April, 2019

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Just in Time: Kenn Kaufman’s “A Season on the Wind” — a review

10,000 Birds

How blessed can one guy be? Not only is Kenn Kaufman a world-class birder and all-around naturalist who makes his living doing what he loves. Not only has he authored multiple field guides, and prose works, too (such as the classic coming-of-age-as-a-birder story, Kingbird Highway ). But best of all — the thing that shows, surely, that he was born under a lucky star, is this: he’s now (as of 2005, when he migrated, permanently, to Ohio) — a Buckeye.

Ohio 195
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Where to watch shorebirds around Belgrade, Serbia

10,000 Birds

Shorebirds (in Europe: waders) must be an acquired birding taste. No one starts birding dreaming of drab-coloured, unobtrusive and, far on a mud-bar, largely invisible little mud-skippers. In Europe, people start birding when they see a Common Kingfisher or a Golden Oriole , hoping to see more jewels like that, but not a Wood Sandpiper. Who even spots a Woodsand without deliberately searching for birds?

Serbia 150
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A Bird’s Eye View of the Rainwater Basin

10,000 Birds

A while back, I wrote about an under-appreciated part of the National Wildlife Refuge System : Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs). Although little-known, WPAs provide critical breeding, resting, and nesting habitat for millions of ducks, geese, and swans, as well as shorebirds and grassland species. Dozens of WPAs are located in the Rainwater Basin , a region south of the Platte River in south-central Nebraska, at the narrowest point of the Central Flyway.

Nebraska 146
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Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America: A Review by a Sparrow Fan

10,000 Birds

I like sparrows. I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. So, I was very excited when I heard that Rick Wright was writing a book about sparrows, the first treatment of North American sparrows since 2001, possibly the first book about sparrows of North America, depending on your definition of that geographic area.

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Webinar & PDF Test

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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Red-tailed Hawk Hunting a Gray Squirrel

10,000 Birds

On a walk around Baisley Pond Park’s eponymous pond in Queens recently I heard a Gray Squirrel chittering away angrily at something. Tired of White-throated Sparrows and American Robins , I decided to stroll over and see what the squirrel was so upset about. It turned out that the squirrel had a good reason to be vociferous in expressing its displeasure: a Red-tailed Hawk was trying to make the squirrel into breakfast!

Squirrels 139
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A Morning at Punta Morales, Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

One of the quandaries of birding in Costa Rica is deciding where to go birding. Where do you go when there are so many different places to choose from? Costa Rica’s small size, ease of access and massive avian diversity promises a wealth of birds in many places. Do we watch mixed flocks in fresh cloud forest? Scan for toucans and Tiny Hawk in lowland rainforest?

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Sunda Pygmy Woodpeckers in Singapore

10,000 Birds

During our three weeks of bird-watching in Singapore we didn’t only encounter large birds like the Asian Openbill and the Oriental Pied Hornbill. There was one tiny bird that we observed almost every day in a variety of habitats. The Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker – Yungipicus moluccensis is a tiny bird measuring only around 12-13cm and we observed it in parks, gardens and mangrove areas.

Singapore 114
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Best Bird of the Weekend (First of April 2019)

10,000 Birds

The first weekend of the fourth month of the year unites us all with exceptional birding opportunities. Did you join the party? I found myself in fine company on the hawk watch platform at Braddock Bay, where streaming flocks of Turkey Vultures were infiltrated by a variety of hawk species. I was most pleased to pick up Rough-legged Hawk , which I hadn’t yet been able to track down this year.

2019 114
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Sweetwater Wetlands Park in Tucson, Arizona

10,000 Birds

When we first landed here in Tucson, Arizona, fate worked her magic, and one of the first people I met was Luke Safford. Luke is a coordinator with the Tucson Audubon Society, and was incredibly helpful with getting my feet on the ground, as far as South East Arizona Birding. In addition, for the last four5 years he has lead a Wednesday morning walk at the famed Sweetwater Wetlands, Northwest of Tucson.

