10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2012

Gaining independence in 1990, Namibia is one of Africa’s “newer” nations, although not quite as newborn as South Sudan which has yet to celebrate its first anniversary! Before self-rule it was administered by South Africa and known as South-West Africa. However, Namibia’s colonial history began earlier, in 1884 when it was annexed by the Germans. After a brutal colonization that included genocidal campaigns against the Herero (80% killed) and Nama (50% killed) tribes, the Germans lost control wh

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Namibia Angola Lovebirds South Africa 248

4 The Love Of Animals

JUNE 27, 2012

I dug deep into my box of old photos to find this gem! Yes, that’s me and my very first dog. Sharing a photo for WW this week? Be sure to comment below so we can visit you!

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Dogs 130

Critter News

JUNE 14, 2012

Canadian authorities want to release an orphaned baby bear into the wild at 6 months when mother bears usually push their children out at 18 months. Animal right groups are very angry and fear the baby might die by itself. I can't blame the activists. This decision makes little sense to me.

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Bears Animal Rights Groups Rights 109

Animal Ethics

JUNE 27, 2012

Unlike [John] Rawls, whose considered views on our duties regarding animals are unclear at best, [Immanuel] Kant provides us with an explicit statement of an indirect duty view. That Kant should hold such a view should not be surprising; it is a direct consequence of his moral theory, the main outlines of which may be briefly, albeit crudely, summarized.

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Los Angeles Morals Animal 2004 40

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

Birding’s Holy Grails. They lurk ever-present in our sub-concious as sacred items on an unobtainable, yet highly desirable, list. We pour over photographs, read with envy the eye-witness accounts of the “lucky ones” and fabricate secret plans to abandon our loved ones and embark on expensive trips to track them down. For many birders, the Pel’s Fishing Owl roosts in a lofty position on just such a list.

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Owls Fish Botswana Barn Owls 245

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

A cherished handful of Central and South American locations enjoy international renown as absolutely mandatory destinations for adventurous bird watchers and nature lovers. Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad holds a prominent position on that list of luminaries. As a card-carrying member of this famed ecolodge’s target audience, I’ve always knownI would eventually visit.

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Trinidad South America America Ecuador 244

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

Do you grow tired of lugging a camera into the field on the off chance you’ll see something you need to document? Have you messed around with your iPhone, holding it up to your binoculars or scope, hoping to get a decent image but constantly being frustrated by vignetting and the sheer difficulty of getting your iPhone in the exact right spot?

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Eggs Rights Birds 239

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

What do you say when someone tells you they will be spending the summer in the Lower Michigan Peninsula? If you are a birder, you say “Kirtland’s Warbler!” likely scaring the poor non-birder telling you her vacation plans. Yes, the warbler formerly known as Dendroica kirtlandii , now Setophaga kirtlandii , is one of those birds that make birders’ hearts pulse quicker and their legs churn faster.

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Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 226

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2012

The water this Northern Pintail is in has human poo in it, which completely ruins the experience of seeing this bird. Oh wait, it doesn’t. Radio Road, Redwood Shores, CA. The majority of diehard birders do not care where they get their birds. Slaty-backed Gull at a dump, Baikal Teal at a sewage pond, Yellow-green Vireo at some random park in the ghetto…if a place collects birds, birders will go there.

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San Francisco North Dakota Birds Oakland 207

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2012

Back in January I finally completed the North American scrub jay trifecta – Western Scrub Jay , Island Scrub Jay , and Florida Scrub Jay. The latter bird was the one that I had been missing but a visit to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge during the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival fixed that. Of course, it was only in 1996 that the three scrub jays were split and there might yet be further splits, as Western Scrub Jay may someday become Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay , Califor

Florida 200

Florida Wildlife California Birds 200

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10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2012

Following Duncan’s post about the Fabulous Fairy-wrens , you may be forgiven for wondering how many exceptional adjectives can be used in naming one genus of birds. The Malurus clan must be a contender as the most gushingly named group, including as it does, the Lovely Fairy-wren , the Splendid Fairy-wren and the Superb Fairy-wren. The other family notorious for its excitable nomenclature is the Birds of Paradise which include among their number the Bloomin’ Gorgeous Bird of Paradi

