10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2022

They are places where we invest most of our birding time and rightly so; mature tropical forests are where we find the highest number of species. Tropical forest is a must but those mossy green mansions aren’t the only places where birds occur. Such field and edge birding becomes especially fun in urbanized areas.

Costa Rica 270

Costa Rica Farming Birds Sparrows 270

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

As the cold fronts begin to sweep through the northern states ushering in a wave of seasonal change and color, South Florida becomes a gathering place for migratory birds far and wide across the country. Every day that the weather persists, the birds gather in larger and larger numbers — a “back up.”

Florida 259

Florida Miami Birds Falcons 259

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

When looking for birds in Costa Rica, the Central Valley isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Tongues and patches of green space host birds but most birders leave as soon as they can. Why linger when you can go where the birding is better? I can’t blame them, I would too.

Costa Rica 259

Costa Rica Sparrows Birds Rodents 259

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2019

Now that the Mad Queen is dead, Brandon the Broken, First of His Name, is the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Six Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm; and peace is restored in all the kingdoms, would you want to bird Westeros? How many birds have you spotted in 8 seasons? Falcons – Gyrfalcon. Partridges.

Chickens 176

Chickens Falcons Birds Geese 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2021

As sad as I am to say it, I must: 2021 was one of my worst years for birding since I started looking at feathered creatures with intent in 2006. COVID kept me from traveling internationally, and my only major domestic trip of the year was to California where I have birded quite a bit already. All that said, 2021 was not a total loss.

New York 260

New York Birds California Owls 260

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

No matter where you happen to be, you can’t really go wrong when beginning a new year of birding. Birds are everywhere and if you keep the mind open to appreciation, even the most common of familiar birds are incredible, beautiful creatures. That said, more birds are always better and ones infrequently seen even more so.

Costa Rica 201

Costa Rica Birds Falcons Philadelphia 201

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

With longer and warmer days, we feel the urge to bird in the country, away from our local city patches. So, if you were coming into my neck of the woods – Belgrade, where would I suggest you go birding? Raptors to look for in this reserve are Golden Eagle and Short-toed Snake Eagle , European Honey-buzzard and Peregrine Falcon.

Serbia 263

Serbia Woodpeckers Owls Eagles 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2024

My previous post on birding here has received some criticism – apparently I was too harsh on the place. True to my own recipe I would arrive a day or two early to go birding. I’d go with Mexican birding buddy Mau, guided by Kingfisher Birding who also provided the bird pictures. The birds warmed us too.

Ducks 159

Ducks Emotional Cattle Owls 159

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2020

And this doesn’t mean you are obsessed or a little bit too much into birds because keeping track of a year list actually comes with some side benefits. Yeah, many of us living the birding life do so anyways because we can’t help it. Go birding! Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans; Raptor Ridge, 5-Jan.

Costa Rica 263

Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 263

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

An expanse of habitat as vast as Murchison Falls NP in Uganda, as excessively generous in beauty and biodiversity, permits endless ways to experience both its birds and animals. The Masindi Hotel holds the distinction of being the oldest and most historic hotel in Uganda and has some terrific birds on premises. Mind boggling, I answer!

Uganda 196

Uganda Senegal Africa Game 196

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.

North America 220

North America Birds Owls America 220

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2019

I brushed the screen of my tablet and the image of a small bird, bold in black and gray and chestnut, filled the screen behind me. Or a pipit, or a weaver, or a finch, or…” *don’t say sparrow* I told myself. Sparrow polls really bad. “So you seriously propose to let us name birds like we name stadiums?”

Branding 163

Branding Falcons Birds California Condor 163

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 16, 2021

2021 is already well underway, are you birding? During anxious times, birding is therapeutic, it brings us back to center, can wipe away the worries and act as a source of mental fortitude. Watch some birds today and see where it takes you. Watch some birds all year long and enjoy the journey, keep a list.

Costa Rica 164

Costa Rica Birds Parrots Woodpeckers 164

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.

Uganda 272

Uganda Africa Birds Penguins 272

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2022

I can’t resist loving my first week of birding each year. While I can’t convince myself to be excited about my First-Of-Year House Sparrows , almost anything else is exciting. Although he is a biologist, he is rather new to birding, and had never done so in an area packed with waterfowl and shorebirds.

Falcons 190

Falcons Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 190

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2021

Ebird still allows me the facility to collate the year list and feature the birds that were added to it during May. This may not be the high standard that you might expect from 10,000 Birds, but it’s what you are getting. The joy is that you get to read a completely random list of birds and try to guess where they are from.

Sparrows 236

Sparrows Niger Tigers Turtles 236

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

…we bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird in the marsh the whole day thru. My birding list for November totals 15 species. 218 Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans. 222 Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus. 223 Prairie Falcon – Falco mexicanus.

Sparrows 213

Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots Costa Rica 213

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

At the end of 2022, let us celebrate the local field guide, a sub-genre that many of us feared would die, the victim of technology, development, and globalization, but which still shines bright, fewer in number but brilliant in quality, thanks to birders and birding organizations that believe in knowing your patch and your state.

Los Angeles 205

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 205

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2022

8 of them sent 153 lists, noting 645 species of bird across 7 countries (Mexico, UK, USA, Serbia, Australia, Costa Rica, Colombia). It has not resulted in extraordinary numbers of sightings personally, but the beats have been busy on their respective patches and have sent me their lists to collate. The year list finishes at 1628.

