10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2023

Late April / early May is the best birding season in the south of Europe and wherever you go, you will have 50% to 100% more species than in any other season. Recently, I did a bit of embankment birding and, while checking floating logs for ducks, I counted European pond turtles (strange things birders do?)

India 200

India Birds Africa Serbia 200

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2019

Murchison Falls NP earns all sorts of superlative accolades: most powerful waterfall in the world, top 5 game park in Africa, and some of the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets you’ve ever seen. What makes this destination so magnificent? Plus, the food, service, and accommodations meet the highest standards. Mind boggling, I answer!

Uganda 213

Uganda Senegal Africa Game 213

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

For once, eBird gives a good description of the Asian Glossy Starling, calling it a “Fierce-looking, large songbird” As are humans, this species is fairly urbanized – it “sometimes enters urban areas to roost, e.g. in Singapore” (HBW). Lucky ducks. “Odd, me?”

Singapore 245

Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2021

Geographic patterns of species richness for birds (1,558 species) in East Africa at 0.25° resolution (blue indicates low species richness, while brown indicates high species richness). At the time of writing, Uganda has 16 hotspots with 400+ so far eBirded species, of which one has almost 600 species.

Africa 225

Africa Kenya Uganda Tanzania 225

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Without adequate funding, habitats are not restored, invasive species are left unchecked, poaching and other illegal activities occur and our nation’s wildlife suffers 1. ” Elizabeth Jackson of the Duck Stamp Program is not optimistic about birders or non-hunters embracing the Duck Stamp as hunters have.

Wildlife 220

Wildlife Hunters Ducks Hunting 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2016

We’ve worked to change the dialogue around the Duck Stamp in public discussions and meetings, and we’ve reached out to Refuge officials and conservation officers to argue for the viability of this concept. Since we first launched the Wildlife Conservation Stamp Project, we’ve made our case to thousands of birders and photographers.

Wildlife 189

Wildlife San Francisco Legislation Ducks 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2018

In the winter this place is alive with thousand of ducks and geese. Today, I saw a handful of Mallards , two Common Mergansers, and a Wood Duck Family. Here is one of our pick-a-boo games. For those of you following along on my “ Little Big Year” the numbers are as follows: Little Big Year species – 814.

New Zealand 122

New Zealand Seattle Qatar South Africa 122

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

The Common Pochard is listed as Vulnerable – not because it is particularly rare, but because of the rapid decline in its numbers (a decline of 50% within 10 years means a species is listed as Vulnerable – and a 50% loss in 10 years sounds quite dramatic and frightening indeed). And it does not even live in reeds.

Raccoons 240

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 240

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2020

A Field Guide to the Birds: Giving Field Marks of All Species Found in Eastern North America was published in 1934 by Houghton Mifflin (note–Peterson was 26 years old), after being rejected by four publishers. Adding the 76 new species in the Hawaii section, this makes coverage of approximately 884 species.

North America 235

North America America Hawaii Birds 235

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

Yes, winter has done it again : here in Heidelberg, we are subjected to the painful games of Mr. Grey, trapped under his cloudy sheets and denied the warmth of the sun or the privilege of seeing colours on birds. Now, some species don’t require the sun as they always look the same. Like Tufted Ducks, or coots.

Germany 180

Germany Feral Ducks Game 180

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

Conservationists at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have been using remote controlled drones to watch the nests of endangered breeds and monitor the progress of reintroduced species. Even drone retailers and manufacturers are getting in on the game.

Birds 193

Birds Protection Idaho Bears 193

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. It’s the place to learn your African waterbirds, particularly ducks.

Penguins 173

Penguins Birds Mongoose Ostriches 173

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

we learn) that are home to coveted boreal species, breeding wood-warblers, and two species of Grouse. There are 461 species on the Maine checklist. This field guide covers 265 species, the ones most likely to be seen–residential and migratory, almost all nesting birds, many wintering birds.

Los Angeles 222

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

It’s among a handful of species — American Robin, Black-capped Chickadee , the unholy trinity of House Sparrow – Rock Pigeon – European Starling , a few others — that have been everywhere I’ve ever lived. We never would have gotten all those extra species of Red Crossbill that way.

Connecticut 192

Connecticut Baltimore North America New York City 192

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2016

There are a few, mostly confined to domestic or game birds that people may be familiar with at all stages of their lives – young pigeons are squabs, ducks are duckings, swans are cygnets, geese are gosling. English has not been similarly encumbered with frivolous names for young birds of specific types.

New Zealand 108

New Zealand Parrots Rats Bats 108

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2012

Ever since I learned that the Muscovy Duck I discovered in a Central Park pond was not countable by ABA standards, I’ve grappled with the question of “What is Wild?” The rules of the game, and what you can and cannot count, are the domain of the ABA. ” Most listers sail the same stormy seas. That is crazy to me.

California Condor 151

California Condor Rescue Game California 151

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2019

The same can’t really be said of a confusing Orange Bishop or gaudy Mandarin Duck loose in a city park. Audubon knew the Northern Bobwhite as the “Virginia Partridge” The species has undergone a notable decline in recent decades. What’s in a name?

North America 113

North America Vermont America Farming 113

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2014

For all that, though, migration here is still largely a water-based show, with the most spectacular signs of springs coming in the forms of ducks, geese, and swans. Snow Geese overgrazing their breeding grounds, displacing other Arctic-breeding species and setting themselves up for a fall. The result?

