10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2018

I think most of you know how important our National Wildlife Refuge system is to me. After all, I have written several posts on wildlife conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Pass that my co-founder Ingrid Taylar and I have been encouraging for years. I will close with a video from Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife 101

Wildlife Sacramento Bald Eagle Falcons 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2021

Once I observed a man walking his two small dogs here, passing by a perched White-tailed Eagle but looking down at grass and not noticing the largest raptor in Europe at all. The eagle seemed well-used to people and paid no attention either. Reva had the semi-natural feeling of a forgotten green oasis at the outskirts of a busy city.

Otters 264

Otters Protest Protesting Protesters 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2017

Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Nearly 800 acres of wetlands and tidal flats provide diverse habitat for the local birds, as well as large numbers of migratory species, including thousands of ducks and geese. The last weekend of January found me in the frosty Pacific Northwest, meeting some long over due work and family obligations.

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Wildlife Seattle Bald Eagle Geese 107

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

When I reached the levee earlier that morning, I met an elderly hunter from whom I learned that there was an ongoing duck and pheasant hunt, but no one was shooting from, nor towards the embankment, hence I should be safe there. Photographed within Beljarica: five White-tailed Eagles by Snezana Panjkovic.

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Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 13, 2014

Herons and raptors and rails and gulls and ducks and cranes and jays and owls and alligators are all awaiting me – and you – at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Blue-winged Teal like these at Meritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in 2012 certainly count as good birds. You are going, right?

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Wildlife Tampa Alligators 2012 177

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

The route Corey and I took in advance of the 2019 African Birding Expo may not be the only optimal way to go, but this approach yielded an absolute bounty of wildlife excitement in just 48 action-packed hours. Beaudouin’s Snake-Eagle … wow!! What makes this destination so magnificent?

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Uganda Senegal Africa Game 201

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2012

Around thirty miles from Missoula in the Bitterroot Valley lies the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. Even the ride over was productive, with Eurasian Collared-Dove , plenty of Black-billed Magpie , Hooded Merganser , and my first-of-the-year Wood Ducks spotted along the road.

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Wildlife Montana Geese Bald Eagle 171

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2024

My pre-breakfast list was wildfowl dominated, the 10 species I saw ranging from Black-necked Swans to the endemic Falkland Islands Flightless Steamer Duck. The latter are great bruisers of ducks, built like a small battle ship. With bulk like that, it’s no wonder that they gave up flying long ago.

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Birds Albatross Barn Owls Sparrows 226

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2021

I am a wildlife artist based in the UK, I have never had a real job! Other than paint, the only other thing I do is organize and joint-lead wildlife tours, mostly in Africa and India. It teems with wildlife of every kind and is justifiably known as “The Jewel of the Kalahari”. My name is Ashley Boon.

Botswana 185

Botswana Africa Elephants Angola 185

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2011

Feeding birds is generally regarded as a harmless past-time, a wholesome way for people to share nature and enjoy wildlife with the family. Sometimes people find themselves the victims of ill-informed home owners associations that have a phobic view of wildlife. How do you know when you are a little too involved with feeding birds?

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Bald Eagle Birds Deer Minnesota 253

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

The 17th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival will take place from the twenty-second of January until the twenty-seventh of January in 2014. Oh, and Mottled Ducks ! Who can resist the Mottled Duck ? … 10,000 Birds is a Scrub-Jay level sponsor of the 17th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival.

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2014 Bald Eagle Florida Wildlife 156

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2014

I also couldn’t help but notice that the drone passed by at least one eagle nest (the operator probably had no clue it was there) and wondered how much an eagle would tolerate from a small unmanned aircraft. And we would know what to watch for if the eagle didn’t like it and would back the drone off.

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Bald Eagle Mississippi Eagles Ducks 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2013

Wildlife rehabilitators are not known for our bling. People who work with wildlife wearing nice clothes? People who work with wildlife wearing nice clothes? Earrings are toast with my Wood Duck and Wild Turkeys. Wildlife rehab can be so metaphorical. As for nice clothing … right! Oh my, where do I start?”

