10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

In 2008, with my family decided to build the Limneo Lodge , a small accommodation with only 9 rooms. With more than 312 so far recorded bird species, Lake Kerkini National Park offers great birding year-round. Other important breeding species include Black and White Stork , Lesser Spotted , White-tailed , and Booted Eagle.

Greece 264

Greece Wildlife Boars Otters 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

Recently, while guiding on the slopes of Poas, without too much effort, we had more than a hundred species. Such a birdy day and yet, one that still lacked quite a few species. Poas itself seems to be pretty straightforward but I wondered how far down both sides of the mountain should be included in my species list. Two hundred?

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica Species San Jose Birds 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2023

Since I have limited experience with eastern Mexico, and even less experience with tropical species, I enthusiastically accepted. By week’s end I had 30 new species on my life list. And the final species, seen in the neighborhood in which I was housed, gave me my 500th species in Mexico. Good choice!

Mexico 130

Mexico Tigers Birds Cows 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2021

That’s because this fascinating part-Caribbean, part-south American country holds well over 800 species of avifauna making it without doubt one of my top three countries in all of the continent to visit. Ok, maybe not the vampire bat…but some of the more “cuddly” species are actually quite easy to see.

Guyana 278

Guyana Otters South America Colombia 278

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2021

Where a birder goes in the Caribbean determines which birds are seen including toy-like todies, Carib hummingbirds, cool pigeons, quail-doves, unique avian families and outrageous woodpeckers. One such special place is the Centro Manu, a small family run reserve that features several star bird species of Costa Rica’s Caribbean lowlands.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Puerto Rico Birds Owls 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

Ecuador is one of the world’s leading destinations for birdwatchers, and no wonder: with more then 1,600 bird species found throughout the small country, Ecuador has the world’s highest density of bird species found per acre. In fact, 1,600 different bird species accounts for almost 20% of the species known to exist in the world.

Ecuador 259

Ecuador Birds 2019 Cattle 259

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 14, 2024

Guyana had been suffering from an extensive period of drought when we visited, this lack of water ultimately was the primary reason which prevented us from searching for the Harpy Eagle. Another cotinga that is arguably the most popular member of that family – for its voice more so than its looks – is the Screaming Piha.

Guyana 220

Guyana Woodpeckers Industry Shelters 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2021

The eggs hatched out around 20th June after 28 days of incubation and the Pied Oystercatcher family were soon on the move. This moves the family closer to a reef that gets exposed on low tides and better feeding opportunities. Usually the first thing we look for when we visit Pied Oystercatcher families is look for footprints.

Breeding 251

Breeding Eggs Feral Cats Feral 251

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

Shorebirds – or “shorbs” for the cuteness factor (as if that needed any enhancement) – remain one of the most fascinating families of birds for me. Obliging species like Grey-headed Kingfisher , Long-crested Eagle , and even a pair of Greater Blue-eared Starlings ensured we didn’t get anywhere quickly.

Buffalo 264

Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

August is possibly the best month there, because you gradually observe the rise and fall of numbers of various migrating species, which use it as a stopover site to fatten up ahead of the long hauls further south. Before I start, my readers are already asking themselves why are they familiar with the name of this locality? Photo: VICE.

Serbia 272

Serbia Birds Boars Otters 272

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2021

I was asked by a new birder about the site’s potential and I remarked we should expect between 40 to 50 species for our circa two kilometre stroll. Red backed and Variegated Fairy Wrens reeled as they hopped through the undergrowth while a family of Grey Shrike Thrushes took to feeding. I was wrong. A male Figbird upon his nest.

Koalas 226

Koalas Birds Zoos Hunters 226

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

It was also great to finally travel overseas again, meet a lot of people I did not know (and some I did), to be in a new country… and not just the new country, but its best birding area, where almost all local hotspots are yellow (150+ species) and several are ochre (200+ sp.), impressive for Central Europe.