Tucson 114
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Birding Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana

10,000 Birds

Louisiana is known for a lot of things. Mardis Gras, New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, crawfish, oil production, coastal erosion, chemical plants; all encompassed within one state and a whole lot of coastline. It’s that coastline, however, that called me to Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, an oasis drawing migrating waterfowl like a magnet. My husband and I pulled through the gates of the refuge an hour or so from sunset, already invigorated by the Snow Geese, ibises, and Greater White-fr

Louisiana 114
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Best Bird of the Weekend (Last of April 2019)

10,000 Birds

April has come and will soon be gone, hopefully carrying a bounty of bodacious birds in its wake for you. Rest assured that, no matter how good this month has been, May has the potential to be so much better. An unseemly April snowfall illuminated the capricious climate of the Great Lakes region as I encountered Caspian Terns , our harbinger of spring, flying over Long-tailed Ducks , our waterfowl of winter.

2019 113
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White-crested Laughingthrush in Singapore

10,000 Birds

During our three weeks of birding in Singapore in March we were surprised that we did not encounter White-crested Laughingthrush – Garrulax leucolophus more often. The habitat often appeared to be ideal, but they were not as common as we had expected. The White-crested Laughingthrush is actually an introduced species and our first encounter was in the Southern Ridges.

Singapore 113
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A Review of 101 + Common Birds of Costa Rica- A Birder’s Companion

10,000 Birds

Costa Rica is a small yet very birdy country (readers may have gotten that impression on previous posts I have written for 10,000 Birds, at least I hope that has been the case!). To give an idea of what I mean by “birdy”, although Costa Rica is similar in size to West Virginia, more than 920 species have been recorded within the borders of this southern Central American country.

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Where Are You Birding This Final Weekend of April 2019?

10,000 Birds

If you found April to be interesting in terms of birding, you’re going to love what next month has in store. But don’t waste a weekend by looking ahead… the end of April offers too much beauty to miss. If I can find time between showings of Avengers: Endgame , I might chase some birds. Corey finds all the entertainment he desires in nature, so look for him in Queens.

2019 113
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Singapore’s Red Junglefowl

10,000 Birds

During our three weeks in Singapore we encountered many a family of Red Junglefowl- Gallus gallus in various locations. Often the rustling of leaves would lead us to Red Junglefowl , squirrels, water monitors or small lizards. Red Junglefowl are under threat in Singapore due to habitat loss and inter-breeding, but we observed them most days on our hiking trips around the island and also on Pulau Ubin.

Singapore 113
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Where Are You Birding This Third Weekend of April 2019?

10,000 Birds

Easter weekend carries deep spiritual significance for many around the world, but Sunday also symbolizes the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. With blossoms blooming and birds zooming, Easter has something to offer for everyone. I’m finishing off my England excursion by visiting the magnificent White Cliffs of Dover, which are said to promise nesting Northern Fulmar.

2019 113
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Why Tucson, for the birds of course!

10,000 Birds

Now that Jeanne and I have settled here in Tucson, Arizona, we have been questioned by our friends dozens of times….Why Tucson? Do you realize it gets really hot there? Are you going to really be OK not being on the move, exploring new countries? Well, Ok, that last one is my own personal question, but it is quite relative. After last year, it would be easy to have a bit of a letdown. 10 countries, over 1300 bird species, and now I have limited my various twitches to just one county, Pima, which

Tucson 113
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Best Bird of the Weekend (Second of April 2019)

10,000 Birds

No matter where you find yourself, you can count on a birding surprise or two this time of year. What was yours? I was surprised at how much I like Common Wood-Pigeons , first spotted out the window of my London lodging. Sure, I’ve seen about 50 more in my first day in the UK, but I enjoy getting to know these docile brutes. Corey got out and about in Queens on both Saturday and Sunday morning.

2019 113
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Gabriel PDF Webinar

Speaker: Gabriel Wagner Presenter

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Where Are You Birding This Second Weekend of April 2019?

10,000 Birds

Mid-April marks a critical juncture in progression of seasons. While the Northern Hemisphere hasn’t progressed even a third of the way through calendar spring, we are now entering the beginning of summer for the teeming masses of birds staking out breeding grounds. Many species, of course, have yet to begin their migrations in earnest, but many more who weren’t in your area last week may pop up for the first time this weekend.