Sparrows 241

Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots Owls 241

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2022

So it is odd that this rather drab landscape would host some of our most colorful birds. I’ll choose to say that gray is also a color, as a shout out to the gorgeous Black-chinned Sparrow at the top of this article. There were, of course, many other birds seen that day. There were Vermilion Flycatchers , of course.

Eagles 224

Eagles Falcons Sparrows Species 224

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2018

Lacking the benefit of heated shelters, birds must heed that warning or perish. This is why the Yellow Warblers and Baltimore Orioles of summer don’t linger to experience October 31st, and even late fall migrants like kinglets and sparrows move to slightly warmer regions. Laughing Falcon. Lesser Ground-Cuckoo.

Costa Rica 168

Costa Rica Bats Birds Falcons 168

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2018

I had high hopes for the 5th Annual Queens County Bird Club Big Sit this past Saturday at Fort Tilden. As I placed my gear and sipped my coffee I was pleased to hear a Blue Jay call, an odd first bird for the count. A new bird for the Big Sit and a clue that the day was going to be good.

2018 206

2018 Bald Eagle Battery Birds 206

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Imagine for a moment that you are a bird. The other options are to continue flying past daybreak, which is dangerous both because you are low on energy and because hawks and falcons might come after you. And, for the record, when I say the birds were close I mean they were really close. I sure appreciated this Swamp Sparrow.

New York City 221

New York City New York Birds Sparrows 221

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2020

They looked out their windows and across their patios and up from their apartment terraces and saw–birds. This is a delightful book, large (8-1/2 by 11 inches), filled with Sibley’s distinctive artwork and an organized potpourri of research-based stories about the science behind bird’s lives.

2020 264

2020 Birds Groups North America 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

We conduct four Christmas Bird Counts in our part of Northern California, the first of which is the Fall River Christmas Bird Count coming up in just about two weeks. We began birding at Fall River overlook, a vista parking area overlooking a canyon. All in all, eight enthusiastic birders had a great time, and I got a lifer!

California 104

California Sparrows Birds Philadelphia 104

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. San Vito and Buenos Aires.

Costa Rica 202

Costa Rica Species Birds New York 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

I only had a few days in California while visiting my brother at Berkeley, but we couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit one of the most famous birding sites in the country: Point Reyes National Seashore. Add those life mammals to the life birds I already expected to see, and I was practically vibrating with excitement.

Seals 191

Seals Elephants Whales Whaling 191

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 8, 2018

It’s busy on the birding side of things as well. Migrant species are around, rarities are waiting to be found (such as, believe it or not, Lincoln’s Sparrow ), and, most of all, we have Christmas Counts to attend to. The counts act as our end of the year birding festivities and 2018 brings us more than ever.

Costa Rica 181

Costa Rica San Jose Birds Falcons 181

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2022

In the previous period I wrote mostly book reviews (but of some really great books ), yet I cannot remember when the last time was that I wrote of birding itself? Perhaps in my December posts on birding Colombian Amazonia ? Driving with open windows (to hear the birds) becomes unbearable and I am heading out of this fish farm.

Breeders 218

Breeders Mules Farming Fish 218

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2022

As I write weekly for 10,000 Birds, and it has now been two whole years since the pandemic has kept me from birding more than an hour away from home, it has become a challenge to come up with varied blog subjects. But every birding enthusiast knows that each year arrives full of possibilities. Gray Flycatcher , FOY.

Turkey 201

Turkey Falcons Mexico Species 201

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Ideally, it should be one even less relevant than previous ones (like the one on wet birds, the one on blue birds, or the ones just showing birds eating or sleeping). Then I had an idea – a post based on birds starting with the same letter. I was just wondering about another topic for a post. Are you still with me?

South Africa 329

South Africa China Nevada Africa 329

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 182

Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2021

Lock downs and restrictions have curbed our birding, so if you can summon any blessings to mind, count them instead. December’s beats found 609 birds after submitting 116 checklists from 8 countries (USA, UK, Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Serbia and Australia).

2020 232

2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots 232

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2021

This past Saturday, 09 October 2021, was the Eighth Annual Queens County Bird Club Big Sit. As regular readers of 10,000 Birds know, the Big Sit is my favorite birding event of the year, narrowly edging out the Christmas Bird Count. It’s lonely in the dark with no birds to keep you company.

Woodpeckers 239

Woodpeckers Battery Birds Species 239

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

One of the primary reasons that these hawks make such excellent falconry birds is because they are one of only two raptor species (the other is the Galapagos Hawk ) that hunt cooperatively. Consider the following quote, &# Falconry involves the use of birds of prey to kill other birds and animals for sport.

League Against Cruel Sports 270

League Against Cruel Sports Rabbits Falcons Hunting 270

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. What has changed in the meantime? eBird bar chart. #4 4 Beljarica Foreland (Kovilovo floodplain), Belgrade.

Serbia 164

Serbia Birds Bulgaria Farming 164

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2020

October’s birds are listed below; 1 Little Tinamou – Crypturellus soui. 298 Laughing Falcon – Herpetotheres cachinnans. 302 Aplomado Falcon – Falco femoralis. 303 Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus. 547 House Sparrow – Passer domesticus. They noted 719 species between them.

2020 292

2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Blackbirds 292