10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

It’s a rush any new birder experiences: that of every species being a lifer. Once you’ve been around the birding block a few years, your appreciation for the lifer experience deepens greatly. But the opportunities to see new species become more difficult with each one seen. All four species look almost identical.)

Spain 204

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 204

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

(Boring bureaucratic note to dissuade casual readers: This post covers birds seen in Shanghai in January 2023, except for those seen at Tianmashan – these are shown in a separate post. End of note) Probably the most interesting bird in Shanghai this month was a Barred Cuckoo-Dove choosing a small downtown park to feed on berries.

Birds 147

Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2021

Fortunately, China still has lots of interesting birding locations left for me. But of course, it is also nice to remember past birding trips. One in November 2018 included a one-day birding trip in the Drakensberg area, a mountain range in the border area between South Africa and Lesotho. That does not make much sense, I know.

South Africa 246

South Africa Africa Lesotho Nigeria 246

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2024

Given how far Hokkaido is from Europe, it seems a bit surprising how many bird species wintering on this Japanese island have a name starting with “Eurasian” Or how many of these species I have also seen in my parents’ garden in Germany. It seems extra-pair paternity is very frequent in this species.

Research 130

Research Germany Iran Humane 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2022

Situated in misty, cool montane oak forest, the touristy hamlet of San Gerardo de Dota is the most popular birding area in Talamanca: it hosts the largest population of the Resplendent Quetzal in the world. Miriam’s is a plain, simple place offering delicious local cuisine cooked in a wood oven, combined with an awesome birding station!

Costa Rica 249

Costa Rica Opossums Mammals United States 249

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2019

Today`s post is a continuation of last week`s – an introduction to Shanghai`s 20 most commonly seen birds. After getting to the letter C last week in a roughly alphabetical order, I will show the second 10 species today. Start with Eurasian Tree Sparrow , an unlikely high-ranked target for anybody watching birds in Shanghai.

Latvia 127

Latvia Birds Sparrows Abandon 127

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2022

For some reason that I do not quite understand myself – given that I really rather dislike children and am not too positive about the rest of humanity either – I recently put up a little display of bird photos inside my Shanghai compound, which I share (as the only foreigner) with about 1700 Chinese. Some Birds of Shanghai.

Birds 162

Birds Fish Germany China 162

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 222

Africa Botswana Birds Europe 222

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

Yes there are birding sites and there are birds – but hardly much info about them (beside Fat Birder ). Local birding sites are well known – among local birders. Nevertheless, describing where to bird is easy. Nevertheless, describing where to bird is easy. Corn Bunting and Yellow Wagtail – common.

Serbia 185

Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 185

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Checking my annual list, I am where I usually am at this time of year: several species short of 200. Still, this way or another, the year is ending with some glorious species, e.g. a rare Greater Spotted Eagle. Usually only several birds overwinter in Serbia – the biggest count ever was less than 10. Their claim to fame?

Moldova 121

Moldova Birds Serbia Greece 121

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2018

He made a whirlwind tour of some of the best birding areas in the country, from the Karajukica Bunari peat bog in the extreme southwest (by the border with Montenegro) all the way to the Slano Kopovo Crane Sanctuary in the northeast. He enjoys combining his passion for birds with computer science background to model nocturnal bird migration.

Serbia 143

Serbia Switzerland Farming Birds 143

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2014

Joseph Chiera is a Masters student in Animal Behavior and Conservation at Hunter College in NYC and a “somewhat newbie” to birding. After taking an ornithology course last year, he was hooked and spends most of his free time birding or reading birding blogs. Of course, birding was on the itinerary!

Finland 173

Finland Estonia Birds Europe 173

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2014

There’s no way around it as the various species are reasonably common, and you will surely want to identify them. So we have a brown, slender-billed bird in font of us which we now know is a brown warbler, either of the genus Acrocephalus or Locustella. So easy a group it is not even worth blogging about. What is next?

Europe 225

Europe Kazakhstan Sparrows Abandon 225

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Some people read cookbooks though they have no intention of whipping up a mushroom risotto, some people read bird guide books, even when the likelihood of actually seeing the creatures in those guides is remote. SCOPE & SPECIES ORGANIZATION. It covers 434 species across 9 orders and 18 families of birds.

Albatross 279

Albatross Penguins Family Groups 279

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2017

There should be thousands of birds at this time of the year, Dimitris Michalakis from the Karla Lake management authority told me. In early August this year, I saw 77 species here (69 on the lake, plus 8 more in the surrounding areas) but barely more than a thousand individuals. Now I can say I was. Lesser Kestrel.

Greece 198

Greece Killing Pelicans Eagles 198

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

My own trip was not an intensive birding experience, and August is clearly not the most productive month. I chalked up 132 species in a pretty relaxed eight days, during which birds shared the agenda with culture. With 154 eBirded species, the Beljarica shares the 4th place on the list. What has changed in the meantime?

Serbia 168

Serbia Birds Bulgaria Farming 168

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2015

This time I was lucky enough to join a fam trip organised by Natural Greece, an ecotourism company from Athens, and spend a few days at my favourite Kerkini Lake, which you already birded through my bins ( April and September ). These cute little birds are common in the villages. Picture 10: Rock Sparrow – Petronia petronia.

Greece 252

Greece Woodpeckers Eagles Birds 252

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2013

A Common Buzzard in the ground, another on the top of a bush… Buzzards were the most obvious birds, most of them coming from the more northerly countries to overwinter here and serve for target practice to a hoard of trigger-happy poachers. Here it is a strictly wintering species, and the first individual I have seen this winter.

