10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2024

In my younger days I was very keen on what is generally known as Big Day Birding, or trying to see as many species of birds as possible in one day. Called The Big Bird Race , it tells the story of how my team, representing Country Life magazine , recorded 155 species in 24 hours in East Anglia (Suffolk and Norfolk).

Birds 130

Birds Kenya Barn Owls Owls 130

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

Bird Day is a lovely, little jewel of a book. The idea is to portray one bird for each hour of the day in words and art, presenting the diversity, beauty, and wonder of avian life. Angell’s black-and-white illustrations bring sparks of energy and visual clarity to the fascinating bird behaviors described by Huber.

Chicago 193

Chicago Barn Owls Penguins New Zealand 193

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2020

Of course, the real reason I always look for Collective Arts beers is because this can artwork occasionally features birds, including two editions we’ve already featured here at Booze and Birds. And with Stranger than Fiction , a porter, we got a beautifully painted Eurasian Eagle-Owl ( Bubo bubo ).

Collecting 164

Collecting Barn Owls Owls Philadelphia 164

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2024

Starting the New Year by trying to see as many species as possible is something of a birding tradition. My diary notes that the New Year dawned grey and windy, but I rose early, walked six miles before breakfast and noted a modest 26 species of birds. One of my more memorable New Year’s days was in the Falkland Islands, back in 1989.

Birds 226

Birds Albatross Barn Owls Sparrows 226

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

How much do you know about owls? I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read.

Owls 224

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

This week’s featured wine at Birds and Booze isn’t our first pinot noir , nor is it our first Barn Owl (in fact, this marks the third appearance of this species on a bottle here). Good birding and happy drinking! Alexander Brown: Uncaged – Pinot Noir (2017) appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

2017 154

2017 Barn Owls California Owls 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

I cannot say that I have only begun deliberately seeking owls (owling) as a birder or even as an adult – I have been enthralled by their presence since I was little. Some of my earliest bird-related memories (what other memories even exist?) involve owls. Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Tropical Screech-Owl.

Trinidad 277

Trinidad Owls Barn Owls Abandon 277

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2023

In the human psyche, owls can be cuddly signs of good luck and benificence (as they are in Japan, and Harry Potter movies) and, at the same time, eerie and unsettling. Either way, they are perhaps more central to our stories and lore than other birds, a familiar example, as Darlington reminds us, being Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Barn Owls 113

Barn Owls Owls Serbia Finland 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2022

Now that we’re nearly a week into 2022, I’ve made a resolution for the new year to keep a more regular schedule posting here at Birds and Booze. Titled Birson and Pird , this fanciful piece superimposes two bird heads from John James Audubon’s The Birds of America on black-clad human bodies.

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Collecting Barn Owls Eagles America 248

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

So I was delighted when the Seminary grounds turned out to host at least 6 of these beautiful birds. We were happy to experience three birds of prey on this jaunt. And two Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls toot-toot-tooted from the brush. The photos are grainy because these birds don’t stick around until the light is good.

Barn Owls 222

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

We didn’t manage to make it happen the first Monday, but on the 28th of June, we birded his property together. Fortunately, low light works quite well for certain deeply-colored birds, like this one of the several Blue Grosbeaks that were to be found. That’s 100% Barn Owl butt, right there. The post Lifer!

Barn Owls 262

Barn Owls Owls Mexico Leopards 262

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2022

Last week, Corey opened the “Top Ten Birds for 2021” season here at 10,000 Birds. He lamented that he had barely been able to travel during the year — only one trip from New York to California, poor boy — and then went on to give an impressive list of vagrants and first-of-state birds.

Mexico 234

Mexico Birds Virginia Barn Owls 234

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2022

They are places where we invest most of our birding time and rightly so; mature tropical forests are where we find the highest number of species. Tropical forest is a must but those mossy green mansions aren’t the only places where birds occur. Such field and edge birding becomes especially fun in urbanized areas.