Geese 188

Geese Montana Breeding Pelicans 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Way, way back, during our inuagural game of Gone Birding , my friend Molly developed a theory of birds. There were, in her book, three kinds: Owls, Pigeons, and Ducks. water birds (ducks!) And apparently, non-birders are more apt to divide birds into general kinds than species lists. And that frustration was epic.

Montana 164

Montana Bald Eagle Owls Ducks 164

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2012

This blind in particular is usually good for ducks, geese, waders and shorebirds. As the sun rose somewhere behind those thick clouds, it began to get a bit lighter on the water and I got some pretty good shots of what I think is one of the most handsome of dabbling ducks, the Northern Pintail ( Anas acuta ). Just look at this drake.

Sacramento 106

Sacramento Wildlife North America Ducks 106

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2019

The tendency of birds to alight onto the wooden posts, steel towers, and metal wires that constitute our power and communications infrastructure turns any car ride into exciting and endless game of drive-by identification. And we move on to the next speck looming ahead and the game repeats itself, over and over.

United States 120

United States Game North America New York City 120

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2011

There was a lot of hunting for Bald Eagles—it is traditionally a game species. Yes, they have been an endangered species for as long as most of us can recall, but remember, they were traditionally a hunted species. The Bald Eagle has the potential to be the Holy Grail of game birds.

Bald Eagle 263

Bald Eagle Eagles Hunting Kentucky 263

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2015

In winter a few ducks are likely. Low tide reveals a small beach which may attract Marbled Godwit who were playing sanderling games in the gently advancing water during this most recent visit. Black Phoebes hawk for flies from the ruins and Western Gulls, California Gulls and Heerman’s Gulls can often be seen in the pool.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Seals Transported Ducks 133

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2011

By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, South Africa, yard by call alone. Very few kids just take to birding like ducks to water (terrible pun I know!). GAMES AND APPS. What kid does not love games? My 8-year old daughter got interested in birds from a VERY early stage.

Birds 279

Birds Game Wildlife Family 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2016

Late April / early May is the best birding season in the south of Europe and wherever you go, you will have 50% to 100% more species than in any other season. Recently, I did a bit of embankment birding, nailing 65 species (several of them firsts for the season, European Bee-eaters among them – always exciting).

Birds 121

Birds India Africa Serbia 121

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2012

He told me where he’d found them, and we hung up and I went back to my card game. In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen over 20 new species. The next day, I was looking at a pair of the same handsome ducks in Arctic Bay, last night there were four in my patch. Things happen quickly up here. And now mergansers.

Bald Eagle 176

Bald Eagle Breeding Raised Whales 176

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. We visited in the rainy season, to the point where our first attempt to head out was ended by a particularly monsoon-like downpour. In particular, there are lots of waterbirds.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Finally, the Similan Islands are perhaps one of the most beautiful islands in the world and form a stunning backdrop to this species, one of the loveliest pigeons in the world. I had enough time to warn my husband that it was headed our way and we ducked. The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY.

2014 205

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 205

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2011

It is expected that most birders will keep a life list, a glorious tally of every species which has crossed one’s path over the years around the globe. Yes, fellow birders, I keep a detailed list of all the species I have seen whilst I have been on the throne, peeing behind trees, or making like the proverbial bear in the woods.

Chile 212

Chile Australia Monkeys 2008 212

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2024

Nor have I chased particular birds, either: almost all the birds I have seen have been encountered during a normal day’s birding, not a targeted twitch for a particular species. A lone Whooper Swan on a grey January day in Norfolk As for the ducks – I’m now up to 15 species.

Spain 130

Spain Eagles North America Ducks 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

My British total was a mere 172 species – not bad, but not very good. Every one of my 171 species was a bird that I found myself. It keeps a monthly record of sightings, so I can tell you that it was in February that I recorded my highest monthly species total (106), while my lowest total was in August (39).

Estonia 242

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 242

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 22, 2013

A large portion of North American birders are relatively new to the game, with less than ten years under their belts. For example, in California, populations of birds like Aleutian Cackling Goose have dramatically increased…but where did our Fulvous Whistling-Ducks go? Hello my birding sons and daughters.

San Diego 178

San Diego California Condor California Bald Eagle 178

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

WinGS volunteers visit gull roost sites, counting six key species: Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull. One count I undertake every year is the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Big Farmland Bird Count.

Ireland 238

Ireland Turtles Geese Farming 238

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Blue Ducks have been reintroduced to the streams of the mountain, and there are plenty of trails to walk along. The sanctuary has a population of Little Spotted Kiwi, as well as a range of other rare species such as Takahe , Stichbirds , New Zealand Falcons , Brown Teal and Red-crowned Parakeets.

New Zealand 157

New Zealand Penguins Sanctuary Birds 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species. Initiating a hunting season on a large, charismatic species like a crane is no way to resuscitate hunting.

2011 259

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2023

It seems he had looked long and wide for this species. They have come over the years seeking specific species. For the most part, I have been able to show them the species they sought. For the most part, I have been able to show them the species they sought. Happily, I was able to show him three individuals that day.

Mexico 233

Mexico Cuba Species 2014 233

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2012

What this land-locked country lacks in endemic birds it more than makes up for in accessibility of tough species, numbers of birds and the overall wildlife experience. Okavango sunset Almost 40% of all land in Botswana is under conservation either as wilderness areas, game reserves or national parks.

Botswana 224

Botswana Zebras Lions Elephants 224