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A Woodchat Shrike, and how to almost miss it

10,000 Birds

Those Woodchat Shrikes that do turn up in Germany each year, and there might be a handful of records, must therefore now be regarded as very rare “migration overshoots” or – as tragic as it may sound for a (former) breeder to the country – as true vagrants. I found the grid cell – no problem. What on earth?

Cattle 117
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What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South

10,000 Birds

It stops those thousands of migrating birds flying across the Gulf of Mexico and directs them right onto the trees, fields, sanctuaries, beaches along the Bolivar Peninsula, where they hopefully find food and fresh water. I imagined walking right up to them. High Island in April requires Weather, so I was told. American Avocets.

Houston 207
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The Fate of the Florida Anis

10,000 Birds

Smooth-billed Anis were relative newcomers as breeders to Florida, having only begun nesting since the 1930s. Large swaths of the Everglades were being drained to make way for cattle ranching, citrus groves, and low density housing that included many overgrown, weedy lots. Petersburg area and Cape Canaveral.

Florida 188