10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

In mid-December, I was birding along the Beljarica levee (Beh-LYAH-ritza), my local patch north of Belgrade, when something other than birds attracted my attention: three wild boars , appearing all black because they had just swam through the swamp to reach the bottom of the levee. Beljarica lies less than 2 km/1.2

Serbia 246

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2019

There are also wild boars and macaque monkeys and you are advised to not rustle plastic bags, because they associate the noise with food. It is illegal to feed wild animals, take animals, birds and insects and it is also illegal to release animals in Singapore. It was proving to be a very good day for birding Pulau Ubin.

Singapore 133

Singapore Birds illegal Eagles 133

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

In front of us, the river is two miles wide… and it is paved with birds: smaller groups of Greater White-fronted and Greylag Geese , numerous Mute Swans and Mallards , plus Eurasian Teals , Gadwalls , Common Pochards , a few Ferruginous and Tufted Ducks , Common Goldeneyes and several Smews. A goose hunt sounds like a WWII battle.

Geese 186

Geese Hunting Boars Birds 186

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2015

A sounder of Indian Boars is watching us from the jungle. They belong to a long-maned subspecies Sus scrofa cristatus (like four-legged Greco/Roman crested helmets) and are my second race of boar seen in India, while I still remain the only Serbian birder who has never seen one closer to home!

Tigers 254

Tigers Boars India Chickens 254

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

While there are some two dozen birding spots in Belgrade, Serbia, that stand out, in this guideblog I will focus on the river Danube and its floodplain, inside the Important Bird Area “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers”. The next winter bird spot lies some 4.5 Bus: 79 & 24. eBird list. eBird list.

Serbia 247

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 247

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2012

I was going to continue talking about birding in Sydney today, but an incident on Friday needs to be addressed quickly, before the immediacy of the memory is gone. And that bird is the Southern Cassowary. Although slightly shorter than the Emu , the cassowary is a sturdier, heavier and generally larger bird.

Sharks 240

Sharks Birds Australia Boars 240

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

Back on dirt tracks by a Desert Wheatear decorated bush (bellow), to spot five or six Wild boars disappearing among the bushes. Unlike other birds that drink one sip at the time and raise their heads to swallow, pigeons and sandgrouses drink like asses, lowering their beaks into the water and taking as much as they like.

India 240

India Birds Eagles Boars 240

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2013

This park protects the largest remaining tract of dry deciduous forest in the west of India, offering visitors 37 species of reptiles, 38 species of mammals and, not to be forgotten – almost 300 bird species. We’re here for the birds!”. while herbivores are represented by Chital (above) and Sambar deer, Wild Boar, Nilgai antelope, etc.

Lions 241

Lions India Mammals Boars 241

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2019

During our three week visit to Singapore in March we spent a good part of each day walking and birding. By 17th March we were not expecting to find too many more new birds to add to our list. The previous day in the Southern Ridges we had an odd encounter with what initially appeared to be a small bird flying through the trees.

Singapore 113

Singapore Unwanted Pets Woodpeckers Parrots 113

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

In the morning, still sleepy, we enter the jungle, where a sounder of Indian Boars (a long-maned subspecies Sus scrofa cristatus ) is watching us, standing among the first trees, right next to the road. Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe. One White-eyed Buzzard has turned its back to us.

Tigers 248

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 248

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2017

I have been there several times last month, but barely ever managed to do any proper birding! So, the Belgrade press become acutely interested in birding? Annex II of the Bern Convention lists 45 of Beljarica’s bird species, with a further 91 species in Annex III. More about that later, but first, what have I found there?

Eagles 181

Eagles Campaign Otters Serbia 181

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Are these very early migrants or possibly breeding birds of a wider area? Birds in their second calendar year often do not breed yet and spend time further south from their breeding areas, so this is most likely their year off. Okay, obviously a bird-productive area, but what about the title? and one ad.).

Serbia 181

Serbia Protection Eagles Ducks 181

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The other day I was exploring a new area for the first time, birding the national park that I’ve watched only in BBC documentaries, the place famous for the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world – more than 1300 pairs! Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. Have you heard of it?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

I am a birder, and I love birds. I don’t mind that they share the world with other creatures, and I have even developed an appreciation for mammals, reptiles and amphibians – but only so long as watching them doesn’t collide with my finding birds. For Europe, only very few books exist that cover the topic at all.

Europe 166

Europe Mammals Animal Birds 166

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2019

We have just returned from an incredible three weeks in Singapore, where unlike many others who visit the country we spent the whole time in nature parks, forests and gardens observing birds. The only shopping we did was to buy fresh fruit and some Asian snacks for while we were out all day hiking and birding.

Singapore 114

Singapore Transported Boars Malaysia 114

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

The very best wetland birding around Belgrade, Serbia, is not to be found in the locally famous and tourist-promoted Obedska or Carska Bara Ramsar areas, but at Beljarica Backwaters and the fish farm triangle of Centa, Baranda and Sakule villages, in the Tamis River floodplain.

Farming 264

Farming Birds Fish Boars 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 22, 2015

On her own, two months ago, she took down a big, old and experienced Indian Boar , who already had some old tiger claw scars. They are 20 months old, as big as their mother, but not as heavy. The fourth one is missing – she is the adventurer among them. These are my first wild tigers ever! The closer one raises her head, than lies back.

Tigers 255

Tigers India Killing 2012 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

I dipped a bird recently – possibly a lifer. First I noticed a red cap – a male, then striped flanks and pale-red undertail, but couldn’t see its wing because some part of the bird remained hidden by a branch at any given time. It’s the boar hunting season. We started from the village at, perhaps 50 m a.s.l. What to say?

Greece 258

Greece Woodpeckers Boars Eagles 258

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

How when he needed a dissertation topic in 2005 (studying at the University of Minnesota), it was either Hooded Crane or Blakiston’s Fish Owl, both iconic birds of the area. We learn about their unique vocalizations, a duet in which they are in such harmony they sound like one bird. So, Blakiston’s Fish Owl it was.

Owls 147

Owls Russia Fish Research 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2019

Then there are the Wild Boars, Plantain Squirrels, Monitor Lizards and of course the bird-life. Also, don’t steal the birds!! There is a really good number of bird species to be observed in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve and it is an eBird Hotspot. Warning signs. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo.

Singapore 125

Singapore Boars Transported Squirrels 125