10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

With my favorite Shanghai birding place at Nanhui getting gradually destroyed under the watchful eyes of the local government favoring Tesla over terns, I have been searching for some alternative Shanghai locations with less ongoing construction, fewer people, and hopefully more birds. Black-tailed Gulls , I think.

Cats 225

Cats Birds Kittens Transported 225

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

As sound photography has not been invented yet, I will therefore focus on the other birds encountered here. Alphonse Milne-Edwards (1835-1900), a director to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, whose study of bird fossils led to the discovery of tropical birds such as trogons and parrots from prehistoric France.

Italy 193

Italy Birds China France 193

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

The poster bird of this area is the near-threatened Black-necked Crane. The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area.

China 176

China Mongolia Birds Russia 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

The only bird-related activity I can think of is looking at bird photos I took in Singapore in 2015, and adding some irrelevant comments to them. Presumably, birds living in Singapore do not understand German. And I spent my time in Singapore birding, not shopping. “Odd, me?”

Singapore 227

Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 227

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2023

May is a busy month for birds migrating through Shanghai – and of course, last May was completely missed due to the lockdown. So, I spent a lot of time birding this month, and to keep this post at a manageable length, it mostly only covers the first half of May. The video is notable for the bird basically refusing to move at all.

Birds 130

Birds Raised Cattle Mammals 130

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

We have continued to monitor the nest sites and the pairs of Pied Oystercatchers over the past few months and the birds are really having a tough year this year. The pair of Pied Oystercatchers have been successful in raising a chick on two occasions that we are aware of in recent years and that was in 2008 and 2011.

Breeding 134

Breeding Eggs 2011 2008 134

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2017

Magpie-larks are a very common bird throughout most of Australia and they are quite at home among the large cities as well as in the country towns and the remote parts of Australia. The young Magpie-larks were eagerly awaiting the return of their parent and one particular young bird was rather more eager than the other two.

Breeding 100

Breeding Australia Collecting Geese 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

But it seems the birds like this habitat, probably as this is a rare more open area on these otherwise mostly heavily forested hills. The monastery is quite large compared to a bird guide (Bella from Alpinebirding on the left-hand side). And compared to birds, for that matter. Please consult your own bird guide for more details.

Birds 218

Birds Germany India 2018 218

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2017

After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. Australian Painted Snipe nest with four eggs. Australian Painted Snipe nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Raised 2017 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

The last time I had seen a Summer Tanager was during a Christmas Bird Count in 2012. Sightings in Trinidad have been sporadic, 38 to be exact since the formation of the T&T Bird Status and Distribution Committee. This is an immature bird, as evidenced by the yellow wash on his underparts. Amazingly, it was still there!

Trinidad 210

Trinidad Birds Squirrels 2012 210

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Chinese Penduline T**s are not particularly woke birds. White’s Thrush is described as “burly” on eBird – not entirely unjustified, I guess, but this description fails to capture the way the intricate patterns of the bird make for great camouflage and also for its own kind of beauty. Maybe the grandparents help.

Birds 203

Birds Blackbirds Indonesia Bhutan 203

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2022

They migrate north through the Western United States, breeding in pockets all the way up through Canada. Soon they will disappear, stretching wide wings and taking to the skies in search of breeding grounds farther north. They’ve become familiar in the best way, like a person I’ve come to know and appreciate.

Pelicans 235

Pelicans United States Canada Arizona 235

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Over the past few months there have been a lot of birds breeding around Broome with the excellent rain events that we have been having and the vegetation is at long last revived. Masked Lapwings have been busy breeding for some months now and some may well be on their second clutch of eggs. Masked Lapwing protecting a nest.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Protection Cows 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

This year we have continued to monitor the breeding of several pairs of Pied Oystercatchers along the coast in Broome from Gantheaume Point to Willie Creek on the south side. One particular bird in our area is at least 24 years old and has maintained the same territory for many years. All of their footprints are very distinctive.

Breeding 159

Breeding Eggs Camels Raised 159

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2023

The birds I’m referring to in this post are all flycatchers that occupy woody, forest habitat; but they are very infrequently in the same place at the same time. While the bird above recalls a Great Kiskadee in size and structure, both Variegated and Piratic Flycatchers are considerably smaller and slimmer.

Trinidad 149

Trinidad Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 149

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2016

This is not surprising at all due to the fact that we have monitored the Pied Oystercatcher breeding success (or lack thereof ) since 2000 along a twenty three kilometre stretch of beach and it is very rare for any of the sixteen pairs to succeed. This pair of Pied Oystercatchers has been successful on one occasion and that was in 2012.

Breeding 100

Breeding Eggs Feral Cats 2000 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2021

Yes, I know you are not interested in boring semi-autobiographical descriptions of individual birding trips. Wikipedia has a paragraph on their interesting mating system : “Home ranges are occupied by breeding groups of 3 or 4 males with 3 or 4 females. These are unrelated birds that have a socially polygynandrous mating system.

China 193

China Birds Sheep Monkeys 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2021

That unwanted yet predictable final bit of killing cold weather was and is why most of the colorful insectivores, the true birds of summer, remained far to the south until May. Baltimore Oriole- one of the more common wintering birds in Costa Rica. Typically, in Costa Rica, this swamp beauty is a bird of wetlands and mangroves.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica West Virginia Baltimore Virginia 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

Back in July, my fellow 10,000 Birds contributor Dragan wrote a delightful piece about birding Lake Kerkini in spring. I first visited Kerkini and this bird-rich region of northern Greece 15 years ago, and have been returning regularly ever since. My photograph below is of a captive bird).

