10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2019

The toughest thing for me, as a local birder, was to choose the most attractive birds because those that attract my attention are generally all too common in the northwest of Europe, from where most visiting birders are coming. In no particular order, here they are: Where to watch the top-20 birds of Belgrade.

Serbia 250

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 250

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2022

It is undoubtedly the most wonderful time of year – when we don our binoculars and boots and head off on a tradition spanning more than a hundred years – that of the Christmas Bird Count! We soon departed to our various locations, bellies full and eyes hungry for birds. Three of them in fact, rare visitors from the north.

Falcons 260

Falcons Trinidad Ducks Groups 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2023

As mentioned in my previous post , we were hosted for an afternoon session at Jonathan ‘s farm. Coming off a high from our morning boat ride, excitement was high as we pulled into the farm compound. On the slow crawl into the farm, the first sighting was a small group of Green Ibis – a new species for me.

Farming 241

Farming Guyana Birds South America 241

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

The Christmas Bird Count was the answer. The IWC census starts from mid-January following the logic that it is the period when the birds have reached their wintering grounds and are rather static, so the chance of double-counting the same flock is minimal. But it is so frustrating to pass the birds by without IDing them!

Geese 167

Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2017

We walked some of the trails at the reserve, and I had spotted a large bird hovering in mid-air, almost like a helicopter, just with more flapping. Peering through my binoculars, I saw a white bird with black spots on the undersides of the wings. Life-bird for me! Historic buildings at Elkhorn Slough.

Research 102

Research Birds Virginia Protection 102

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Slowly, the shapes of birds were beginning to materialise. We just needed to find somewhere that was less cluttered to allow us some chance of seeing birds! Cocoa Woodcreepers are the largest species of woodcreeper in T&T, and they have a proportionately massive bill. And so, we continued.

Trinidad 162

Trinidad Eagles Bears Litter 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2019

Birds are singing and migrating, freshets are running, and trees are budding – yes, it’s time for all those things. And given what these birds have been through, this caution is certainly warranted. At last, it’s spring in the northern half of the world. What’s in a name?

North America 113

North America Vermont America Farming 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2015

What do you think makes for a good bird hide? I have asked myself that same question many times over the last six months, until last week, when I was involved in an opening ceremony of five new bird hides at the Palic Lake, by the town of Subotica in the very north of Serbia, along the border with Hungary (all photos are from that area).

Serbia 262

Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 262

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

Over-all there were almost 80,000 photos taken, nearly 50 story’s posted on this website, and 10 countries, all with some amazing birds. In the end, I truly did set out to reduce the number of birds that I feature here from 1302, my years total species, down to 10-12. I present to you, my favorite birds of 2018.

2018 184

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 184

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

While there are some two dozen birding spots in Belgrade, Serbia, that stand out, in this guideblog I will focus on the river Danube and its floodplain, inside the Important Bird Area “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers”. The next winter bird spot lies some 4.5 In March and November, Common Cranes are a possibility.

Serbia 250

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 250

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

There are the endemics, which are odd in their own way, and then there introduced species, which are so varied in their type and origin that you get the feeling you’ve arrived at the aftermath of a small zoo that escaped. What is surprising is quite how many species did end up here, and how economically unimportant they were.

New Zealand 163

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 163

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

Sitting on a beach under a coconut tree (but not under the very crown, I know that), I am contemplating birding and the meaning of life… Salty breeze comes from the Caribbean, way saltier than any Mediterranean sea breeze. But why would someone look for that, an easy and common one among the 920+ bird species of Costa Rica?

Costa Rica 162

Costa Rica Reptiles Farming Mississippi 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

While entering our double kayak I asked Andrew Hester, a local bird expert, if bilharzia is present in the shallows of the Ngotwane Dam, further down the river. Among 60 or so heron species in the world this is the only one using this peculiar fishing technique. nubicoides ) using them as a high viewpoint to hunt dragonflies.

Botswana 216

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 216

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2019

Owling on Christmas Bird Counts is a peculiar business. Some counters are unfailingly resolute in their dedication to this thankless graveyard shift of the birding world, marching headlong year after year into the bleak winter landscape in search of their heard-only, nocturnal quarry. There’s the whole role of chance in owling, too.

