10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them. Which tours saw the most roosting owls?

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Costa Rica Birds Thailand Family 221

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.

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Portugal Geese Suffering Farming 191

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? Most days, that seemingly random place is right at home.

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Costa Rica Sparrows Birds Rodents 258

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2022

On that glorious day, I observed ten critically endangered birds, representing 8% of their Costa Rican, or 2% of their global population!! In my previous post , I dealt with Rancho Naturalista Lodge itself and birding within their private reserve. But, let’s start at the beginning. A group (maybe 4-5 ex.)

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Costa Rica Nicaragua 2019 Farming 243

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2020

Usually, maize is on the menu, only occasionally carrion or dead trout from a nearby fish farm. That is the trickiest moment for him: what if there’s a bear right next to the dirt track? The next morning, through Yellowhammers and Eurasian Skylarks singing all around me, I went birding. Never mind, it’s not a bird.

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Serbia Bears Birds Mammals 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2022

In the world of birding, we have our stars, the birds that lift our spirits and provoke oohs, aahs, and admiration. These are the birds that make us race to the nearest park, scan refuge headquarter trees with anxious eyes, and turn some of us into temporary paparazzi.

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Costa Rica Nashville Tennessee Turtles 282

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2015

As a result, some of the most popular and exciting birding destinations in the world run on Tico time. Having visited quite a few outstanding ecolodges in my blessed life, I’ve learned that exceptional birding destinations must first and foremost harbor exceptional, accessible birds. But I also love Gray-necked Wood-rails.

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Costa Rica Birds Farming 2014 250

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.

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Farming Guyana Birds South America 227

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2018

The birding around Lago de Yojoa in Honduras is frankly phenomenal, as I learned during a June 2018 birding junket organized by the Instituto Hondureño de Turismo. Peraza , could not sit still knowing that so many tasty target birds could be found within easy driving distance. EL RANCHO HOTEL Y RESTAURANTE.

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Honduras Birds Farming America 144

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).

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Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 250

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2024

However – and I am not saying this out of misplaced national pride – there is one bird in the Netherlands that proves Jefferson wrong and Buffon right: the White-tailed Eagle (or Sea Eagle ). My hotel was right on the A6 motorway and despite the strange location it is undoubtedly the best hotel for the Oostvaardersplassen.

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Beavers Netherlands Eagles Geese 144

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!

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Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 151

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2016

Speaking of summer, the coolest birds I saw this weekend were on the festive curtains (pictured above) in my son’s new cabin at sleepaway camp in the Finger Lakes. Pretty swanky, right? But if I have to pick a living bird, American Kestrels hunting along farm roads always work for me. How about you?

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2016 Birds Farming Hunting 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Global Big Day has become an annual collective event in May that encourages thousands of people to watch birds on the same date. As far as promoting birding goes, the only thing better might be October Gobal Big Day ! We had a lot of rain in some parts of the country, some places had landslides, and birding was somewhat limited.

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Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Owls 272

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

In front of us, the river is two miles wide… and it is paved with birds: smaller groups of Greater White-fronted and Greylag Geese , numerous Mute Swans and Mallards , plus Eurasian Teals , Gadwalls , Common Pochards , a few Ferruginous and Tufted Ducks , Common Goldeneyes and several Smews. Yeah, right.

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Geese Hunting Boars Birds 180

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Usually only several birds overwinter in Serbia – the biggest count ever was less than 10. There weren’t that many birds at all, they hated the sounds as much as I did. And then a bird of prey appeared in low flight through the tree crowns. And the bird I miss the most is the Redwing. Their claim to fame?

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Moldova Birds Serbia Greece 120

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Although it was nothing like going from New York to California or even Buffalo, New York to North Carolina, a change of location, however slight, can bring new birds especially in Costa Rica. Right at home. In typical blackbird fashion, this common garden bird gave occasional, loud, ringing calls. These were. Great Kiskadee.

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Costa Rica Barn Owls Stray Dog Blackbirds 177

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

If you like birds on posts, if seeing “little brown jobs” posing nicely in the distance as you drive or walk along a dirt road only to have it fly away as you approach makes you deliriously happy, then North Dakota is the place for you. I wanted to see prairie birds and I wanted to experience a new state. Scott Barnes, N.J.

