endured their longest night. To paraphrase an insightful innuendo, it’s not the length of the day but how you spend it. I hope you spent your solstice well. MORE
The post Beneful Unleashed the 2014 Dream Dog Park! Christmas came early for the dog-loving community of Prescott, Arizona, today as Beneful® unleashed the $500,000 Dream Dog Park renovation of Willow Creek Dog Park. The fire-station themed renovation marks the fourth half million dollar dog park transformation by the dog food brand. MORE
September sharpens one’s priorities, in that every weekend offers so much to do that only the most attractive or important options make the cut. We are all entitled to our illusions about ourselves, but the truth will out on Saturday and Sunday! For example, this is really the only time of year I get excited about cardinals, at least if they are from Arizona. That’s right… NFL football is back, baby! MORE
So many people devoted serious time this weekend to acquiring gifts for family, friends, and strategic acquaintances. Hopefully, each of you found time to give yourselves the gift of a decent bird sighting or two. I tried to rustle up some Short-eared Owls down at Nations Road, a notorious haunt for these magnificent beasts. Curse my rotten owl luck, I didn’t see a single one, but did manage a pale Rough-legged Hawk. MORE
Keep your eyes to the skies for uncommon birds like this leucistic Bald Eagle ! Daylight Savings Time falls this weekend in those areas that observe this tradition. Remember, springing forward means one less hour of sleep this weekend, not one less hour of sleep! I’ll be out and about in the Rochester area enjoying this sudden influx of sun. Corey will be birding the heck out of some random part of New York. How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? MORE
The year 2014 is approaching its imminent end, which means different things for different people. For those of us interested in observing avifauna, the last six or so weeks of a year offer enough time and opportunity to finish up with the year list we’d love to look back on. Have you been working on yours? I was both surprised and pleased to spy a Bald Eagle flying over my house, which is quite uncommon so far from the lake. MORE
Keep your eyes to the skies for hunting falcons ! Is it that time already, when a young birder’s fancy turns to, um, non-birds ? Indeed, those long hot stretches between migratory periods can try a bird watcher’s soul as surely as a cold, dark, birdless winter. Fortunately, once you get tired of your local residents, you can expand your interest in nature towards everything else that blooms and bustles in summer. I love watching moths, butterflies, and dragonflies this time of year. MORE
What was your first bird of 2014? And here’s hoping you see many great birds, including lots of lifers, in 2014! After all, 2013 was a pretty great year and there is no reason 2014 can’t be the same! Birding 2014 first bird of the year Hopefully it was better than a pigeon! Let us know in the comments…and, if you wrote a blog post or have a picture of your first bird of the year online somewhere, well, leave a link in the comments too. MORE
We’re a little slow to discuss this weekend’s birding because many of us in the U.S. are still enjoying a beautiful Memorial Day. But if you’re eager to share the spoils of your recent avian adventures, let the bird bragging commence! While I saw some pretty special species this weekend, the most special was the Gray Catbird because my sweet 7-year niece totally got into finding one; I think I’ve found the next generation birder in the family! MORE
2014 Related Topics 4 The Love Of Animals
OCTOBER 8, 2014
The post Tex For Mayor 2014 appeared first on 4 The Love of Animals. Tex is one of 14 dog candidates running for a two year term to serve as the first canine mayor of Salt Lake County. American Dog Rescue Foundation and its founder Arthur Benjamin need YOUR votes to help Tex win! Tex is a death-row rescue from eight years ago. From death row to possibly becoming the first K9 Major of Salt Lake City!
4 The Love Of Animals
NOVEMBER 14, 2014
The post First snow of 2014, a time lapse appeared first on 4 The Love of Animals. I saw that we had snow in the forecast yesterday, so I set up our time lapse camera just for fun to capture it. If you look closely you will see a few birds too, small and large. The little birds are called juncos, and they love to come eat our walnuts. We also get a few woodpeckers, and pigeons. You will see both juncos and pigeons in the video. Note, this video has no sound.
4 The Love Of Animals
DECEMBER 10, 2014
The post Beneful Unleashed the 2014 Dream Dog Park! Christmas came early for the dog-loving community of Prescott, Arizona, today as Beneful® unleashed the $500,000 Dream Dog Park renovation of Willow Creek Dog Park. The fire-station themed renovation marks the fourth half million dollar dog park transformation by the dog food brand.
10,000 Birds
MARCH 29, 2014
I finally saw my first migratory Eastern Phoebe of 2014 today at Rockaway Community Park in Queens! As I have for the last several years, I will now ask the same question of midwesterners and northeasterners that I ask every year: When did you see your first Eastern Phoebe of 2014? Here are my arrival dates for my first Eastern Phoebes of the year for the last nine years: 2014 – 29 March.
