10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2023

Dave Gosney’s Finding Birds Series covers mostly the Western Palearctic and describes birding in various regions of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, France, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, etc., Based on a visit in spring 2014, this guide updates the previous Finding Birds in Greece.

Greece 187

Greece Bulgaria Macedonia Gambia 187

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Fortunately, I share this preference with birds, which we found away from the lake, mostly in some semi-desert areas. “ Not the bird’s fault, I guess. Possibly my favorite bird on the whole Qinghai trip was this Mongolian Ground Jay – thanks a lot to Bella from Alpinebirding for finding it.

China 239

China Birds Austria ALA 239

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2024

If you’ve birded in Spain, possibly more than once, and are considering another Mediterranean country to quench your thirst, look to the east. Steve Dudley, a bird guide and author of the Lesvos birding guide, once told me: “Greece is THE premier birding location in Europe for me [and for yours truly as well].

Greece 240

Greece Spain India Europe 240

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

I’ve been a regular visitor to the island of Cyprus for over 25 years, making around a dozen trips during this period, every one in search of birds. I made my most recent visit earlier this month, arriving with my three birding companions, Martin, Mike and Chris, on a warm spring evening.

Cyprus 206

Cyprus Breeders Falcons Hunters 206

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2020

But here is the truly tragic part: I was not birding during those years! These goods, purchased with Mexican silver, would then be transported overland through Mexico City, and shipped from Veracruz to Spain. These turkey-sized birds, named for their raucous calls, can muster an impressive level of volume.

Birds 158

Birds 2006 Mexico Morocco 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2024

Curlews are birds of serious conservation concern in the UK, with numbers falling sharply this century. Curlews are long-lived birds, so their decline is not always apparent, with pairs returning annually to their favoured nesting area, despite not having fledged any chicks for years. Males have noticeably shorter beaks.)

Fox 186

Fox Finland Badgers Eggs 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2024

Most serious bird photographers dislike taking pictures of birds wearing rings (or what on the other side of the Atlantic you call bands). I can sympathise, as a shiny new ring, clamped to a bird’s leg, rarely enhances its portrait. The information I received didn’t indicate the age of the bird.

Lithuania 130

Lithuania Morocco Iceland Ireland 130

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

It was apparently all the way back in 2012, when I was first getting back into birding after a 30 year hiatus, that I took a sad little picture, with my sad little camera, of a cute little bird that seemed to not show up anywhere at all in my field guide. My birding buddies from the forum/chat include quite a few more biologists.

Birds 162

Birds Mexico California Spain 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2023

Superficially similar but unrelated to New World condors, it is huge, more pterodactyl-like than bird-like. But it’s a huge bird. miles from the overnight spot of my bird. Not wanting to see them going back to the UK, my birding time was rather limited. How the roaming birds find such places is not fully clear.

Bulgaria 260

Bulgaria McDonalds Eagles Serbia 260

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 215

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 215

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2020

The annual parade of birds is happening and the feathered participants are dressed in their best breeding suits. Now is when we can venture into the closest park and see birds of the deep woods, species that breed far from town. It’s a living festival and for the birds, 2020 is no different. Spring migration!

Costa Rica 197

Costa Rica 2020 Spain Panama 197

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2019

By the time this post is published, I will be on a short trip to Spain, though not principally for birding purposes. Bird names in Spanish have never been successfully standardized, so most serious birders here use either Latin or English to discuss their sightings. Some names reflect the bird’s appearance.

Chile 134

Chile Birds Mexico Spain 134

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2024

I would be fascinating to know how many species of birds it was pointed at during its time with me, but it must have been well over 1,000. As a bird-tour leader, the scope was an essential part of my equipment, and I became pretty quick at getting it on to distant birds so that my clients could see them, too.

Estonia 188

Estonia Poland India Pelicans 188

10,000 Birds

JULY 2, 2020

The next morning, through Yellowhammers and Eurasian Skylarks singing all around me, I went birding. Yes, yes, I know, not countable – it’s not a bird. Chamois is an agile goat-antelope with short hooked horns, found in mountainous areas of Europe from Spain to the Caucasus. Never mind, it’s not a bird.

Serbia 263

Serbia Bears Birds Mammals 263

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 236

Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 236

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2022

Do birds use odors and a sense of smell to communicate with each other? The Secret Perfume of Birds: Uncovering the Science of Avian Scent focuses on this last question, but you might find yourself fascinated by the first two, which come early in the book but linger on in the imagination as author Danielle J. ” (p.

Science 210

Science Research Birds Turkey 210

10,000 Birds

MARCH 28, 2020

A month ago, I was helping fellow birders see their first Emerald Tanagers , their lifer Sunbittern , and wondering where Mary and I could go next, which birds we could chase during the upcoming weekends. As always, they remind me of “winter finches” from birding days back in western New York and southern Ontario.

Costa Rica 215

Costa Rica Birds Spain New York 215

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2023

And since I suspect there may be others out there who, like I, feel something of a personal connection with 10,000 Birds’ regular writers, I feel the need to explain my absence. Now, all of this should not have kept me from seeing, and reporting on, some cool Mediterranean birds. In fact, I have not formally gone birding, at all.

Mexico 175

Mexico Morocco Cuba Jordan 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2023

These small macaws don’t show their namesake red bellies often, but with yellow faces and blue flight feathers they are still flashy little birds. From Port of Spain, the journey can take approximately three hours. Birds are of course, plentiful here.

