10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2019

Nobody enjoys the end of a birding adventure. No matter how exhausted, sunburned, frostbitten, or penniless your exertions have left you, the hope of one more blissful bird sighting still beckons. We both fit in as many hours as possible birding the Entebbe Botanical Gardens during the African Birding Expo this weekend.

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2019 Birds Experience Experiments 138

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2019

October oversees a general cooling of the Northern Hemisphere, but the birding tends to heat up in the beginning of the month. I enjoyed neither birding nor guzzling lattes during this work-encumbered weekend. Corey enjoyed some decent fall birding both Saturday and Sunday morning. How about you?

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2019 Birds Eggs Experience 147

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.

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2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 142

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019

But did that impact or improve bird visibility? Seriously, this bird was sleek and stylish! Corey spent the weekend at a union retreat, organizing with his colleagues with the plan to improve his day job, so he didn’t get much birding in except on Saturday morning on his way there. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2019 Birds Woodpeckers Experience 146

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

Did you spend it birding? Corey had a lot of birds to choose from for his Best Bird of the Weekend after spending most of Saturday birding on Long Island and Sunday morning leading his New York City Audubon bird walk at Queens Botanical Garden. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2019 New York City New York Birds 131

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2019

One down, fifty-one more to go in 2019! If your entire birding year depended on the commitment you put forth this past weekend, how excited or appalled would you be? Corey joined our 10,000 Birds Beat Writer Carrie on a twitch upstate to see a Golden-crowned Sparrow , a new state bird for both of them. How about you?

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

But on Friday evening he and Daisy visited Irvine Regional Park at dusk and were rewarded with Lesser Nighthawks , a lifer and an awesome Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

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2019 New York Birds California 130

10,000 Birds

JULY 14, 2019

July birding in the Northern Hemisphere may be slow, but you’ve got to love those adorable baby birds! Corey did not do much birding this weekend but he did get out for awhile on Sunday morning. He mostly sat in his car next to a large puddle on the Rockaway Peninsula and watched birds coming in to drink and bathe.

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2019 New York Cattle Birds 137

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2019

Such a sound easily propelled the owls to Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

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2019 New York Owls Birds 135

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2019

A hot weekend doesn’t necessarily make for hot birding, but things may be warming up on that front. One truth you learn in the birding business is that birds are always moving in one direction or another. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

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2019 New York City Virginia New York 142

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2019

I definitely learned something this weekend, particularly regarding how best to see interesting birds. Consequently, I observed no birds more interesting than Gray Catbirds this weekend, and those birds stand out only because the sudden chill enveloping Upstate New York reminds me of how soon catbirds will be leaving.

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2019 Philadelphia New York Birds 133

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2019

Though Corey arrived in Costa Rica Saturday afternoon he’s spent more time on the beach than he’s spent looking for birds. Nonetheless, birds have found him, like the White-throated Magpie-Jays that insisted on sharing his breakfast. Now that’s a way to enjoy a first meal of the day and the magpie-jays are his Best Bird of the Weekend!

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2019 Costa Rica Bald Eagle New York 129

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2019

While experiences vary all the way along the spectrum from abysmal to divine, we all get a head start on superior when the weather is amazing. Our third trip in three weekends resulted in our third new year bird, this one Semipalmated Sandpiper. It was easily his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2019 New York Birds Experience 122

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2019

If the timing of Global Big Day means anything, this weekend saw massive birding excitement all over the world. Obviously, your experience may have diverged from the norm. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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2019 New York City New York Birds 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2019

Luckily, for birds, I didn’t have to, as a skulky Winter Wren sought shelter right outside my dining room window, adding a highly improbable third wren species to my yard list. Corey was out birding on Saturday morning in Queens and early on Sunday morning he visited the tern colony at Nickerson Beach. How about you?

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10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2019

Most of the birds of note during my weekend in Pittsburgh appeared in transit. Best of all had to be the Ruffed Grouse , State Bird of Pennsylvania, that foolishly planted itself in the narrow road winding through the Allegheny National Forest, only to flush and careen frantically towards our car as we rounded a curve. How about you?

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2019 Pennsylvania Birds Owls 123

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Corey finished up his family trip to Costa Rica on Saturday and his Best Bird of the Weekend should be a Pacific Screech-Owl outside of his hotel on Friday night, a lifer! What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

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2019 Costa Rica Pelicans Birds 125

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2019

Those of us north of the Equator should be enjoying our summer weekends no matter how boring the birding might be. Better, though, is finding a way to raise the quality of your bird sightings and enjoyment of them. Somehow, we managed to flip the script on that by spotting all kinds of birds that the whole group could enjoy.

