10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2015

The Blue-winged Teal ( Anas discors ) is not that common in California except along the coast, so I was pretty excited to discover several pair and a few non-paired individuals of the species at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge on the day I had reserved photo blind #2. Click on photos for full sized images. v=V0_Yi28mT0o.

Sacramento 151

Sacramento Wildlife North America Ducks 151

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe today announced as part of Great Outdoors Month the agency is proposing to expand fishing and hunting opportunities on 21 refuges throughout the National Wildlife Refuge System. National wildlife refuges provide premier outdoor recreational opportunities across the Nation.

Fish 143

Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 143

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Being winter, this bird is in non-breeding plumage with more brown upper parts and lacking the white face it acquires in its aternate (breeding) plumage. • Explore These Related Posts Another California Bird? 6 Responses to “White-faced Ibis at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge&# Birding is Fun! Get yours today!

Wildlife 155

Wildlife 2011 Sacramento Jordan 155

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2013

Now you know why the most numerous and widespread of the two swan species in North America used to be known as the Whistling Swan. That is where I found this group of nearly 100 Tundra Swans northeast of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge as they flew in to the flooded agricultural fields.

California 106

California South Dakota Sacramento North America 106

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2015

I doubt we have to worry about Herring Gulls , Ruby-throated Hummingbirds or California Towhees going extinct, though their abundance and distribution will surely shift in time. That said, there are many species we should be extremely concerned about. The Pika’s story is shared with a number of montane bird species.

North America 214

North America Birds Suffering San Francisco 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

Their habitats vary widely in both rural and urban landscapes; open habitats are preferred and the species generally shuns only extensively forested areas and wetlands 1. To show how adaptive this species is, the following photograph was sent to me by one of my readers and I use it with her permission.

Hunters 175

Hunters Hunting North America Game 175

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

I spent this past weekend at the coast, travelling to Arcata for a Northern California Audubon Council meeting hosted by the Redwood Region Audubon Society. This area includes Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, part of Audubon’s Humboldt Bay Important Bird Area (IBA). Unfortunately, we were a tad early.

Sanctuary 199

Sanctuary North America Breeders Alaska 199

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2012

In addition to their homing tendency, breeding swallows are attracted to old nests. In California, the Cliff Swallows usually arrive in February so the agency in charge of enforcing these laws, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), considers February 15th to September 1st the swallow nesting season. Authors: T.

San Diego 165

San Diego illegal California South America 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

While at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival I could not resist making the drive north to Daytona Beach one day to witness the awesome gull fly-in from the dump to the beach. But my failure to find a rare species doesn’t mean that I saw nothing of note.

Florida 191

Florida Panama Wildlife 2014 191

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

The male of the species will rattle off up to 200 songs, his repertoire size varying geographically, with the western males having considerably larger repertoires than eastern males 1. It is obvious to me that the male Marsh Wrens at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge are getting ready for the females to visit their breeding territories.

Sacramento 161

Sacramento North America Wildlife Defenders Of Wildlife 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2017

You see, up to this point, let’s say 1972, perhaps 1973, I had never really been exposed to a “Threatened, or Endangered” species of any kind. The State of Oregon, in 1975 listed the bird as Threatened, and the Oregon Fish and Wildlife reaffirmed that status in 1989 under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.

Oregon 102

Oregon Defenders Of Wildlife Endangered Species Mexico 102

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2018

Major extinction events that are geologically instantaneous have been followed by periods of time with reduction of species or unstable habitats that last for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. There are about 10,000 species of them, after all, which is a lot for a vertebrate. But, that is also a naive view.

2018 101

2018 Science Humane Species 101

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Every autumn, tens of thousands of Snow Geese arrive in California’s Sacramento Valley following their long journey from the Canadian Arctic (click on photos for full sized images). The Ross’s Goose is the smallest variety of the white geese that breed in North America.

Geese 153

Geese South Dakota Sacramento Arkansas 153

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2013

The one thing I really wanted to do on this most recent trip to southern California was visit Santa Cruz Island again. The ride from Prisoner’s Harbor, where we had spent our day, to Scorpion Anchorage, was uneventful, though Desi did fall asleep and I did enjoy pretty good views of breeding-plumaged Pigeon Guillemots.

Whales 150

Whales Whaling Dolphins California 150

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

such as California Condors and Passenger Pigeons. His parents moved where opportunity beckoned, taking him from San Angelo, Texas, to Columbus, New Mexico, then to Dallas, and finally on to California. Author Sherrida Woodley thinks deeply about dearly departed birds. She’s already written about Rachel Carson: Secret Birder.

Falcons 178

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 178

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2011

The male of the species has the upper portion of the head, back of neck, back and wings all glossy black. I found these beauties at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, one of the many locations the Black-necked Stilt breeds in the California Central Valley (map courtesy of Terry Sohl at South Dakota Birds ).

