10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2020

May delivers one of those amazing times of the year when we’re too busy looking at birds to sit around talking about them. A weekend that included well north of a hundred species is a difficult weekend for which to decide what is the Best Bird of the Weekend and Corey had that enviable task this weekend. How about you?

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2020 Jamaica New York Birds 352

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2011

Just like last year when I spent a goodly chunk of a Saturday at the end of May at Jamaica Bay I spent this past Saturday birding one of the premiere birding destinations of the northeastern United States, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

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Jamaica United States Birds Wildlife 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2021

The same analogy applies to bird sightings, but here we are, so let’s hear what you saw this weekend! Corey went out onto the East Pond at Jamaica Bay both mornings this weekend and saw bunches of great birds. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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Jamaica Birds Experience Experiments 253

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2017

The dog days of July, when birders desperately seek out south-bound shorebirds, odd breeding records, or anything else to keep themselves from losing their minds in a lousy birding time in the northeastern United States, is not my favorite time of year to bird. Either way, life isn’t easy for a young bird.

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Jamaica Wildlife United States Breeders 101

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Last weekend hosted many of the international organized bird watching festivities, but every weekend offers the opportunity for avian observation excitement. As serene as that sounds, seeing these birds now just reminds me that they’re on their way to warmer climes and won’t be back for many months. What did you find?

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Jamaica Turkey Birds Wildlife 208

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Saturday morning, 30 August 2014, was a perfect time for shorebirding at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond. While frustrating, it wasn’t too bad enjoying the birds that were there! The white rump would have worked too but this bird had no interest in flushing. Despite all my efforts I could not refind the bird.

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Jamaica Bald Eagle Eagles South America 204

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2015

That place is the fabled home of shorebirds, both common and rare, the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Saturday saw me squelching through the mud at the north end of the pond and Sunday had me leading a field trip for the Queens County Bird Club from the south end of the pond. Gull-billed Terns are classy birds.

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Jamaica New York City Wildlife New York 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2020

Corey spent most of Sunday driving to the Adirondacks for a week in the mountains, but he did get out birding in Queens on Saturday morning. Shorebird migration is in full swing and though Jamaica Bay’s East Pond is still full of water he saw some good birds on the beach. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Jamaica New York Birds 262

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

Not only have we completed Birding Tourism February , but we’ve also collectively made it through what is usually one of the least exciting birding months of the calendar year. This is not to say that fantastic birds cannot be found in February, but rather that we’re mostly picking through the remainders of the last season.

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

It is extremely unusual that we birders can still walk the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in November. Dunlins in basic plumage are among the most boring birds in the world. … Trips Jamaica Bay November shorebirds' I was very disappointed when I learned this.

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Jamaica Geese Ducks Canada 177

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Fortunately, nature assures that, as one suite of birds leaves, another takes its place. Corey enjoyed some good birding on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. But his Best Bird of the Weekend was one he saw with his family on a visit to Jamaica Bay on Saturday evening. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Rabbits Jamaica Pelicans 237

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2012

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, NY, 3 August 2008 It was while watching flocks of shorebirds on Friday on Cape Cod (an adventure I will soon describe) that I first heard of a Red-necked Stint being found at Jamaica Bay. A quick word about both of these birds. Am I ever glad I waited until today to chase that stint!

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Jamaica 2008 New York Alaska 168

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2017

Fortunately for me, a kind birder pointed out a ruby-throat in the process of building a nest at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last week and the nest is relatively low and unobstructed. Make sure to swing by 10,000 Birds for updates! She sits tight in this video. Check out how her head-shape changes when she moves her feathers.

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Jamaica Wildlife New York City New York 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2023

This post is not a twitch, but it is much more fun to read if you first dwell upon the sentiments from the last picture of Corey’s post from East Pond, Jamaica Bay, 2015 It would be a bold birder that calls a Common Ringed Plover , Charadrius hiaticula where Semi-palmated Plover , C. semipalmatus is also an option.

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Iceland Stray Breeders Canada 205

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2020

Another month, another movement of the world’s birds from one point to the next. Corey enjoyed a morning walk on Saturday with three friends at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where they spotted over fifty species between mosquitoes and biting flies. It was easily Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you?

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2020 Pennsylvania Jamaica Birds 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2021

The only birds I’m willing to look at during a frigid March weekend are the ones outside my winter. But, of course, it was Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge that paid off the most when Corey carefully scanned the margins of the West Pond and turned up a surprise American Bittern. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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Jamaica Birds Wildlife Experience 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2020

I could definitely use better birding than the dull summer fare observed in the Southern Tier this weekend. Interestingly, the most common bird at our friend’s mountain cabin was, by orders of magnitude, Cedar Waxwing ; seeing waves of waxwings is never a bad thing. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 Jamaica Birds Wildlife 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Whether your weekend is still rolling or you are already preparing for the next one, you probably saw some excellent birds during the first weekend of September. His wonderful family agreed to drive straight there before going home and Corey got a new Queens bird! Now that’s a Best Bird of the Weekend! How about you?

