10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2024

My aunt Greet gave me a book in 1975 that featured the 60 most endangered birds in Europe. Amazingly and quite contrary to what you would believe from the gloomy news most of these birds have since recovered and are doing well. Barnacle Geese even made it to “agricultural pest” status. Water security isn’t easy.

Spain 229

Spain Ducks Morocco Europe 229

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2023

The birding delights of the estuary are a 30-minute drive from the Lisbon international airport. So close, you would think there’s nothing one can do to improve the location of this fantastic birding spot. I like to close the year with a visit as birds are like English pensioners in Benidorm – they flock in winter.

Portugal 192

Portugal Geese Suffering Farming 192

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2014

Fortunately for me, Seth Ausubel, my frequent birding buddy, and I had decided to spend the day out in Suffolk County on the east end of Long Island looking for birds. And what a day’s birding we had! all three of the Greater White-fronted Geese we spotted with a bunch of Canada Geese.

New York 175

New York Geese Canada New York City 175

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

On Sunday, the same day that I enjoyed a bunch of winter birds in Sullivan County and Ulster County, I also had a chance encounter with a diminutive goose. It was on the side of the road in a field at Blue Chip Farm, a large horse farm near the town of Wallkill. What I was looking for was a bird with bright white cheeks.

Geese 162

Geese Horse Farm Canada Farming 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

Thee is still no information on the more recent killings of the majestic birds. In a completely unrelated case, a South Dakota man, Randy Albers, pled guilty to charges related to poisoning Canada Geese on his farm and was sentenced to a year of probation. He must also pay a $5,000 fine and $1,650 in restitution.

South Dakota 195

South Dakota Indiana Killing Geese 195

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2018

The country has one eBird hotspot with 200+ and 48 with more than 100 bird species. Among travel guides, due to its extensive coverage of natural history and birding sites, recommendation goes to Laurence Mitchell’s Serbia: The Bradt Travel Guide (5th edition, 2017). Eurasian Penduline T**s are easy to hear but harder to spot.

Serbia 160

Serbia Geese Owls Macedonia 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2014

discovered that the usual flock of several thousand Pink-footed Geese was wintering in the Broads National Park. Although a quite common bird of Norfolk, for me it was an attractive lure and a possibility of a lifer. Still, the tide was not nearly as high as we hoped for and all the birds were quite far away.

Geese 214

Geese Barn Owls Serbia Sheep 214

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2018

He proved to be a truly great host, with amazing knowledge of not only the birds in his patch, but birds from all over the world! Well in advance of my visit, he offered to give me a tour of “The Farm”, otherwise known as the Melbourne Waster Treatment Ponds. They are such a lovely bird.

New Zealand 123

New Zealand Farming Falcons Ducks 123

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2012

Do you toss the bird your leftovers? And if you have a small kid and are in the vicinity of some ducks and geese? Do you feed the birds then? It seems like the people that run an awful lot of parks don’t want you feeding the birds. Wild birds should not be coming up to people looking for food.

Birds 248

Birds New York City Fast Food Geese 248

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

What qualifies a bird to be included in the top-5? This version extended the list a bit and it turned out that almost every fourth bird was an one-monther. Somewhat unfairly, the second criterion was that I described the observation at 10,000 Birds. Lesser White-fronted Geese, of course.

2018 118

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 118

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2014

Further north, we slow down by the ruins of an old farm… and yes, a Little Owl greets us with its ‘smiling’ face. We are going to the Sakule fish farm in the namesake village north of Belgrade – the very best wetland birdscape in the area. Can birding possibly compare? Birding Europe Serbia wetlands' Common Cranes.

Farming 244

Farming Serbia Europe India 244

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2014

On the same day that I journeyed out to eastern Long Island to enjoy birding Shinnecock Inlet in the fog I also explored the fields of Riverhead, where large flocks of geese congregate and where a Yellow-headed Blackbird had been reported recently amid a large flock of icterids at a Buffalo farm. ” What a bird!

