10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2024

They are ridiculously unafraid of people there – so the cynic in me suspects that swan meat is not regarded as tasty by the Japanese (another explanation, that the Japanese just like animals too much, can presumably be discarded given the country’s very principled approach in insisting on the right to kill whales).

China 244

China Iceland Whales Whaling 244

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2012

Which these days involves a frenzy to breed and raise a brood. I discovered that one of the Pacific Loons was back, and the first breeding plumaged Purple Sandpiper I’ve seen (having only seen them on fall migration), and Arctic Hare cavorting in their changing coats. In breeding plumage! And now mergansers.

Bald Eagle 183

Bald Eagle Breeding Raised Whales 183

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware 199

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 199

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Then a little later there was a spot of bother with DDT, but we pulled out of that one ok, with a toolbox that would surely stand us in good stead if we only had the will to use it – legislation and literature, captive breeding programs, nest platforms. A species, wiped off the earth, never to exist again. We could do it!

California Condor 229

California Condor United States Guam Whales 229

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Over the next few days, the Alpine Accentors ( Prunella collaris ) will arrive on their high-Alpine breeding grounds – it is time to start singing, despite that the treeless Alpine landscape is still under metres of snow. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes. all Alpine Accetor photos digiscoped (c) Dale Forbes.

2011 234

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 234