10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2012

Despite, or maybe because of the active human intervention, quite a few species can be seen in a couple hours in the morning. (I I am accustomed to seeing a Coyote or two on each visit I make to the park in the early morning before bikers, dog-walkers, joggers, and humanity in general get out and about. ………

Coyotes 101

Coyotes California Mammals Sparrows 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2012

The water this Northern Pintail is in has human poo in it, which completely ruins the experience of seeing this bird. Slaty-backed Gull at a dump, Baikal Teal at a sewage pond, Yellow-green Vireo at some random park in the ghetto…if a place collects birds, birders will go there. Oh wait, it doesn’t.

San Francisco 208

San Francisco Birds North Dakota Oakland 208

4 The Love Of Animals

JANUARY 10, 2011

11pm: Tuck foster dog (aka Munchkin – after 34 they’ve all become “Munchkin”) in on the couch and head off to bed. 9:30am: Take Munchkin and forever dog to the dog park. Forever dog runs around like a maniac. 1:30pm: Hop in the car with my mom, forever dog, and Munchkin. Tuck Munchkin back in and go back to bed.

Adopt Dog 100

Adopt Dog Dogs Animal Cruelty Boston 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2011

Nevertheless, the one question will remain as to why we toss this habitat aside as if we all collectively made a decision to pick one habitat and dismiss it. Ferruginous Hawks are native to our western short-grass prairies and their diet comprises almost completely of prairie dogs. have over-developed these areas for agricultural uses.

Prairie Dogs 163

Prairie Dogs Colorado North Dakota Soreing 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2019

And, Essay #195, “Our Human Values: The Ugly,” describes the standoff between catfish loving Double-crested Cormorants and catfish farmers in the Missouri Valley. I’m not sure if “the Ugly” refers to the cormorant itself or human reaction (catfish farmers are officially allowed to shoot the birds).

Birds 115

Birds North America Breeding America 115

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

If there are human fishing activities then all the better – Marabous will gather in numbers around fishermen’s docks and fish markets, in fact anywhere where fish are cleaned and scraps disposed of, allowing these intelligent birds to obtain a free meal.

Africa 239

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 239

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

In “Birding in Traffic,” Jonathan Rosen, no stranger to making connections between birds and human elements as he did in “The Life of the Skies,” describes how he took the subway to Union Square Park to see a rare (for NYC) Scott’s Oriole. The two stories about New York City are personal favorites, of course.

New York City 185

New York City Birds Owls Fox 185

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2023

Eight years later, Christian Cooper birding Central Park became a very different kind of media image: the black man falsely accused by a white woman of threatening her life after asking her to leash her dog in the Ramble, an area where unleashed dogs are not allowed. It was the same day George Floyd was killed. I remember that day.

Emotional 223

Emotional Birds Minneapolis Nepal 223

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

In fact, the Dodo belonged to a clade (sometimes called Raphini) of 15 remarkable, bizarre, intriguing island-adapted pigeons, some of which are still alive today, but eight of which have been hacked from the tree of life, driven to extinction by humans. The painting above is by 17th-century Flemish artist Roelant Savery.

Solomon Islands 275

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 275

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 26, 2014

But perhaps their human passed away, or maybe they fell on hard times and just couldn’t afford pet care any longer. Sure, there are some shelter pets who sadly have never felt love, or the affection of a human before. If you work full time and already have a dog, you can always request a dog-friendly foster pet who is house-trained.

Shelters 100

Shelters Adoptable Rescue Pets 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2011

For millenia, many of the world’s collective cultures have had an exceptionally strong anthropocentric bias when looking at the value of life. Granted, there are a lot of terminally-stupid dogs out there… but you know what I’m saying. But I digress. has gained a solid foothold in the scientific community.

Emotional 204

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 204

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2013

The early threats of guano harvesting and egg collecting have been replaced by the more ominous threats of oil pollution and overfishing of their favorite food source – pilchards. Today, there are more than 3,000 birds at this accessible colony and they are protected by fences and stiff fines for human disturbance.

Penguins 213

Penguins South Africa Africa Sharks 213

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

There is also a third element, only hinted at in the opening–the environmental and scientific necessity of gathering this data to document the importance of keeping the Pacific Northwest waters healthy and uncontaminated by human elements. Fox does an excellent job balancing these three elements, keeping the emphasis on the birds.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

The third in the Nanhui collection of gloriously colored flycatchers is the Blue-and-white Flycatcher. The captor monkey killed the bird … by biting off its head” Eurasian Woodcocks are much more likely to be killed by humans than by snub-nosed monkeys.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147