Canada 196

Canada Killing Buffalo Geese 196

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2019

I plan on spending most of this morning far away from any shopping mall, cruising around the farmland roads of northern Franklin County in New York’s North Country in search of birds. Good birding and happy drinking! The post Right Brain Brewery: Northern Hawk Owl Amber Ale appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Owls 156

Owls Rights Michigan Farming 156

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 12, 2012

Do you think that any event in our lifetimes will ever focus so much positive attention and excitement on nature or birding? Believe it or not, this icy tableau includes a Purple Sandpiper What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

Polar Bears 168

Polar Bears 2012 New York Geese 168

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2014

I have participated in something like twenty Christmas Bird Counts since I started birding in 2005. And now for two years I have been a compiler for the Queens County Christmas Bird Count, which is a whole other pile of headaches. A Hermit Thrush at the Queens County Farm Museum was a nice find.

2005 154

2005 Birds Blackbirds Branding 154

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2011

Of all the dangerous sports birders risk their necks in in the pursuit of birds, birding while driving is perhaps the most common threat to the life of a birder of all. So, inspired by a similar article on road birding in Thailand, I present road birding in New Zealand.

New Zealand 177

New Zealand Birds Thailand Falcons 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

We have just been away camping and birding and had an amazing time. It is only a short drive in over a small hill to the bird hide at the billabong. Magpie Geese, Purple Swamphen, Brolga and Pied Heron near the boardwalk The bird hide is shaded well and a nice breeze blows through it to save you from the dry 40c (105f) September days.

Pelicans 170

Pelicans Geese Australia Ducks 170

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Alkborough Flats is an excellent place to go birding and walking and is where the River Trent and River Ouse join to meet the River Humber. Bird hides have been built and two small car-parks and one of these has wheelchair access to the trails. Alkborough Flats sign at top car-park. Pied Avocet in front of the hide. Eurasian Curlew.

Geese 140

Geese Australia 2006 Investigation 140

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

On my recent short family vacation to Miami, I was granted a single day to get out and really bird like a madman. The reason the location is remaining undisclosed is that reliable Mangrove Cuckoos are difficult to find in the American Birding Association area and are a very sought after species. Come on, Carlos!

Florida 122

Florida Miami Birds Owls 122

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2012

As I’ve switched over to paid corporate birding (doing bird surveys for companies that want to put up wind farms or transmission lines), I’ve been fascinated by the world that has been opened to me and differences from the bird feeding world. Clearly the money is in dissuading birds.

Industry 167

Industry Wildlife Coyotes Battery 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2018

This 57,331 acre refuge was set aside as a critical wintering location for tens of thousands of Geese, Ducks and Sandhill Cranes. Nearly 30,000 of these acres is set aside as dry wilderness habitat for other birds, animals and other various living creatures. There was also a small raft of Ruddy Ducks. Here is one of the Western Grebes.

New Mexico 113

New Mexico Mexico Tucson Costa Rica 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

Old cars, antique gas pumps, and neon lit motels, were just up Jeanne’s photographic alley, and Lake Tucumcari was sure to be a birding hot spot for me. Unfortunately, the lake was the victim of several years of draught, but the grassy areas held a few nice birds, and there were a few surprises along the way. This was a first!

Albuquerque 123

Albuquerque New Mexico Mexico Sparrows 123

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

And this goal has to do with birds, and I assume since your perusing this here blog, that’s something that might interest you. Granted, a flexible work schedule helps, but still, my birding has been about focusing on those birds I still need to meet my goal rather than going out an regularly working a patch. So read on.

2016 141

2016 North Carolina 2015 Raleigh 141

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

I often poke fun at listers I perceive as being more interested in ticks than birds. But there is one kind of tick that I genuinely do enjoy, and as I do more and more birding it becomes harder and harder to get; new families. Getting entirely new families is easy when you start birding.

Family 163

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 163

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2017

It has been renowned for rare birds for many years and during our visit in 1994 we were amazed at how far people would travel for a rarity. Another big change in twenty two years is the presence of distant wind farms in the North Sea as in the above photo. They then used that to identify what they were looking at! Meadow Pipit.

Blackbirds 100

Blackbirds 2016 2013 Sparrows 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2014

Furthermore, I have business / bird survey trips scheduled (nearly definite) to the following locations: Indonesia: West Java and South Kalimantan, probably in October. However, I really want to focus more on lifers instead of year birds, particularly in Indonesia. The Birding Diary. where I add some common German garden birds.

2014 145

2014 France Germany Indonesia 145