10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2019

a British expat birder who was living in Belgrade, for a suggestion: “The top species is undoubtedly White-tailed Eagle. commented further: “With a little work some species can be seen quite easily such as the divers, scaup, scoter, Goosander , Garganey and Long-eared Owl. Hence, I asked my friend B.C.,

Serbia 248

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 248

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2012

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for owls. Wander through my front door and glance upwards and you’ll find at least two watching you, a Tawny Owl and a Barn Owl , both sadly gathered as roadkills. Above our fireplace is a large painting of a Barn Owl.

Barn Owls 178

Barn Owls Finland Owls Portugal 178

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

Further down the road, we reach a derelict building with a large veranda hidden among the trees – an abandoned hunting lodge (if I were in a situation to invest, I would choose to upgrade this into a luxury wildlife lodge). Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe.

Tigers 233

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 233

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

How much do you know about owls? I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. What the Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds is a joyous, fascinating read. I don’t think so.

Owls 203

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 203

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

These large parrots are popular in the pet trade, and that’s a likely source of the population of this species on Trinidad. As I neared the shore, I spooked a hunting Striated Heron who in turn spooked a Neotropic Cormorant hunting the shallow water. Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. Gradually, the bird drifted nearer.

Trinidad 197

Trinidad Birds Parrots Falcons 197

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Larry starts us off right with an owl that makes birders drool: I was able to see and photograph many great birds in 2014 but my Best Bird of the Year would have to be the Great Gray Owl , the largest Strix in North America. Larry’s BBOTY – Great Gray Owl. What was yours? I also blogged about that dreamy day.

2014 184

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 184

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2014

I was chatting with Gordon about this and we discussed how drones could be a safer way to get photos of birds or document birds for breeding surveys, but he was quick to point out, “You and I already have an idea of what a safe distance would be to test that out with an active bald eagle nest. Here’s a guy harassing Osprey.

Bald Eagle 191

Bald Eagle Mississippi Eagles Ducks 191

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2019

In the end, I truly did set out to reduce the number of birds that I feature here from 1302, my years total species, down to 10-12. This years bird number 1300, the Whiskered Screech Owl, was found in the dark, in a snow storm, and no photo was gotten. My favorite of the stay was this White-cheeked Bulbul.

2018 155

2018 Costa Rica South Africa New Zealand 155

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

— and link that to something abut the Great Grey Owl and my BFF Analiese Miller who is an amazing, emerging, photographer who has recently trained her 300mm Cannon F4 lens on the birds (including the Great Grey) at Sax Zim. Birds Cassin''s Auk crows Great Grey Owl Mass Death research' You see, it is all connected.

Science 151

Science Iraq Research Birds 151

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. I’ve once seen Grey Partridges there, and the meadows have breeding Montague’s Harriers.

Germany 101

Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 101

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

John from A DC Birding Blog , and Patrick from The Hawk Owl’s Nest at Jamaica Bay at 8 AM Saturday morning for some birding. The Red-winged Blackbirds that were busy staking claims to breeding territory by singing from bushes, trees, and marsh plants were not groggy at all. But we weren’t done yet!

New York 162

New York Honduras Jamaica Geese 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2011

Who knows, maybe luck will be with me and a Northern Pygmy Owl will show. The Varied Thrush that spent this past winter in Central Park, the only example of the species I have seen. It is also my understanding that I should search mountain streams and meltwater runoff for American Dipper , a bird that I have long wanted to see.

Seattle 160

Seattle Rhinoceros Puffins United States 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2024

Nor have I chased particular birds, either: almost all the birds I have seen have been encountered during a normal day’s birding, not a targeted twitch for a particular species. A lone Whooper Swan on a grey January day in Norfolk As for the ducks – I’m now up to 15 species.

Spain 130

Spain Eagles North America Ducks 130

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

Yes, Germans were a particularly supersticious breed in the days of old, and would not dare to use the word devil even when cursing. You see, in German we have three distinct words for different groups of owls. The eagle-owls of the genus Bubo are all called “Uhu“. Yupp, you read that correctly.