Bald Eagle 233

Bald Eagle Wildlife Rehabilitation Vet Birds 233

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

Most are still endangered, but some are not, including one of the great conservation success stories, the Bald Eagle. Fish and Wildlife Service’s ECOS (Environmental Conservation Online System), an online gateway to mountains of information about endangered species. Laysan Duck – Anas laysanensis. The links are to the U.S.

California Condor 103

California Condor Endangered Species Bald Eagle Parrots 103

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2022

It was a cold afternoon in Maine, and I was looking at the Steller’s Sea-Eagle perched on a tall coniferous tree across Boothbay Harbor, having arrived at the harbor area seven minutes earlier (I know! ” Steller’s Sea-Eagle, Boothbay Harbor, January 24, 2022 Copyright © 2022 Donna L. It has wings. It can fly.”

Birds 263

Birds Compassion Eagles Science 263

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

And yet, as an accipiter, the Northern Goshawk is not a waterfowl specialist – it will take a tree-nesting duck if it finds one, but dines mainly on various grouse, crows, hares, and the like. No one calls you a doofus when you have a Golden Eagle at the ready to eat their face. Birds Goshawk names Northern Goshawk'

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Falcons Eagles Meat Geese 260

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2020

A Wedge-tailed Eagle soared overhead alongside Black Kites and Whistling kites. There were no ducks, herons or ibis and only one Great Egret in the length of the gorge that you can walk. We spent several hours at Windjana Gorge and there was a great variety in wildlife as always. A couple of crocodiles. Leaden Flycatcher.

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2020 Australia Cattle Groups 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2019

The park is managed for the benefit of the wildlife and made accessible for visitors with a footpath along the lakeshore and out onto spits that allow a closer approach to the heronry. There are a lot of predators drawn to such abundance with Eurasian Marsh Harriers and Greater Spotted Eagles known to take chicks from the heronry.

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2003 India Breeders Eggs 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2020

White-faced Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna viduata. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna autumnalis. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge–East Pond. Muscovy Duck – Cairina moschata. Wood Duck – Aix sponsa. Mandarin Duck – Aix galericulata. San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary.

2019 179

2019 Chile Texas Sanctuary 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

If it is an emergency and since I get calls and texts from all over the country (even a few out of the country), I direct people to Rehabber Search or Wildlife Rehabber. Use the wildlife rahbber links at the top of this page to find a licensed pro near you. Young raptors like the above Bald Eagle chick are a different matter.

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Birds Fox Raised Ducks 266

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

This refuge came up as #4 on a recent list of the top 25 National Wildlife Refuges that were featured in a great story here by 10000 Birds own Jason Crotty. While most major estuaries in Washington state have been filled, dredged, or developed, Nisqually River’s has been set aside for wildlife.

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Fox Washington Geese Sparrows 134

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2014

En route, the teenagers were chatting away when suddenly I screamed “Eagles!”, Bald Eagles ,” I said encouragingly/defensively/lamely. The mission of wildlife rehabilitators is to return injured birds to the sky, or the sea, or wherever it is they came from. Soon the girls emerged. How could you not?

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Puffins Eggs Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle 274

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

For me, there was the Limpkin in Loxahatchee NWR in Florida, the Atlantic Puffin at Petit Manan NWR in Maine, the Falcated Duck at Colusa NWR in California. For example, I’ve seen Bald Eagles in 15 states. And I will continue my quest to see all of my Top 25 National Wildlife Refuges for Birding too. GPS-tracked miles.

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Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 153

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2013

So if you come to Spring Wings, and you’d be well served if you do, get ready to see lots and lots of shorebirds and ducks and waders. The place was lousy with Swainson’s Hawks , and we may even have spotted a distant Golden Eagle. Yellow-headed Blackbirds singing in the reeds allowed us to get an arm’s length away.

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Nevada Birds Barn Owls Cows 182

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge–East Pond. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Ash Creek Wildlife Area (LAS Co.). Ash Creek Wildlife Area (LAS Co.). Ash Creek Wildlife Area (LAS Co.). Ash Creek Wildlife Area (LAS Co.). Ash Creek Wildlife Area (LAS Co.). 26 Oct 2019.

