10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

If you like birds on posts, if seeing “little brown jobs” posing nicely in the distance as you drive or walk along a dirt road only to have it fly away as you approach makes you deliriously happy, then North Dakota is the place for you. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state.

North Dakota 144

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 144

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

Happy New Year, 10,000 Birds readers and writers, listers and photographers, friends and fellow travelers near and far! Writing a post scheduled for January 1st for a birding blog is a big responsibility. On the first of the year, every bird is a new bird! It was a United States lower-48 birding year for me.

2018 163

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2015

California is blessed with 51 NWRs and Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), second only to North Dakota with 77. Just before the final leg of the auto route, where it begins to turn back toward the Black-crowned Night-Heron roost, I spotted a substantial group of large white birds foraging just off the road.

Wildlife 159

Wildlife San Francisco Sacramento North Dakota 159

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. However, organizations like Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory spend much time looking for more evidence of this species’ decline.

Prairie Dogs 163

Prairie Dogs Colorado North Dakota Soreing 163

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2018

The UK has been birded clean by Tom as he ends his Little Big Year (Part 1). Donna was first amongst beats to reach North Dakota and brought the number of Lower 48s to 32, adding Sharp-tailed Grouse , Sprague’s Pipit and LeConte’s Sparrow to the life list. Gray Go-away-bird – Corythaixoides concolor.

2018 101

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 101