10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2014

Of course, I have seen many more birds than this, but between having terrible notes, really awful notes, or entirely lost notes, eBird doesn’t represent my total life list at all. It comes down to the other reason why eBird doesn’t have all the birds I’ve seen. It was a split. An armchair split, no less.

Tonga 175

Tonga Fiji Samoa Vanuatu 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2011

Although the only pine forests found in New Zealand are recent plantations of Northern Hemisphere Pinus species like the Monterey pine, the country does have native conifers. Some of these are found throughout the country, but the most impressive species is found in the north of the island, around the Coromandel and in Northland.

New Zealand 164

New Zealand Fiji Protection 2000 164

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Sometimes, when I’m writing trip reports about far off places (relative to most of my readers) I wonder what exactly people make of some of the birds I mention seeing. Is a Coua a bird or a city in Brazil? Is a saw-wing a bird or an engine part? Is a logrunner a bird or a black market timber trader? What a treat!

Australia 171

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 171

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