10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2021

October can be a fantastic birding season in the right places. Corey spent his weekend upstate visiting his folks, picking apples, and, of course, looking for birds. Corey spent his weekend upstate visiting his folks, picking apples, and, of course, looking for birds. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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Blackbirds Birds Sparrows Wildlife 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Among other things… I go birding. Yes, birding can be a wonderful tool for maintaining mental health. That has certainly been my own experience, but I am not the only one who says this; an ever-growing body of evidence confirms this fact. Why is birding such an effective mental health tool? Green is good.

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Birds Emotional Medical Shelters 234

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2023

It is home to four diverse forest ecosystems (deciduous, mixed, boreal, and lowlands), experiences seasonal weather systems ranging from cold dry Arctic winters to humid, thunder-storm filled summers, and, according to the latest official checklist, hosts four professional sports teams with bird names.* state and Canadian provinces.

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North America Birds Owls Canada 210

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Birds of Belize by Steve N. Howell and Dale Dyer and Birds of Costa Rica by Dale Dyer and Steve N. Yet they also bring up questions, which I’m going to talk about right now before diving into the specifics of the guides themselves. Two books, two authors, two countries bursting with neotropical avian diversity.

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Costa Rica Belize El Salvador Birds 213

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2021

June can be a hit-or-miss month for birding. You may, if fortune favors you, hit good weather or birds. In that sense, June is no different than any other month, right? What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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Sparrows Birds Farming Experience 221

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

Millions of birds around the world are making moves. I spent the last week in Alaska chasing all kinds of excitement but finding fewer birds than I’d hoped. The weekend found me in the Fairbanks area, where the dominant bird right now has to be Sandhill Cranes. That easily makes it his Best Bird of the Weekend!

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Alaska Birds Experience Experiments 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

I am not only surprised but shocked at my second lifer of the month right here in Monroe County. Despite his best efforts Corey didn’t find any truly outstanding birds this weekend as he stomped his way across Queens. A subspecies as Best Bird of the Weekend? What is 10,000 Birds coming to? How about you?

2020 264

2020 Birds Sparrows Experience 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

Mid-November holds the dubious honor of being one of the most mundane birding periods imaginable in most temperate zones. Not to say, of course, that there’s no point in getting out to see birds this time of year–any day is a good day for birding. He got out on both mornings and saw pretty much expected species.

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Birds Woodpeckers Experience Experiments 189

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2021

June is the breeding month, when New Yorkers mostly give up on migrant birds and look for birds where they nest. If you can avoid the bad bugs and get the birds it must be counted as a successful outing. There’s always good birds to be found there. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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Virginia Birds Collecting Dogs 213

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2021

February feels like a step forward to our next season, but we’ll still be as mired in winter or summer, depending on your hemisphere, at month’s end as we are right now. As many as six soaring overhead at once was enough to make the national bird of the United States Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you?

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Bald Eagle Delaware New York Pennsylvania 203

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

I truly do hope I am not tiring 10,000 Birds’ readers too much with my obsession with Michoacán’s ongoing drought, the disappearance of Lake Cuitzeo (Mexico’s 2nd largest lake, in normal years), and our own micro-endemic Black-polled Yellowthroat. But obsessed I am. Had I thrown a rock, I would undoubtedly have hit one.

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Mexico Investigation Science Experience 215

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

In common with so many other volcanoes, Poas also houses farms, people, and forests full of birds. Eastern Meadowlarks, cowbirds, grackles , and a few other birds are at peace with the cows but for most birds on Poas, the forest is where life is living large. Just like it sounds, birding in place is watching birds from one spot.

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Costa Rica Birds Cows Hunters 259

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

November doesn’t fit any of the conventional narratives of birding seasons. Nonetheless, November can really cook when the birding conditions are just right. However, picking these birds out by call in flight leaves me wanting the kinds of views Corey’s been able to muster. How about you? How about you?

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2020 Cooking Birds Experience 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Win a Copy of Hawks at a Distance Great Horned Owl Taking a Deer Leg Cats Are Still Public Enemy Number One, For Birds Crossley ID Guide Giveaway Winners.Or These Blasts From The Past Bald Eagles are Getting Spoiled… Help Save Migratory Birds! • Explore These Related Posts More Habitat for Snowy Plover? Thanks for visiting!

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Experience Experiments Deer 2011 162

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

And if you take this phrase, “stamps in weathered passports,” my interpretation is that the experiences from travel are the “stamps” as sights, sounds, tastes, smells, textures, on your “passport,” or soul. Hannah overlooking a valley Traveling into Lesotho from the Sani Pass is an experience more than just the journey to the top.

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Lesotho Sheep South Africa Africa 224

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2020

In the era of digital cameras and social media, images of birds are easy to come by. Even photos of the rarest of birds can be found, even heart-wrenching images of bird species that are no longer with us. In Costa Rica, lately, I have been enjoying the class and elegance of bird poster art produced by CaraCara.