2019 120

2019 China Battery Jamaica 120

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2016

On Sunday, 5 June, word of Jay McGowan finding a Gargeney at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in western New York State hit the listservs. We saw Sandhill Cranes , Northern Shovelers , and Bald Eagles. The little tiny duck with the white supercilium was ours! But I included a Wood Duck for scale! Time went past.

New York 100

New York Bald Eagle New York City Kazakhstan 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

It was therefore an absolute thrill when I heard the news that biologists from The Peregrine Fund, whilst surveying for endangered Madagascar Harriers in November 2006, had discovered a small population of these diving ducks at a very remote crater lake 330km north of Lake Aloatra!

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Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2012

This Snail Kite, photographed from my treacherous 1999 Honda Accord, was right outside Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, FL. What’s better than finding a Tufted Duck? This area was packed with birds, with more Golden Eagles than I’ve seen anywhere else at sea level. Townsend’s Warbler in a busy city park.

San Francisco 221

San Francisco Birds North Dakota Oakland 221

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2018

By the time you see this in the United States, I will have had a full week to explore this amazing area, and the wildlife that calls this home. I have managed to find two owls, the first was this pair of Verreaux’s Eagle-owls. The schedule is a bit daunting, as we are up before 5 AM to get to the gate for the 6AM opening.

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Lions Buffalo United States Zebras 122

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2014

Saturday morning, 30 August 2014, was a perfect time for shorebirding at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond. When I finally took myself away from the dowitchers I scanned north and spotted a young Bald Eagle feeding on a duck. Then the eagle took off from where it was hiding and all the shorebirds near me skedaddled.

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Jamaica Bald Eagle Eagles South America 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2019

Long-tailed Duck – Clangula hyemalis. Wood Duck – Aix sponsa. Indian Spot-billed Duck – Anas poecilorhyncha. Bonelli’s Eagle – Aquila fasciata. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. American Black Duck – Anas rubripes. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. 01 Jun 2019. 01 Jun 2019.

2019 122

2019 Jamaica Eggs Woodpeckers 122

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

Late summer 2023 the lakes and ponds had been empty, presumably because the ducks and geese were moulting. Empty no more, the ponds were now brimming with ducks of all creeds and persuasions – it was spectacular. If there were such a thing as a Periodic Table of Ducks we went from hydrogen to uranium: every duck imaginable was there.

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Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2014

Quentin won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition (junior section) with the first-ever photograph of a nesting Chest-nutheaded Thrush. So, we start with Megapodes (scrubfowl), Pheasants, and Partridges, then on to Ducks.

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Brunei Birds Asia China 179

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2018

I haven’t even been to all of the best national wildlife refuges for birding. For example, not much can beat the experience of seeing a Bald Eagle scare up thousands of Snow Geese at Sacramento NWR. I particularly enjoy birding national wildlife refuges, so I try to include at least one on each trip.

San Francisco 100

San Francisco Portland United States Puerto Rico 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2020

The proprietor of our ecolodge guides my small group of birders up a steep slope where we see, just at the point where a scope view deteriorates into pixels, a huge bird—a Chaco Eagle, also known as a Crowned Eagle—on a huge nest. We are cautioned to keep the location of the eagle a secret.

Falcons 224

Falcons United Kingdom Zimbabwe Eggs 224

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2011

In fact, the very first person to guess, Nick , managed to get the third quiz picture correct by calling it a Bald Eagle. Of course, that was the easiest of the three because though the bird in the image is captive, a bird that was injured and can’t be returned to the wild, Bald Eagles do occur regularly and naturally in Queens.

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Bald Eagle Zoos 2011 Parrots 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

I always undertake a number of short timed surveys for the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Big Farmland Bird Count in February, and though the counts didn’t add anything to the year list, they were memorable for finding big flocks of finches and buntings, while a daylight-hunting Barn Owl was a pleasing sight.

Estonia 236

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 236