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 15, 2014
But the prospects of our trip grew even more exciting once we learned that our stay would coincide with the Conteo de Aves Arenal 2014 or 2014 Arenal Bird Count. When the proprietors of Costa Rica’s Finca Luna Nueva Lodge graciously invited Corey and me to visit, we were both thrilled at the prospect of awesome Costa Rican birds at an amazing ecolodge.
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 23, 2014
2014 has been a good year for us at 10,000 Birds. Larry starts us off right with an owl that makes birders drool: I was able to see and photograph many great birds in 2014 but my Best Bird of the Year would have to be the Great Gray Owl , the largest Strix in North America. Patrick had many birds to choose from for his Best Bird of the Year but he chose a new species for him in Costa Rica, a real regional rarity: My BBOTY for 2014 goes to Hudsonian Godwit.
10,000 Birds
MARCH 7, 2014
I visited Hong Kong from February 20-27, 2014. The sprawling city-state of Hong Kong is, without a doubt, one of the great capitals of the world, a gleaming metropolis where centuries of Eastern and Westerns culture blend with commerce to produce a true 21st century society. Despite impressive, often rampant development, Hong Kong reserves 40% of its land as greenspace. The result is a nature lover’s paradise rich with mountains, beaches, and birds. Lots and lots of birds!
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 28, 2014
The calendar year 2014 has just about run its course. What a way to end 2014’s birding. And that’s a wrap. It’s all over but the year bird counting, so take stock of any species you’ve added this weekend. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was New York State’s first Couch’s Kingbird in the incongruous location of the West Village in Manhattan.
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 10, 2014
On a larger scale, I have no particular plans to get outside the ABA area in 2014, but I would like to time a trip back east with the spring migration this time around, and it’s been far, far too long since the west coast has seen hide or hair of me. One more thing – I don’t know whether 2014 will bring any new bird tattoos, but if it does, you guys will be the first to know.
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 16, 2014
The year 2014 is approaching its imminent end, which means different things for different people. For those of us interested in observing avifauna, the last six or so weeks of a year offer enough time and opportunity to finish up with the year list we’d love to look back on. Have you been working on yours? I was both surprised and pleased to spy a Bald Eagle flying over my house, which is quite uncommon so far from the lake.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 29, 2014
Ready to close the books on the summer of 2014, northerners? Keep your eyes to the skies for chickadees and t**s. We in the United States like to usher out the season in style with a three-day weekend. While we used to honor the American Labor movement during this time, we’ve turned our collective focus from work to play and plenty of it. Hope you’re on board!
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 12, 2014
Why is camping so interesting? I ask because, despite my deep affection for warmth, indoor plumbing, and uninterrupted Internet access, I found myself and my family enjoying an overnight out of doors. Camping and birding both fall under the category of “nature” activities, yet the two seem only tangentially related. How many of you birders enjoy camping and how many of you would rather skip the whole thing?
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
American fashion dictates that we retire our white shoes and frocks once the sun sets on Labor Day. Most blame snooty millionaires and sloppy September weather for the changes, but we birders know better. Fall migrants are on the wing, which brings the teeming multitudes of avian observers out in force. What’s the connection? Easy… good birders don’t wear white !
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
Now that autumn has fallen, my part of the world feels like summer. Hopefully, October offers more of the same! My best birds this weekend were American Goldfinches on purple coneflowers, which is where I like them best. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a surprise Marsh Wren which popped up out of the reeds while Corey was busy counting Chimney Swifts feeding low over Willow Lake in Queens on Saturday morning.
10,000 Birds
MAY 4, 2014
One of the many ancillary benefits of becoming a birder, apart from an elevated social status and encyclopedic knowledge of taxonomy, is a subtle grasp of phenology. But you don’t have to be wise to nature’s ways to realize that spring is mighty slow to fully bloom in some parts of the world. The birds seem to be dragging their proverbial heels this year, but migration still rewards those who would brave the bitter May chill!
10,000 Birds
MAY 18, 2014
We birders seem to keep our own arcane calendar, with weeks and months symbolized not by numbers but rather by avian avatars. Each phenological totem evokes the confluence of time, climate, and geography that tells a richer story of a place than simply its position relative to the sun. Most North American birders I know would definitely represent the month of May with a bright and sprightly wood-warbler, though the argument about which bird would best serve would be epic indeed.
10,000 Birds
JULY 6, 2014
Quick show of hands… how many of you in the U.S. kept a special eye out for Bald Eagles ? My favorite sighting this weekend was not of the regal representative of my nation’s pride but rather a single brilliant Indigo Bunting at Lake Skaneatles. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a bird that has frustrated him for quite some time now.
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 12, 2014
Less than two weeks into the new year and I’m already used to writing 2014 instead of 2013. That must be a new record! This weekend, I took time to appreciate the sight of ten American Robins congregating in a leafless tree. The use of the robin as a symbol for spring seems inapt considering how beautiful those rust red breasts appear in the gray of winter.
