10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2020

Having observed the Cattle Egret in breeding plumage at the Derby Poo Ponds on June 19th we found ourselves at Windjana Gorge first thing the following morning. Sometimes everything appears normal, but of course it is far from normal. As we all well know there is something very different about 2020.

2020 258

2020 Australia Cattle Groups 258

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2022

This is also why you very rarely find a photo of a giraffe on top of one of these posts – the other reason of course being that a giraffe photo would be relatively pointless in a birding blog. When Cattle Egrets go to the local discotheque, they tend to overdo their makeup a bit. It is sometimes necessary to find food though.

Singapore 147

Singapore Mountain Goats Birds Giraffes 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2022

According to the HBW, when breeding, male birds do most of the incubation and parenting while females often leave the nest up to one week before the eggs hatch. Of course, on Chongming, the Chinese Pond Heron is very common. It concludes that human activity influences the breeding activity of the lapwing. End of side note.

Birds 162

Birds South Korea Japan Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

The population of parrotlets they studied was located on one of the many huge hatos (cattle ranches) in the Venezuelan llanos, a vast swath of flat flooded savannah in the central third of the country that drains into the Rio Orinoco. You don’t really know a bird until you’ve studied it on its breeding grounds. The Auk 108: 863-871.

Eggs 267

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 267

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2012

Of course we’ve all experienced the excruciating opposite of such an excursion, but when waves of new birds practically clamor for attention in quick succession, the feeling is exhilarating. Have you ever enjoyed one of those brilliant birding expeditions, the outing where every target species takes its cue with machine precision?

Trinidad 174

Trinidad Birds Fast Food Cattle 174

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Upland Sandpipers were seen almost daily, on posts, in tall grass, in trees, and, of course, flying away from us. . In addition, of course, to birds like Baird’s Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Sharp-tailed Grouse (all of which were life birds for me, and all of which I failed to get decent photos).

North Dakota 134

North Dakota Birds Sparrows Blackbirds 134

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

The Great Egrets , Little Egrets and Intermediate Egrets are in breeding plumage and look quite spectacular. Intermediate Egret in breeding plumage. All of the birds are seeking out the higher ground and many appear to be making plans to breed if they have not started already. Glossy Ibis and Egrets. Whiskered Terns in flight.

Barn Owls 178

Barn Owls Cattle Ducks Reptiles 178

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2012

Kazakhstan – May 2009 After our excellent time at the Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve we bid a fond farewell to its gorgeous grassy terrain and made our way to a location where Sociable Lapwing were known to breed. Well, that is almost too much to ask for!

Kazakhstan 127

Kazakhstan Cows 2009 Endangered Species 127

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2022

A local cattle station out of town received 652mm in the same 24 hour period, so we got off lightly! The erosion is severe in many areas and of course we now have some health warnings! Of course all of the muddy water is already full of tadpoles and therefore the birds are moving in. Erosion under the bike path and bridge.

Parrots 210

Parrots Cattle Breeding Ducks 210

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

Thus, the cattle we raise for meat and dairy are sometimes called Bos taurus while the extinct wild form is always called Bos primigenius. The chance that this was a real Turkey are not great, and the chance that Columbus actually brought breeding stock from Honduras to Spain is not great, so maybe, maybe not.

Turkey 197

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 197

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2012

That Cattle Egret I found in Somerset County, August 2009? Birds of New Jersey , written by Joan Walsh, Vince Elia, Rich Kane, and Thomas Halliwell, published by New Jersey Audubon Society, was a landmark volume; 704-pages long, it presented results of the 1993-1997 New Jersey Breeding Bird Atlas. No wonder people were excited by it.)

New Jersey 186

New Jersey Birds 2009 Bald Eagle 186

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

Of course, this raptor pattern baldness exists for a good reason, which is another of the distasteful aspects of vulturine biology. In the 70s, with the survival of the species in jeopardy, the entire wild population was captured and brought into a captive breeding program in southern California. Vultures famously feed on carrion.

California Condor 175

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2021

The fields near the Tiaozini mudflats look very much like a lunar landscape, but this does not seem to keep a number of species from breeding there, sometimes directly on dirt roads. But now back to birds … Little Ringed Plovers also seem to like to breed directly on the road. Blandness sells. Also available as a set of two.

Birds 204

Birds Uganda Breeding Rats 204

10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2022

This will change over time of course and once it rains again you would need to consider if you had the right vehicle to access the area. It is of course a very popular place for waterbirds to drop by and sometimes there are large numbers of Purple Swamphens and Eurasian Coot present. Purple Swamphens. Black-necked Stork.

Geese 188

Geese Ducks Breeding 2015 188

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2013

Other members of the family include the huge Australasian Bittern (a species I have yet to see), the coastal Eastern Reef Egret (hardly difficult since it’s habitat requirements are basically “an island in the Pacific”), and of course the Cattle Egret.

New Zealand 147

New Zealand Indonesia Cattle Guinea 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2014

Ferruginous Hawks breed in the grasslands of eastern Montana, but they are rare in the mountains and in winter, so this bird was certainly a surprise. A vast congregation of Bald Eagles kept watch over a herd of cattle about to calve, up to seven in a single tree — no doubt awaiting delicious placentas.