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Australia Investigation Breeding Groups 199

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2012

Seeing as it is near the midway point of the year I thought it would be nice to check in on how the blogging Big Year birders are doing thus far in 2012. It’s quite a list! Josh Vandermeulen is sitting pretty at 317 species for the year in Ontario, only 21 off the province’s record of 338, set by Glen Coady in 1996. Anthony Collerton is also racking up the species, with 322 species checked off his New York State checklist so far, only 30 species off the state record of 352 set just l

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South Dakota Houston Mammals Birds 198

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2012

Emotion. Drama. Intrigue. Philosophy. Yes, I’m talking about scientific proposals to ornithological taxonomic authorities. Take, for example, the gem I found in the latest round of proposals to the American Ornithologists’ Union’s North American Classification Committee. The proposal, titled “Change English name of Columbina inca from Inca Dove to Aztec Dove,” begins thus: “I’m serious.” Oh, honey. “[Inca Dove is] a completely misleading, non

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North America Emotional America Birds 197

10,000 Birds

JUNE 16, 2012

The latest news from IUCN Redlist regarding birds is not good. The risk of extinction for Amazonian birds has increased substantially: 07 June 2012 The risk of extinction has increased substantially for nearly 100 species of Amazonian birds, reveals the 2012 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ update for birds released today by BirdLife International.

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Parrots 2012 Birds Humane 196

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Experience

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2012

Kazakhstan, May 2009 During the two days spent out in the steppe in Kazakhstan I couldn’t help but notice the sheer number of flowers that dotted the grassy steppe. It seemed that anywhere one looked some kind of flower, whether it was an iris, a tulip, or something else, was blooming. So when we were on our way out of the Korgalzhyn State Nature Reserve and it was announced that we were making a stop to see tulips I was kind of surprised because we had been seeing tulips rather regularl

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Sri Lanka Kazakhstan 2009 Portugal 194

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

Everyone probably knows the story of how the European Starling ( Sturnus vulgaris ) came to the shores of America during the 19th century, but for those who don’t, this is how it goes. The American Acclimatization Society was a group founded in New York City in 1871 dedicated to introducing European flora and fauna into North America for “both economic and cultural reasons. 1 ” By 1877 New York pharmacist Eugene Schieffelin, an avid admirer of Shakespeare, was the society’

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North America United States New York City New York 190

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2012

In my previous blog Bird Photography Equipment Lens and filters I compared two telephotos which I use regularly, the 300 f/4 IS USM which is an excellent prime lens, and the 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 IS USM is the best zoom lens commonly used for bird photography. I also tried the Canon Extender EF 1.4X II and found that the 300 f/4 worked well but the image quality was never superior that the 300 f/4 by itself.

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Pro-Test Raised Birds Rights 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2012

There are few families of birds as bewitching as the birds-of-paradise. They are feathered jewels with extraordinary breeding dances almost unrivalled in the bird world. They have been a crucial part of the culture of the islands and forests where they are found for the last 50,000 years, and were amongst the first animals of the East to make it back to Europe with the earliest Portugese and Spanish explorations.

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Birds Indonesia Australia Guinea 188

Speaker: Gabriel Wagner Presenter

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2012

I recently changed jobs. I went from being a part-time National Park Ranger and freelancer to a full-time Avian Field Ecologist. This title basically means I get paid to watch birds (like the above Indigo Bunting I digiscoped with my iPhone and Swarovsksi Scope) before wind farms, solar panels and pipelines go under construction (or sometimes I get to id bird parts found post construction).

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Arkansas Science Research Farming 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

Rik Davis was a legend. And he touched and inspired more people than many of us will ever meet. I did not know Rik and I am poorly equiped to write very much about him. But he did touch my life. For what seems like decades, I have been hearing about Pale Male and the people that have studied, loved and fought for him and his family over the years. And one of the names that was invariably brought up at the same name, was that of Rik Davis.

