10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2011

Or it might even convince them to let bird watchers hike across their property looking for a Baird’s Sparrow or a Sprague’s Pipit. They need to know that their local birds are special and worth protecting.

North Dakota 247

North Dakota West Virginia Farming Alaska 247

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2013

This is the Santa Cruz Island Rufous-crowned Sparrow , a subspecies endemic to Santa Cruz and Anacapa Islands. Never have I seen so many Rufous-crowned Sparrows, they are thick out here. I can’t finish this post without mentioning marine mammals. In summer and fall, the waters around the Channel Islands can teem with Blue Whales.

California 170

California Birds Sea Lions Whales 170

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2018

On my way back to the RV Park, I was able to photograph my first Gold-crowned Sparrows , since my trip to Kodiak Alaska, 3 years ago. The new lifers are the Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Lincoln Sparrow, Oak Titmouse , and the Wrentit! This extremely common duck, just never comes to Mexico.

Woodpeckers 100

Woodpeckers Oregon California Geese 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

But Northern Cardinal, Catbird, and White-throated Sparrow do not appear until the 270s, during a visit to Central Park while on business trip to New York City. Nome, Alaska. Of course, there are also many potential lifers that are essentially impossible to see in outside of Alaska, at least in the United States.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Portland United States Puerto Rico 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2012

Spew at sparrows. Are you in Alaska? The second-to-last North American bird to have its nest discovered, they split their time between a tiny chunk of Alaska and a smattering of Pacific Islands. They are fearful of flycatchers. Galled at gulls. They wince at warblers. Wail at waterfowl. Flinch at finches. Barf at blackbirds.

LACS 195

LACS Alaska Wildlife Connecticut 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling. The species has been recorded as far north as Alaska and as far south as some of the islands off Antartica. A few other intentional releases in other areas were not successful.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

the same few states always come to mind first…Alaska, Arizona, Texas, and Florida. Other specialties include Bobolink , Sandhill Crane , Black Tern , Pinyon Jay , Juniper Titmouse , Bohemian Waxwing (rare) , Northern Shrike , Black-backed Woodpecker and American Tree Sparrow. That’s where everyone goes, and for good reason.

California 208

California San Diego Birds Oakland 208

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

These Blasts From The Past 2 Book Giveaway Given Away Least Terns Doing Well in Oklahoma Honduras Trip Winner Has Blogged His Trip Should Subsistence Bird Hunters in Alaska Buy Duck Stamps? Win a Copy of Hawks at a Distance Great Horned Owl Taking a Deer Leg Cats Are Still Public Enemy Number One, For Birds Crossley ID Guide Giveaway Winners.Or

Deer 124

Deer 2011 Oklahoma New York 124

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

We remember starlings not skylarks, House Sparrows not Eurasian Tree Sparrows , Cattle Egrets not… well, whatever we’ve forgotten because it didn’t do as well as the Cattle Egrets. It’s just that the exceptions are so much more attention-grabbing. Glad that’s not the case.

Montana 138

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 138

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2012

If you go to places like Point Barrow, Alaska, in the late fall, or coastal Newfoundland in the dead of winter, you might have a chance to see them, but nothing is guaranteed. If you do find one, you may often see them feasting upon the blood of unlucky marine mammals, probably within a distance of 20 feet.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Sea Lions California Lions 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

They breed across Canada and Alaska’s boreal forest near ponds and lakes, using nest holes made by woodpeckers, almost exclusively flickers. Bufflehead are the smallest of North America’s diving ducks. In winter most head to the coasts though some stay inland on open water.

2011 150

2011 Ducks Deer New York 150

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2012

This led to a correspondence with Spencer Fullerton Baird, then assistant secretary of the Smithsonian, the mentor of many naturalist/scientists of Ridgway’s generation, himself a disciple of John James Audubon, and, yes, the Baird of Baird’s Sparrow. Baird, Brewer, Cory, Bicknell, and Worthen all make appearances.

Collecting 153

Collecting Illinois United States Science 153

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

Some states have no species at all, not even a pigeon, crow, or sparrow: Hawaii , Utah , Nebraska , Oklahoma , Minnesota , Iowa , Wisconsin , Kentucky , West Virginia , Mississippi , Alabama , Connecticut , and Rhode Island. Even the nation’s capital has been ignored.

Rhode Island 114

Rhode Island United States West Virginia Puerto Rico 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Picture being a Blackpoll Warbler being born in the boreal forests of Alaska. Almost as soon as you leave the nest, you have the strong urge to migrate to a place called “Venezuela” Can you imagine how many potential choices and decisions are involved in flying from Alaska to the Atlantic Seaboard, flying down the eastern U.S.,

Emotional 216

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 216

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2018

Donna was first amongst beats to reach North Dakota and brought the number of Lower 48s to 32, adding Sharp-tailed Grouse , Sprague’s Pipit and LeConte’s Sparrow to the life list. Jason broke new ground in Alaska, adding Marbled Murrulet and bringing the Upper 1 to 1. LeConte’s Sparrow – Ammodramus leconteii.

2018 101

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 101

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2020

Well, a somewhat obvious title for a blog post from China these days, particularly from somebody who pretends to have at least a basic grasp of world literature (and who has recently watched “Looking for Alaska” with its frequent allusions to another one of Marquez` works). Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Black-throated Bushtit. Common Kestrel.

China 224

China Birds Alaska Medical 224

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Kills in Canada, Alaska and Mexico are not included in the count. This represents 6% of the estimated mid-continental spring population of 322,700 birds for the same two decades. Given the projected recruitment rate, harvesting 6% of the population each year in the US alone seems to me to be cutting it too close to the edge.

2011 254

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 254

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2018

They earn the annual avian medal of honor because they fly to Costa Rica from as far as Alaska and other places where Snowy Owls roam. They are also involved with a project to learn more about and conserve the endemic Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. The endemic ground-sparrow is actually a cool, colorful towhee.

Costa Rica 178

Costa Rica 2018 Birds West Virginia 178

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2016

I caught this Lark Sparrow at San Blas, near Magdalena Bay , just as the sun was setting. While in Kodiak Alaska, I did get a few very nice Kodiak Grizzly Bear shots. There in no question that the bird of the year for me, at least from a purely photographic stand point is the Black Skimmer.

Grizzly Bear 123

Grizzly Bear San Jose Bears Fish 123

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2014

Aleutian Tern shows Alaska, Bridled Tern zooms into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, with the added bonus of showing the year-round area off of Florida, on the eastern and southeastern coasts. And, while my initial reaction to that buffy-yellow Grasshopper Sparrow’s breast was “too yellow!”, Not included.

North America 247

North America Birds Species America 247

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2020

Oil drilling on Alaska’s North Shore suddenly feels personal. Clay-colored, Vesper, Grasshopper, and Lincoln’s Sparrows do the same. Lark Sparrows and Black-chinned Hummingbirds prefer to breed in red states. So does climate-driven degradation of the Arctic tundra. No identity politics here. I’m Black.

North America 246

North America United States America Mexico 246