10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2019

Barn Swallows are pretty much anywhere in the world (I just saw them back in Germany). But the way it is, familiarity breeds (relative) contempt. The Cattle Egret (or Eastern Cattle Egret , to be exact, but that would mess with my alphabetic order) can be seen in farmland around Shanghai. A thoroughly modern bird.

Germany 135

Germany Cattle Blackbirds Birds 135

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

This is not entirely unknown among domestic animals, but many domesticates have no living wild version. Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. Bringing animals that would require feed and water at that early stage would have been unwise.

Turkey 214

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

The Kerkini Lake National Park is my favourite birding area in the whole of the Balkans and while I’ve been here in April and again (migration), September (migration), October (coffee break), December and January (wintering), this was my first time in the breeding season, in May. But nowadays, they, too, breed here, about 20 pairs this year.

Greece 201

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2018

Beset by poaching by cattle ranchers, habitat loss, DDT, and lead poisoning (from consuming shotgun pellets embedded in the condor’s carrion fare), populations of this enormous New World vulture fell into a serious decline in the twentieth century. A portion of all draft and bottle sales of Condor Kolsch will be donated to these programs.

California Condor 107

California Condor Oregon California Zoos 107