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When is a Vulture Not a Vulture?

10,000 Birds

Alas, although I was once a California boy, I have never seen a California Condor. Zone-tailed Hawks breed in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, but they winter from Mexico to Brazil. Here in Mexico, I can almost always count on Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures to pad each outing’s list by two species.

Turkey 192
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A guide to the birds of St Helena and Ascension Island – An archetype of extinction and introduction

10,000 Birds

White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) Notwithstanding the fact that nearly all of the endemics and other native species are extinct the islands of St Helena and Ascension remain very popular for birdwatchers and especially photographers because they are both major breeding sites for seabirds. BirdLife international has designated St.

Birds 202
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Best Bird of the Weekend (Last of April 2020)

10,000 Birds

Alas, these gentle rains may not always speed spring migrants on their way to breeding grounds far from the equator. April showers most assuredly bring May flowers in the more temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere. Any luck this weekend? The ridiculous cold afflicting the northeastern U.S.

2020 162
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Birding around Chaka, Qinghai, China

10,000 Birds

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. I blame this on covid-19.

China 243
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Cute and Cuter

10,000 Birds

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.

Colombia 217
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Birding Lake Kerkini, Greece: Three Lazy Days

10,000 Birds

The last time I was here, the National Park Director, Dr Theodoros Naziridis, told me they were waiting for a really high water level to pull the floating concrete raft (intended for breeding of pelicans) further away so the pile of rocks it was anchored to could become a foundation for the new wooden platform.

Greece 224
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Horrible Hybrids

10,000 Birds

One year he was very excited when his female Hawaiian Goose hatched four healthy goslings, the first time he had managed to breed this species. Alas, I wasn’t able to spend sufficient time watching them to see if they had any success with the assembled Blackgrouse hens. These two Racklehahns were quite different.

Geese 182