Serbia 226

Serbia Hoarding Europe Woodpeckers 226

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

They belong to the same species like those found back in Europe, Sus scrofa – which inhabits a belt stretching from northern Africa and Europe all the way to Indonesia, but a different subspecies, S.s. The next two species are the Southern Grey Shrike and the Tawny Pipit , also characteristic for this habitat type.

India 235

India Birds Eagles Boars 235

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Birders tend to miss things outside the birding universe, what with being out and about in the woods and using our smartphones to check rare bird alerts and eBird lists rather than the news. Of course such a clear case of misjudgement would never have happened here in the Olde Europe. And the Nene? Seabirds and albatrosses?

Hawaii 163

Hawaii Albatross Europe America 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2017

I have just returned from Costa Rica, the country about which I knew very little, despite it coming under my radar all the way back in 1999 when the “Africa – Birds & Birding” magazine published some of John Graham’s experiences from his visit in 1993. The unspoken words “to watch birds” were left hanging in the air.

Costa Rica 190

Costa Rica San Jose Serbia Europe 190

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2016

How much time do you devote to birding? How high is birding on your list of activities – is it the very first or merely one of? These are the types I recognise: Coffee Break Birding – 10-15 minutes, usually not planned ahead but squeezed out of your schedule. It is a good option if you know that there is that one special bird.

Birds 116

Birds India Africa Serbia 116

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

The other day I was exploring a new area for the first time, birding the national park that I’ve watched only in BBC documentaries, the place famous for the largest Dalmatian Pelican colony in the world – more than 1300 pairs! Checking the birds on the stork’s nest, I found both House and Spanish Sparrows. Have you heard of it?

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Breeding 252

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2016

Two more sparrows on the macadam ahead of me… In my early birding days, I would simply assume that they are sparrows, possibly not even taking another look at them, but now I am too old to be so naive. My response to additional stress is – bird more and not less. It actually makes perfect sense.

Romania 141

Romania Sparrows Battery Turtles 141

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

Will Raup is a birder from upstate New York who helped Corey learn a lot about birds when Corey was first starting out as a birder. When you think of invasives, you think of the birds that have been helped by human beings to get where they are, such as House Sparrow or European Starling. a Cattle Egret in Brooklyn.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2016

I remember, several times while motionlessly surveying birds, I found myself being investigated by Striped Field Mice , who would dare to come to sniff me. Europe: The sun is scorching the area, and the birds are nowhere to be seen. No, birds are way too smart for that stupid trick. My first ever Balkan Egyptian Vultures!

Wildlife 185

Wildlife Tigers Asia Europe 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

For those who happen to be faithful followers of posts about birding in Costa Rica, no, you haven’t accidentally browsed to the wrong place. Today, I am writing about another very birdy place and an event that I was very fortunate to have experienced, the Champions of the Flyway Bird Race in Eilat, Israel. Nope, not one bit.

Costa Rica 181

Costa Rica Eagles Birds 181

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! It is possible to reach it on the Friday afternoon, sleep there and go birding at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Well, do you really? The Forgotten Road does not exist on the GPS screen either. Am I complaining about it?

Serbia 197

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 197

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2018

What do you do when you are a bird guide in a Central American country incredibly rich in birds and other natural resources but which has no birding field guide? selling original art plates, and sponsorships and donations from birding and conservation companies and agencies from the U.S., Europe, and Honduras itself.

Honduras 106

Honduras Birds 2015 Family 106

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

I had just a split-second glimpse of this species – my only second ever – yet immediately knew what is it, but I was driving through a snowbound countryside and had another car behind me, therefore I stopped a good 50 metres later to eBird it. It is the end of January and my year list reached 110 birds. Fortunately, B. Am I satisfied?

Owls 107

Owls Greece Serbia Woodpeckers 107

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

From the time he can remember, every camping, hiking, or simple trip outside was focused on finding wildlife with herps, mammals, birds and native fish as his primary interests. When it comes time to for me to plan a vacation I first figure out what herps occur in the area and then what birds and mammals I can also find.

Salamander 140

Salamander Germany Birds Blackbirds 140

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2015

I still know my audience - this is primarily a blog read by birders in North America, who see the term “squirrel” as little more than a synonym for house sparrow, starling, pest and cholera. Germany, like most of Europe and very much unlike North America, is home to only one species of squirrel.

Squirrels 162

Squirrels North America Germany Europe 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2018

. • The Aliens Among Us: How Invasive Species Are Transforming the Planet – and Ourselves (Leslie Anthony, Yale). • I am a human being, so I am entitled to, and I do, say that the starling is an ugly bird. Shakespeare was, supposedly , the reason starlings, house sparrows, and other non-native birds were introduced to North America.

Humane 105

Humane Species North America Sparrows 105

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2016

The country of Mexico as a whole, is host to 27 different species of doves, with the California Baja Sure home to six. There is of course the dry, cactus strewn desert areas, but with mountains up to 7000 feet, the habitat for our local birds is quite varied. The Baja, as it is known, is a truly diverse area.

San Jose 100

San Jose North America Mexico America 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

I had the good fortune to be asked to represent one of the UK’s national birding magazines ‘Birdwatching’ on a press trip to Southern Portugal earlier this month. In May 1992 European Union governments adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe.

Portugal 253

Portugal Legislation 2000 Adoptable 253

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

This thrush is extremely common in urban and suburban Germany and one of the most conspicuous bird species here, comparable to the American Robin in North America. A few dead birds were collected by authorities and sent to a laboratory for investigation.

Germany 161

Germany Blackbirds 2006 Denmark 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

Even more than warbler, shorebird, and sparrow identification, this is a field that tests our endurance (gull watching is too often done in bitter cold, windy conditions), patience (even getting one good photo can take hours as you try to separate the ‘interesting gull’ from the flock), observational skills (so many plumages!)

North America 208

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 208