10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

But even without huge herds of elephants large game is defiantly the major draw for most people on the cruise. Hippo and attending Cattle Egret. We visited in the rainy season, to the point where our first attempt to head out was ended by a particularly monsoon-like downpour. African Darter and Reed Cormorant. Yellow-billed Stork.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2016

It’s also a good place to pick up some African game if you’re on a quick trip, I saw Bontebok and Eland, two types of antelope, as well as Chamca Baboons, and if you’re lucky you can find Mountain Zebra here too. Cattle Egret in spring flowers. Fynbos flowers are highlight of the cape. Greater Flamingos.

Penguins 172

Penguins Birds Mongoose Ostriches 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2014

Like them or not, in the great game of life, these are winners. – Acclimatisation Societies of New Zealand – The Cattle Egret Expansion – Feral Cats Are An Invasive Species in North America (and elsewhere) – It’s a Myth – Isn’t It?

Species 160

Species Feral Cats Feral Miami 160

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2013

After several game drives, once again we are at the front gate of the Gir National Park in the state of Gujarat. A low branch is decorated by a Green Bee-eater (above) and a tree top above it holds several Cattle Egrets. Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea. Great Egret Egretta alba (Casmerodius albus).

Lions 227

Lions India Mammals Boars 227

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2017

The real shock came, when at the last minute, I realized that they were not Greater Egrets , nor the smaller Snowy Egrets , but Cattle Egrets – Bubulcus ibis. With one chance to fire off a quick shot, my camera fixed with the 500MM lens, thru the trees over my head, I was rewarded with a blurry, terrible shot, of Cattle Egrets !

Cattle 100

Cattle Mexico Cows Game 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

We remember starlings not skylarks, House Sparrows not Eurasian Tree Sparrows , Cattle Egrets not… well, whatever we’ve forgotten because it didn’t do as well as the Cattle Egrets. Or, to be perfectly honest, playing games on Facebook, but let’s not talk about that. So, tentatively, welcome spring and new life.

Montana 135

Montana 2011 New York Bahamas 135

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 trip was probably reasonably well planned and it would have been known to these travelers that game birds, as well as deer and fish, were abundant in the region they were traveling to.

Turkey 203

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 203

Critter News

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Carnivores killed less than 1% of cattle (0.18%) and approximately 3% of sheep produced in the U.S.; • Out of Step with American Values - Americans value wildlife and abhor animal cruelty. Lethal control efforts of WS professionals typically remove less than 5 percent of a species' overall population.

Killing 100

Killing Wildlife Groups Endangered Species 100

Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

There is little that is less polluting and less harmful to the planet than hunting wild game responsibly. Yet the turkey she raises is a much smaller factor in advancing global warming than the cattle on her ranch because they produce meat much more efficiently. Stephanie Jenkins Highland Park, N.J., Indeed, in Ms.

New York Times 40

New York Times New York Meat San Antonio 40

Animal Ethics

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

It is argued that beef cattle and hogs are protein factories in reserve. In order to produce one pound of beef, cattle eat approximately sixteen pounds of grain; and in order to produce six pounds of pork or ham, hogs eat approximately six pounds of grain. The proponent of the argument wants to stop replacing them when they die.

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Morals Meat Cattle 40

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 218

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 218

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2013

My post last week where I defended game hunting as a conservation tool has, unaccountably, encountered a certain amount of push back. Who would have thought that a post defending hunting game in general would have not been universally acclaimed? And therein my quarrel with those that oppose game hunting in Africa.

Tigers 173

Tigers Hunting Game Protection 173

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

A pair of Hooded Vultures in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania by Adam Riley. This plain used to be little affected by humans, being grazed by just a few cattle, goats and camels. Rueppell’s Vulture scanning for a carcass at Ndutu, Tanzania by Adam Riley.

Endangered Species 191

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2022

Somehow I did not think Cattle Egrets would eat dragonflies (shouldn’t they eat beef, at least judging from their name?) eBird describes the Grey-capped Greenfinch as “a bright gregarious finch”, so I am glad I am not one of them, preferring to spend most of my time alone. but they do.

Birds 147

Birds China Eggs Breeding 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2018

The definition of the word HUNT is “to chase or search for game or other wild animals for the purpose of catching or killing.” Lacey of Iowa introduced the nation’s first wildlife-protection law, which banned the interstate shipping of unlawfully killed game. But I digress. It is obvious that hunting is NOT conservation.

Hunting 111

Hunting Hunters Gorillas Wolves 111