10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

And I love making my little garden (some 1400 square feet) more attractive to birds. But I would never have imagined how important it would be to my emotional well-being to have a bird-friendly garden during lockdown. In recent years, I have moved much more in the direction of plants that attract birds.

Birds 154

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2018

Countless flocks of frigid, sodden birds must be wondering whether they took a wrong turn somewhere. Migrants are on the move, if you can bear to be out looking for them! Corey had a large variety of birds to choose his Best Bird of the Weekend from this week and had a hard time making his selection. How about you?

2018 113

2018 Jamaica Sparrows Bears 113

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2023

By Louis-Jean Germain Influenced by his mother, Louis-Jean Germain has long been interested in art, and in recent years, he has become an avid painter of Asian birds. I used to be an avid birder, but during the last couple of years, because of other hobbies or life choices, I have been birding less and less. Birds became my lifeline.

Birds 189

Birds China Emotional Vietnam 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2020

In this post, we’ll share the most positive of the positives, at least for those who write for 10,000 Birds who decided to share. Of all the birds that make the list for a given year one of those birds must be the Best Bird of the Year. We are always content bird-watching around Broome anyway!

2020 220

2020 Birds Germany Costa Rica 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2018

Your 2018 year lists, whether you tally them or not, have already begun to populate, silently bearing witness to your commitment to bird looking or lack thereof. I enjoyed my first wave of feeder birds for the year, with Tufted Titmouse winning BBOTW honors only because that species appears less frequently than my other local denizens.

2018 101

2018 Beavers Industry Bears 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2019

These reports (called “ Banking on Nature “) are relevant to birders because they are among the few comprehensive analyses that relate to the economic impact of birders on national wildlife refuges, which are among the more popular birding locations. A number of these NWRs appear on my list of the Top 25 NWRs for Birding.).

Wildlife 238

Wildlife Maryland San Francisco Minnesota 238

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2014

April bears the most fruit for my family tree, including my own bad apple birthday this week. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

New Jersey 172

New Jersey 2014 Louisiana Bears 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2020

Be careful how you Google ‘bird of paradise’! It’s the bird family that most people don’t know is a bird family. It’s the bird family that most people don’t know is a bird family. For many years it was thought the two bird families were related taxonomically.

Guinea 260

Guinea Birds Papua New Guinea Family 260

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2016

There are a lot of side benefits to birding. But, while we are making sacrifices for the avian quest, we also experience side benefits much less trying in nature. It was spring migration and they weren’t birding but he greeted me with open arms and a hug. He asked and I told him my name and that I was watching birds.

Birds 151

Birds Costa Rica Chickens Goats 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2018

And, there are 300+ species of birds in this breathtaking region of the northern Rockies. What surprised me was the availability of birds, birds, birds on the ground – a cure for that chronic birding condition that I call ‘binocular neck.’. All of the neck-strain-free birds below breed in Montana.

Montana 144

Montana Bald Eagle Birds Bears 144

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

Not professionally – these people come in SUVs and probably never recapture their gas money from the fish they catch (though come to think of it, neither do I with my bird photos). This is ok as birds do not have teeth anyway). One strange thing about Chongming is the inevitable presence of people fishing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

Faithful 10,000 Birds readers will remember Suzie as our wildlife rehabilitation beat writer. Suzie wrote about her experiences as a bird rehabber in Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings (2009) and used those experiences as the source for her fictional children’s book, Hawk Hill (1996).

Wildlife Rehabilitation 245

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2024

And if you like birding, it’s a good place to spend time before or after meetings and explore. Late autumn 2022, I decided flying in a day early to do some weekend birding. It was David’s first time birding. Now it was a bit lighter, diurnal birds became vocal. A weekday would be better for timid birds.

Parrots 152

Parrots Woodpeckers Industry Fast Food 152

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2021

My first experience birding was as a teenager back in the 70s, when birding meant a pair of binoculars, a couple of bird feeders, and a smallish field guide (book). I have birding buddies! Suddenly, I gain new respect from the aforementioned Mexican birding buddies. … to where I once belonged.

Kansas 184

Kansas Wounded ALA Squirrels 184

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

What if there was an international multi-day Birding competition? Enter the inaugural Peru Birding Rally Challenge , the first international birding event of it’s kind in the world. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open.

Peru 217

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 217

10,000 Birds

JUNE 10, 2020

Over a decade ago I stumbled upon the first edition of the field guide to the birds of T&T and marveled at the astounding diversity within its pages. I had already been birding for some time, but my photography was poor and my identification skills were abysmal. Many of them were outrageously plumaged. I carefully noted this.

2012 182

2012 Bears Experience Experiments 182

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

I dipped on one of my favorite birds from this area, the Lesser Roadrunner , as well as the marvelous Sparkling-tailed Woodstar (a long-tailed hummingbird). But the day did provide me with a parade of some of Michoacán’s most colorful birds, some of them migratory, and others local specialties.

South America 184

South America Sparrows Mexico Bears 184

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2013

Does birding make you happy? And it is certainly possible to imagine compulsive joyless birding, and I think most of us may have encountered it on occasion. I’m going to assume that most people reading this enjoy watching birds. You may be outraged by the suggestion, but let’s face it, birders love not birding.

Birds 162

Birds Research Hawaii Albatross 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2018

Other reminders of December in Costa Rica are palm trees festooned with Christmas lights, an abundance of annual bird counts, and sightings of winter birds like gulls, ducks, and a scattering of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Personally, I had a year accompanied by a blend of changes and birds. It has been good, I am grateful!

