article thumbnail

The Summer Doldrums

10,000 Birds

Uncomfortable weather and a lack of birds make birders grumpy. What can a bird blogger do but try to write his way out of the summer doldrums? Sweat sticky and salty slips into my eyes, The sun beats down and my patience it tries, The birds go quiet or into disguise In the season I loathe and despise. Summer is horrid.

Downers 164
article thumbnail

Big Ticks; What Was Your Last New Family?

10,000 Birds

I often poke fun at listers I perceive as being more interested in ticks than birds. But there is one kind of tick that I genuinely do enjoy, and as I do more and more birding it becomes harder and harder to get; new families. Getting entirely new families is easy when you start birding.

Family 163