10,000 Birds
MAY 26, 2014
We’re a little slow to discuss this weekend’s birding because many of us in the U.S. are still enjoying a beautiful Memorial Day. But if you’re eager to share the spoils of your recent avian adventures, let the bird bragging commence! While I saw some pretty special species this weekend, the most special was the Gray Catbird because my sweet 7-year niece totally got into finding one; I think I’ve found the next generation birder in the family!
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 18, 2014
This year Redgannet has agreed to include birds on his year list only if they are logged from a site that he has either not birded before, or has not visited for more than 5 years. Whilst his nomadic lifestyle allows him to bird all around the world, he tends to favour certain spots and sticks to where he knows. If he is to become a better birder, he must try harder! So this year he will have to stretch his wings a little and explore further afield if he is to amass a decent roll call.
10,000 Birds
MARCH 13, 2014
The calendar says that this is the last weekend of the winter of 2014. Keep your eyes to the skies and look out for bull dust ! For those of us in the northeastern United States, this winter has been rough. Even if you snapped enough Snowy Owl photos to make a bird-a-day calendar, you’ve got to be sick of the excessively frigid temperatures and relentless precipitation. I’m writing this still aching from shoveling the 18+ inches that blanketed Rochester yesterday.
10,000 Birds
MAY 11, 2014
What a weekend for those of us experiencing the exhilaration of spring migration! Assuming that your over-worked eyes are as blurry as mine at the moment, we should get right down to business and talk birds… The best of the many warblers I uncovered at Cobbs Hill this weekend was an entirely improbable Kentucky Warbler.
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 26, 2014
The final weekend of October positively burns with activity, from spectacular seasonal fare to sports extravaganzas to Halloween hullabaloo. How does a person even find time to look at birds? I was able to spare a few moments to appreciate the Northern Cardinals that, while always present at my home, seem so much more welcome once days turn gray.
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 16, 2014
Keep your eyes to the skies… you never know what you’ll see! Autumn in October means many things to many people more eloquent by half than I. Rabindranath Tagore observed, “The music of the far-away summer flutters around the Autumn seeking its former nest.” ” According to Percy Bysshe Shelley, “There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky…” What are your favorite fall quotes?
10,000 Birds
MARCH 7, 2014
Keep your eyes to the skies for uncommon birds like this leucistic Bald Eagle ! Daylight Savings Time falls this weekend in those areas that observe this tradition. Remember, springing forward means one less hour of sleep this weekend, not one less hour of sleep! I’ll be out and about in the Rochester area enjoying this sudden influx of sun. Corey will be birding the heck out of some random part of New York. How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding?
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 7, 2014
Let a hot Merritt Island sunset keep you warm! Here in the northeastern United States, stultifying forces assail us from every side. Not only has the polar vortex established a permanent chill in our collective bones, but those who care about such things must also endure the winter doldrums. Very little is happening on the birding front these days.
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 21, 2014
James Russell Lowell famously wondered , “And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days…” Of course, he was on the mark concerning the quality of June days, but don’t you think he might have overlooked September? Corey and I were most pleased to see that shorebirds haven’t entirely abandoned the Esat Pond at Jamaica Bay. My BBOTW was a weird Dunlin while Corey was most partial to the Pectoral Sandpiper pictured above. How about you?
10,000 Birds
MARCH 2, 2014
Some may consider talking about the weather banal, but I can’t help complaining during a winter like this. While March earns a reputation for coming in like a lion, the season rarely seems as wild and cold as Winter Storm Titan threatens to be over the next few days in the American Northeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic. Seriously, if this continues into migration, the birds are all going to fly back south.
10,000 Birds
JULY 20, 2014
This is an interesting time of year when people are coming and going while birds mostly sit still. Except, of course, that some birds are also coming and going too. The trick is to make sure your path crosses those of the right birds at the right time. While it was neither the rarest or most interesting bird I saw this weekend, the Eastern Bluebird that flew over my car as I drove through Virginia has to take Best Bird of the Weekend honors just because it will be my third blue bird in a row.
10,000 Birds
JUNE 1, 2014
Can the best bird of your weekend be one you didn’t see? Obviously, not seeing a desired bird can place the offender in the Worst Bird of the Weekend category. We’ve all been there, right? But search your soul… could you possibly take pleasure in a special bird like the tasty vagrant that popped up in the most unlikely place or maybe one far from home that a friend just added to the life list?
10,000 Birds
MAY 15, 2014
Last week might have been the official observance of International Migratory Bird Day along with innumerable Big Days, Big Sits, and Great Texas Birding Classics (well, maybe only one of those!), but spring is still springing and birds still winging towards their breeding or wintering grounds. No matter what events are scheduled where you live, you’ll have reason to celebrate if you get outside.