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Experience Experiments Family 186

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2012

Riffing off my last post about places… here is a series of birds in their environments. If you’re ever caught out with a short lens or the birds are just too far away, you can still get good shots that tell the wider story. Above, a Burrowing Owl near the Salton Sea. A Western Meadowlark floats near San Francisco Bay. A Wilson’s Warbler in the reeds at a lake’s edge.

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San Francisco Owls Birds 182

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2012

Looking for birds means we go where the birds are. Every once in a while, when it gets quiet, I look around and marvel at the places birds have dragged me out into. Here are a few. (in the comments, please share links to any photos you’ve taken of the wonderful places birds have led you) Light blooms at dusk near Mono Lake. Common Nighthawks and Violet-green Swallows abound.

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San Francisco Tennessee Falcons Owls 182

Speaker: Steve Romanco

10,000 Birds

JUNE 18, 2012

If you haven’t been to Trinidad and Tobago, you’re missing out on a country that combines many of the best qualities of the Caribbean and South America. One attribute endowed in T&T by its geological parent Venezuela is a deep diversity of avifauna, including a lot of South American specialties. So it should come as no surprise that Southern Lapwings abound there.

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Venezuela South America Trinidad America 180

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2012

Congratulations and Ululations With an Egyptian wedding at the hotel coinciding with the Eurovision Song contest, I couldn’t resist the sub-title. Apologies to anyone outside Greater Europe, to whom this indulgence probably means nothing at all. My original remit as International Birder of Mystery has rather fallen by the wayside, but it felt as if I had returned to my roots during a trip to Cairo.

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Senegal Africa Europe Family 179

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2012

This story comes from Lisa Kelly, a wildlife rehabilitator in Tarrytown, New York, by way of Maggie Ciarcia, a rehabber in the nearby town of Somers. Maggie received a call one morning from an elderly woman named Katherine. Katherine lives in a senior residence, which she refers to as “the facility,” near the Hudson River. “My friend and I are standing here in the facility,” said Katherine.

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Rescue Bird Rescue Wildlife Rehabilitation Birds 177

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2012

An interesting–or perhaps enervating–aspect of this time of year is how birding tends to run feast or famine. That is to say that, at least in the temperate regions, those of us who aren’t traveling somewhere special have to make do with the same old same old. Corey and I both pondered birds that are extremely ordinary for us. I enjoyed chattering Chimney Swifts while taking in tremendous bands at the Rochester International Jazz Festival.

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2012 Birds Experience Experiments 174

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Testing

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2012

I’m baaack! And what a trip to Hungary it was! Before I get into the nitty-gritties of my awesome birding experiences in Hungary I thought I would just share a few of the shots that I got during the trip. My life list has increased by 33 which, considering I tallied 137 species during the trip (out of the 160 that the group got), is a pretty significant total.

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Hungary Hedgehogs Birds Blackbirds 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2012

So, it is now officially winter! After several weeks of temperatures dropping to 10c (50f) we really feel like we are experiencing Winter here in the Tropics! A true Dry Season brings us these chilly nights and there has even been frost further north in the Kimberley, so be prepared if you are heading north! Of course we still have brilliant blue skies and 30c (86f) during the day, but the sun is setting at 5:20pm and the temperature soon drops off.

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2004 2002 2003 2000 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 4, 2012

I have a feeling that this summer is going to be weird. How else to interpret the sudden arrival of April showers (and temperatures) in June after already enjoying summer weather? If you’re experiencing the same wacky weather patterns, don’t fret… maybe this means we’ll get another migration! My best birds of the weekend were all part of a huge swarm of Chimney Swifts circling around what I surmise was their chimney dwelling.

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Cape Verde 2012 New York Birds 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2012

In my previous blog about Bird Photography Equipment , I reviewed the Canon EF 300 f/4 lens with the teleconverter Kenko C-AF 2X Teleplus Pro 300 DGX. I have had a couple of weeks of testing this configuration and further testing revealed some additional amazing results that I did not expect. The new surprise is that this lens, when used in a cropped body, like a 7D or even a t3i (600D), and the Kenko 2X teleconverter, can also be used as an amazing long distance macro of 300 x 2 x 1.6 (crop fa

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Pro-Test 2000 Birds 171

Speaker: cha cha dwyer

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