10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

The river cruises up the Chobe River are most famous for the dry season aggregations of African Bush Elephants drawn to the year-round water. But even without huge herds of elephants large game is defiantly the major draw for most people on the cruise.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 16, 2014

The two star attractions for most tourists are Asian Elephants and Bornean Orangutans. I dipped on the elephants, but the river certainly delivered for orangutans. Wallace’s Hawk Eagle was a lifer. Kinabatangan is therefore a popular place, both for tourists in general and for birders specifically. A side tributary.

Rhinoceros 173

Rhinoceros Apes Elephants Monkeys 173

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2015

Grey-headed Fish Eagle Copyright © Nitin Bhardwaj. At the lakeshore, Asian Openbill Storks are foraging, while on a low branch of a large tree shadowing the water one massive and upright Grey-headed Fish Eagle stands. Crested Serpent Eagle Copyright © Nitin Bhardwaj. One Chital is curiously watching us.

Tigers 254

Tigers Boars India Chickens 254

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2018

In the first full day, we have seen dozens each of giraffes, zebra, warthogs, elephants, 12 rhinos, 30 hippos, 3 Cape Buffalo, crocodiles, jackals, monkeys, baboons, literally a thousand impala, and at least 10 different antelope type animals. The African Fish Eagle was a great first day bird.

South Africa 121

South Africa Africa Rhinos Mongoose 121

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

But, the anticipation of everyone else in the group was contagious, and when California birder Lori Conrad looked out the window of the plane as we started our descent and screamed, “Elephants! There are elephants down there!” Verreaux’s Eagle-Owls are amongst the heaviest and longest owls in the world.

South Africa 255

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 255

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2015

These vast and rugged lands of savanna, hills, gorges and rivers still protect some of Ethiopia’s largest extant herds of typical African savanna game, including African Elephant, African Buffalo, Giraffe, Lion, Leopard, African Wild Dog and numerous species of grazers. Yellow-billed Stork.

Ethiopia 251

Ethiopia Sudan Leopards Birds 251

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2015

Crested Guineafowl, ( Guttera pucherani ); Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa, 7 January. Crested Francolin ( Dendroperdix sephaena ); Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa, 7 January. Wooly-necked Stork ( Ciconia episcopus ); Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa, 7 January. ACCIPITRIDAE (HAWKS, EAGLES AND ALLIES).

2015 189

2015 South Africa Botswana Singapore 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

The area is known for more than 600 bird species, of which 472 were eBirded by now: Cinereous Vulture , Pallas’s and Lesser Fish Eagles , Ibisbill , Wallcreeper , etc. Other wildlife includes Asian Elephant , Tiger , Leopard. Birdwise, it is recommendable year-round, although winters are quite cold. The best season is March to August.

Asia 278

Asia Malaysia Papua New Guinea Thailand 278

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2022

Presumably, the Natal Spurfowl thinks the Kruger Park is good habitat, with all the big animals around – the HBW remarks (with a slight hint of disapproval) that the species forages on rhinoceros and elephant dung. A Barn Owl slept peacefully on the inside of the roof of a well-visited tourist cafe.

Birds 147

Birds Africa Eagles Barn Owls 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Typical species include busy Secretarybirds that patrol the grasslands, families of Common Ostrich , White-bellied Bustards , Yellow-throated Sandgrouse , vultures, snake-eagles and numerous seedeaters, including lovely Purple Grenadiers and Green-winged Pytlias , to mention just a few. And of course the big game is an added bonus.

Tanzania 234

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

In 1856 Wahlberg was killed by an Elephant near Lake Ngami in Botswana without ever publishing an account of his travels, but fellow Swede Carl Sundevall catalogued his collection at the Stockholm Museum and described the birds Wahlberg collected. Sundevall named Wahlberg’s Eagle and Wahlberg’s Honeyguide in his memory.

Mozambique 200

Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 200

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2022

The one bird I did not see here, however, was the Bateleur Eagle … One highlight in the area is the Saddle-billed Stork , likely to be the tallest species in the stork family. The Natal Spurfowl forages on rhinoceros and elephant dung (HBW) and does so without complaining. Think about it when you feel hard done by life.

