10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2022

In the previous period I wrote mostly book reviews (but of some really great books ), yet I cannot remember when the last time was that I wrote of birding itself? Perhaps in my December posts on birding Colombian Amazonia ? Driving with open windows (to hear the birds) becomes unbearable and I am heading out of this fish farm.

Breeders 207

Breeders Mules Farming Fish 207

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

The latter is possible, as the undisturbed areas of Nanhui keep shrinking, leaving less and less space for birds. Bramblings at Nanhui enjoy staring vacantly into space … … and accusing bird watchers of not paying enough attention to them. Somehow, for this bird it is ok. According to the HBW, they mainly eat fish.

Birds 232

Birds Humane Japan Ducks 232

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2022

Necessity being the mother of invention, and all that, the almost-total disappearance of Mexico’s second-largest lake in the spring of 2021 forced me to try a new birding route last May. As it turned out, the remaining water was too shallow for ducks, except a few Northern Shovelers. Spoiler alert: I did not see any Canvasbacks.

Ducks 211

Ducks Mexico Fish Species 211

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

The little stiff-tails are almost year-round at Jamaica Bay though almost all leave to breed in the summer and in the depths of winter, when the ponds are almost completely frozen, they tend to head for open water. She was essentially cream-colored, much lighter than the typical female Ruddy Duck. Go check it out! Get yours today!

Ducks 151

Ducks 2011 Jamaica Deer 151

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

In the more normal years, I would spend January visiting the very best wildfowling spots along the Danube and seeing the best birds there are, so in February I would be well saturated with birds and feeling: Still winter? I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird.

Otters 257

Otters Croatia Eagles Protection 257

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 30, 2013

Ducks and geese may not be a particularly unusual sight in the wild, but have you ever thought about keeping them as pets? Ducks and geese make excellent pets because it is interesting to watch them as they go about their activities and engage with their environment. They can make excellent, if slightly quirky, pets.

Geese 100

Geese Ducks Pets Chickens 100

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 30, 2013

Ducks and geese may not be a particularly unusual sight in the wild, but have you ever thought about keeping them as pets? Ducks and geese make excellent pets because it is interesting to watch them as they go about their activities and engage with their environment. They can make excellent, if slightly quirky, pets.

Geese 100

Geese Ducks Pets Chickens 100

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 In March and November, Common Cranes are a possibility.

Serbia 232

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 232

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Ring-billed Gulls in Breeding Plumage Ring-billed Gulls in Breeding Plumage By Corey • March 8, 2011 • 3 comments Tweet Share It should come as no surprise to readers of 10,000 Birds that I do not love gulls.

Breeding 145

Breeding 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

On that glorious day, I observed ten critically endangered birds, representing 8% of their Costa Rican, or 2% of their global population!! In my previous post , I dealt with Rancho Naturalista Lodge itself and birding within their private reserve. But, let’s start at the beginning.

Costa Rica 233

Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 233

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2019

Although little-known, WPAs provide critical breeding, resting, and nesting habitat for millions of ducks, geese, and swans, as well as shorebirds and grassland species. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) estimates that 2-3 million geese and 7-9 million ducks use use the basin every spring as staging grounds on the journey north.

Nebraska 146

Nebraska Dissection Geese Ducks 146

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

While entering our double kayak I asked Andrew Hester, a local bird expert, if bilharzia is present in the shallows of the Ngotwane Dam, further down the river. albiventris ) and fish eating Pied Kingfishers ( Ceryle rudis ). Among 60 or so heron species in the world this is the only one using this peculiar fishing technique.

Botswana 186

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 186

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Photo: This area holds 3 to 4 breeding pairs of White-tailed Eagles , which represents the biggest density per square mile anywhere in the country. The shallows are full of ducks in eclipse, a real puzzle that requires a bit of time and a sharp eye – something you usually reserve for warblers and such. Photographed by Szekeres Levente.

Serbia 165

Serbia Protection Eagles Ducks 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

Yes there are birding sites and there are birds – but hardly much info about them (beside Fat Birder ). Local birding sites are well known – among local birders. Nevertheless, describing where to bird is easy. And so, which dozen or so birds to choose as the Belgrade specialties? Black Stork – spring/summer.

Serbia 175

Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 175

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2016

This is Jason’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds: Birders were rightly alarmed by the armed occupation of the Malheur NWR in Oregon. One of the nation’s premier birding locations had been overrun by an armed militia and the occupation unexpectedly endured for weeks. Individually, many NWRs protect crucial bird habitat.

Wildlife 189

Wildlife Grizzly Bear Puerto Rico United States 189

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2014

Among birds the Egyptian Vulture uses rocks to crack Ostrich eggs, the New Caledonian Crow and Woodpecker Finch (one of several Darwin Finches of the Galapagos Islands), uses sticks to extract grubs from inside a branch. Perhaps even more interesting is how Green Herons and its relatives have learned to use bait to attract and capture fish.

Fish 163

Fish Woodpeckers Ostriches Eggs 163

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

One Common Raven is disappearing towards its nest among the branches of the poplar plantation, only to reappear a few minutes later to give a good chase – aerial acrobatics included – to its first neighbour, the White-tailed Eagle which breeds in the vicinity. The water is misty-golden and the fishes are all glossy in the early morning sun.

Otters 176

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 176

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2019

Although little-known, WPAs provide critical breeding, resting, and nesting habitat for millions of ducks, geese, and swans, as well as shorebirds and grassland species. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) estimates that 2-3 million geese and 7-9 million ducks use use the basin every spring as staging grounds on the journey north.