Austria 297

Austria Factory Asia Battery 297

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2022

The area is used as a hunting ground for large raptors including the White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Brahminy Kite. As the tide drops the birds all move forward to bathe and feed and the Pied Oystercatcher family becomes more visible. Pied Oystercatcher family with two chicks. Pied Oystercatchers on the move.

Breeding 147

Breeding Family Hunting Eagles 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2018

Through multi-partnerships, cooperation, federal funding, and the private conservation efforts of one family, 616 acres were officially added to the Cherokee National Forest in September 2018. In the area live 15 species from Tennessee’s threatened and endangered list, as well as 11 aquatic species from the federally endangered list.

Georgia 206

Georgia Bald Eagle Tennessee 2018 206

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2019

Collared Scops Owl – A Cat Head Eagle. For some of the more common or exciting birds, I know the Chinese names as well, such as Maotouying for owl (literally “cat head eagle”, which I think is both cute and accurate) or Xianbasedong for Fairy Pitta (“eight color fairy thrush”). Well, no more!

China 191

China Eagles Cats Owls 191

Critter News

MARCH 21, 2009

I come from a Portuguese family and I have no problem dumping on the Portuguese. Portuguese environmental groups - including SOS Lynx, A Nossa Terra and Almargem - have denounced the deliberate shooting of the country's only nesting male Iberian Imperial Eagle. Tags: Stupid eagle portugal fox hunting. This makes me angry.

Portugal 100

Portugal Eagles Spain Killing 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2020

Over the years birding Willow Lake I had added nearly eighty eBird checklists at the preserve and netted myself 127 species, good for number two on the eBird hotspot list. Since the pandemic I’ve added one new species to my personal list for Willow Lake Preserve, a Field Sparrow.

Bald Eagle 186

Bald Eagle New York City Birds New York 186

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

But this book taught me about eagles, owls, storks and herons. Not all the birds, of course, but many of the distinctive and conspicuous species. Very soon, the other members of this unique family were on my radar. T&T has five recorded species of woodcreeper, all resident. Straight-billed Woodcreeper.

Trinidad 181

Trinidad Laws Family Hunting 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 14, 2023

An Englishwoman, she thought, originally, that she would stay within the British Isles, to see the five or six native species. As she notes, Eastern Europe contains significant pockets of agriculturally undeveloped land, and thus has a far greater diversity of species “from invertebrates to large carnivores” than in Northern Europe.

Barn Owls 113

Barn Owls Owls Serbia Finland 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2016

One of the most impressive birds in North America is the Golden Eagle. In fact, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology , “The Golden Eagle is the most common official national animal in the world – it’s the emblem of Albania, Germany, Austria, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.” ” The bird is massive.

Albania 101

Albania Mexico Eagles Kazakhstan 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2018

White-tailed Eagles normally take flight silently, yet, while checking some Common Starlings and hoping for Rosy Starlings , I heard a few noisy wing-beats, enough to turn and see a young eagle flying with a wing tag. To prove more how young and inexperienced it was, the eagle even landed on the ground a mere 15 metres behind my car.

2016 172

2016 Eagles Birds Otters 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

Pough “with illustrations in color of every species” by Don Eckelberry, Doubleday, 1946. The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. The press material says it covers over 800 species, so you know I had to do a count.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2019

In addition to spotting exciting new species in Florida, including the rare Snail Kite, travel across the country brought me into contact with birds in Oregon, California, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Alabama, and more. With my new job, I feel privileged to work towards protecting vulnerable species each and very day.

Bald Eagle 148

Bald Eagle Alabama Kansas Florida 148

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2020

Conservation status is Least Concern: “This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion” Or to put it more personally, I saw it in Shanghai yesterday. A resident in India but also included in the list of the world`s 100 worst invasive alien species.

Birds 165

Birds India Zoos 2019 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2015

Since we’ve covered some generalities already, once a month I’ll be exploring how a species, genus, or family of birds got its name, and how those names fit in with our larger understanding of, and relationship with, birds. No one calls you a doofus when you have a Golden Eagle at the ready to eat their face.