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2019 Birds California Raised 123

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2019

October birding can either surprise us or confirm our worst suspicions. Corey, on the other hand, enjoyed gorgeous weather and a morning and an afternoon outing on Saturday looking at birds but his Best Bird of the Weekend came during a seawatch in the wind and rain on Sunday morning. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2019 Shelters Birds Experience 112

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2019

Did that help or hinder your efforts to see superior birds this weekend? My weekend itinerary only permitted highway birding, of which the best result was Ospreys , both in flight and on those enormous nest of branches those birds construct. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2019 Birds Experience Experiments 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2019

Mid-October birding can be as exciting as you–and wind and weather conditions–allow it to be. Corey exhausted himself doing the Sixth Annual Queens County Bird Club Big Sit out at Fort Tilden on the coast of Queens all day on Sunday. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2019 Pelicans Birds Experience 120

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2019

No matter where you find yourself, you can count on a birding surprise or two this time of year. He saw a bunch of new birds for the year but the best was easily a surprise American Bittern at a vernal pool in heavily wooded Cunningham Park. This out-of-place bittern was easily his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was yours?

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2019 Birds Experience Experiments 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2019

Corey saw a bunch of birds on a mild Sunday morning though none of them were particularly spectacular. The birds that most caught his eye (and the focus of his digiscoping rig) were some Ruddy Ducks coming into breeding plumage at Brookville Park in Queens. They are his Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you?

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2019

Even the birding is decent. Corey only birded for a bit on Saturday afternoon and didn’t see much that was terribly exciting. So, Bald Eagles as his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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2019 Bald Eagle Jamaica Eagles 115

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2019

Now that we’ve entered the third month of the calendar year, take stock: did your birding March come in like a lion or a lamb? My birding was positively sheepish during this busy weekend. He didn’t see a ton of birds but he did appreciate the number of Snow Geese flocking up at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

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2019 Lamb Lions Jamaica 114

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

While some birding runs work well solo, most are greatly improved by good company. In many ways, birding can be so much more than just looking at birds. Saturday morning, Corey got out birding at Jamaica Bay without me and Ivy and was very pleased to find a pair of American Avocets at the north end of the East Pond there.

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2019 Jamaica Birds Eggs 121

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2019

If you’re devoting as many free hours to birding as we are this month, you have no time for preamble. i saw plenty of new birds this weekend, some of them in the process of making future new birds. Though I spied quite a few warblers, my best looks were of Scarlet Tanager , a bell-ringer of a bird any day.

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2019 Jamaica New York Birds 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2019

Though he’s seen some decor birds he hasn’t been actively birding very much. As such, his Best Bird of the Weekend is the Brown Pelican , a bird that always amazes Corey in places where they are common. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

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2019 Pelicans Breeders Virginia 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2019

To continue my assertion before the weekend began, March may be one of the most boring months of the year for birding. However, just as a bad day of fishing beats a good day at work for many anglers, even a boring birding month offers excitement. What was your best bird of the weekend? Did you find any this weekend?

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10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2019

I’m still saying Happy New Year to people… Corey had an easy choice for his Best Bird of the Weekend. After Corey bragged to me about this bird, I realized I hadn’t seen an owl yet this year. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2019

April has come and will soon be gone, hopefully carrying a bounty of bodacious birds in its wake for you. Either works as my best bird. Corey had most of the morning on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to bird and he made the most of it, adding over twenty species to his year list for Queens and just generally enjoying spring migration.

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10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2019

I also hope for your collective sakes that you managed to eke out a bit of birding while you were at it! Weather may not have cooperated with my desire for a warm, rainless weekend to chase birds, but I did manage to track down a bunch of FOY species, including an uncommon Hooded Warbler in Rochester’s Cobbs Hill Park.

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2019 Birds Collecting Experience 115

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2019

If you don’t have a superb bird to report after the first weekend of May, you’re definitely not trying. Corey was having a hard time deciding which neotropical migrant was his Best Bird of the Weekend on Sunday afternoon when word came through the bird world that a Common Greenshank had been found out in Suffolk County.

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2019 New York Birds Experience 115

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2019

The first weekend of the fourth month of the year unites us all with exceptional birding opportunities. That Pine Warbler is Corey’s choice for his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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2019 Turkey Birds Experience 114

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2019

But at a hotel in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, he had a singing male Eastern Bluebird on Sunday morning, and that was definitely his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2019

Corey spent most of the morning on Father’s Day out and about in Queens looking for interesting birds. He didn’t find anything out of the ordinary and instead spent his time watching ordinary birds go about their lives. Now that’s a bird that is worthy of being Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend!

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2019 Blackbirds Birds Experience 114

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2019

But no matter what infernal heat, abyssal chill, or thunderous precipitation blasts a place, birds still endure and often thrive. The wicked cold in my area may have been too much for me, but my local birds seem to be doing just fine. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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