Germany 175

Germany Birds Hunters Owls 175

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

My British total was a mere 172 species – not bad, but not very good. Every one of my 171 species was a bird that I found myself. It keeps a monthly record of sightings, so I can tell you that it was in February that I recorded my highest monthly species total (106), while my lowest total was in August (39).

Estonia 219

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 219

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

212) who trap, follow, and analyze the migration paths of Snowy Owls, a project founded in 2013, the magic year of the Snowy Owl irruption. Author Scott Weidensaul and a Snow Owl. Photograph by Chris DeSorbo, © 2021 Scott Weidensaul. Pause while we all try to imagine what our lives would be like if we could do that.)

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Sandhill Crane Hunt in Kentucky?! Sandhill Crane Hunt in Kentucky?! Tomorrow, MARCH 15, 2011, is the deadline for public comment on a proposal to hunt sandhill cranes in Kentucky. Kentucky Dept.

2011 241

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

Another 170 are in captivity, many of them breeding stock for reintroduction efforts. It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. Birders know that the light’s not always perfect or even particularly good when you’re trying to tell one species from another. Quick: what’s this? The big white one.

2011 240

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 240

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

JULY 7, 2020

So, curious about which birds nest in two places, I quickly found out that it’s Phainopepla, a western bird, a relief because I was concerned that it might have implications for my data collection for the NYS Breeding Bird Atlas. copyright @2020 by David A llen Sibley. The Portfolio of Birds is comprised of 87 2-page spreads.

2020 263

2020 Birds Groups North America 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

We immediately headed to an undisclosed location where Carlos had breeding Mangrove Cuckoos staked out. The reason the location is remaining undisclosed is that reliable Mangrove Cuckoos are difficult to find in the American Birding Association area and are a very sought after species. We needed countable species! He was right!

Florida 115

Florida Miami Birds Owls 115

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2012

Bang Pra is a reservoir and no-hunting area to the south east of Bangkok. The flowerpecker, an attractive species, was actually responsible for Peter becoming a birder in the first place! Our next species was decidedly uncommon, a Black-headed Ibis circled overhead for a minute before flying off.

Thailand 153

Thailand New Zealand Terrapins Asia 153

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

Unlike other bird races where participants keep tight-lipped about bird species as mundane as a House Sparrow , this event gives a prize to the team that helps the most. But isn’t all of that data sharing counterproductive for a bird race where the team with the most species wins?

Costa Rica 168

Costa Rica Eagles Birds 168

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

Another Nanhui trip also brought a Northern Boobook , which eBird nicely describes as a “slender brown owl with comically expressive golden eyes” While one would think that such a fierce-looking bird mainly lives off larger prey, this is not the case. It did not seem to bother the owl much though. Oh, the excitement.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2022

Logging roads have opened up vast areas to commercial hunting, leading to industrial-scale poaching and a more than 60 per cent drop in the region’s Forest Elephant population in less than a decade. At the same time, 50% of the Congo Basin forest has now been allocated for logging and this region loses close to 1.5

Central African Republic 282

Central African Republic Congo Gabon Gorillas 282

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

Nineteen days later we had racked up an amazing list of 436 species, including some of Africa’s least known birds such as Congo Serpent Eagle , Yellow-footed Honeyguide , Tessmann’s Flycatcher , Yellow-bearded Greenbul , Black-collared Lovebird and much besides. We also knew we had discovered Africa’s next hot birding destination.

Ghana 189

Ghana Hunters Guinea Gambia 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2019

Snowy Owl, Long Island, NYS. This was a special Snowy Owl encounter in a year of many Snowy Owls. It was, indeed, a Snowy Owl. I drove to the other end of the lot and watched the owl fly back to its meal, smack in the middle of the empty lot. How often does one have a Snowy Owl all to one’s self?

2018 151

2018 New Jersey Michigan North Dakota 151

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2011

Orlando is so rich in roadside and overhead birds that I kept a list of species seen from the car which ran to 30+ on the first morning and included a Bald Eagle nonchalantly sitting on a street lamp by a Target store. Mike Mar 5th, 2011 at 1:32 pm Those egrets in breeding plumage are absolutely exquisite!

2011 116

2011 Alligators Florida Deer 116