Bald Eagle 168

Bald Eagle Falcons Geese Montana 168

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2020

They are very similar to the Masked Lapwings in the north of Australia, but of course they have ‘black shoulders”! When I returned to the small dam where there had been so many Australian Wood Ducks earlier in the day I discovered that the eleven cows had been joined by two Cattle Egrets. Two Cattle Egrets with four cows!

Buffalo 158

Buffalo Fish Koalas Cattle 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Not that long ago, Costa Rica had one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, rainforests were razed to make way for hot and chiggery cattle pasture, and bot flies probably became more numerous than some bird populations. Hopefully, we can help them in time. … Extinction is forever. What a horror! What a disaster!

Costa Rica 211

Costa Rica Species Panama Birds 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2018

Beset by poaching by cattle ranchers, habitat loss, DDT, and lead poisoning (from consuming shotgun pellets embedded in the condor’s carrion fare), populations of this enormous New World vulture fell into a serious decline in the twentieth century. With enough room for another, of course.

California Condor 103

California Condor Oregon California Zoos 103

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2012

It spent its visit at the Golf Course with the Masked Lapwings Vanellus miles and the previous visit by the species had been in February 2008 and prior to that September 2005. It is unclear as to whether they have all had a good breeding season or if they are dispersing to different areas this year.

2014 154

2014 Zebras 2005 2008 154

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

The Great Miami Winter Bird Count, an event that transpired over the course of four days from February 13-16, set out to record this diversity for the first time in an organized manner as part of the overall Miami Birding Wave project. Although they breed on the west coast of Florida, Snowy Plover is a rare stray to this part of the state.

Miami 165

Miami 2015 United States Birds 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

Of course, I contacted Carlos Sanchez , alleged south Florida birder extraordinaire, to maximize the returns on what time I could spend. We immediately headed to an undisclosed location where Carlos had breeding Mangrove Cuckoos staked out. Of course not! There was even beer on the menu which I had to order, of course.

Florida 114

Florida Miami Birds Owls 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Nowhere else in Africa do the preconceived ideas of the continent really exist in such living detail; tall, red-robed Maasai herding their skinny cattle, endless grasslands studded with flat-topped Acacia trees and grazed by herds of zebras and wildebeest, and dramatic volcanic calderas brimming with big game and fierce predators!

Tanzania 208

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 208

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 6, 2007

Consider some of the victories: On November 5th, 2002, more than two and a half million Floridians voted "Yes" on Amendment 10 to amend the state constitution and prohibit the use of gestation crates , narrow metal cages where breeding pigs are kept for most of their lives. The full text of the amendment is available here.

Factory 40

Factory Factory Farm Factory Farming Gestation Crates 40

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 7, 2014

The page-long entry on Geographic Variation offers descriptions of the five groups, in painstaking detail, differentiating subspecies of each group, articulating differences between males and females within each subspecies, drawing out winter and breeding ranges with the help of Lehman’s maps.

North America 177

North America America Birds Family 177

Animal Person

AUGUST 10, 2010

Of course, you're supposed to hop onto the following train of thought: These are good people. What you're supposed to be buying into is the idea that if a family owns a farm it is somehow qualitatively different (and of course, better) than a farm that isn't family owned. You see midwestern folk in overalls with tired faces.

Family 100

Family Factory Farm Factory Farming Cows 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2023

The Asian Brown Flycatcher does not count as a season-starting bird – discrimination, of course. Heron/Egret medley (yes, I know medleys suck, but without the aural component, they might just be ok): Black-crowned Night-heron … … Cattle Egret … … Chinese Pond Heron.

Birds 130

Birds China Taiwan Raised 130

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

So, I was excited to read reports in late 2017 of a pair of Whooping Cranes being seen on a cattle farm. I easily spotted the Whooping Cranes in the cattle field. They were large and rather gawky, with a lot of ‘jewelry’ on their legs, oblivious to the cattle and to me.

2018 148

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 148

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2023

It is kind of rare to see a Fairy Pitta during Shanghai’s spring migration as those passing through are all adults rather than inexperienced chicks, and they are in a rush getting to their breeding grounds – but I was lucky. This should not be a problem in Shanghai as the pitta has not been reported to breed here.

Birds 130

Birds China Research Tenant 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2018

Masked Lapwings , Straw-necked Ibis , Plumed Whistling-Ducks , Magpie-larks , Cattle Egrets and Australian Pratincoles all gather around and in the drainage channel. All of the nice green vegetation around these drainage channels is very popular with the Cattle Egrets and by November they have some beautiful breeding plumage.

Cattle 114

Cattle Geese Birds Australia 114

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

The Little Grebe is of course a very common bird that can still surprise by its beauty in its breeding plumage. Black-naped Orioles are breeding in Fengxian. Somehow I did not think Cattle Egrets would eat dragonflies (shouldn’t they eat beef, at least judging from their name?) Here is a presumed pair.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147