Costa Rica 158

Costa Rica 2018 Birds West Virginia 158

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2014

I had some friends in the Anchorage area who were generous enough to offer to put me up, and I made plans to arrive a day early so I could take in at least 24 hours on on-land boreal birding. As we headed down the trail, we were stopped from taking the long route by yellow tape and a sign warning of bears. I was instantly enthralled.

Alaska 167

Alaska Bears Grizzly Bear North Carolina 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

I don’t really know – from my own experience with school bullies or from Jack London’s novels? At some stage, a salmon-hunting bear at a shingle beach came too close, mere 9 steps. Now, you should know Lucky, he’s no taller than my wife, who is of average height for a woman, and that bear was at least 4-5 times heavier than him.

Animal 114

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 114

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

I must ashamedly admit that prior to this mission, I had never been birding on the island before. Sure enough it was a place I always wanted to visit for birding, but things never fell into place. Tobago of course bears a closer geological relation to the aforementioned Netherlands Antilles than it does to Trinidad.

Trinidad 170

Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 170

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

Do you think that any event in our lifetimes will ever focus so much positive attention and excitement on nature or birding? I found myself on the shore of Lake Ontario on the most bitter day of this mild winter to observe over 1,700 maniacs take a Polar Bear Plunge. Not likely, right?

Polar Bears 167

Polar Bears 2012 New York Geese 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2021

They also remind me why I love birding in Michoacán. I would love to know how the order spread across these regions, since that spread must have involved either crossing oceans or the frigid regions that these birds avoid. Both are large, stocky birds, with a large head and long, squared-off tail. Those are good numbers.

Mexico 176

Mexico Indonesia North America Arizona 176

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2016

Years ago, I became a wildlife volunteer and advocate because of a cat who caught a bird. It was Los Angeles, after all, where mileage has no bearing on time, but where time was precious for my little rescue on this crystal morning. Back then, I didn’t know enough about birds, but I knew a lot about cats. I scrambled for a box.

Cats 204

Cats Stray Cat Stray Wildlife Rehabilitation 204

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2018

I had high hopes for the 5th Annual Queens County Bird Club Big Sit this past Saturday at Fort Tilden. We had persevered through four years at the top of Battery Harris Platform and could bring our experience to bear on the task of trying to record as many species as possible on a single day from that single spot.

2018 191

2018 Bald Eagle Battery Birds 191

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2014

The tracks of two young Polar Bear skirt a crack in the sea ice in Admiralty Inlet. Wildlife concentrates at the Floe Edge, and although we just missed Narwhal as pack ice moved in just after we arrived, the place was littered with Polar Bear. Still, with that many bear you have to stay vigilant. Ringed Seal. Glaucous Gull.

Polar Bears 185

Polar Bears Seals Bears Laws 185

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2017

It’s an experience I can’t recommend highly enough. They mean sweet-flowered linden, not the tree that bears the citrus fruit. It can only improve your birding. And hey, if a bird happens to appear while you’re already looking up, that’s a bonus. And then there are factoids that are just fun.

Kentucky 126

Kentucky Bears Experience Experiments 126

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

Our campsite was gorgeous North Lake State Park in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, where the air is crisp, the forests are largely intact, and the bears force you to be careful about leaving food out when you go to sleep. And, of course, as I do sometimes, I managed to sneak in a bit of birding. How cute is this?

New York 174

New York Cooking Chipmunks Owls 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2012

William Blake, the 18th and 19th century English poet, painter and engraver, is most remembered for his two linked collections of poems, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The notebook, now usually known as “The Rossetti Manuscript,” held many literary treasures, among them “The Birds.” The Birds He.

Birds 124

Birds Bears Mammals Collecting 124

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2015

A literal wild goose chase had led to a cascading series of errors in which I missed nearly every bird I sought. I picked out a Red-tailed Hawk bearing a squirrel away to a perch to eat, and got a sharp, crisp view of the messy dismemberment despite the gloom. Did I have a lovely experience with the birds as well?

New York City 153

New York City Squirrels New York Owls 153

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

If you had your choice of one bird family to pursue, to seek out and observe and photograph and kvell over, which one would you choose? A passion for one bird family is also very useful. It provides goals and a definite direction for your birding travels and thoughts; sometimes it even becomes the basis of a book!

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Ecuador Bolivia 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2019

Of course, I also love birding in Mexico, with its 1,000+ species, and seemingly infinite variety of habitats. It may be a drop in the ocean, but it makes me — and the birds that visit — feel a whole lot better. My first experience was an easy one: I found a Prickly Pear cactus growing on the roof, and I left it there.

Mexico 170

Mexico Species Bears Experience 170

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

Birding that starts with the largest eagle of the continent certainly bears promises… The next stop is the town park in Opovo, north of Belgrade, where local bird expert Ceda Vuckovic reported one, locally rare, Short-eared Owl. Sakule is almost fully enclosed by its fishfarm and it is a tranquil home for numerous birds.

Serbia 233

Serbia Owls Rodents Eagles 233

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

In addition, it has over 450 bird species and more than 30 in-country endemics, of which it is possible to see every single species! Where to look for the birds? Birding agencies seem to stick to their announced plans and no news of cancelled tours had reached the bird tourism market.

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Eagles 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

At Sea With the Marine Birds of the Raincoast opens with the unexpected appearance of a Laysan Albatross. Having shown us the bird, the boat, and the water, Fox then introduces herself: “Albatrosses, petrels, fulmars, puffins and gulls live out their lives along these transect lines; my job is to count them all.”.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

There are bird feeders and then there are squirrel feeders disguised as bird feeders, a fact known well by those of us who have committed a part of our lives to our yard birds. And, although I grew up in a house with a great yard, my parents were not of the bird-feeding persuasion. At least, feeder birds.

Squirrels 175

Squirrels Birds Factory Raccoons 175