2017 146

2017 Owls Game California 146

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. But for a while one constant in his life was his grandfather’s farm, a far-off stretch of land in Comanche County, Texas. But he tried, using the Craigheads’ techniques, and he learned from that young bird, and eventually many others along the way.

Falcons 202

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 202

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2015

But the fact is nature has little to do with most problems facing native birds. Casualties surrounding migration were limited to natural events such as weather – not wind generators, poisoned food and water from industry, farm run-off, or loss of traditional stopover areas due to habitat destruction. The difference seems obvious.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 190

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Rescue Wildlife 190

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

In short, the accepted view used to be that a small breeding population of Egyptian Vultures inhabited Southern Africa, but has vanished facing the spread of towns, roads and farms. It was not the first note I have published, but was the only one about a bird I have never laid my eyes upon! Reasons for this situation are numerous.

Sudan 245

Sudan Macedonia Botswana Serbia 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. Never mind the slight over-exposure: look at this bird!

Germany 102

Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 102

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

I often poke fun at listers I perceive as being more interested in ticks than birds. Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. Getting entirely new families is easy when you start birding.

Family 166

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

The combination of over hunting, and the native animals susceptibility to diseases carried by domestic livestock that were allowed to graze there, completely eliminated these Bighorns by 1915. These younger rams were having a great time playing “king of the rock” So much for the history of the area, lets talk about the birds!

Sheep 126

Sheep Oregon Mules Livestock 126

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2011

Note: This is an account, originally published in June 2006, of my quest to remove a jinx bird from my bird-watching soul. I am sharing it again here, at the request of Corey Finger, who takes some sort of sick pleasure in seeing other birders squirm and suffer under the weight of their obsession with life birds. But not me.

Connecticut 184

Connecticut North Dakota Ohio Owls 184

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.

Albuquerque 129

Albuquerque New Mexico Mexico Sparrows 129

Reddit Animals

DECEMBER 15, 2023

The spotted hyena displays greater plasticity in its hunting and foraging behaviour than other African carnivores it hunts alone, in small parties of 2–5 individuals or in large groups. During a hunt, spotted hyenas often run through ungulate herds to select an individual to attack. mph), they are the fastest birds on land.

Africa 40

Africa Buffalo Ostriches Animal 40

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 133

Florida Miami Birds Owls 133

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2011

But, as with so many other species, these birds have been left to do their own whistle blowing. West Indian Whistling Ducks are the largest of the eight different whistling duck species. From perilously low numbers the population has rebounded now to approximately 500 birds on the island. They are also the rarest.

Antigua and Barbuda 241

Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Jamaica 241

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2017

In Costa Rica, we don’t get many chances to chase birds. While we could chase a number of local, rare residents, looking for super tough species like Pheasant Cuckoo and Tawny-faced Quail is more akin to searching and lurking in appropriate habitat and just hoping to get lucky.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Nicaragua 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

I think every naturalist in the United States knows the outlines of this urban tale: The pristine marshes of New Jersey are poisoned by pollution, toxic waste, pig farms, and probably every single way in which human beings can destroy the environment. The Nature of the Meadowlands is a celebration of an environmental success story.

New Jersey 170

New Jersey Legislation Mammals Pigs 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

Wildlife conservation is concerned with protecting wildlife at the level of species or perhaps population. With the exception of species that number in the hundreds, conservation biologists are not as concerned with the fates of individual animals, it is only when such fates of many individuals are added up do they begin to worry.

Animal Rights 269

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 269

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

Happy New Year, 10,000 Birds readers and writers, listers and photographers, friends and fellow travelers near and far! Writing a post scheduled for January 1st for a birding blog is a big responsibility. On the first of the year, every bird is a new bird! It was a United States lower-48 birding year for me.

2018 179

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 179

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2014

When you read trip reports of birders going to remote and interesting locations to see interesting (and not so interesting birds, I’m looking at you LBJs), these accounts are typically written by people who have either gone with groups of like-minded people or those that have gone it alone.

Birds 199

Birds Bats Elephants Family 199

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2023

Plume hunting raged supreme 150 years ago, when egret feathers were part of a worldwide trade in feathers and other bird parts, used for women’s hats and other articles of clothing (but mostly hats), delighting the upper classes and practically wiping out bird species. ©2023, Donna L. ©2023, Donna L.

Connecticut 147

Connecticut Washington Legislation Hunting 147