10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2014

Above the reed fronds, two Barn Owls were quartering, so white below that they appeared like pieces of paper quivering in the wind. Some motion, excitement in the group… finally the cranes! Three more cranes… Barn Owls in thickening darkness… and the temperature goes down to 4°C.

Geese 214

Geese Barn Owls Serbia Sheep 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2019

The Barn Owl was a cosmopolitan species, so as it is split the name has to be shared (American, western and eastern). But it doesn’t pit one group of birders against another, and there is value in keeping common names consistent over time, especially in a species as widespread and well known as this.

Iran 132

Iran Barn Owls New Zealand Europe 132

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Let me introduce my guest blogger, Lisa Owens Viani, co-founder of the California-based group RATS ( Raptors Are The Solution ), which educates people about the dangers of rat poisons. Does the product above strike you as black humor, only not funny? I’ll leave today’s blog in her capable hands.

Mountain Lions 265

Mountain Lions Rats Rodents Lions 265

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2013

A little further, there’s a family group of Savannah Elephants with two two-year olds. Those that crossed the road first are waiting for the rest of the group at the other side. Barn Owl on a dry tree trunk and a… traffic jam! The first to cross is an old female with a two-year old baby.

Africa 197

Africa South Africa Elephants Rhinos 197

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

This is followed by tales of birds like Barn Owls and Rockhopper Penguins, whose over-reproductive habits practically guarantee that some nestlings will die. There are even some figures that are all artwork; Nash’s drawing of the Wrybill and its asymmetrical bill (fig. 70) is adorable as well as educational.

Science 223

Science Albatross Research Birds 223

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

I only ran across this one Clark’s Grebe mixed in with in the groups of Westerns. This year they did not disappoint, as the first morning we sighted 17 birds in two groups. We actually saw a pair of these Barn Owls , but until this one landed in the willow trees close by, never were able to get a picture.

Oregon 115

Oregon Owls Wildlife Barn Owls 115

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2013

I’ve never been on an “owl prowl” before, and was thrilled that the one we joined turned up the promised quarry, and then some. Great Horned Owl babies peering out from their nest! Barn Owl babies peering out from their box! A Burrowing Owl peering at us from beside his burrow, and then making a hasty escape!

Nevada 178

Nevada Birds Barn Owls Cows 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2019

For many grassland species, our vast expanses of tilled and plowed fields, orchards and vineyards, pastures and rangeland offer an abundance of convenient food and shelter – and some bolder birds even wander indoors to find these things in our barns and stables.

Vermont 120

Vermont Belgium Farming Europe 120

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2019

And, because Ruby’s Birds is published by the Cornell Lab Publishing Group, these birds are shown again in the back of the book, in a section that challenges children to “Find These Birds in This Book–And in Your City!” Cornell Lab Publishing Group, Wundermill Books, March 2019. Ruby’s Birds.

New York City 155

New York City Pelicans Birds New York 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2012

Patience will get you good looks, and there is something very special about seeing a representative of a group so strongly associated with the almost mythic New Guinea. We soon located two nests of Eastern Barn Owls , but were unable to find the Sooty Owls that make the site a drawn for many birders.

Possums 172

Possums Guinea Marsupials Rats 172

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

” The essays are arranged in thematic order grouped in six sections: “Spark Bird!” Essay #158, “Things Birders Do: Big Years,” starts with the writer’s observation of a Barn Owl and then defines a Big Year, surprisingly celebrating it as opportunities for solitary introspection.

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

I spooked three Barn Owls out of a dense scrub row, just as the sun was setting. A small group of Canada Geese fly over, and out in front of their formation was a pair of Sandhill Cranes. I counted five Northern Harriers one morning, all working the reedy edges of the dry lake. This one flew right over my head.

Albuquerque 123

Albuquerque New Mexico Mexico Sparrows 123

10,000 Birds

JUNE 19, 2013

On the way back to the headquarters we passed a barn that was the roost of an Eastern Barn Owl. After lunch the group moved onto a nearby birding site, Pitt Town Lagoon. It was outstanding to just be able to lay back in the grass and watch these magnificent and massive birds of prey fly lazily above us.

Parrots 145

Parrots Barn Owls Eagles Australia 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

A combination of extinctions and proximity to Fiji means that a trip to that island group would net you pretty much all the same birds plus a whole raft of others. One particularly nice sighting one evening involved one of the Pacific’s other widespread self-introductions, the Barn Owl , which floated across the golden sky at susnset.

Tonga 165

Tonga Fiji New Zealand Parrots 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2021

The roadmap out of lockdown here in the UK has allowed us to meet up in small groups to indulge in outdoor activities, so birders have been gathering in loose flocks to greet the migrants as they head north.

Woodpeckers 155

Woodpeckers Sparrows Blackbirds Ducks 155

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2017

Barn Owl – Tyto alba. Eastern Screech-Owl – Megascops asio. Pacific Screech-Owl – Megascops cooperi. Lassen Volcanic NP–Lost Creek Group Campground. Indian Cuckoo – Cuculus micropterus. Bukit Tinggi. 05 May 2017. Common Cuckoo – Cuculus canorus. e Save u Dunav. 17 Apr 2017.

2017 100

2017 Australia Sanctuary Woodpeckers 100