10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2016

So off I went, camera in hand, to see if I could find the wayward bird. No sooner had I parked and gotten out of my car when some of the folks at the campground asked if I was “looking for the bird?” I hope you enjoyed this photo gallery of my lifer male Summer Tanager as much as I enjoyed my twitching experience!

California 102

California Investigation Experience Experiments 102

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

The Vermilion Flycatcher ( Pyrocephalus rubinus ) is usually found near the US – Mexican border but we were fortunate this year to find an adult male in northern California! It’s always fun to add another life bird to your list, especially when you get to share the experience with several birding friends.

California 108

California Sacramento Wildlife Groups 108

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

It was apparently all the way back in 2012, when I was first getting back into birding after a 30 year hiatus, that I took a sad little picture, with my sad little camera, of a cute little bird that seemed to not show up anywhere at all in my field guide. My birding buddies from the forum/chat include quite a few more biologists.

Birds 165

Birds Mexico California Spain 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2021

In the end, Oregonian vineyards marketed their wines as pinot gris, while south of the border in California, labels tended prefer the Italian pinot grigio. Red-tailed Hawks as illustrated by American bird artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927) in The Burgess Bird Book for Children. Good birding and happy drinking!

2017 257

2017 South America Oregon Adoptable 257

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

Corey spent the first half of the weekend finishing up his family trip in southern California and the rest of it getting back to New York and recovering from a red eye. But on Friday evening he and Daisy visited Irvine Regional Park at dusk and were rewarded with Lesser Nighthawks , a lifer and an awesome Best Bird of the Weekend.

2019 125

2019 New York Birds California 125

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Perhaps those people have never had to personally experience increasingly erratic climate patterns. I, however, am still a California boy, in spite of not living in that state for four decades now, and I still keep track of the weather there. So when there is no Lake Cuitzeo on which to winter, where do all these birds go?

Ducks 130

Ducks Mexico California Fish 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

At the end of 2022, let us celebrate the local field guide, a sub-genre that many of us feared would die, the victim of technology, development, and globalization, but which still shines bright, fewer in number but brilliant in quality, thanks to birders and birding organizations that believe in knowing your patch and your state.

Los Angeles 194

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 194

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

This last year of the twenty-teens was a monumental birding year for me. I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. I birded Uganda, which was my first time on the continent of Africa. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen.

2019 139

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 139

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2019

Those of us north of the Equator should be enjoying our summer weekends no matter how boring the birding might be. Better, though, is finding a way to raise the quality of your bird sightings and enjoyment of them. Somehow, we managed to flip the script on that by spotting all kinds of birds that the whole group could enjoy.

2019 120

2019 Birds California Raised 120

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. We share some plant options with southern California, and others with Florida. Frankly, I’m not sure!

Birds 155

Birds Woodpeckers Madagascar Nashville 155

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2018

Even notice that hot weekends don’t usually make for hot birding? Though I succeeded in resisting the siren song of shorebirds at the lakeshore, I couldn’t help but pay attention to birds everywhere else I went. What was your best bird of the weekend? Interesting, no? How about you?

2018 100

2018 Birds California Experience 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

There was a time when I thought each bird species had its own individual song. Then I found out that there was this vocalization called a ‘call,’ so I thought each bird species had its own individual song (but just the males) and individual call. Bird communication is a complex and evolving science.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

If you read my weekly posts bookending theweekend birding experience, you know that I pay close attention to phenology. The way the ebb and flow of each season impacts out experience of the natural world must inform our efforts to observe avifauna if we want to optimize our experience. Birding best bird weekend'

2014 168

2014 New York Birds Experience 168

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2018

On my wanderings I picked up quite a few species that were new for my year list but my Best Bird of the Weekend was one that countered cruelty with happiness. Mike, too, chose a bluebird as his Best Bird of the Weekend, though his was a different species seeing as he and his family avoided the cruelty of April by being in California.

North Carolina 113

North Carolina Cruelty 2018 United States 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2013

Is it coincidence or conspiracy that Father’s Day falls on a weekend where very good birding can still be found in most areas? You be the judge… I got into a bunch of great grassland and forest birds this weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? It mostly made up for this disaster. How about you?

2013 169

2013 California Birds Experience 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

The full title of this exceptional book by Marie Read is Mastering Bird Photography: The Art, Craft, and Technique of Photographing Birds and Their Behavior. As a birder who photographs, rather than a bird photographer, this never occurred to me before and I find the idea intriguing.

Birds 191

Birds Ethics 2019 Experience 191

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

There are advantages to being a “Pelican Partner” for International Bird Rescue ! First, you get to tour one of their California centers , you get a special opportunity to see a Pelican getting its final medical exam and numbered leg band, plus you get the honor of releasing one, or in my case, two of their rehabilitated pelicans!

Bird Rescue 195

Bird Rescue Pelicans Rescue Birds 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2019

One of the things I love about birding around Morelia, in central Mexico, is the wide variety of habitats I have nearby. On my first exploratory trip to Cerro de Garnica, I was surprised to be greeted almost immediately by the same Steller’s Jays with which I grew up in coastal northern California.

Mexico 127

Mexico Washington Birds United States 127

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2016

Did you realize that your Best Bird of the Weekend is, at least for now, your best bird of the whole year? Corey had a host of birds to choose from as his Best Bird of the Weekend as he spent Friday morning birding at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County, California. How about you?

