10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2012

If we get close enough we might see a pink maw and slivers of white teeth, ready to take a prairie dog by the throat and choke the life out but also rather perversely adorable. Ferret 492 — a black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes — raises her head from a black-tailed prairie dog’s burrow, sniffs the April night.

Ferrets 167

Ferrets Prairie Dogs Coyotes Kittens 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Current well-intentioned environmental pressures to emphasize harvesting large dead or dying trees, if realized, would have further adverse effects on such ecologically and esthetically important species as woodpeckers, swallows, wrens, nuthatches, and owls – to name a few 1.” Talk about cute! www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWDXIhy9oJA

North America 207

North America America Barn Owls Falcons 207

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2013

Ground squirrels, to those who are not used to them, are more curious beasts, caught in a taxonomic middle ground between the larger marmots and prairie dogs and their smaller chipmunk cousins. The chipmunks, well, they all are fairly chipmunk-esque: small, stripey, and shrill. I suppose they do have a lot to be alarmed about.

Chipmunks 178

Chipmunks Squirrels Rodents Montana 178

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

I was high and happy, not from “420” drugs but from the altitude and the anticipation of seeing woodpeckers and owls I had never seen before. Late summer 2023 the lakes and ponds had been empty, presumably because the ducks and geese were moulting. What is 100% true is the flight number I took into Denver: 420.

Denver 158

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 158

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2019

Plumed Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna eytoni. White-faced Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna viduata. Black-bellied Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna autumnalis. West Indian Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna arborea. West Indian Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna arborea. Wood Duck – Aix sponsa.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113