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Costa Rica Birds Species Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2021

You know what that means, right? The only birds I’m willing to look at during a frigid March weekend are the ones outside my winter. Sure, it was way across the pond and the heat distortion was murder but he got the year bird and a horrible digiscoped image. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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Jamaica Birds Wildlife Experience 170

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2021

Birding in the Caribbean is about islands, beautiful beaches, extra special endemics, rum, and smiles. It could also be much more, maybe less, it all depends on how you want to rock an international birding trip. Go to Costa Rica and you will be looking at other birds but you can still get in some Caribbean slope birding.

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Costa Rica Puerto Rico Birds Owls 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2020

When bird activity flags, we can focus our bins and scopes on various other flora and fauna, as well as celestial bodies under the right conditions. On the plus side, I wrangled some nice bird sightings along the lake, the best of which was surely a Wilson’s Snipe that my wife spotted before I did. How about you?

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 158

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2021

The adult males sport that look; a bird created with crayons and an imaginative mind. The female isn’t quite so unreal but is still a cool little bird in her own right. She also makes a mark with her small size, one of the smallest birds in Costa Rica. A Garden Planted for Birds.

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Costa Rica San Jose Birds Farming 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2023

The area is one of the most important in Greece for birds, comprising more than 270 species. The best birding season here is the winter when waterbirds come to overwinter in those lagoons, followed by migratory seasons and, to a lesser extent, breeding season. Previous stage: Birding Lake Kerkini Now, I am done.

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Greece Pelicans Birds Otters 183

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Not all birds are created equal. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. Central Africa has one of those birds. Lesser Striped Swallow.

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Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 262

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2021

Are 12s right for birding? Or have you ever birded with 12s? With such a background, my decision to test the new birding frontier of Swarovski 12×42 extra-wide FOV binoculars didn’t appear strange at all – to me, at least. If you spot a small bird with, e.g., 8s, you will walk towards it until you get a better view.

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Birds Raised Rights Experience 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2023

As usual, my experience with such boardwalks was somewhat underwhelming, as was Eshowe as a whole, but there were still a few birds worth mentioning at the forest and in the area surrounding Eshowe. These Hadada Ibis were right in the garden of the place where we stayed. I think the people running the place even fed them.

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South Africa Africa 2018 Birds 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2020

Around midnight, I heard the most emphatic grunting right outside my window–unexpected because I was on the second floor. Corey got out and about birding on both Saturday and Sunday morning, before joining a Black Live Matter march on Sunday. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 Breeders Birds Owls 158

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2020

For several years I lived and birded in the south of Africa , and still have my battered second edition (1997) of the Sasol Birds of Southern Africa, the most trusted local field guide. Perhaps birds of prey are somewhat overcrowded, but still well organised. In the upper right corner of every species entry is a pencil.

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Africa South Africa Swaziland Lesotho 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2019

When did birding become so intimately intertwined with technology? But beyond space age gear and technical fabrics, birding also seems to demand a strong, unbroken connection to the internet. For once in a long while, Corey and I share the same Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2019 Uganda Birds Science 162

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.

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South Africa Africa Lesotho Nigeria 232

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

But it seems the birds like this habitat, probably as this is a rare more open area on these otherwise mostly heavily forested hills. The monastery is quite large compared to a bird guide (Bella from Alpinebirding on the left-hand side). And compared to birds, for that matter. So nice they named it twice, anyone?).

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Birds Germany India 2018 211

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2023

Considering Broome often experiences cyclones and strong winds it does make sense for the birds to build a more substantial nest to survive the extreme weather. Although Crested Pigeons are quite a common bird Australia-wide you don’t always find a nest, so that you are able to observe the family grow.

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Breeding Australia Eggs Family 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

At the beginning it was so big that I was afraid, I kept running and running, and I was glad when I saw walls far away to the right and left, but these long walls have narrowed so quickly that I am in the last chamber already, and there in the corner stands the trap that I must run into.” So, still room for improvement. Depressing.

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Raccoons Birds Oregon China 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2022

This bird may be “common”, but it is also stunning. That’s the Kingfisher at the right; on the left was one of the area’s many European Stonechats. The Kingfisher’s irridescent blue back was a wonder to see as it flew to this perch, but my camera didn’t focus on the fast-flying bird.

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Spain Mexico Europe North America 178

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. I have been leading birding trips all over Brazil since 1982. My name is Paulo Boute.

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Brazil South America Industry America 261

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them. Which tours saw the most roosting owls?

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Costa Rica Birds Thailand Farming 212

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2019

Growing up birding in Western New York was also a time when the old woods of the Niagara Gorge were punctuated with the songs of hidden Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos and the lazy notes of Eastern Wood-Pewees. Seeing the uncommon birds is key to reaching a big total no matter where one goes birding. The Northern Wetlands.

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Costa Rica Species Birds New York 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2019

A hot weekend doesn’t necessarily make for hot birding, but things may be warming up on that front. One truth you learn in the birding business is that birds are always moving in one direction or another. Northern Mockingbirds , for example, are charming any time of year but abundant right now in my part of the world.

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2019 New York City Virginia New York 135

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

The full title of this exceptional book by Marie Read is Mastering Bird Photography: The Art, Craft, and Technique of Photographing Birds and Their Behavior. As a birder who photographs, rather than a bird photographer, this never occurred to me before and I find the idea intriguing.

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Birds Ethics 2019 Experience 192