10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Alas, our rainy season seems to be slowing down — although I heard a rumble of thunder as I wrote the sentence — fingers crossed! That is not due to a lack of birding; I am still going out every Monday. But very rainy weather during August made it harder to see exciting birds, and often resulted in poor photos of those I did see.

Birds 105

Birds Sparrows Species Colombia 105

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2022

Alas, we did not hear our Roadrunners vocalize, although I have heard sing on one other visit to La Escalera. They seem to derive their common name more from the habits of their better-known relative, than from their own habits. Number 4 proves my point. Lesser Roadrunners also do not know when to stop with the eyeliner.

Coyotes 105

Coyotes Birds Mexico ALA 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2022

Alas – thick clouds in the rainforest only mean one thing: rain. My fortunes began to swing with the passage of time, as I guess all good pendulums tend to do. That White-necked Thrush I patiently waited on earlier showed up again, this time sitting in plain view. White-necked Thrush. The encroaching darkness.

Birds 105

Birds Trinidad Woodpeckers Species 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2019

Alas, I won’t be anywhere near penguins this weekend, so I’ll have to make do with whatever uncommon shorebirds trickle through Lake Ontario. Entering is easy, but you should get to it quickly, as the promotion ends when August does. At the very least, thinking about penguins might keep you cool while summer still sizzles!

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Birds 2019 Penguins ALA 73

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

Alas, our trip to the sea was not to be! The trip began with plans made by world birder Pirjo Lakso to see if we could do a repeat of the fantastic pelagic trip we did in April, earlier this year. The evening before our trip, we received word of high winds and rough waters; seas much too rough for a boat.

Costa Rica 105

Costa Rica Birds Species Peru 105

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2015

Alas, the team named for a bird fell short of the crown in Super Bowl XLIX. While many human beings felt anguish and rage at the loss, most avifauna appeared unperturbed. The non-Seahawk birds that caught my eye this weekend were Northern Cardinals , which always look their best burning crimson against a blanket of white snow.

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Birds 2015 ALA Humane 95

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Alas, as the decade progressed, I also saw the site degenerate. First, fences started to appear. Sections were logged, to be replaced with avocado groves, or, even worse, the biological desert of unvaried pasture.

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Birds Species Sparrows Squirrels 104

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2022

I happen to have visited that country twice (both for ministerial purposes and, alas, before I started my second birding period). There is a country in the Americas which is quite close to my country of birth, but which came into conflict with the USA shortly after said birth. (I I was born in 1958.) This two-country conflict has yet to end.

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Birds Species Sparrows ALA 104

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2021

And when you do get it to come within sight (alas, with playback, always), it can be as bold as any other member of this cocky family. In other words, it is a bird photographer’s nightmare. But there is no missing its beautiful song wringing through a canyon.

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Birds Species ALA Mexico 98

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2020

But, alas, the Novel Coronavirus did not respect my plans. And while it was to be a work (ministry) trip, I had still managed to schedule it right during the migratory peak along these two major corridors. I was soooo excited about getting to know the Middle East, as well as some of its exotic species.

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Species Mexico Birds Turkey 93

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2015

Alas, the long slog to spring will take many, many more frigid, blustery weeks. Keep your eyes to the skies for freaky hybrids ! If you live on my side of the globe–north/south axis, of course–you may be as sick as I am of winter weather.

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Birds 2015 ALA Hunting 86

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

The Ala Shan Redstart (which I will not call Przevalski’s Redstart, see my juvenile rants about the evil Mr Przevalski in earlier editions of this blog) is a very attractive bird and – as many attractive birds – listed as Near Threatened. “ Not the bird’s fault, I guess.

Birds 105

Birds China Species Breeding 105

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

Alas, I have found no viable acorns anywhere this past year — just as I am figuring out how to get oak seedlings to survive. They look promising: You may note that I have no oak seedlings this year. But of the native trees I would like to grow, the Jamaican Nettletree (Trema micrantha) surpasses all the rest.

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Birds Sparrows Species Mexico 111

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2013

Alas, I had no time outdoors this weekend, which leaves House Sparrows sheltering a giant wreath as my Best Bird of the Weekend. Winter may not technically begin for another couple of weeks, but frigid temperatures and wicked snow are assailing various parts of North America.

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Birds Sparrows 2013 North America 87

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Alas, this bird doesn’t like rain! I definitely fall into the former category, willing to cache new birds away like an Acorn Woodpecker stores oak nuts. This week, my travels took me within the orbit of a very special bird that’s been on my rainy day list. Don’t you love that feeling?

Birds 45

Birds 2019 Woodpeckers Species 45

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2022

Alas, our Western Gull was nowhere to be found! When not loafing by the fish shops, the gull sometimes takes sun on a nearby roof, even perching on the roof of the ferry that crosses the Gulf of Nicoya. With this birding knowledge in mind, we made a few passes by the shops, checked as many boats as we could and scanned rooftops.

Costa Rica 105

Costa Rica Birds Fish Belize 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2020

The cows and their entourage of Cattle Egrets sloshed through the pastures, each time they moved we lurched forward hoping to see a disturbed Grey-breasted Crake hop into view – but alas, no such luck even though we were hearing the little skulkers consistently.

Ducks 105

Ducks Birds Species Blackbirds 105

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2020

But alas, my garden Wilsons have not been seen here on the 4th of April. But my “Wilsons” really were Wilsons: Wilson’s Warblers , to be exact. One or or two of these cute birds visited me every day throughout the winter.

Birds 75

Birds Species Breeders Mexico 75

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Alas, he was gone before I had a chance to lift my camera. I did get a look through binoculars at a fabulous male that hopped up into a shaft of morning light, the pinkish-red feathers of his chin seemed to glow in the darkness of the surrounding foliage.