Costa Rica 273

Costa Rica Farming Birds Sparrows 273

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2023

All fades under the blinding lights of new backyard birds, however. Regular readers will be well aware that I am a huge fan of sitting at home, sipping coffee, and birding. The benefits of long-term observation of the same birds have fertilized my psyche in ways I never thought possible.

Trinidad 239

Trinidad Barn Owls Owls Reptiles 239

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2021

A Burnt out Barn Owl (Kruger Park, South Africa). A Snoozing Spotted Eagle Owl (Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa). Next week: Bird names that rhyme with pizza toppings … The post Sleep appeared first on 10,000 Birds. A Sleepy Shoveller ( Northern Shoveller , Nanhui, Shanghai). Why is that?

South Africa 169

South Africa Barn Owls Africa Penguins 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

It didn’t take too long after the big rain event at the end of January for Roebuck Plains to flood and the birds to arrive. The highway out of Broome towards Derby has also become great for bird-watching. Sadly, one of the first birds that we saw was a recently deceased Barn Owl. Water across the highway.

Barn Owls 197

Barn Owls Cattle Ducks Reptiles 197

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2014

The day before we headed south to Perth to circumnavigate Herdsman Lake and see the amazing bird-life there we did a short drive out of town at home in Broome. The road north was closed beyond a certain distance, but the road south remained open and always offers excellent birding opportunities when this happens.

Barn Owls 162

Barn Owls Seals Birds Cattle 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Photos courtesy of Mosetlha Bush Camp A dusty-red road leads me through Marico bushveld deeper into the 750 square kilometers large wilderness of the Madikwe Game Reserve – the 4th largest reserve in South Africa, home to 350 bird and 66 mammal species, some 4 hours’ drive from Johannesburg. Barn Owl on a dry tree trunk and a… traffic jam!

South Africa 232

South Africa Africa Game Elephants 232

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Although it was nothing like going from New York to California or even Buffalo, New York to North Carolina, a change of location, however slight, can bring new birds especially in Costa Rica. In typical blackbird fashion, this common garden bird gave occasional, loud, ringing calls. Right at home. These were. Great Kiskadee.

Costa Rica 181

Costa Rica Barn Owls Stray Dog Blackbirds 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

I don’t mean people who steal birds. I mean birds who steal, sometimes from people. It’s a sad fact of life: sometimes birds take things that don’t belong to them. Crows, who are probably the most larcenous birds on earth, make off with anything they can get their beaks on. Raptors mug each other mid-air.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 242

Wildlife Rehabilitation Wildlife Barn Owls Oklahoma 242

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

However, I have to put it in perspective by explaining that during the year I hardly ventured out of East Anglia, and almost every bird was seen in Suffolk or Norfolk – I live on the county boundary. I’m not a twitcher, either, so I rarely, if ever, go in search of a bird, or birds, that someone else has reported.

Estonia 236

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 236

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2022

A Barn Owl slept peacefully on the inside of the roof of a well-visited tourist cafe. It warned me not to order the latte though – overpriced and not very good, according to the owl. While some bustards are the largest bird species capable of flight, the Black-bellied Bustard is only mid-sized. Quite a beauty.

Birds 147

Birds Africa Eagles Barn Owls 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2016

If you see a flyer such as this and you’re unfamiliar with wildlife, you can 1) believe the hundreds of people who write things like “I know for a fact a Barn Owl can carry off a 3-pound Chihuahua!” All birds of prey are protected by state and federal law,” says Eileen Wicker. “If If you have a cat, keep it inside.

Pets 240

Pets Barn Owls Kentucky Bald Eagle 240

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2019

Although that may sound as if we stand out there at all hours like a bino wearing sentinel watching the trees, most of our birding is typical yard list stuff; just keeping eyes and ears out for whatever avian things come our way. Up in here, those choice birds have come in the form of: Scarlet Tanager and Eastern Kingbirds. Bat Falcon!

Costa Rica 169

Costa Rica Barn Owls Birds Parrots 169

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2012

I’m hearing all kinds of owl howls, from Saw-whets at (where else?) Owl Woods and Short-eared Owls from New York to the Galapagos Islands. One birder known to many of us even had her life Barn Owl turn up in her backyard! I should have chased owls this weekend, but chose to work on my landscaping instead.