10,000 Birds
MAY 23, 2014
Spring migration may be dwindling to a trickle by now, but vast movements of mammals are about to commence. I’m speaking, of course, about summer vacation! Summer in the United States unofficially begins this weekend. Are you on the road? I’m on my way down to NYC, which apparently so unnerved Corey that he fled the country. Look for him somewhere in Canada! How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? Share your plans in the comments below.
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 23, 2014
As much as I love hearing about and sharing Best Birds of the Weekend, sometimes I have cause to ponder just what that term means. Obviously, the birds themselves are not jockeying for recognition. Rather, we designate best birds according to our priorities and perceptions of value. The Feral Pigeon has many virtues to admire, but who is going to brag about encountering one of those? BBOTW speaks volumes about birders, not birds.
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 9, 2014
Now that Winter Olympic fever has gripped the global imagination, I can’t help but wonder why we don’t have more international birding competitions like the International Birding Rally in Peru. You’ve got to imagine that the only thing better than winning a gold medal would be getting the gold AND a bunch of lifers. Who can make this happen? A Cooper’s Hawk almost killed me this weekend.
10,000 Birds
JULY 17, 2014
Keep your eyes to the skies for brilliant sunrises, like the one my buddy Beau Walsburger snapped in Virginia Beach this morning. The month of July is more than half over, but those of us enjoying summer still have many weeks of hot fun ahead. Folks on the chilly side of the Equator can take solace in the fact that spring will be here soon enough. I’ll be finishing up my Virginia Beach vacation and admiring birds on the Chesapeake Bridge Bay Tunnel on the way back to Rochester this weekend.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 17, 2014
Summer, by which I mean accepted as opposed to seasonal, surges towards its inevitable end and I find myself wondering when real summer, by which I mean hot weather, will arrive. Somehow, I suspect fall migrants and summer heat will arrive at the same time… sounds awesome!! My favorite birds this weekend were a mess of Mallard ducklings I could share with my kids, niece, and nephew. Mallards are best when they are fuzzy and cute.
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 28, 2014
The sun shines over Deep Bay, Hong Kong’s shorebirding playground. What is more restful for a birder than the weekend after a big birding trip? Obviously, when we’re away from home on extended journeys, various tasks and issues accumulate in our absence. But mundanities and minutia are easier to handle while reminiscing about avian adventures. Part of being a birder entails dealing daily with that gnawing realization that, at any given moment, birds are out there that need to be seen.
10,000 Birds
JUNE 26, 2014
Keep your eyes to the skies for hunting falcons ! Is it that time already, when a young birder’s fancy turns to, um, non-birds ? Indeed, those long hot stretches between migratory periods can try a bird watcher’s soul as surely as a cold, dark, birdless winter. Fortunately, once you get tired of your local residents, you can expand your interest in nature towards everything else that blooms and bustles in summer. I love watching moths, butterflies, and dragonflies this time of year.
10,000 Birds
APRIL 20, 2014
I wonder how many of you enjoyed this weekend as much as I did. Was the joy a natural result of a delicious Easter brunch or the welcome warmth of a dilatory spring? Perhaps the weekend’s pleasure proceeded from the arrival of birds not seen here for months. All this surely contributed to my great satisfaction, but I suspect the smile on my face results, in no small part, from the fact that my kids are going back to school after a long spring break! Who else is feeling good today?
10,000 Birds
JUNE 22, 2014
The solstice serves as a sunny reminder of the mutable nature of our days. Some of us enjoyed our year’s longest stretch of daylight this weekend, while others endured their longest night. To paraphrase an insightful innuendo, it’s not the length of the day but how you spend it. I hope you spent your solstice well.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 24, 2014
Henry James knew all about how transcendent this time of year can be, at least up here in the northern temperate zone: “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Beautiful indeed. I enjoyed exquisite weather while criss-crossing Central New York to no avail in search of a Red Crossbill , but enjoyed a Common Nighthawk closer to home as a consolation prize.
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 21, 2014
So many people devoted serious time this weekend to acquiring gifts for family, friends, and strategic acquaintances. Hopefully, each of you found time to give yourselves the gift of a decent bird sighting or two. I tried to rustle up some Short-eared Owls down at Nations Road, a notorious haunt for these magnificent beasts. Curse my rotten owl luck, I didn’t see a single one, but did manage a pale Rough-legged Hawk.
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 7, 2014
September sharpens one’s priorities, in that every weekend offers so much to do that only the most attractive or important options make the cut. We are all entitled to our illusions about ourselves, but the truth will out on Saturday and Sunday! For example, this is really the only time of year I get excited about cardinals, at least if they are from Arizona. That’s right… NFL football is back, baby!
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