South Dakota 184

South Dakota Jordan Sacramento North America 184

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. Brown Boobies ( Sula leucogaster ), Islas Coronado, Baja California © David J. Frigatebirds (Fregatidae) Five species of frigatebird ply the planet’s tropical skies and seas. And, the birds are awesome.

2011 152

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea Birds 152

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2013

Seeing 525 species was nice, as was the fact that I birded in four countries, nine of the fifty states in the United States, and fifty-one counties. I want to reach 500 birds in the ABA, get my Queens list to 295, see a total of at least 500 species, and get my World Life List to 1,100. But how did I see so many species this year?

2012 143

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 143

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2014

So I asked seven wildlife rehabilitators, “Tell me your favorite (or one of your favorites) release story – the kind that makes you keep going, in spite of everything.”. “A But lets see … I’d say one of my most memorable releases is that of a Purple Martin , a species of special concern in California.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 220

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ohio Tulsa West Virginia 220

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2011

A third species, the Welcome Swallow , is apparently partly migratory. There are more radical shifts in shorebirds , many of which leave to return to the northern tundra to breed, and seabirds, with many subantarctic species showing up around the coasts during the winter , with others leaving to spend the winter in the North Pacific.

New Zealand 113

New Zealand Sanctuary North America Guinea 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Birders who have been to California might be familiar with the latter two, indeed we would be close to the Poor Knights Islands later in the day, the site of the only breeding colony of Buller’s Shearwaters in the whole world. It is also known as the Great-winged Petrel outside of new Zealand, a name that also suits the species.

New Zealand 174

New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 174

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

If this was America, we might not be concerned because starlings are an invasive species, at least in North America. ” The birds appear to be starving to death, so experts don’t believe a toxin is the culprit, said Julia Burco, a wildlife veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2011

Breeding plumaged Lapland Longspurs, Red-throated and Pacific Loons ? v=w4r575oOJ8I But birds get lost, or driven out of their way by storms, and just like the Ivory Gull that shows up on a California beach, we have birds that end up here, well out of their way. Common Ringed Plover ? Northern Wheatear ? www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4r575oOJ8I

Canada 177

Canada Sparrows California Birds 177

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2024

Being a westerner — raised in California, and now living in western Mexico — I was perhaps most excited about the migratory birds that breed in eastern North America. This was only my fourth encounter with the species (all on the east side). Although, truth be told, this species does seem to be a rarity in Tabasco.)

Mexico 193

Mexico Birds Raccoons Baltimore 193

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

For mankind to snatch away a species’ very existence is wrong on so many levels that I can’t begin to explain them. However, despite our best efforts to wipe them off the face of the earth, some of the more vulnerable species have managed to hang on. Fish and Wildlife Service. this species breeds.

Albatross 203

Albatross Endangered Species Geese Alaska 203

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement. And, then there are the more familiar birds–Wood-warblers, sandpipers, hawks–some species migrants, some species with a wide range. Can you guess which of the species cited above are endemic?

America 213

America El Salvador Costa Rica Honduras 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

In responding to Suzie’s post defending wildlife rehabilitation I began to think again about the areas in which animal rights and animal welfare overlap with the field of conservation, and the ways in which they don’t. People would often express surprise that I, someone that cared about wildlife conservation, would eat meat.

Animal Rights 262

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 262

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

My best bird of the year is based on the sighting rather than the species. Obviously my best bird of the year is going to come during this trip, what with several species of endemic pitta and broadbill possible, not to mention 8 species of hornbill and numerous babblers, storks, kingfishers, trogons and even the endemic Bornean Bristlehead.

2013 167

2013 Birds Costa Rica India 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2018

Among these lands are some of the most productive avian breeding grounds in the United States. At the signing ceremony, President Carter stated : We are setting aside for conservation an area of land larger than the State of California. Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaska 209

Alaska United States Puffins Wildlife 209

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2018

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently decided that the Sonoran Desert population of Bald Eagle is not a listable taxon under the Endangered Species Act. Under ESA, the term “species” actually has three categories: (1) species, (2) subspecies, and (3) distinct population segments (DPS). What does that mean?

Bald Eagle 100

Bald Eagle Eagles Endangered Species 2017 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2012

But for those seeking wildlife there is plenty to see without ever leaving the city, and most itineries at least allow one day of birdwatching within and immediately around this coastal resort city. The most common species when I was there that first morning was Great Knots , a life species for me.

Alligators 167

Alligators Guinea 2012 Australia 167

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This bird spent the 2011-2012 winter at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in northern California, migrated someplace exotic and distant in February, and returned to the same pond at the beginning of this month. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida.

2012 147

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

Mountain Plover, California. 2018 was a good year for Mountain Plover in California, with a congregation (that is what you call a flock of plovers, says the Internets) seen regularly in Antelope Valley from early November on. John James Audubon first heard the sparrow in July, 1944, on a buffalo hunt in North Dakota. ” [[link].

2018 155

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 155