10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2022

The birding in Costa Rica is always golden but some days, you really do strike gold. Go birding in the humid, moss decorated forests of the Caribbean slope and the feathered nugget might take the form of a Bare-necked Umbrellabird. Focus on birds in the southern Pacific region and treasure might be a Turquoise Cotinga.

Costa Rica 250

Costa Rica Fish Belize Nicaragua 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

According to the unwritten ancient rules of birding, whether your pelagic trip gets cancelled or not, as long as you go birding, there will always be highlights. Alas, our trip to the sea was not to be! Tailless or not, we were pleased to see this uncommon bird. On both ferry trips, we had a few pelagic birds.

Costa Rica 211

Costa Rica ALA Peru Morals 211

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

On that glorious day, I observed ten critically endangered birds, representing 8% of their Costa Rican, or 2% of their global population!! In my previous post , I dealt with Rancho Naturalista Lodge itself and birding within their private reserve. But, let’s start at the beginning. A group (maybe 4-5 ex.)

Costa Rica 243

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2020

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. But, alas, the Novel Coronavirus did not respect my plans. The post Consolation species appeared first on 10,000 Birds. All in all, it was a very satisfying day.

Species 162

Species Mexico Jordan Turkey 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2019

The toughest thing for me, as a local birder, was to choose the most attractive birds because those that attract my attention are generally all too common in the northwest of Europe, from where most visiting birders are coming. In no particular order, here they are: Where to watch the top-20 birds of Belgrade.

Serbia 250

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 250

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Alas, we’re also intimately acquainted with darker emotions; the lust in our hearts alone (for lifers and optics, naturally) exacts a heavy emotional toll. But even more bitter is a birder’s envy… Jealousy makes up so much of the birding experience that I imagine the green-eyed monster derives its color from parrot plumage.

Emotional 160

Emotional 2011 Ohio ALA 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2020

10,000 Birds is having trouble with our website platform. When you are an American expatriate who lives, and birds, in Mexico, it is a topsy-turvy world. One or or two of these cute birds visited me every day throughout the winter. But alas, my garden Wilsons have not been seen here on the 4th of April.

Nashville 133

Nashville ALA Louisiana Mexico 133

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In September, I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to an increasingly popular destination for birding: Honduras. Chris Lotz, the owner of the international bird tour company Birding Ecotours , invited me to join him on a familiarization trip that included several highland sites as well as Pico Bonito Lodge.

Honduras 221

Honduras Costa Rica El Salvador Arizona 221

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2016

There is a regular birding route in Costa Rica that hits every major habitat in the country and makes an easy, logistical friendly loop. Those time honored sites are always good and result in fantastic, birdy trips but they aren’t the only places in Costa Rica for birding. The view of the forested hillside.

Costa Rica 179

Costa Rica Birds Owls Litter 179

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2011

Corey’s best bird of the weekend was a wicked Chuck-will’s-widow at Prospect Park on Saturday. My own best bird was Caspian Tern , right on time along Lake Ontario. For those of you playing along at home, this gives me 17 new ABA birds for a total of 467 as of May 1, 2011.

2011 157

2011 Mississippi ALA Sparrows 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump. Presumably, in the early days of ornithology, some scientists spent most of their time transcribing bird calls. The Black-faced Laughingthrush (Longcanggou, Sichuan) is a real beauty, though this photo does not fully do the bird justice.

San Diego 213

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 213

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2011

Feeding birds is generally regarded as a harmless past-time, a wholesome way for people to share nature and enjoy wildlife with the family. However, more and more news stories are popping up this year of communities cracking down on bird feeding. How do you know when you are a little too involved with feeding birds?

Bald Eagle 250

Bald Eagle Birds Deer Minnesota 250

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

While there are some two dozen birding spots in Belgrade, Serbia, that stand out, in this guideblog I will focus on the river Danube and its floodplain, inside the Important Bird Area “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers”. The next winter bird spot lies some 4.5 Bus: 79 & 24. eBird list. eBird list.

Serbia 240

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 240

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2019

And, alas, heat is one thing Mexico’s Pacific coast has in excess. But it does have a very modest hotel right by the water, which made it easy for me to bird at the break of dawn. The post So I went to the beach appeared first on 10,000 Birds. My wife hates heat. But this past week, my wife travelled to the U.S.

Mexico 129

Mexico Alligators ALA 2019 129

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2014

After wrapping up our time in the highlands of Honduras, Chris Lotz (owner of international bird tour company Birding Ecotours ) and I arrived at the deservedly famous Pico Bonito Lodge. However, for me, there were birds to be seen. Photo by James Adams. For the hardcore birder, Pico Bonito has plenty to offer.

Honduras 163

Honduras Monkeys Birds America 163

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

I will pass over my years in Mexicali, the desert city that made me forget about birding for many years.) But when the season is right, I will certainly see lots of Lucifer Hummingbirds , Broad-billed Hummingbirds , and the similar but paler endemic Dusky Hummingbirds. Alas, we mostly get females; the males winter along the coast.

Minnesota 129

Minnesota ALA Mexico California 129

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

And where all those birds are? This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. And it raises a question: if all the birds are having a party over there, am I in the wrong spot? I am talking 600 or 700+ bird species. Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2012

Alas, it was not to be. They’re not the Lammergeyer – they’re not even close, as the Lammergeyer dwells alone in the genus Gypaetus – but the Egyptian Vulture and Cinereous Vulture are worthy birds in their own right. Then I sent him a picture to explain my excitement. Lammergeyers!

Wildebeasts 210

Wildebeasts Spain Turkey ALA 210

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2015

To be honest, quetzals aren’t seen that often right at Myriam’s but they are seen just down the road. Quetzal is THE beloved, sacred bird of Guatemala and they do live there (and in southern Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) BUT are more accessible in Costa Rica. These people feed birds. Yes, the R.

