10,000 Birds

MARCH 24, 2024

There are beautiful beaches, a plethora of amazing food and drinks, a multitude of family fun locations, a world-renowned zoo, and one of the biggest birding festivals in the US. My family visited San Diego every year as part of a Disneyland-SoCal Road trip to escape the rainy Christmases at home near Portland, Oregon.

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San Diego Sea Lions Lions Birds 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2019

I’m headed down to NYC for some entirely unbirdy family festivities. My usual city birding pal Corey is padding his year list handsomely in Southern California. Smart, but you should still make the most of the final weekend of the year. How about you? Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding?

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2019 Birds California Dogs 152

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

Her narrator is Gabriel, 23, raised in Northern California by an American father and a Uruguayan mother. Things get complicated – and then, completely out of hand — when Gabe’s new inamorata is introduced to his family. Yes, that’s right – she adds an epilogue. We were lucky, Alejandra and I,” says Gabe, unironically. “We,

Uruguay 154

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2013

The North American Tundra Swan ( Cygnus columbianus columbianus ) migrates in flocks of family groups… leaving their Arctic breeding grounds in late September and arriving in their wintering grounds in November and December 1 (click on photos for full sized images).

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California South Dakota Sacramento North America 107

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2021

The most common one, Manila tamarind, is wildly inaccurate, since the tree is native to southwestern Mexico, not Manila, and its only connection to tamarind trees is that both are in different subfamilies of the huge legume family. I first met the tree in Baja California, where it is known as guamúchil (gwa-MOOCH-eel), so I will call it that.

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2016 2020 Mexico California 275

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

Corey spent the first half of the weekend finishing up his family trip in southern California and the rest of it getting back to New York and recovering from a red eye. Ivy and I tracked down her first Wilson’s Snipe this weekend. Imagine that… a successful snipe hunt.

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2019 New York Birds California 126

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

In August, we took a family trip to beautiful San Diego, seeing SeaWorld , LegoLand , and the San Diego Zoo. I’ve taken tours out of Monterey Bay (with pelagic legend Debi Shearwater , now retired) and Half Moon Bay, California ; Newport, Oregon ; and Hatteras, North Carolina.

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San Diego Los Angeles Cooking North Carolina 147

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Back in December when my family and I were in southern California we planned a day trip out to Crystal Cove State Park in southern Orange County. After all, what better way to take advantage of southern California’s sunshine than to spend some time on the beach? California Gnatcatcher Polioptila californica.

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California Family Pelicans Rights 134

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

I also spent a week in northwestern Costa Rica on a family vacation, a long weekend in Barbados, a week in Georgia, and two week-plus-long trips to visit relatives in southern California. For fifteen years, ever since I started visiting California as a birder, I’ve been hoping to see a Mountain Plover.

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2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 139

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2019

Paul moved from California to Mexico 36 years ago. He is the author of an internationally distributed book in Spanish about family finances and has recorded four albums in Spanish of his own songs. You’ll be able to see his posts weekly every Wednesday morning from now on.

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Mexico California Family Birds 113

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2019

Though Corey arrived in Southern California late Friday night, he didn’t get much birding in this weekend other than dipping on a Nazca Booby at Dana Point after delaying his departure to go look for it to accompany his family to the beach.

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2019 Birds California Raised 121

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. Using the icons to locate specific bird families takes a little getting used to, but if you do it often it works well as a finding tool. GUIDE COVERAGE. ” These are all great.

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North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2013

Way back in mid-June when I started my southern California sojourn I mentioned that I was inundated with Western Bluebirds. One afternoon I spent quite a bit of time watching and digiscoping a family group of Sialia mexicana , a great way to get to know the species better. I hope you liked these shots of Western Bluebirds.

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California Groups Family Birds 150

10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2018

Mike, too, chose a bluebird as his Best Bird of the Weekend, though his was a different species seeing as he and his family avoided the cruelty of April by being in California. Yes, an Eastern Bluebird was a friendly sight at Baisley Pond Park in Queens, the first I have ever seen there. How about you?

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North Carolina Cruelty 2018 United States 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2019

This is the first October in three years I haven’t been vacationing in California. It’s also worth pointing out that – obviously – there’s no real ornithological connection between the Eurasian Blackbird and California – North Coast’s blackbird beer was simply inspired by the wife of one of North Coast’s founders, named Merle.

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Blackbirds California Family Birds 102

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2017

For the last several years, I have produced a small run of calendars for my fiends and family. California Quail. The best 12 images of the previous year. While I am not going to post all twelve, here are my favorite 6 images ( including the feature image above) from the first 10 months of 2016. Least Grebe. Varied Bunting.

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2017 Culling 2016 Birds 126

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2016

Clicking on most of these photos will open a new tab taking you to my 10000 Birds posts on that respective species The post on the California Scrub-Jay above is here. Another California endemic, the Nuttall’s Woodpecker made an appearance… As did the family oriented Acorn Woodpecker.

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Woodpeckers Turkey California Birds 101

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

Together, these birds compose the family Alcidae , and they share adaptations that we recognize as penguin-like: an upright stance on land, black-and-white plumage, and — most important — wings that propel them underwater in pursuit of prey ( see them in action here ). © David J. See Cairns et al.

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Penguins Puffins 2008 Sharks 224

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2019

In addition to spotting exciting new species in Florida, including the rare Snail Kite, travel across the country brought me into contact with birds in Oregon, California, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and more. 2018 proved to be one of my best birding years ever.