Nebraska 113

Nebraska Dissection Geese Ducks 113

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. I barely started when some sulphur (a.k.a.

Serbia 244

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

There should be thousands of birds at this time of the year, Dimitris Michalakis from the Karla Lake management authority told me. In the northern section, the water was deep, interspersed by reed-islets, but the only birds were a few Little Egrets and Black-headed Gulls. Lesser Kestrel. I am trying to count them all!

Greece 186

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 186

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

Since I have started to bird by kayak, it took me a lot of time to realise that paddling is not the synonym for birding and that I can bird without a paddle, although I cannot paddle without a pair of binoculars. To avoid the predator, the duck – dived, and that was the only time ever to observe this species doing so.

Serbia 240

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 240

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2012

One of the sweetest subsections of the duck family has to be the sawbills, formally known as mergansers. These narrow bills, hooked at the tip and set with numerous horny denticulations, are adapted for catching fish, a merganser’s primary source of food. Anyway, the hoodie is the only merganser endemic to North America.

North America 229

North America Thailand Russia Ducks 229

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Yes, cute little Skylarks were all well and good, but what Kiwis really wanted were birds they could shoot and fish they could, uh, fish. New Zealand had, once upon a time, some fairly spectacular game birds, including massive flightless geese, massive flightles rails, and really enormous moa.

Species 166

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

A rare bird is one we don’t see very often. However, that doesn’t mean that the bird species in question is necessarily endangered. None of these are rare in their normal haunts but seeing them in Costa Rica would be a major birding event. Oh, how that would be a nice year bird.

Costa Rica 161

Costa Rica Birds Panama Sparrows 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2018

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to some of the largest assemblages of breeding seabirds in the United States. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) wants to eradicate all of the mice on Midway. Midway’s birds are also protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They are also disease vectors. By poisoning them.

Mice 102

Mice Albatross Honolulu Endangered Species 102

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2012

Over the last few weeks we have seen Roebuck Bay slowly empty as the shorebirds head north to breed. Not all shorebirds migrate, so we will see some of our resident shorebirds breed in the coming months. Red-capped Plovers and Pied Oystercatchers will soon be investing time and energy into breeding along our coastline.

Fish 173

Fish Breeding Shelters Collecting 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

John from A DC Birding Blog , and Patrick from The Hawk Owl’s Nest at Jamaica Bay at 8 AM Saturday morning for some birding. The Red-winged Blackbirds that were busy staking claims to breeding territory by singing from bushes, trees, and marsh plants were not groggy at all.

New York 163

New York Honduras Jamaica Geese 163

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2013

Podicipediformes, aka Grebes, are freshwater diving duckish birds that are not ducks. That of course is true of many birds.) Like many birds, Grebes are mainly preyed on by other birds, but also, because Grebes liv in and on and near (mostly) fresh water, they are also preyed on by the smaller carnivores such as ferrets.

2010 201

2010 South America 2011 Argentina 201

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! It is possible to reach it on the Friday afternoon, sleep there and go birding at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Well, do you really? The Forgotten Road does not exist on the GPS screen either. Am I complaining about it?

Serbia 187

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 187

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2018

Owls are mystical beasts that are well loved by both birders and those who casually look at birds. There are many species that captivate those looking at them: Burrowing Owls , Barn Owls , a variety of fishing-owls, Stygian Owl , Elf Owl , the list goes on and on. Compare that to the usual prey of Great Gray Owls , the vole.

Owls 155

Owls Barn Owls Woodpeckers Bahamas 155

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Bufflehead in Flight Bufflehead in Flight By Corey • March 13, 2011 • 8 comments Tweet Share Bufflehead are one of our most amusing ducks. Duck Migration Mar 14th, 2011 at 12:01 pm [.]

2011 150

2011 Ducks Deer New York 150

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

This is particularly poignant if the bird has disappeared during the course of my birding days or “on my watch” as I like to think of it. Islands, for various reasons, experience more extinctions than continents (with Africa being the only continent not suffering a bird extinction!).

Madagascar 237

Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 237

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. And, the birds are awesome. Ringer Anhingas and darters , cormorants and shags , frigatebirds , gannets and boobies , pelicans , and the tropicbirds all share a characteristic found in no other living bird: Their feet are totipalmate.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2021

Surrounded by coral reefs filled with fish, sea turtles of three species plus the common visits of Manta Rays: it is a pretty exciting place for anyone who likes to skin dive. It is also a great place for the birder for the fish have brought the birds and the island has supplied places to nest. They are everywhere.

Sea Turtles 248

Sea Turtles Birds Marine Life Fish 248

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

Though I was duly impressed by the magnitude of the dam, I was more interested in the sleek black bodies of the cormorants as they fished precariously close to the edge. As we left the dam I silently hoped that the cormorants we saw would all make it safely to their breeding grounds!

New York City 160

New York City United States New York Canada 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2011

For many birders a highlight of birding the southeastern United States, maybe even the definitive birding experience of the region, is taking in the great numbers and diversity of long-legged wading birds. I discovered this surprising water bird bonanza at Huntington Beach State Park in Georgetown County, South Carolina.

South Carolina 157

South Carolina Alligators Florida United States 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2012

On this final day of 2012 it is time, just like it was on the final days of 2010 and 2011 , to share your Best Birds of the Year. Well, actually, your Best Bird of the Year will only be shared here if you took the time to respond to the post in which we here at 10,000 Birds shared our Best Birds of the Year.

2012 133

2012 Ghana Ireland Birds 133