10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2020

Whisky Month at Birds and Booze: This January, Birds and Booze at 10,000 Birds is setting its sights on whiskies all month long. White-fronted Goose by John James Audubon (1785-1851) from The Birds of America. Perusing an extensive menu of Scotch whiskies is a bit like poring over a telephone directory in Scotland.

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Geese Ireland Branding 2016 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2024

As South Germany always has different birds on offer to the area around Bonn, I had to take my camera with me. While I usually only take my binoculars on trips where birding is not really a part but I just want to make sure. The post Late Winter Birding in Munich first appeared on 10,000 Birds. and Goosander.

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Birds Germany Ducks Woodpeckers 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2018

On the other hand, the Canada Geese have both safety in numbers and famously aggressive personalities. Cranes and geese weren’t alone – the 5000+ acres of the reserve are known for avian life, from Eastern Kingbirds and Eastern Bluebirds to Eastern Meadowlarks and Red-headed Woodpeckers.

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Geese Canada Woodpeckers Research 108

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

In early 2014 the rainfall was good and flooded the main highway south from Broome and made for some excellent birding from your car. The area remained flooded for several months in 2014 and there was significant road damage, but over the months the birding improved as more and more birds arrived in the area.

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Geese Breeding 2014 Eggs 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2018

Last year was the first year since we moved to Broome permanently at the end of 1999 that we encountered significant numbers of Magpie Geese to the area. The areas where the Magpie Geese have been breeding around Broome the past two years have been mostly inaccessible until recently due to the flooded land. Magpie Geese.

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Geese 2017 Ducks Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2023

Due to the recent flooding rains we are still restricted as to where we can go bird-watching. The bridge over the Fitzroy River at Fitzroy Crossing has been destroyed and it can’t be repaired for a very long time, so for now we are bird-watching close to home. At this time of year it is all about both weather and bird-watching.

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Geese Birds Pelicans Breeding 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

Canada Geese are a nuisance. It is not the fault of Canada Geese that they have become a trash bird. The released birds had no urge to migrate and discovered that suburbia, with vast expanses of yummy grass and a plethora of ponds, lakes, and water hazards, was paradise for a Canada Goose. That is really a shame.

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Geese Canada New York City Birds 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2024

A first-winter Red-breasted Goose at Cley, North Norfolk As a general rule, geese are birds of subtle, even dull, plumage. All the so-called grey geese – Greylag, Bean, White-front, Lesser White-front, Swan – look very much alike, and it takes experience to identify them by their calls and their shape and size.

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Bulgaria Geese Romania Estonia 130

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2019

Multiple varieties of ungulates jogged from place to place, while giant rhea birds stalked around looking for food. But the geese didn’t care, going about their business surrounded by dozens of species from around the globe. The Canada Geese (on the right side) show no fear. Where were the babies?

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Geese Zoos Canada Rhinos 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2012

When I read somewhere that Pygmy Geese were not actually geese at all I started doing some research. I discovered that there are actually a fair number of ducks and other waterfowl that are wrongly called geese. So any birds that don’t belong to these genera can be considered either ducks or swans or something else.

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Geese Ducks Botswana South Africa 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2023

The floodwaters continue to recede across the plains near Broome and the bird-life continues to enjoy the environment. Being out on the highway as the sun goes down offers more relaxed birds nipping back and forth across the highway. The last of the daylight appears to trigger some bird species to make a move to a new location.

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Geese Birds Ducks Rights 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

For the many birds that depend on the saltings for their food, high tide is a time for roosting and waiting. If you are a birdwatcher or bird photographer, there’s no finer place to be than an estuary when the tide is falling. As the tide fell, it exposed sand banks that attracted small parties of garrulous Brent Geese.

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Geese Russia Breeding Unwanted 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

It is unclear how or why this happened and it might be a sign of the apocalypse, but mere days after Jochen’s post about surfing grebes a video of surfing geese has surfaced on the interwebs. And those geese are alright, right? I mean, it doesn’t seem like they would choose to be surfing… a.

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Geese Rights 173

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

On BirdTrack, the British equivalent of e-Bird, the list of birds provided does allow for Tufted Duck x Ferruginous Duck to be recorded, but not Tufted Duck x Pochard. However, there had been reports of a Scaup mixed in with the flock, which at first glance I thought this bird might be. My hunch was Tufted Duck x Pochard.

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Geese Ducks Falcons Latvia 178

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Counting the Birds I was in my teens when I undertook my first bird-survey: it was field work for the British Trust for Ornithology’s The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. The breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. Published in 1976, The Atlas was, I believe, the very first work of its kind.

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Ireland Turtles Geese Farming 207

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2024

Starting the New Year by trying to see as many species as possible is something of a birding tradition. My diary notes that the New Year dawned grey and windy, but I rose early, walked six miles before breakfast and noted a modest 26 species of birds. One of my more memorable New Year’s days was in the Falkland Islands, back in 1989.

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Birds Albatross Barn Owls Sparrows 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2011

Most of the world’s domestic geese can be traced back thousands of years to the wild Greylag Goose ( Anser anser ) although domestic geese were also bred from Swan Goose ( A. Feral geese run the gamut from pure white to almost entirely gray or brown. cygnoides ) ancestors. We certainly see enough of them, don’t we?