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Bald Eagle Alabama Kansas Florida 148

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2012

While eating lunch with Daisy and her family at a picnic area in Joshua Tree National Park the other day a small chipmunk-looking creature ventured out of the rock formation we were eating next to. The other subspecies range from the southern end of Baja California north into Idaho and Oregon but never east of the Colorado River.

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Squirrels Chipmunks Idaho Mammals 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

Additional helpful design features include the names of family groups against a yellow-and-white striped background on every page corner and having every bird image facing right (except for that Common Loon chick!), I’ve missed this information, especially when I travel to Los Angeles to visit my daughter and her family.

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Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 198

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2015

There are many charismatic endangered birds that capture people’s hearts and imaginations: the colossal California Condor , the evocative Red-crowned Crane , and the adorable Spoon-billed Sandpiper come to mind. This is a short series that brings attention to these incredible birds, and my various adventures to try and see them.

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Brazil California Condor Parrots Texas 215

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 8, 2020

Guiding aside, Howell is a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences and the author of many books, including Petrels, Albatrosses, and Storm-Petrels of North America (Princeton). And that is what recommends Steve N. Howell and Fabrice Schmitt: both of them are international bird tour leaders with WINGS.

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Chile Birds South America North America 202

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2013

We are lucky enough to see them every winter in California where they take advantage of coastal beaches and marshes, stubble fields in the fall, and recently-plowed fields in the spring as well as mud flats and river courses. I shot this video this last Thanksgiving weekend from the Sacramento NWR on my way back from visiting the family.

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Sacramento Wildlife California Sparrows 163

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2017

A member of the small Ptiliogonatidae family of silky-flycatchers, of which there are only three other species besides our local Phainopepla , Phainopepl nitens. While being a member of the flycatcher family does give it some occasional fly catching behavior, its claim to avian fame is in a digestive tract capability.

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Costa Rica Panama Nevada Guatemala 105

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2017

The Picidae family was well represented, with both Gila and Ladder-back woodpeckers , as well a pair of Gilded Flickers all spending some time in this oak grove. Both California and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were busy fliting around the surrounding under-brush. And then the somewhat uncommon California Gnatcatcher.

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Eagles Mexico California Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend, on the other hand, was one of the many species of shorebird he during a weekend full of birding opportunities what with his whole family being in California.

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2014 New York Birds Experience 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2017

Lakeview Oregon is located in central Oregon, just north of the California border, and is the highest altitude city in the state. During the weekend that I was there, it was announced that there were over 1300 fires burning just within the state of Oregon, not to mention California, Washington, Montana and British Columbia, Canada.

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Oregon Birds Montana California 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

Out of over 30 respondents, almost everyone wanted money for better facilities, paid staff, on-call veterinarians, emergency vehicles, food, and protected land – from Terry and Lindsay in California to Cindy in Michigan, from Sally in Kentucky to Mickie in South Dakota, and Lisa and Lia in New York. wrote Veronica in California. “I

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Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 247

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2013

He and his family will be in California, where he has his eye on a few West Coast species that have thus far eluded him. My choice is always to allow my kids to bask in my fatherly glory, so I’ll be birding wherever I can bring the team along. Corey will do the same, but from a different coast than usual. How about you?

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2013 Birds California Australia 158

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

Old World Vultures are nestled within the family Acciptridae along with the hawks and eagles. It’s actually a pretty classic example of convergent evolution, wherein two unrelated families of lifeforms evolve to fill the same niche independently. The California Condor has a story well-known by anyone with an interest in birds.

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California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 182

10,000 Birds

APRIL 30, 2019

Paul Lewis moved from California to Mexico 36 years ago. He is the author of an internationally distributed book in Spanish about family finances and has recorded four albums in Spanish of his own songs. Wildlife photography, of course, was out of reach for us mere mortals, before the advent of digital cameras. But hey… Aztec Thrushes!

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San Francisco Mexico Turkey California 116

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2014

This was a family vacation and I had led my unsuspecting wife and son out onto the curving pier at Aquatic Park, overlooking San Francisco Bay, ostensibly to get a better look at Alcatraz and the bridge, but actually with half a mind to finding a Wandering Tattler. Birding Birds California San Francisco Wandering Tattler'

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San Francisco United States California Breeding 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Breeding bird surveys appears to show the resplendent Allen’s Hummingbird (like Corey’s capture, above) in decline—but not in Southern California, where examination of eBird data reveals that members of a residential population appear to be faring much better than their migrating brethren. (To sports championships ).

Massachusetts 100

Massachusetts Eggs Falcons Rights 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Jonathan Vargas is a young biologist, whose current work centers on monitoring the Snowy Plover populations in northern Baja California. For a few years now, every time they visit their family here, he or they go with me to bird my favorite sites. His wife, Fany, is also a biologist, and is from Morelia.

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Ducks 2020 Eggs California 255

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2013

These Pygmy Nuthatches were seen in June nesting in a pine tree at Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. What a nice, close knit family! The Pygmy Nuthatch ( Sitta pygmaea ) is a non-migratory bird that lives primarily in Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine forests in western North America.

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North America America California Collecting 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2016

Now with several years of exploring the California Baja Sur, I have come to expect to see shrikes on nearly every of my routes and guided trips. Shrikes by the numbers: The family Laniidae is composed of 31 species of shrike, around the globe. Sometimes reality is so unfair! These fiercely territorial birds.

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Butcher Birds North America Mexico 116