10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

Birding for the Curious: The Easiest Way for Anyone to Explore the Incredible World of Birds by Nate Swick brings birding back to its roots—a simple, joyous way to enjoy nature using our eyes, ears, hands (for sketching), and brain. There are now no excuses except a lack of curiosity. And, nobody wants to admit that.

Birds 263

Birds North Carolina North America Owls 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2014

It can be boring, for sure, but my own birding lately has been pretty much exclusively in service of my home county list, that of Guilford County, North Carolina. It’s my own ambition to reach 200 by the end of next year, and I’ll need about 30 birds to get there. Birding county listing rails'

North Carolina 182

North Carolina Family Owls Birds 182

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

Over Memorial Day weekend (23-25 May) my family and I spent the weekend along the Delaware shore enjoying the beaches, natural areas, and tourist traps that make visiting the shore such a delight. The sunrises alone made getting up, out, and about so early worth it but the birds made it even better. This one will have to suffice.

Delaware 177

Delaware New York Birds North Carolina 177

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Evening Grosbeaks have been reported flying overhead across the state (even practically in my backyard), a couple Common Redpoll s made the listserv, and a trio of White-winged Crossbill s spend a few days at a botanical garden on North Carolina’s coast, the first such sightings in decades down here. That’s fine by me.

North Carolina 149

North Carolina Niger 2008 Canada 149

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

Last week a mystery bird from New Jersey rightly caused a fair bit of confusion among birders of the Garden State and beyond. The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. New Jersey mystery sparrow.

New Jersey 230

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 230

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2011

There was a time, a few years back, when I had some really good luck getting on a run of first state records for North Carolina. I’m not much of a serious twitcher, at least not statewide, but even I’m not immune to the pull, especially when a rare bird is regular and reliable. It stuck around for about a week.

North Carolina 154

North Carolina Sparrows 2008 Hunters 154

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2013

Christmas Bird Count season is right around the corner, and if you’re anything like me you’re pretty excited about it. This year I get to start from scratch, having moved to a new part of the state filled with new birds and birders. North Carolina’s 2nd inland Pacific Loon was on Lake Townsend in 2008.

North Carolina 175

North Carolina Massachusetts 2008 Suffering 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2018

The return home included a total of 5 ½ hours of flight delays, one missed flight, and we subsequently missed the entire town of Charlotte, North Carolina. We did however gain an extra night, at our expense in Miami, Florida, all of which was in the dark, so I could not even run out and put a couple of birds on a Florida State List.

Bahamas 128

Bahamas Costa Rica Abandon Abandoning 128

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

That’s interesting from a weather point of view, but not so good when it coincided with my graduation birding trip. Yes, I had officially graduated from the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment, and I was not going to let a little rain keep me from birding! Still, we were in for another birding surprise.

North Carolina 175

North Carolina Alligators Wildlife Woodpeckers 175

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2013

Recently a baby was born in North Carolina with Trisomy 13, a chromosomal abnormality so severe most carriers die at birth. Those unable to fathom how one could celebrate a life by filling the skies with latex locked horns with those unable to fathom how any type of alternative could be suggested to a family during their time of loss.

Wildlife 257

Wildlife Agenda North Carolina Raised 257

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. Got to finish browsing for the fawns and collecting chiggers,” wrote Becky, from an island off North Carolina. A robot that feeds baby birds so I can take a nap,” wrote Jodi in Massachusetts. “A

Wildlife 250

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 250

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

I am really excited to say I’ll be heading down to Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida, next month as a correspondent for 10,000 Birds. This will, however, be the first time I will have been able to devote myself apologetically to the birds of this amazing state for an entire week.

Florida 132

Florida North Carolina Miami Family 132

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

It’s one of the subtle joys of doing Christmas Bird Counts to be assigned the same area over and over again over the years. I’m living and birding in North Carolina. My schedule – as a young semi-professional with a family – is hardly set in stone. Flash forward to today.

North Carolina 161

North Carolina Missouri Blackbirds Sparrows 161

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

I realize that listing is a reviled in birding culture as it is celebrated, and more listing even more so, but hear me out here. I mean to make the argument that county listing is birding at its most pure, the ultimate combination of the two warring angels that sit upon each one of our shoulders. A fine bird for the county.

McDonalds 168

McDonalds South Carolina North Carolina Jordan 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birding / Half Hardy Half Hardy By Nate • March 10, 2011 • 2 comments Tweet Share This past Monday I was running around with my son in my backyard after work. Instead I saw a flash of orange.

North Carolina 140

North Carolina 2011 St. Louis Baltimore 140

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

To celebrate spring migration, I usually review an exciting new bird book. You can blame the nice people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who took it upon themselves to send me a review copy of the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America by Seabrooke Leckie and David Beadle. Moths are more than bird food.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

This past weekend, while I was vacation over the long holiday with my family in Asheville, North Carolina, a little town in the part of the Appalachians named the Black Mountains, I was made aware of an amazing phenomenon that mountain birders had known about for years. Then, as the sun burns off the mist you see them.

Tennessee 177

Tennessee Salamander North Carolina Georgia 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

This, I am told, is seawatching , a birding activity in which one stands in one place, sometimes for hours, and watches for birds of the sea and lake and river. It is acceptable to point out other sea creatures–dolphins or whales or dragonflies–but the main goal is the observation and identification of the birds.

Ducks 238

Ducks Groups Species North America 238

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2014

I enjoy collecting children’s books about birds and nature that I come across in the expected (book stores) and unexpected (academic library conference reports) places. The Taínos named the birds Iguacas, after their call. Spanish settlers arrived in 1493 and called the birds Coterras. The birds thrive.

Puerto Rico 239

Puerto Rico Parrots New York City 2013 239