Costa Rica 150

Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua Honduras 150

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2018

But, alas, I’d have colored practically the whole letter. As we enter the second century of protecting, preserving, and respecting our wild spaces, certainly no one would actually consider undoing, reversing, and exploiting our national parks, forests, and monuments. And yet, it has begun. © The White House. al from abuse of power!

Colorado 162

Colorado Protection Bears ALA 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2018

But I really would’ve jumped at a chance to try this beer, if only to review a beer infused with the world’s best-known bird-inspired candy. Alas, the beer is only available on draft in Texas for a limited time, far out of range for me in New York. Happy drinking and good birding! “Fat free”? Stay tuned!

Fort Worth 122

Fort Worth ALA Texas Investigation 122

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

In the morning, still sleepy, we enter the jungle, where a sounder of Indian Boars (a long-maned subspecies Sus scrofa cristatus ) is watching us, standing among the first trees, right next to the road. Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe. One White-eyed Buzzard has turned its back to us.

Tigers 243

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2016

I remember, several times while motionlessly surveying birds, I found myself being investigated by Striped Field Mice , who would dare to come to sniff me. Europe: The sun is scorching the area, and the birds are nowhere to be seen. No, birds are way too smart for that stupid trick. My first ever Balkan Egyptian Vultures!

Wildlife 183

Wildlife Tigers Asia Europe 183

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

The very best wetland birding around Belgrade, Serbia, is not to be found in the locally famous and tourist-promoted Obedska or Carska Bara Ramsar areas, but at Beljarica Backwaters and the fish farm triangle of Centa, Baranda and Sakule villages, in the Tamis River floodplain. If there were rains recently, this section of 0.3

Farming 264

Farming Birds Fish Boars 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2011

These enchanting nectar feeders have truly mastered the art of flight like no other bird. Nestled in cloud forest at 6000 feet on the western slope of northern Ecuador, this place is a true birding lodge with comfortable accommodations, excellent birding leaders and great tasting coffee. Few living things are created perfect.

Ecuador 244

Ecuador Giraffes ALA Species 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

Of course, excellent opportunity to go birding with my friends Brad and Laura. My colleague Doug wrote me an email describing the whereabouts of these “rosy finches” and my wife had to manage my excitement with horse tranquilizer… What a fantastic little birds. This is a simple grey and black bird but I have always wanted to see one.

Denver 172

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2023

When you have birded a single area as much and for as long as I have birded Michoacán, it becomes progressively harder to find first-time species (“lifers”) there. I had seen several species turn up in new and unexpected places there, but none of them were birds that I had never seen before. Plus, dry tropical heat.

Bats 130

Bats Mexico ALA 2020 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2017

I am a birder and I can claim that out of Serbia’s total of 350+ bird species, highly urbanised inner city areas of Belgrade hold almost 100 birds, while the outskirts have more than 200 species. eBird says that, at the time of writing (April 2017), there are some ten hotspots that have crossed the 100 bird species mark.

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Birds 2017 Eagles Otters 209

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

It was only a few years later when I discovered birding. Eventually, I discovered the joy of putting these two pastimes together, by making gardens that are attractive to birds. But there are almost no ways to buy bird-friendly native plants down here in Mexico, so I’m still doing it on the cheap. Yellow-winged Cacique.

Mexico 237

Mexico Collecting ALA Sparrows 237

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

As 2013 draws to a close we here at 10,000 Birds thought that it would be a great idea if we, like we did in 2010 , 2011 , and 2012 , shared our Best Birds of the Year. We also want to know what YOUR Best Bird of the Year was. Now on to the Best Birds of the Year for those who write on 10,000 Birds! Sound good?

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

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. Wanna try to ID this bird?

Malaysia 178

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Birds 178

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2016

Broad-billed, White-eared, Berylline, Green-breasted Mango , and of course the Magnificent Hummingbird were all names I longed to have right there alongside my paltry two species. Alas, our adventure has only carried us to the southern half of Baja California. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Costa’s is a truly beautiful bird.

Coyotes 123

Coyotes Mexico California ALA 123

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2012

In my case, I had to format my excel sheet just so, a considerable task because when I dabbled in Birdstack (gone, alas, but not forgotten) I adopted its formatting as well as the more fluid International Ornithological Congress (IOC) taxonomy , both of which were inimical to that of eBird. Worst of all were all the hyphen issues.

Arizona 177

Arizona Belize Adoptable ALA 177

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2017

In Costa Rica, we don’t get many chances to chase birds. The same goes for other challenging resident birds like the Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Speckled Mourner, and Gray-headed Piprites. No matter where in the world we bird, it seems like the ones we twitch are the birds that aren’t supposed to be there.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Nicaragua 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Not all birding sites are created equal. Some sites have birds in such abundance you’re left shell-shocked, others are so grueling and demanding you are left wondering why you started birding in the first place. Alas this was not to be, and this species remains one of my nemesis birds. A Bassian Thrush!

Australia 177

Australia Ducks Parrots New Zealand 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2017

With enough planning, you can enjoy a family-friendly, bird-rich vacation in the Panama Canal zone. Any dedicated birder visiting Panama City should first consider the Canopy Tower , one of the most important and beloved birding lodges in the Americas. Despite the golf course, this place host all manner of birds and mammals.

Panama 100

Panama 2017 Monkeys Family 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2021

One of the minor challenges of writing a blog post for 10,000 Birds is to come up with a title. Now, I usually go for the most boring ones imaginable, such as “Birding XY in [season]” Underpromise and overdeliver, as I would say if I was a McKinsey consultant (I swear to god I never was one). Do they eat dead fish?

China 262

China ALA Fish Mammals 262