Trinidad 149

Trinidad Protest Protesting Protesters 149

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

They may be about bird eggs ( The Most Perfect Thing: The Inside (and Outside) of a Bird’s Egg , 2016), or a 17th-century ornithologist ( Virtuoso by Nature: The Scientific Worlds of Francis Willughby, 2016), or How Bullfinches learn songs from humans ( The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology.

Dissection 209

Dissection Birds Research Europe 209

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

The southwest peninsula of Trinidad is unfortunately rarely birded by visiting birders. Let’s just say that the journey from the capital city, Port of Spain, to the said peninsula could easily run into 2.5 Bonus points if you figured out that the out-of-focus bird here is a Solitary Sandpiper. Such is birding.

Sea Turtles 246

Sea Turtles Bats Turtles Trinidad 246

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2019

In April of this year, I had the crazy idea of submitting this article to 10,000 Birds for their consideration. Since I will still be enjoying my last couple of days in Spain on this week’s deadline, I thought it might be the moment to share it with all of you. Three birds, in real time. That must be a primo stick!

Giraffes 187

Giraffes Spain Abandon Abandoning 187

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2013

This story will puzzle those who still assume my ability to fix a broken wing means I can always identify the bird from which it is drooping. Amazingly, it even had a bird rehabilitation center associated with it. Don’t you have to get up at the crack of dawn to see birds?”. We’re walking through the Bird Park.”.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 171

Wildlife Rehabilitation Birds Spain France 171

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).

Greece 199

Greece Pelicans Geese Buffalo 199

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 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. In Ecuador, there are 1.600+ species of birds. She has a very broad knowledge of species.

Ecuador 174

Ecuador Spain Experience Experiments 174

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2021

For the record, I’m of the opinion that most wines are best enjoyed within a few years of bottling, especially with the more affordable, everyday wines we tend to see here at Birds and Booze. It’s heartening to see the birds are still alive in this painting – not often the case in Netherlandish still lifes of the period.

2013 148

2013 Belgium Spain Ducks 148

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2011

“City dwelling birds have larger brains relative to their body size, according to scientists.&# So says the lead in this BBC News article , which references a recent study done by researchers from the Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala, Sweden and the Donana Biological Station, Seville, Spain.

Sweden 150

Sweden Spain Birds Research 150

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2024

Memorable encounters with Mammals: Part I Most birdwatchers enjoy seeing mammals, but the trouble with mammals is that they tend to be much more challenging to see than birds. I remember the guide on my first Kenyan birding safari remarking that “birding groups always see far more mammals than those who come just to see animals.

Fur 176

Fur Bulgaria Otters Estonia 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2020

But like Spain, its only neighbor on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal is cut off from the rest of Europe by the steep, natural border formed by the Pyrenees. Good birding and happy drinking! The post Casa Santos Lima: Valcatrina – Vinho Regional Alentejano (2015) appeared first on 10,000 Birds. Stay healthy, everyone.

2015 154

2015 Portugal France Europe 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2016

And what a bird I have for you today. As well as the population found in East Asia, another smaller population also occurred in the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain and Portugal. Was it natural, or were the birds in Spain an introduced population. Oh that birds like it were more widely distributed in Europe today!

Spain 102

Spain Portugal Asia Japan 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2015

However, the European or Western Swamphen (and boy, do I wish they find a nicer name once the split is accepted) is entirely confined to a small area of the WP, as it currently ranges very patchily from NW Africa and Spain to the Italian island of Sardinia. ” Birds Europe Purple Swamphen rails Spain' You just live in it.”

Spain 157

Spain Hunters Africa Hunting 157

Reddit Animals

AUGUST 4, 2022

So I was hiking in Southern Spain (Andalusia in the Malaga province) and came across this really bizarre nest up in the fir tree. It seems to be made out of palms, and MOST bizarrely, it was leaking water? I’ve tried some googling but haven’t found anything so maybe someone here knows?

Spain 52

Spain Birds Animal 52

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2023

Either way, they are perhaps more central to our stories and lore than other birds, a familiar example, as Darlington reminds us, being Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In the human psyche, owls can be cuddly signs of good luck and benificence (as they are in Japan, and Harry Potter movies) and, at the same time, eerie and unsettling.

Barn Owls 113

Barn Owls Owls Serbia Finland 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2014

He lives at the west end of Lake Ontario which, twelve months of the year, is a very rich and varied place for birds. So he spends as much time as he can in the field and whenever possible he chases lifelong birding dreams in foreign lands. You can and should read about Peter’s daily adventures at My Bird of the Day.

Spain 167

Spain Ostriches Africa Canada 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2012

As soon as I knew that I was heading to Spain, my mind jumped to Lammergeyers. Of course, Spain is home to other vultures. That is to say, they look like the vultures I used to see on nature programs, those iconic shots of birds squabbling over a deceased wildebeast or zebra. Then I sent him a picture to explain my excitement.

Wildebeasts 196

Wildebeasts Spain Turkey ALA 196

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2020

That trip was to take my wife and I to Turkey, Jordan, and southern Spain, with stopovers near Paris. It occurred to me, as I drove uphill, that I might be able to see the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks that seem to turn up every spring there; and they were, indeed, the first bird I saw when I made a quick stop.

Species 157

Species Mexico Jordan Turkey 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

What if there was an international multi-day Birding competition? Enter the inaugural Peru Birding Rally Challenge , the first international birding event of it’s kind in the world. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open. Think the Birding World Cup or the International Birding Open.

Peru 218

Peru 2012 Birds Falcons 218