Falcons 260

Falcons Eagles Meat Geese 260

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2022

we learn) that are home to coveted boreal species, breeding wood-warblers, and two species of Grouse. And of course, two raptors that are a part of North American birding history: the Great Black Hawk of Portland and the Steller’s Sea-eagle of Boothbay Harbor and other local areas. (

Los Angeles 198

Los Angeles Birds District of Columbia Parrots 198

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

It would be uber cool to lay eyes on a rare lifer, on species that only seem to live on the pages of a field guide but isn’t that somewhat discriminatory? And why spend time only looking for one or two species when those hours could be used to put binos focused on a few dozen? This is what a Black Hawk-Eagle shape looks like.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Panama Birds Eagles 203

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2020

At mid-life crisis, the mother, Lili, decides to leave her husband (Gabe’s father) and return to take up farming on her family estancia in eastern Uruguay, far from the delights of Montevideo where most of her rambunctious, rollicking family resides, overseen, not always approvingly, by Gabe’s quirky abuela. Gabe agrees to come along.

Uruguay 154

Uruguay 2001 Bald Eagle Science 154

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2019

Getting to actually see four species, in the last two weeks, and to hear two more is almost unheard of in my experience. Last week, a good friend, Dan Weisz gave me a tip on the location of a family of Burrowing Owls that were extremely easy to access. It all started in getting to photograph the Northern Pygmy-owls in Madera Canyon.

Owls 152

Owls Arizona Tucson South Africa 152

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2018

Our bogey or nemesis species, birds that we would opt to see over others. Back in the early days of birding with optics, I wonder if such wanted species would have been birds that were much more common in present times. Bald Eagle. No matter where or when we bird, we have our targets. I’ll start with some global ones.

Costa Rica 101

Costa Rica Bald Eagle Eagles Birds 101

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2014

It’s relatively easy to classify birds into family groups based on physical characteristics. We view them as our enemies when they eat our crops and as an extension of our family when we see them at our feeders. Remarkably, there are 59 bird families that have very little cultural significance; these are listed in Appendix III.

Birds 215

Birds Egypt Family Eagles 215

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2017

Costa Rica’s winning combination of small size and distinct habitats makes it possible to connect with species as different as Snowcap, Crested Owl, White-throated Magpie-Jay , and glittering tanagers in a matter of thirty-six short hours, even quicker if you push your luck (and your vehicle). aka Tiny Cool Kingfisher.

Costa Rica 143

Costa Rica Owls Birds Eagles 143

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2021

In fact, this is probably a species that has substantially expanded its original range through the pet shop route and the resulting escapees. In fact, it seems to be one of the species employed by past ornithologists to establish their own monument in the shape of a subspecies. I was vaguely curious about the family name mousebird.

South Africa 234

South Africa Africa Lesotho Nigeria 234

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2014

Borneo is blessed with a surprising amount of endemic species, considering that the island was linked to the mainland in the last ice age. By and large these endemic species are associated with the mountains and upland areas, rather than the lowlands, which are more isolated from other mountainous areas. Crocker Ranges.

Birds 160

Birds Eagles Asia Species 160

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2017

Red-crested Korhaans are attractive members of the bustard family. Spotted Eagle Owls are one of several owls that can be seen here. As well as birds, the reserve holds endangered species like African Wild Dogs. Southern White-faced Scops Owl or African Scops Owl? You decide. Brown-hooded Kingfishers hunt far from water.

Zimbabwe 100

Zimbabwe Botswana South Africa Endangered Species 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

After the Common Starling , my second bird of the morning becomes the largest eagle of Europe, the White-tailed Eagle , this one with a fairly white tail, yet still dark beak, that I estimate to be in its 3rd calendar year. Looking miserable with its feathers soaked, one yellow and blue European Bee-eater sits on a dead branch.

Serbia 130

Serbia Sheep Birds Eagles 130

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

His obsession with all things feathered has led him to visit 20 countries around the world in the pursuit of thousands of different species of birds to watch, photograph, and enjoy. On Hokkaido there are three primary species that people go to see in the winter – the Big Three as I think of them.

Japan 179

Japan Massachusetts Birds Eagles 179