10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2020

On the northern birding calendar, October is a time for sparrows, cool weather, and tired fall leaves. In Costa Rica, the tenth month is when birds pass through in droves. but there are other birds, many stopping to stay, many others moving to South America. In Costa Rica, a lot of those birds fly right overhead.

Costa Rica 273

Costa Rica South America Colombia Paraguay 273

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2014

As I bird, walk the dog or run errands, puffs of white float down on the breeze. Then, as they grow, they must avoid being grazed – young cottonwoods are very popular with both cattle and wild browsers – or burnt – for they do not have the robust fire-endurance that many of Montana’s upland tree species do.

Montana 168

Montana Cattle Deer Humane 168

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2015

For you and me, there are about 200 bird species, but for proper tourists, there seem to be only five species in the reserve: Bengal Tiger , Leopard , Sloth Bear , Indian Wild Dog (Dhole) and the Gaur. In the north of the reserve, by the Tadoba Lake, a herd of Chital Deer is grazing, with a familiar sight of Cattle Egrets around them.

Tigers 252

Tigers Boars India Chickens 252

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. Kozara backwaters. I think that the ponds were already out of use and filled with atmospheric water only.

Serbia 244

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 244

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2015

Further on a wire sits a somewhat large-headed small-crow like bird. I am coming closer – the bird is quite tolerant – and taking a few photos. Their scientific name is not turtur for nothing. Checking through the dusty windscreen, I catch a glimpse of bluish plumage – the uncommon European Roller on migration. Deliblato Sands.

Factory 233

Factory Stray Dog Turtles Serbia 233

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2018

Each one was followed up by a litany of dog barks, some high in pitch, others low, far-carrying woofs. The pressure is on if you can only get certain species during the first month of the year but if you just want to add any old birds to the year list, everything is fresh! That doesn’t mean that I will ignore birds while guiding.

Costa Rica 164

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Woodpeckers 164

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. The gentleman living on a farm by the Ngotwane Dam said ‘A croc took my dog, right there!’. Cattle Egret 16. Grey Go-Away Bird (Lourie) c. Grey Heron 4.

Botswana 195

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2011

Outside of hardcore twitchers looking for specialty birds and after speaking to thousands and thousands of birders, I have concluded that most people really do not put much emphasis on our prairies. Ferruginous Hawks are native to our western short-grass prairies and their diet comprises almost completely of prairie dogs.

Prairie Dogs 163

Prairie Dogs Colorado North Dakota Soreing 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. The domestic dog was once and still often is Canis familiaris as opposed to the wolf, Canis lupus , but the former which is really a subspecies of the latter is now Canis lupus familiaris.

Turkey 207

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 207

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

And reports of birds nesting – not owls, of course, those weirdo snow fetishists, but other birds nesting – light up my life. Most exotics, at least in the bird world, stick close to their point of arrival and barely hang on – or don’t – over the generations. In 1998 W. And of Wyoming.

Montana 137

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 137

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 3, 2010

Perhaps the most well known mosquito born disease, heartworms can be fatal to dogs and occasionally cats and foxes. Heartworm larvae are carried by mosquitoes and then transmitted to the dog’s bloodstream when the mosquito bites. Once the worms hatch, they reach the dog’s heart, eventually causing death if not treated soon enough.

Protection 100

Protection Pets Horses Humane 100

Animal Ethics

MARCH 6, 2014

The same goes for pigs and cattle that are exploited and forced to live in substandard conditions. It is no more acceptable to confine 60 hens for their entire lives in a cage that you report is “about the size of a Ford F-150 pickup truck’s flatbed” than it would be to treat 60 cats similarly. Chickens deserve to live humanely.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Farm Sanctuary Battery Cages 40

Critter News

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Fish and Wildlife Service biologist and killed his dog. Carnivores killed less than 1% of cattle (0.18%) and approximately 3% of sheep produced in the U.S.; • Out of Step with American Values - Americans value wildlife and abhor animal cruelty.

Killing 100

Killing Wildlife Groups Endangered Species 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

I’ve written at length about the specific vulnerability of insular faunas and the catastrophic extinctions caused by the arrival of rats, mice, ferrets, cats and possums (amongst others), here in New Zealand fully half the pre-human bird species were lost. It is without question an unpleasant way to die for any animal.

Animal Rights 266

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 266

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Dogs should not be used to hunt foxes. The tigers keep wandering out of their reserve and taking cattle from nearby villages, taking what little these already poor people have. It is very natural condition to look at something going wrong and imagine what should be happening instead. A hungry child should be fed.

Tigers 176

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 176

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2019

Best wishes to you all for 2019, keep safe and keep birding. Gray Go-away-bird – Corythaixoides concolor. Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. La Cotinga Birding B&B. Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis. So please keep at it and keep sending me your shared checklists.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113