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Freeze-birding down the Danube

10,000 Birds

The only mammals of the day were feral Nutrias (Coypus), aquatic rodents originally from southern South America released from the bankrupt fur-farms and well established here. Geese from the inside of the submerged, horseshoe shaped island take flight, flushed by one young White-tailed Eagle. Watch for the dark beaks.”

Geese 183
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Poop From The Front End Of The Bird

10,000 Birds

It’s not fecal material, but parts that are not digestible like fur, bones and the exoskeletons of insects. Many are familiar with dissecting owl pellets, but several birds will caste a pellet including hawks, eagles, gulls, herons and heck, I once witnessed a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher hack up a small one.

Bats 214
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Comebackers

10,000 Birds

In the mid 1700s, fur-traders began introducing foxes up and down the Aleutian chain, in order to generate some more raw material work with. However, they were refound on Buldir Island, a remote island that never had any introduced mammals. Can you imagine having to go to Alaska just to see our national bird?

Albatross 215