10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

I bring this up not to boast (well, not much) but because I think that this approach to wildlife travel is somewhat neglected in birding circles. Read most accounts of how birders see birds outside their patch and one way or another, they’re tourists. Ugandan Mangabeys were part of my family once.

Uganda 161

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2014

As New Zealand’s beat writer I think I’ve done an okay job of discussing the birding of an entirely different island for most of the year, so it’s only fair that I keep that winning streak going by talking about my target for the trip. New Caldonia’s odd flightless heronish bird. A beaked whale.

Sharks 172

Sharks Leopards Whales Whaling 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

This place is such an epic birding location that one cannot possibly do the city and its surrounds justice in one post. These birds, and their closely-related counterparts, the Drakensberg Rockjumper, constantly find themselves on the most-wanted list of pretty much every visiting birder. And rightly so. But by George is it worth it!

South Africa 242

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 242

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. Further to the east, Asian Openbill displays the same special feature but is mostly a white plumaged bird.

Africa 239

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 239

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

So, last time I promised to write about some of the other birding spots around Cape Town in South Africa. If you aren’t the one driving it’s worth keeping an eye out for Southern Right Whales wintering in the bay (the road is rather to twisty to be looking if you’re driving). A terrible shot of a Cape Rockjumper.

South Africa 124

South Africa Penguins Africa Whales 124

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

But later in August, Alexander Suh at the University of Münster emailed me about a new paper he and his colleagues have just published: Mesozoic retroposons reveal parrots as the closest living relatives of passerine birds (PDF). Galahs ( Eolophus roseicapilla ) in Victoria, Australia © David J. Ringer Suh et al. Ringer Suh et al.

Parrots 189

Parrots Falcons Indonesia Rodents 189

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

Elephants, whales, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles; and bats, dolphins, whales, frogs, and various rodents use high-frequency sounds to find food, communicate with others, and navigate. A Grateful Whale. Empathy Among Elephants.

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2012

One of the really great things about living in the Arctic, and loving to watch and photograph birds, is that you can bird in the middle of the night if you so desire. I know you can bird in dark in New York and Newcastle, Weyburn and Walla Walla. I’m talking about full on, need sunglasses, no need for high ISO, birding.

Bald Eagle 171

Bald Eagle Breeding Raised Whales 171

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

The birds that wear tuxedos and star in major motion pictures. People call them “flightless birds&# but they do in fact fly; They just do it underwater. The evolution of the living penguins is one of the best known cases among birds, or even vertebrates in general, mainly through the study of DNA, bio-geography, and anatomy.

Penguins 191

Penguins Seals Peru Science 191

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

People ascribe near mythic status to the members of the family Delphinidae (and other related families). Birding dolphins marine mammals New Zealand endemic' Even people with no other interest in wildlife, who couldn’t tell a sparrow from an ostrich (or even a dolphin from a fish) love dolphins. South Banks Peninsula.

Dolphins 155

Dolphins Sharks New Zealand Albatross 155

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2013

Whale-watching! This may come as somewhat of a surprise to those who don’t know about it but the waters just off of Queens can apparently be pretty good for whales at the right time of year. As we headed east we stayed within several hundred yards of shore which seemed odd for a boat looking for whales. More whales!

New York City 161

New York City New York Whales Whaling 161

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2020

I was lucky to visit India several times, but as a keen birder I carried along only a bird book, and even upgraded it to a new edition between the trips. Despite depicting 540 species/56 families, it is a lightweight book of 173 pages, easy to pack and carry. Larger species, that is, excluding dolphins and whales. cm Weight 0.4

Asia 176

Asia Mammals Sri Lanka Bhutan 176

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2018

– Birds are indeed dinosaurs, yet, are indubitably not. Knowledge is knowing that a bird is a dinosaur. In other words, you can’t say something like, “humans, gorillas, chimps, and bonobos are all in the same family and equally related to each other.” Sometimes the exceptions are spectacular. So, here’s the thing.

Monkeys 136

Monkeys Gorillas Whales Whaling 136

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

Faithful 10,000 Birds readers will remember Suzie as our wildlife rehabilitation beat writer. Suzie wrote about her experiences as a bird rehabber in Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings (2009) and used those experiences as the source for her fictional children’s book, Hawk Hill (1996).

Wildlife Rehabilitation 254

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 254

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2011

Having flown to Washington State on a family vacation the first obstacle was easily out of the way, which you knew already if you ever read this blog. But then came the biggest obstacle of all… …would Daisy agree to a boat ride that had a bird as its goal? Instead I heard “Sure, that sounds like fun.

Washington 170

Washington Protection Puffins Rhinoceros 170

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2017

It was a good birding year. Many sad and unfortunate things occurred in 2016, but the birding was good. I started the year in Florida, traveled to India with the ABA in February, combined family and birding in an August trip to California, and in-between saw very good birds in New York and New Jersey.

2016 109

2016 India Ducks Birds 109

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 231

Ducks Groups Species North America 231

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

In fact, the last one was back on 15 May 2012 when my Queens list stood at 289 and I guessed what my next eleven birds would be that would get me to 300. Note that starred birds are birds that have since been seen and are not indicative of how well I predicted each time.). John’s the Divine Cemetery.

2012 158

2012 2013 New York City Jamaica 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Nice. ((** all names have been changed to protect identities and have been substituted with (almost) randomly chosen substitutes suitable for a family of Alpine Accentors.)) Happy birding, Dale Forbes Tags: accentors , Alpine Accentor , Birds , features , polygynandry • Have you seen the cool 10,000 Birds t-shirts?

2011 209

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 209

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

There is a very distinctive smell found on seabird colonies, where thousands upon thousands of birds come to breed and, coincidentally, deposit large quantities of waste. Arriving at the colony the head lights go off and we move into position below the birds (trying not to fall over the cliffs and into the sea) coordinating everyone by radio.

Breeding 181

Breeding Stray Seals Whales 181

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

I must ashamedly admit that prior to this mission, I had never been birding on the island before. Chacachacare was also the site of a US Army base, a leper colony, and before that, a whaling station. Sure enough it was a place I always wanted to visit for birding, but things never fell into place. Tropical Parula.

Trinidad 175

Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

I mentioned last week, while talking about rails and the Pacific, that Tonga is not a particularly birdy birding destination. A combination of extinctions and proximity to Fiji means that a trip to that island group would net you pretty much all the same birds plus a whole raft of others.

Tonga 162

Tonga Fiji New Zealand Parrots 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

To get out to the deep water we have to cruise for hours which necessitates leaving late in the evening, trying to sleep on an uncomfortable, moving boat, and waking up in the predawn hours to spend not-enough-time amid amazing birds before suffering through the long, boring ride through the “dead zone” back to shore.

Whales 109

Whales Whaling Albatross Dolphins 109