Ostriches 147

Ostriches Parrots Birds Eggs 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

We saw a number of these distinctive raptors, along with Crested Serpent Eagles and Oriental or Crested Honey Buzzards. If you can parse the subtle differences in his photo below, you’ll see the bird on the left is a dark morph Oriental Honey Buzzard, but the bird on the right is a pale morph Changeable Hawk-Eagle.

Malaysia 186

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Birds 186

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2012

It is also home to the largest concentration of African Elephants on the planet and over 450 bird species. Specials include birds like African Pygmy Geese, Racket-tailed Roller and Western Banded Snake-eagle. The diversity of birds here is so staggering that 300 species of birds have been recorded here in a single day.

Botswana 221

Botswana Zebras Lions Elephants 221

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2022

Due to some misallocation of bird species, I saw the Bateleur Eagle near Malelane, not near Bateleur Camp, where a more professional marketing team would have located the bird. Wahlberg’s Eagle is named after the Swedish naturalist Johan August Wahlberg who first started studying chemistry (!) but later switched to forestry (?).

Swaziland 147

Swaziland Landlord Birds Sweden 147

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

It’s the only park I have ever been to that not only have I seen all five of the Big Five (Lion, Leopard, African Buffalo, White Rhino and African Elephant) in, but seen them all on the same day. Madikwe has perhaps too many elephants. Black-backed Jackals are awesome and smaller than you’d think. But they are very cute!

South Africa 166

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

And we did , for the Peregrine Falcon and Osprey , the Brown Pelican and Bald Eagle. Everything was going to be extinct – the condors, the whales, the Whooping Cranes , the elephants and tigers, the whole shebang, and that was even if we didn’t get nuked. We could do it! Then the 80s happened. Good times, I tell you what.

California Condor 211

California Condor United States Guam Whales 211

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2022

Logging roads have opened up vast areas to commercial hunting, leading to industrial-scale poaching and a more than 60 per cent drop in the region’s Forest Elephant population in less than a decade. Mammals include Western Lowland Gorilla, Forest Elephant and Forest Buffalo, and eleven diurnal primates.

Central African Republic 307

Central African Republic Congo Gabon Gorillas 307

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

It looks as though “New World” vultures are sister to hawks and eagles after all, not anything stranger or more exotic (and certainly not storks). .’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. Ratites, Tinamous, and Fowl. Remaining Afroaves.

Family 279

Family Birds Parrots 2014 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2018

Elephant Butte Dam area, New Mexico. Black Eagle – Ictinaetus malaiensis. Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle – Nisaetus alboniger. Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle – Hieraaetus ayresii. Martial Eagle – Polemaetus bellicosus. 12 Oct 2018. 09 Oct 2018.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2019

Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Brown Snake-Eagle – Circaetus cinereus. Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle – Nisaetus alboniger. Martial Eagle – Polemaetus bellicosus. Black Hawk-Eagle – Spizaetus tyrannus. Ornate Hawk-Eagle – Spizaetus ornatus. Kruger NP Central Park.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2018

Crested Serpent-Eagle – Spilornis cheela. Brown Snake-Eagle – Circaetus cinereus. Blyth’s Hawk-Eagle – Nisaetus alboniger. Martial Eagle – Polemaetus bellicosus. Black Hawk-Eagle – Spizaetus tyrannus. Ornate Hawk-Eagle – Spizaetus ornatus. Kruger NP Central Park.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2019

For example, the White-tailed Eagle. The birds in flight may be coloured like the White-tailed Eagles, but they do not have the shape nor jizz of this species (too bulging secondaries and too narrow primaries – if I’d see that bird in the wild, I’d say I do not know what it is, but do know what it isn’t, it’s not the White-tailed Eagle).

Thailand 204

Thailand Zambia Birds Asia 204

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2014

But I did pick up some astonishing species, including five broadbills, three pittas, six hornbills, the Storm’s Stork , White-fronted Falconet , Pygmy Ibon , Mountain Black-eye , Mountain Serpent Eagle and Bat Hawk. Highlights for me were the endemic Mountain Serpent Eagle , Bornean Leafbird , Mountain Barbet and Long-tailed Broadbill.

Birds 194

Birds Bats Elephants Family 194

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

Yala National Park is brimming with wildlife and there are good chances of seeing Leopard , Sloth Bear and Asian Elephant , while it is also excellent for dry-zone birds, while the nearby Bundala coastal marshes and Palatupana ponds are good spots for shorebirds.

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Eagles 147