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2020 Jamaica Birds Family 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2020

Corey got out looking for birds at Jamaica Bay on Sunday morning and is he ever glad he did! Least Bittern, seen well, will almost always be the best bird you get on an outing and in this case it was easily Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 ALA Jamaica New York 164

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

As one season begins to shade ever so slightly–or perhaps heavily, depending on your latitude–new birding opportunities open up. If you focus on first of year (FOY) birds, February always has something fresh and fun to offer. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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2020 Jamaica New York Owls 151

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2020

Despite the cold, I had to take a run at our last migrants this weekend and was rewarded with a lovely morning of lakeshore birding that included an FOY Tennessee Warbler … don’t know how that one got past me all month! Such cooperation earns the goldfinch Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you?

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2020 Tennessee Jamaica Birds 155

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Though I traveled to NYC this weekend, Ivy and I nailed down our best bird before I left; a Short-eared Owl has been hunting at a local park not 10 minutes from our house, which makes for the easiest owl sighting we’ve snagged in a long time! What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 United States Jamaica Birds 158

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2020

If what you want this Valentine’s weekend is to chase birds, follow your bliss. I’m sorry to be heading down to NYC for reasons that have nothing to do with birding. I also won’t be meeting Corey, who is spending some recreational time in Jamaica this weekend and beyond. appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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2020 Jamaica Birds 153

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Don’t give up on the next season of birding just yet. That said, I gave up birding this weekend, not just because of work but in preparation for a MASSIVE trip Corey and I are embarking at the end of this week. Until Mute Swans took over Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, gallinules bred there. Stay tuned for details!

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2019 Breeders Jamaica Birds 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

The chapter titles of Feather Trails: A Journey of Discovery Among Endangered Birds represent both ends of the spectrum: “A World Full of Poisons,” “Malaria,” “Forest Intruders,” “Lead Shock,” “Shot.” Conservation. It’s not easy.

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California Condor Falcons California Birds 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2018

Corey enjoyed shorebirds on the beach in the Rockaways, in the mud at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Wildlife, and on pavement at Floyd Bennett Field this weekend. But of all the shorebirds he saw he appreciated none so much as the Hudsonian Godwit he spotted on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2018 Jamaica Emotional Owls 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 28, 2015

Not everyone experiences a dip in bird activity during the nonmigratory months, but those of us who do are ready to see some new birds NOW! Corey will be out and about in the NYC area this weekend; if you are too, you’d be crazy to miss the 10th Annual Shorebird Festival at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. How about you?

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Jamaica 2015 Birds Wildlife 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2018

In New York, by the third weekend in April one expects to be awash in wood-warblers, overwhelmed by orioles, and generally boggled by birds newly arrived from the neotropics. Of course, it never works out that way and the steady stream of April arrivals is nothing like the flood of bird-life that courses north in mid-May.

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Jamaica Birds New York Wildlife 101

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2019

Now that we’ve entered the third month of the calendar year, take stock: did your birding March come in like a lion or a lamb? My birding was positively sheepish during this busy weekend. He didn’t see a ton of birds but he did appreciate the number of Snow Geese flocking up at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

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2019 Lamb Lions Jamaica 114

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2019

If you’re devoting as many free hours to birding as we are this month, you have no time for preamble. i saw plenty of new birds this weekend, some of them in the process of making future new birds. Though I spied quite a few warblers, my best looks were of Scarlet Tanager , a bell-ringer of a bird any day.

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2019 Jamaica New York Birds 113

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2019

Even the birding is decent. Corey only birded for a bit on Saturday afternoon and didn’t see much that was terribly exciting. Of what he did see, a pair of Bald Eagles at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was the highlight, a species that didn’t used to be around in June in Queens at all. How about you?

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2019 Bald Eagle Jamaica Eagles 114

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

This last year of the twenty-teens was a monumental birding year for me. I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. I birded Uganda, which was my first time on the continent of Africa. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen.

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2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 137

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2019

While some birding runs work well solo, most are greatly improved by good company. In many ways, birding can be so much more than just looking at birds. Saturday morning, Corey got out birding at Jamaica Bay without me and Ivy and was very pleased to find a pair of American Avocets at the north end of the East Pond there.

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2019 Jamaica Birds Eggs 118

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2015

He yelled a relatively unintelligible explanation as he ran to the car, abandoning his family, and sped to Jamaica Bay where he parked and ran out to the breach of the West Pond where he relied upon the kindness of other birders, who let him use their scopes while he got his breath back. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2015 Jamaica Canada Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2018

Car troubles keep shutting my birding plans down, but at least I got out with the family to cut down our Christmas tree. Lacking any other worthy candidate, any one of the six is his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? We skipped that tree, however, in favor of a shaggy Austrian Pine. How about you?

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2018 Jamaica Birds Wildlife 113

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

I am shocked to be writing this post already, and doubly shocked that I’ve seen six new species for Queens since I guessed what my next five Queens birds would be just eight months ago, back in March. It’s been a good year for birding in Queens! Fortunately, there are birds to help. I really, really hope.

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New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 151

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2018

Many were specifically established for migratory birds and are strategically positioned along one of the four major North American migration flyways. Others were established to protect specific bird species or subspecies. As a result, there are excellent birding hotspots in the system. Some just seem to be rarity magnets.

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