2016 101

2016 Sanctuary Birds California 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2016

” Unless we’re talking about birding, in which case the jasmine in my mind– whatever that is –patiently waits for migration! Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was an easy one to choose as it was his first albatross, a Black-footed Albatross off the coast of California. How about you?

Albatross 101

Albatross 2016 Seals Birds 101

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2019

I was poking around my eBird checklists recently and came across one from one of my more intriguing days birding. Like many birders, I’ve had “patches” where I routinely go birding. Patch birding is rewarding because the birds become familiar, as do the changes across the seasons. There is satisfaction in the everyday.

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Portland Whales Whaling 128

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2017

You believe in birthday birds , right? If you haven’t yet embraced the theory or practice of birthday birds, I recommend that, next time your special day rolls around, you make it a point to pursue a seasonally appropriate species you don’t regularly see. Taking down a birthday bird adds joy both to the day and the act.

Los Angeles 100

Los Angeles 2017 Coyotes Birds 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2021

In 2018, I read an article in Birding magazine by Jeff R. It was later re-published on the All About Birds website.) In other words, a “spark class” rather than a “spark bird.” with binoculars, field notebooks, smartphones, and field guides” looking for birds. Think about it for a minute.

2018 264

2018 Agenda Science Eggs 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

So what does climate change mean for birds? Though all birds will be somehow impacted by climate change, I think it is important to note that not all will suffer. As deserts expand, birds suited to arid climates may be just fine. Whats in it for birds? Well…it means everything. It’s that simple.

North America 214

North America Birds San Francisco Suffering 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2013

Summer, the season that we in the Northern Hemisphere are currently enjoying or suffering depending on your latitude and state of mind, is a time when birds often take a backseat to other diversions. The birds I admired most this weekend were Barn Swallows swooping over strawberry fields. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2013 162

2013 Suffering Birds California 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2021

The survey also sought to identify “the key attributes important to birding experiences” and learn more about “decisions to participate in birdwatching and level of identity as birdwatcher.”. For example, the survey (of eBirders) found: “Nearly all respondents (99%) indicated they participate in birdwatching or birding.”.

Minnesota 264

Minnesota Research Pennsylvania Ohio 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2019

I first encountered Molly Hashimoto’s bird art in California. It’s a fun book, offering ideas for projects and, most importantly for me, new ways to observe birds and their natural world.

Birds 148

Birds Eggs Laws Woodpeckers 148

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

During the decade, I submitted 1,219 checklists and observed 555 bird species, all in the U.S. I started eBirding about the same time I started birding, and I made an early executive decision (a very good one) that any pre-eBird observations simply did not count. Birding trips to Florida , New Mexico , and Texas are obvious too.

Puerto Rico 146

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 146

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

I’ve taken tours out of Monterey Bay (with pelagic legend Debi Shearwater , now retired) and Half Moon Bay, California ; Newport, Oregon ; and Hatteras, North Carolina. The boat is called the Legacy and it is an 80 foot whale watching vessel that generally seats 115, but takes about 70 for birding trips. This was much larger.

San Diego 147

San Diego Los Angeles Cooking North Carolina 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2021

Perhaps the most iconic birds for me here are the Steller’s Jays that immediately greeted me the very first time I first reached the park. They were a fairly common species from my childhood in California, but I had not expected them to turn up in central Mexico. Another call which, once you hear it, you never forget.

Mexico 162

Mexico California Species Groups 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

I bring this up not to boast (well, not much) but because I think that this approach to wildlife travel is somewhat neglected in birding circles. Read most accounts of how birders see birds outside their patch and one way or another, they’re tourists. Volunteering provides a very different experience to tourism though.

Uganda 161

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 161

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. Aren’t all birds worth watching? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and watching every bird but there’s also nothing wrong about going to great efforts to see lifers only found in dreams. Fiery-throated Hummingbird.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 202

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2012

The water this Northern Pintail is in has human poo in it, which completely ruins the experience of seeing this bird. The majority of diehard birders do not care where they get their birds. There is a caste of birders, however, that do not subscribe to this way of birding…no. Oh wait, it doesn’t.

San Francisco 208

San Francisco Birds North Dakota Oakland 208

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Twitching is a British term used to mean “the pursuit of a previously located rare bird.” Basically, I never had the time to chase birds. A very rare find in Northern California. For the past several years I have been taking advantage of our many National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) here in Northern California.

California 100

California North America Wildlife Campaign 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

In a recent post, Corey listed five things to do when it is too cold to go birding and one of those things is planning birding travel. Here in Portland, Oregon, it is more frequently too rainy rather than too cold to go birding, at least comfortably. Thus, my “good birds” are likely the opposite of an eastern birder.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Portland United States Puerto Rico 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2014

Many readers of 10,000 Birds are more than the casual birdwatcher…they are hopeless bird junkies. Truly depraved birding addicts. The question for the addict is, how does one keep birding fresh? Tired of birding the same polluted parks? Tired of birding the same polluted parks?

Birds 201

Birds Portland Oregon 2015 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

It is deeper than the saucer shown above, so I have placed a handmade, curved roof tile in the middle for birds that prefer shallower water. It seems to work well, since we can have as many as 7 or 8 birds bathing in that one little saucer. I’m curious whether our California readers have a similar experience.

Nashville 167

Nashville 2015 Mexico Turkey 167