10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

We sing about them, we paint them, we use them as mythic and poetic symbols for our spiritual and emotional feelings, we wear them in myriad and often colorful ways, we adopt them as household pets. As Cocker writes in the Introduction , “It is only when whole societies collectively believe in the goal that it is attainable.”

Birds 212

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 212

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2015

Second, reading about birds courting and parenting brings out the tendency to identify, which leads directly to anthropomorphism, the tendency to assign birds human emotions and thoughts. We simply refuse to squee. Some people love books like that. Think of birds too much as humans and you lose the specialness that makes them birds.

Eggs 263

Eggs Family 2006 New York 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2023

This is what makes this memoir more than a collection of anecdotes; it’s our opportunity to understand the different parts that make the whole of a black gay man negotiating the natural world and the more challenging, the adjacent “real” world. Raw honesty is felt throughout. It’s powerful writing.

Emotional 223

Emotional Birds Minneapolis Nepal 223

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2020

The 26 essays in When Birds Are Near are all about the real-life and emotional spaces where people overlap with birds. She says in her Introduction that she was inspired to compile this collection by a much earlier essay, an article by E.B. Press, 2011). ” Yet: “Reading the essays, one shares his ecstasy.”

New York City 185

New York City Birds Owls Fox 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2011

And consider collecting stamps or other indoor hobbies. There are more features on the wings, e.g. regarding the exact shape of the pale primary tips and the contrasts between the outer & inner web and the tip of the largest tertial, but I guess the few features above demonstrate what American birders should get emotionally prepared for.

North America 145

North America Europe America Asia 145

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2018

He roots the theft in the history of collecting bird skins, in the brief life history of Edwin Rist, in the secretive world of classic fly tying, and in his own efforts to follow up on a police investigation that got the man but not all of the loot. That’s pretty much the reaction of anybody hearing this for the first time.

Collecting 103

Collecting Iraq Ostriches Science 103

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2020

Freshly collected and en route to some R&R. It toyed with my emotions for many minutes before it eventually flew off. A rehabber friend of mine sent me a photo of the bird asking for an ID. Lo and behold, it was a snipe. Within a half hour, I had the bird in my hand. I repeat: I had a snipe in the hand.

Trinidad 267

Trinidad Welfare North America Emotional 267

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2021

… – part 2 – Once I finish this writing, with a strange mix of emotions I will put the Lynx field guide Birds of Colombia to the bookshelf for the first time, more than half a year after I received it. Have you ever birded a place so young that birds still have no names ? Nor will there be, as our skipper has assured us. –

Dolphins 260

Dolphins Colombia Otters Birds 260

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

He has smartly expanded on his article, giving us more about Lendrum’s boyhood and history with conservationists in southern Africa; falcon hunting and racing in the Middle East; the life of Detective Andy McWilliam, the British wildlife officer who investigated Lendrum; and a brief history of oology, the obsessive hobby of egg collecting.

Falcons 208

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 208

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. But I digress. Granted, there are a lot of terminally-stupid dogs out there… but you know what I’m saying. has gained a solid foothold in the scientific community.

Emotional 204

Emotional Science Birds Mammals 204

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2020

In most every one of his books (or articles, like those that were collected in his last book, A Naturalist At Large ) he poses a question about the natural world — often a question, like the central one in White Feathers, that no one else has thought much about — and then solves it. I saw it because I looked up.”

Eggs 130

Eggs Emotional Bats 2014 130

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

The Achiever’s survey voyages took place from 2005 to 2008; the goal was to collect baseline data on sea mammals and marine birds. She is one of the best nature writers I’ve encountered in recent years, able to paint experiences with emotional immediacy.

Fox 100

Fox Albatross Geese Bald Eagle 100