10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

Traditional farming landscape of small holdings, hedges and groves draped in snow… I actually hate snow, but on days like this, cannot resist it. These globally threatened raptors breed from Ukraine eastward through Siberia and only a few come to overwinter here. The biggest count ever was less than 10 birds in the whole of Serbia.

Geese 155

Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 155

10,000 Birds

MAY 30, 2019

But for a while one constant in his life was his grandfather’s farm, a far-off stretch of land in Comanche County, Texas. Done properly, a young hawk is curtailed in a growing compulsion to fly greater distances and hunt for herself by a process sometimes called “manning.” Tom Cade and Gyr by Kate Davis.

Falcons 191

Falcons California Condor Alaska Texas 191

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2020

Parasites penetrate the skin, travel through the blood vessels and finally (if you’re lucky) settle in the urinary tract where they happily breed, doing irreversible damage to it (and if you’re less lucky they might get confused and settle inside your spinal cord or even your brain). Andrew’s laconic answer was ‘No, I don’t think so.

Botswana 200

Botswana Africa 2001 Fish 200

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

This species, one of the heaviest birds able to fly, was once common through most of southern and central Europe and all the way to Mongolia, but was driven to extinction by hunting and changes in agricultural practises in most of its European range during the 19th and early 20th century.

Germany 101

Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 101

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

While regular in winter, Pygmy Cormorants do not breed in the vicinity and are absent in spring and summer. There is a breeding pair of White-tailed Eagles at the Veliko Ratno Island and they can be seen year-round, but the best chances are in winter, when they hunt ducks around the island. Bus: 95, 96 & 104. eBird list.

Serbia 243

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

In southern Scotland, neat Gretna Green, we saw first hand, the successful re-introduction of the Red Kite into the rural farm areas. The birds are now breeding in the area, but are quite happy to keep coming to the daily feeding station in groups of over 100 birds.

2018 172

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 172

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

Wolves, for example–the probable ancestors of dogs–live in packs that hunt together and have a complex hierarchy. See TIME’s video “ The March of TIME: Hunting Dog Field Trials.&#. Foxes that slunk back in fear and snapped their teeth didn’t get to breed. Ones that came up to the scientists did.

Wolves 100

Wolves Fox Dogs Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2011

The combined effects of hunting, habitat loss and predation by introduced animals like rats and mongoose have extirpated the species from some islands and reduced numbers significantly on others. Soon the ducks were joined by others and by 1992, 16 pairs were regularly feeding at his farm.

Antigua and Barbuda 232

Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico Dominican Republic Jamaica 232

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

We immediately headed to an undisclosed location where Carlos had breeding Mangrove Cuckoos staked out. Sure, it was a lifer and an unexpected one because most of the hawks have moved further north to breed by late April but Carlos did nothing to ensure that it stuck around for better looks.

Florida 125

Florida Miami Birds Owls 125

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

But you can take solace in the results at the end of the breeding year, when loafing around the intertidal are a shiny new cohort of finely plumage grey youngsters, all ready to carry on Western Gull line into the future. Western Gull chick.

Animal Rights 267

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 267

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

John James Audubon first heard the sparrow in July, 1944, on a buffalo hunt in North Dakota. So, I was excited to read reports in late 2017 of a pair of Whooping Cranes being seen on a cattle farm. Baird’s Sparrows are true prairie birds, and their population is declining as their grassland habitat is cultivated for agriculture.

2018 167

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2023

The Great Egret was in breeding plumage and courtship posture–bright lime green lores, head bending down and then snapping up, long, impossibly delicate plumes waving over its body as if possessed by independent spirits. I thought about those plumes and about how fortunate we were to be seeing this egret in all its glory.

Connecticut 147

Connecticut Washington Legislation Hunting 147