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North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 143

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Birders know that the pairing of farms and birds represents more than mere bucolic romance – it’s a match borne out of a real avian dependence on these man-made landscapes. Once brewed, saison would be laid down for use during the hot summer months, when a farming household would be much too occupied with fieldwork for making beer.

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Vermont Belgium Farming Europe 120

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2021

In birding circles, Costa Rica is better known for protected areas, quetzal tours, and glittering displays of hummingbirds than the things that fly in urban spots. I mean, who comes to Costa Rica to bird on city streets? The birding in Costa Rica is certainly much more exciting in mature forest, in larger areas of green space.

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Costa Rica Falcons Farming Woodpeckers 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.

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California Sparrows Birds Philadelphia 104

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2022

Odd habitats attract odd birds. Or rather, I should say that out of place habitats attract lost birds. Turf farms in wooded regions are wide open oases for grasspipers and other species adapted to natural lawns. One of the most frequently visited is a place created for fake birds of the large metal flying kind.

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Costa Rica Ecuador North America Peru 162

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.

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Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 250

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. So, there are 21 birds that make my top 10 for the year.

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2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 167

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? Not likely, right? Believe it or not, this icy tableau includes a Purple Sandpiper What was your best bird of the weekend? Still, we each know what we like and focus our faculties accordingly.

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Polar Bears 2012 New York Geese 168

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! The national park ranges some 100 km in length along the right bank of the Danube (the left bank is in Romania), where the river varies in width from 5 km / 3 mi to only 150 m / 500 ft and the mountains rise up to 800 m / 2600 ft a.s.l.

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Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 193

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2020

And as the windblown birds settled down for the summer breeding season and the wind subsided, I found any concern for which way it was blowing died down with it. And living birds still seem to appreciate weathervanes as perches! But none came. Flor de Pascua – The Weathercock (1921) by Dutch graphic artist M.C.

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New York Farming Belgium Fowl 155

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2016

For two blog posts now, we’ve been telling you about how you could win an amazing, 7-day bird watching trip for two to Peru. All of this and more can be experienced right on the grounds of the hotel. Visit the Inkaterra Ecological Farm and learn about the harvesting of crops throughout the year, their uses and natural properties.

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Peru Farming Rights Birds 178

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2017

At 10,000 Birds, readers who haven’t been here before might correctly surmise that this platform talks about anything bird-related. As for myself, since I live in Costa Rica, I usually put the focus on birding and/or birds in this small yet very bio-rich country. Spectacled Owl triangle.

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Costa Rica Birds Owls Tennessee 152

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2016

You see, we don’t just go outside and randomly watch birds during a set day in December. But then we remember that special birding moment when we saw a wood-warbler freezing it out with the rest of us (and thus sacrificing itself for the count) when it should be chasing bugs in Belize. Gulls on the cold Niagara.

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Costa Rica 2016 Eagles Belize 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

The Great Horned Owls that live in the palm trees right above our RV have returned and brought with them a pair of fledglings. Another friend recently commented that while she loved all forms of birds, owls were, well, just something special! I counted a total of 9 owls, with 4 being mature adults and 5 juvenile birds.

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Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2014

Even non-birders can appreciate the huge-billed and colorful birds. Costa Rica has more than its fair share of these charismatic creatures to the point where the first edition of The Birds of Costa Rica features an Emerald Toucanet and the second edition, just published, features the subject of this post, the Collared Aracari.

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Costa Rica Horses Farming Collecting 237

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. A few paddle strokes down the river and on the right bank there were four Impala antelopes ( Aepyceros melampus ). or a croc was swimming right under the bottom of the kayak….

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Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2016

What is the best bird you’ve seen in New York State and why has it stayed in your memory? This is the question I posed to 10,000 Birds readers in celebration of Corey’s first book, the ABA Field Guide to Birds of New York (by Corey Finger, author, and Brian E. Thanks for the opportunity to win a cool book.

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New York Bald Eagle Birds New York City 100

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 Bus: 79 & 24. eBird list. eBird list.

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Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 240

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. Birds ecotourism Europe Serbia'

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Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 181

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2020

On the northern birding calendar, October is a time for sparrows, cool weather, and tired fall leaves. In Costa Rica, the tenth month is when birds pass through in droves. but there are other birds, many stopping to stay, many others moving to South America. In Costa Rica, a lot of those birds fly right overhead.

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Costa Rica South America Colombia Paraguay 272