Barn Owls 184

Barn Owls 2012 Owls New York 184

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2015

By the time the cigar smoke cleared and the port had soaked through the tablecloth, the Robin had taken its place as Britain’s National Bird. A popular vote shall be held” announced David, “and whosoever wins the poll shall be acknowledged as Britain’s National Bird”. It started as a discussion over the Stilton and walnuts.

Barn Owls 141

Barn Owls Birds Adoptable Owls 141

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2012

Wander through my front door and glance upwards and you’ll find at least two watching you, a Tawny Owl and a Barn Owl , both sadly gathered as roadkills. Above our fireplace is a large painting of a Barn Owl.

Barn Owls 187

Barn Owls Finland Owls Portugal 187

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2014

Birds Conservation Barn Owl hawk raptors rat poison rats reckitt benckiser' Scroll to the bottom for a list of products you can boycott. Photos of Cooper’s Hawks by Tony Brake.

Rats 248

Rats Barn Owls Rodents San Francisco 248

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2015

After a long hiatus that included a new cat, a new apartment, and enough time with the in-laws to last me quite awhile, here’s a rundown of April’s bird news: Funny, sad, and thought-provoking … an African-American ornithologist’s video tips for birding while black. Props on the sweet Barred Owl call, too.

Malta 189

Malta Barn Owls Cyprus Fowl 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

This shouldn’t have to be stated, especially in a book on bird evolution by an evolutionary biologist with a Ph.D. How Birds Evolve: What Science Reveals about Their Origin, Lives, and Diversity by Douglas J. Futuyma is a synthesis of theory and research about evolution and birds. that’s three birds).

Science 228

Science Albatross Research Birds 228

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2021

Whether it is birding tourism or simply spreading awareness about biodiversity, it is always with the aim of getting us humanoids to treat nature a little (ideally, a lot) better. As a rule, any tree which sprung up at the fenceline was left alone – as it was highly likely it was planted there by bird droppings.

Opossums 264

Opossums Barn Owls Hunting Reptiles 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2012

The most common owls in the world are also in the Galapagos Islands and are considered subspecies that only occur in Galapagos, so one could almost say they are endemic subspecies. I have only seen this bird near wide open “fields of lava” where I suspect it is easier to see their prey.

Owls 205

Owls Barn Owls Rodents Birds 205

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2015

She runs Birds of Texas Rehabilitation Center in Austin County, Texas. This attitude of superiority and arrogance can be seen in the recent story about a researcher on the Solomon Islands who mist trapped a bird not seen by scientists for fifty years. Can a dead bird educate the researcher on its song? Or how gracefully it flew?

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Collecting Wildlife Rehabilitation Solomon Islands Texas 240

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Bufflehead ( Bucephala albeola ) Female at Cavity Entrance photos by Larry Jordan “Some 85 species of North American birds excavate nesting holes, use cavities resulting from decay (natural cavities), or use holes created by other species in dead or deteriorating trees. Talk about cute! www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWDXIhy9oJA

North America 225

North America America Barn Owls Falcons 225

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2020

Today, May 9th is when we would have been immersed in birds, likely from dusk to dawn. and listening for owls just before dawn. There would have been forest interior birding shortly thereafter followed by visits to wetlands, edge habitats, highland forests, and other places to finish off a grand Global Big Day in Costa Rica.

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Costa Rica Barn Owls Farming Owls 218

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2012

It is unique in many ways including its bird life an it is part of our national reserves. I am not a big fan of Owls because they require nocturnal searching and it is very difficult to find them. So far I have only been able to photograph three: Great-horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, and Barn Owl.

Owls 157

Owls Barn Owls Ecuador Collecting 157

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2018

In the very back of my first bird identification field guide ( Audubon , green, Eastern US) there were several blank pages. Since neither the Internet nor eBird were even a thought, that’s where I collected the place names of my birding bucket list. Let’s enjoy the owls of Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Eastern Screech-Owl.

Texas 164

Texas Owls Barn Owls Hunting 164