10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

The Collins Bird Guide covers Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East. The 1st edition from 1999 was a complete revolution in just about everything, but predominantly the quality and realism of illustrations, showing what a field guide could be and seriously raising the threshold for other publishers.

Europe 259

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 259

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

That was a wild cat, a wild Wildcat, the cat that lives in the wild because that is where it is from and where it belongs, at the southern end of its pan-African range that extended at one time well into Europe and Asia. I once knew a guy who kept and raised cats. But they don’t live in North America. Unless we put them there.

Feral Cats 256

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 256

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2015

A manicured green lawn in front of the building and an iridescent blue bird on a smallish aloe tree. It was June 1999 and I was observing my first ever bird on African soil. The next bird was some crow-like UFO observed from the shuttle bus. I asked the bus driver about the bird and he asked me back: “The bi’d?” “Umm,

Africa 218

Africa Botswana Birds Europe 218

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

ELs are fat around the waist, their weight is more pronounced towards the front end, and when you raise your fingers, letting ELs rest only against your thumbs, they start falling down, front end first. And when you raise your fingers, well balanced NLs happily rest against your thumbs, not falling to either side.

Chile 305

Chile Argentina Raised Serbia 305

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. Some time after the Spanish encounter with the Turkey, birds were brought back to Europe where they were raised and became an important source of food and fancy feathers.

Turkey 207

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 207