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Geese 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2021

The bird is just chilling out, waiting for the urge to fly. The bird below is also waiting, but not to fly. One might assume this is a falconry bird, but it’s not. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of birds knows the efficiency and delicacy of their respiratory systems. Now imagine you have the lungs of a bird.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Tethering Giraffes Alabama 259

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

Also of interest is how Mute Swans are employed to deter Canada Geese. Which would you rather: slovenly geese or homicidal swans? That’s one of the valuable takeaways from this tragic tale out of Chicago of a man drowned by the very swans he cared for. Hat tip to Meredith!)

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Geese Chicago Canada Breeding 145

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

(Boring bureaucratic note to dissuade casual readers: This post covers birds seen in Shanghai in January 2023, except for those seen at Tianmashan – these are shown in a separate post. End of note) Probably the most interesting bird in Shanghai this month was a Barred Cuckoo-Dove choosing a small downtown park to feed on berries.

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Birds Geese Fish Industry 147

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2021

Like so many, the majority of my birding since the Covid-19 pandemic began has centered on my own backyard and local walking excursions. But as we kicked off 2021, I found myself far from my current home in North Florida, surrounded by a plethora of Maine birds! Birding from a Maine beach. A Red-breasted Nuthatch perhaps?

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Florida ALA Birds Woodpeckers 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

Back in July, my fellow 10,000 Birds contributor Dragan wrote a delightful piece about birding Lake Kerkini in spring. I first visited Kerkini and this bird-rich region of northern Greece 15 years ago, and have been returning regularly ever since. My photograph below is of a captive bird).

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Greece Pelicans Geese Buffalo 198

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2023

I recently received a kind letter from a 10,000 Birds friend, who was worried that my recent irregularity in contributing to this website might indicate that something was wrong. For the most part, I was still able to get my birding in during these recent months. I assured him then, and assure you now, that I am fine.

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Jordan Mexico Birds Ohio 186

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2022

Thank you, goddess of birding luck and text group people).* My inner self felt stuck in an area between disbelief and total joy and the voices near me were echoing this state of mind: “Oh My God,” “I never thought I would see this bird,” “Look at that bill!” “How did that bird get here?”

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Birds Compassion Eagles Science 254

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 139

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

This morning a plane taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City hit a bird , which caused engine failure. This is after two years of geese killings in New York City , ostensibly to thin the flocks and protect civilian aviation. Anyone want to bet that they double down and start killing more geese?

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Geese New York City Killing New York 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2012

These Greater White-fronted Geese ( Anser albifrons ) flew in with just enough light to begin taking photographs. Range map courtesy of South Dakota Birds and Birding. As the sun rose higher in the sky I was able to get some shots of the geese flying in… and landing among the tules. Great birding!

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Geese Wildlife Sacramento South Dakota 168

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. That’s what makes us such good company: No birds to be seen at the moment?

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Birds New Jersey Guatemala France 238

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 30, 2013

Ducks and geese may not be a particularly unusual sight in the wild, but have you ever thought about keeping them as pets? Ducks and geese make excellent pets because it is interesting to watch them as they go about their activities and engage with their environment. They can make excellent, if slightly quirky, pets.

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Geese Ducks Pets Chickens 100

4 The Love Of Animals

APRIL 30, 2013

Ducks and geese may not be a particularly unusual sight in the wild, but have you ever thought about keeping them as pets? Ducks and geese make excellent pets because it is interesting to watch them as they go about their activities and engage with their environment. They can make excellent, if slightly quirky, pets.

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Geese Ducks Pets Chickens 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

The Great Backyard Bird Count kicked off yesterday, and will continue throughout the weekend before ending on the 15th. The idea is simple: birders from around the world count birds at least one time for at least fifteen minutes, and submit their data through eBird or the Merlin Bird ID app. The highlights? A fine start to GBBC!

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Florida Birds Pelicans Geese 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

After spending the early morning on Saturday birding at Alley Pond Park I was happy with having seen my first Eastern Phoebe of the year and thought I could rest on my laurels for the rest of the weekend. And the West Pond was covered with Snow Geese , with well over 1,500 birds all around the edges.

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Geese Jamaica Wildlife New York 154

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

Nisqually NWR) is one of Washington’s finest and most popular birding locations. It is on my list as one of the Top 25 NWRs for Birding. (As Nisqually NWR is a major staging area for migratory birds , a wintering area for many ducks and geese, and a breeding area for numerous songbirds.

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Washington Portland Birds Geese 226

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

At the snowy Danube riverbank, we are waiting for geese to come to their roost inside the mostly submerged island. Also, Little and Great Crested Grebes , Pygmy and Great Cormorants , Eurasian Coots and Common Moorhens , Black-headed and Caspian Gulls … And a lot more birds further in the background. Watch for the dark beaks.”

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Geese Hunting Boars Birds 167

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2021

This bird species is known to travel large distances around Australia. The Magpie Geese have dispersed from the previous area they were in, because it got too wet. All of the station access is flooded from the highway and the birds are lining the tracks. It was keeping all of the other birds alert with its constant swooping.

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Geese Eagles Australia Breeding 248

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Daily walks with my kid in the baby jogger helped me build up endurance and lulled him to sleep, so one sunny afternoon I brought along my binoculars for my first experience birding with a baby. And yet, birds flock to the abundant food sources here. Canada Geese honked in the distance, while Turkey Vultures swirled overhead.

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Birds Florida Geese Turkey 170

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Vermont’s Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area was the first place I saw huge numbers of Snow Geese so I was pleased to stumble across this post on VTDigger and see that the birds are still showing up there. If you live in northern New York or Vermont it is well worth a visit!

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Geese Vermont Wildlife New York 154