Birds 64

Birds Eagles Trinidad Species 64

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

Alas, the winds blew nothing exceptional my way. Every week, the winds carry the unexpected hither and yon. Were you hither? Were you yon? If so, we’d love to hear what you found there. In fact, my weekend avifauna was so prosaic that a lone House Finch stood out as the most interesting sighting.

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Birds 2015 ALA Species 58

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2013

Alas, they both kept their heads down until long after we’d left. My ill-advised twitch was a run for the Long Island Ruffs recently spotted on the south shore. Corey and I staked out the location early in the morning and logged a lot of time waiting for either of them to show. This is why I hate twitching!

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Birds 2013 Oakland ALA 99

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2018

Alas, we’re still mired in shorebird season, so I’l sally forth once more this weekend in search of the Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstones passing through the Great Lakes.

Birds 40

Birds ALA 2018 United States 40

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Alas, one would be wrong – I immediately mixed it up with the rather similar-looking Rufous-bellied Niltava (not shown here). Sadly, the HBW disagrees, going for “featureless smallish babbler” (which then incongruously is followed by a 155-word description of the features of the featureless babbler).

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Birds China Species Eagles 105

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

The campus has a pond (above), partially covered by hyacinths full of Northern Jacanas , where I tried to spot at least one caiman (alas, without success), a botanical garden and manicured grounds (with quite a few Green Ibises ) together with a souvenir shop. Since I wanted to buy some genuine tastes of Costa Rica, we continued to C.A.T.I.E.

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Costa Rica Birds Species Woodpeckers 105

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

Alas, the New York coastline is nowhere near as picturesque as the Pacific coast as our photo above by Duncan shows. This verse and many of the others in Thomas’s Poem in October references birds. Were I to write a poem about October, I’d do the same. How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding?

Birds 83

Birds 2013 ALA Horses 83

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2013

Rumor has it the falls are fantastic for gulls, but alas only in winter! If you’re not sure why moths deserve your wonder or how you should observe this annual extravaganza, check the excellent National Moth Week website. More visitors from out of town will be bringing me to North America’s most famous waterfall, Niagara Falls.

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Birds 2013 Trinidad North America 88

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2016

Alas, now that the Arizona Cardinals have fallen to the Carolina Panthers, we face the prospect of a Super Bowl without bird-themed football teams. So, do you prefer rambunctious horses or big cats better?

Birds 49

Birds Woodpeckers Wildlife 2016 49

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Alas, the only thing either of us found worth making a call about was the white cowbird, which I refound in one of the huge flocks of cowbirds and starlings that have been roaming around Fort Tilden. He had seen the bird a couple of minutes earlier but then a Merlin had come past and he lost the white bird in the frantic flock.

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Birds ALA Species 94

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2018

Alas for the naming of birds that it took place before anyone had the foresight to recognize that the Sharp-shinned Hawk should be called the Mini-Cooper.

Woodpeckers 40

Woodpeckers Birds ALA Ducks 40

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Alas, the flowering plants had almost all dried up, and hummingbirds were few. I went to the tiny town of Laurelito, on the north slope of Pico Azul, a 2,440 m (8,000 feet) peak just south of Morelia. But the stream that runs through the area still has water, and that may have been important for the good birding.

Woodpeckers 104

Woodpeckers Birds Species Ducks 104

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Alas, we mostly get females; the males winter along the coast. And while the Black-billed and Calliope Hummingbirds are very difficult sightings in my region, it would be a sad winter indeed if I didn’t see several of the Rufous and Allen’s Hummingbirds of my youth. This one was on the latter.

Species 74

Species Birds ALA Mexico 74

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

Crissal would never have become an ornithologist in the 1800s, as he would have been teased mercilessly from his first day in Bird School. What about the thrasher part though? Surely this returns some dignity to the poor bird, suggesting a pugnacious spirit honed by life in its desert habitat?

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Birds ALA Canada 71

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

Choosing among the hawks, eagles, and owls at the raptor residence (alas no rehab for these irreparably injured birds of prey) and the active late winter species in the park seemed impossible, until an impressive Pileated Woodpecker put on a powerful display of excavatory activity.

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Birds Woodpeckers 2012 Owls 84

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2021

Alas, nothing showed until there was a brief break in the shower and a Golden-crowned Warbler materialized in the leaf litter just in front of me. My wife retired to catch up on some lost sleep in the car as the rain swelled. Belligerent as always I stayed out, binoculars in the branches, hoping for something – anything really.

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Birds Endangered Species Species ALA 105

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Alas, they turned out to be Ring-billed Gulls , but as I turned back to the car another flock of white caught my eye. Rocky edges faced the water, and I leaped out of the car to see if the gulls lining the shore were the Ring-billed variety I’ve seen a gazillion times this year, or the less common Franklin Gulls.

Kansas 55

Kansas Pelicans Cattle Species 55

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2018

But, alas, I’d have colored practically the whole letter. After all, removing resources is the exact opposite of protecting resources. Here’s the not-altogether-unexpected reply: The ‘official’ response to my letter of concern. © The White House. I was going to highlight the inaccurate parts. al from abuse of power!

Wildlife 75

Wildlife Colorado Owls ALA 75

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2020

Alas, I am not among them. At the Uvac Dam (cover photo), a large group of conference participants was leaving the shuttle bus as I stopped the car… While I carefully reversed through the scattered bunch, a lucky few saw the main prize landing at the hilltop vulture restaurant: the huge Cinereous Vulture (or Eurasian Black Vulture)!

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Serbia Birds Sanctuary Owls 126