Greece 216

Greece Pelicans Geese Buffalo 216

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2022

It is not particularly big but has a reported 430 bird species including migrants, though during my short stay it seems I missed most of the key attractions among them. It goes like this: While fishing, the bird tucks its head down and uses its wings to create a shady area. Pel’s Fishing Owl, where were you?

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa Birds Research 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

With the lockdown lasting until the end of May (ironically thus pretty much including the whole spring migration – the divine sense of humor is a rather malign one, I am afraid), June still had the freedom of birding anywhere in Shanghai, not just inside a smallish compound. Accessorizing for birds.

Singapore 147

Singapore Mountain Goats Birds Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2019

In the birding world, May is the beautiful time. With birds bedecked in their breeding best and filling the air with song, this is migration at its loveliest. A wonderful variety of bird species are waiting to be seen and among them are many a birder’s favorite avian group, the wood-warblers. Habitat at Las Brisas.

Costa Rica 186

Costa Rica Species Belize New Jersey 186

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

This was actually the place where the late Richard ffrench spent much of his time as a music teacher, amassing countless observations of birds that would later form the basis of one of the essential birding guides for Trinidad and Tobago. The subtle white edging to the gape of this bird indicates it is near breeding time.

Trinidad 210

Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 210

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2016

It’s a bang-up breeding year for super-endangered birds! The species, which migrates from the Russian Arctic to Southeast Asia, is down to about 200 breeding pairs in the wild, due to habitat loss and poaching. For the past several years, getting the birds to breed has been an exercise in futility.

Eggs 190

Eggs Louisiana Breeding Asia 190

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2022

The raising of these young chicks is not over yet! We are really enjoying the experience of observing another bird species that is black, white and red breed in our local patch. Of course the Pied Oystercatchers are also breeding at this time of year and we continue to monitor their progress along our coastline.

Family 147

Family Breeding Raised Experience 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Mentioning New Jersey often raises a snicker or a run down of all the drama and negative stereotypes that swirl around the Garden State, most of which are typified by the MTV hit show, “Jersey Shore.” ” While certain New Jersey decisions may be dubious, their state bird, the American Goldfinch, is a beautiful choice.

New Jersey 150

New Jersey United States Legislature Iowa 150

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2015

I am within one of Florida’s sub-tropical zones, and my birding experiences have expanded, with life birds galore. Almost every lunch break I head out onto the beach, looking for birds along the sand. I know what everyone is thinking: “Erika, you are birding at absolutely the worst time of day. Why bother?”

Florida 157

Florida Birds Mice Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 6, 2022

Every place has its common birds, the species that do very well in a given habitat. As we like to say, these are species that are “hard to miss”, birds that, if you are watching, will be seen. As one might expect, signature birds take many forms. Bird in southern Asia and there are mynas and magpie-robins.

Costa Rica 147

Costa Rica San Jose Asia Geese 147

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

This is Liz’s first contribution to 10,000 Birds. The rise in drone popularity over the past few years has been meteoric — and in our typical human arrogance, we’ve once again ignored the fact that for the past 150 million years, the sky has belonged to the birds.

Birds 185

Birds Protection Idaho Bears 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2015

New York, I can say with certainty that you have chosen the perfect bird to represent your state. Though it took you until 1970 to designate your state bird – the last in the United States to do so – the Eastern Bluebird is beautiful, has a distinctive song, and is a great example of an environmental success story.

New York 160

New York New York City United States Birds 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Audubon guides to birds have been around since 1946. The first guide bearing the National Audubon Society imprint was Audubon Bird Guide; Eastern Land Birds , written by Richard Hooper Pough, and illustrated by Don Eckelberry. Plate 28 from Audubon Bird Guide, Eastern Land Birds, by Richard H. Knopf, 1994/97.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2022

It stops those thousands of migrating birds flying across the Gulf of Mexico and directs them right onto the trees, fields, sanctuaries, beaches along the Bolivar Peninsula, where they hopefully find food and fresh water. And us, the birders who travel here from March to May to worship the birds as they seek to survive.

Houston 217

Houston Texas Sanctuary Sparrows 217

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2016

Though many people joke that the mosquito is the Alaskan state bird, in fact it is the much more pleasant Willow Ptarmigan. In 1955 – before Alaska was a state – the Territory’s leaders in charge of drafting a constitution allowed schoolchildren to choose what would eventually become the state bird.

Alaska 103

Alaska Finland Indiana Russia 103

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2023

After Jason recently asked ChatGPT for birding advice, the management consultant in me – constantly thriving for efficiency improvements – immediately thought of the next step. The Seasonal Spectacles: Shanghai’s birding scene comes alive during the spring and autumn migration seasons.

China 170

China Endangered Species Sanctuary Protection 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2013

The owls return the favor by providing the students and teachers with a rare glimpse into the natural history of these fascinating birds. The colony has grown supporting up to 3 pairs of owls, all breeding at once! The colony has numbered 17 at one point and fledged as many as 9 owlets during the normal breeding season.

Owls 240

Owls Florida Raised Coyotes 240

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

It is currently Pheasant Coucal breeding season. Despite the fact that they are part of the cuckoo family they do actually raise their own young. There are quite possibly more juvenile birds, but with the long vegetation it is hard to know for sure. The parent bird watched and the highway is not very busy at this time of year.

Family 149

Family Eggs Raised Breeding 149

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2015

With a tidal range of up to ten metres it is worth planning your trip, because if the tide is in on this section of beach then there will be no beach at all and any birds will have to roost on the surrounding rocky outcrops. It returns to Broome with a mottled breeding plumage pattern and gradually changes its moult during its stay.

Birds 145

Birds 2014 Australia Breeding 145