2019 113
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Collective Arts Brewing: Stranger Than Fiction

10,000 Birds

Just a quick review today. Spring migration in upstate New York has been picking up this week and I’ve been doing more birding than boozing lately. As it probably should be. Even though I saw my first wood-warbler of the year this week (a nice “yellow” Palm Warbler), we’re still in early April and there’s been plenty of chilly and overcast weather here, so I don’t feel so bad about sneaking in a review of a nice porter – even if it is a beer I enjoy more

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A Bird’s Eye View of the Rainwater Basin

10,000 Birds

A while back, I wrote about an under-appreciated part of the National Wildlife Refuge System : Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs). Although little-known, WPAs provide critical breeding, resting, and nesting habitat for millions of ducks, geese, and swans, as well as shorebirds and grassland species. Dozens of WPAs are located in the Rainwater Basin , a region south of the Platte River in south-central Nebraska, at the narrowest point of the Central Flyway.

Nebraska 113
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Nesting Oriental Pied Hornbills in Singapore

10,000 Birds

On our recent visit to Singapore we had hoped that we would be able to observe Oriental Pied Hornbills and we were very lucky during our visit. Not only did we observe the bird species most days, but we also had the privilege of observing them at a nest. We were quite surprised by the noise that they made, because it was not too dissimilar to some of the odd sounds a Blue-winged Kookaburra can make in Australia.

Singapore 113
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Webinar 5.9.22

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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Zero Gravity Brewing Company: Bob White

10,000 Birds

At last, it’s spring in the northern half of the world. Birds are singing and migrating, freshets are running, and trees are budding – yes, it’s time for all those things. But it also means that released and escaped nonnative gamebirds in North America – partridges, quail, and pheasants, mostly – are warily stealing from their hiding spots to roam the upland underbrush of the continent, occasionally crossing paths with momentarily befuddled birders in encounters that unfailingly send

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Where Are You Birding This First Weekend of April 2019?

10,000 Birds

April showers are said to bring May flowers, but this time of year offers far more than fancy flora. The avifauna, for example, can be exquisite. Sample some this weekend. I’ll be hitting the hawk watch this weekend, hoping for something more interesting than the armadas of Turkey Vultures currently tipping through. Corey will be making the most of early spring birding in Queens.

2019 113
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Collaborative List – March 2019

10,000 Birds

Are we all getting excited yet? March is done. The equinox has passed. There can be no denying that spring is coming and with it, the summer visitors and passage migrants. Oh, joy! 9 countries were visited during March by your tireless beats ( 11 of them); India, UK, USA, Serbia, Costa Rica, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. With so much thrashing around in SE Asia, it is interesting to compare east and west hemispheres.

2019 113
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Where America dreams of/goes birding?

10,000 Birds

I had no intention of making a questionnaire or analysing the results. I was just curious what the US birders dream about, so I posted a question in the ABA’s FB group: a) what are the most popular foreign destinations and b) where would you go with unlimited funds? The number of answers (89) and respondents (about 71, if I counted them correctly) surprised me, as well as some answers.

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Test

Testing

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ÆppelTreow Winery & Distillery: Barn Swallow Draft Cider

10,000 Birds

You’ll have to bear with another short and sweet review this week at Birds and Booze. Not only is spring migration picking up even more than last week, but I’ve also been busy planning my first trip to the southern hemisphere: in another week, I’ll be on a flight to Peru. I hope to review something appropriate for my upcoming trip for next week’s edition, but in the meantime, we have an easy-drinking draft cider that makes a lovely tipple for these cool and crisp early da

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Best Bird of the Weekend (Third of April 2019)

10,000 Birds

Easter weekend means many things to many people, but most of us with school-age children in the United States can’t help but link this floating holiday with travel, seeing as how so many K-12 schools use the weekend anchor their Spring Break. Travel, of course, links quite nicely with seeing new birds, if you’re into that kind of thing. Word to the wise: you should be into that kind of thing.

2019 113
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Pileated Woodpecker exchange at the nest.

10,000 Birds

This is a male Pileated Woodpecker. You can tell he is male from the complex expression of boredom and impatience on his face as he waits for the female to come and take her turn on the nest. He could have spent his time constructively, re-shaping the nesthole to better conform to the “oval” description of popular guidebooks. Perhaps he might have spruced the place up a bit.