10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2018

While birding out at the coast of Queens this year I have noticed on several occasions a variety of birds, mostly finches, feeding on the seeds of Seaside Goldenrod ( Solidago sempervirens ), the salt-tolerant, butterfly-sustaining, and absolutely gorgeous coastal aster. Though the flowers are long gone, along with the trademark, bright yellow coloration, they still sustain life through the many seeds still attached to the plant.

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United States Ducks Birds Rights 193

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2018

Just a few miles northwest of downtown Tucson, the Sweetwater Wetlands is truly a birding gem. This is a water reclamation plant, so the water is not quite as sweet as the name might suggest, but it certainly is a magnet for a lot of bird species. The city of Tucson sends treated water through sediments beneath the recharged basins which then replenishes the local aquifer.

Tucson 128

Tucson Arizona Blackbirds Texas 128

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2018

As sure as the sun rises in the east, cold temperatures and winter weather will afflict certain parts of the world before autumn even ends. What isn’t so sure is how we react to these conditions. To wit, I am freezing! Last year, I probably logged more winter birding days than during any other period of my life, routinely schlepping through snowy conditions for– obviously — Snowy Owls and the like.

2018 113

2018 Birds Owls 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2018

All birders love the Everglades. There are so few places on Earth where one can see thousands and thousands and thousands of wading birds on a single visit, their white and blue and pink bodies contrasting with the golden swishing of marsh grasses or the deep green of cypress swamps. Whenever I enter the boundaries of Everglades National Park or Big Cypress National Preserve I feel as giddy as a child in a candy store.

Alligators 113

Alligators Sharks Turtles Florida 113

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2018

December in the Northern Hemisphere starts slowly but picks up relentless speed as the month hurtles downhill towards a new year. Hope you enjoyed some quiet times this weekend in preparation for the hustle ahead. Car trouble shut down my big birding plans this weekend, but my local birds kept me entertained. My most interesting sighting involved a Sharp-shinned Hawk stalking and possibly taking a bird in a neighbor’s yard.

2018 113

2018 Birds Experience Experiments 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2018

I’m not a larophile*, but some of my favorite birders are. It’s hard to escape the mystic pull of wanting to excel at gull identification. Even more than warbler, shorebird, and sparrow identification, this is a field that tests our endurance (gull watching is too often done in bitter cold, windy conditions), patience (even getting one good photo can take hours as you try to separate the ‘interesting gull’ from the flock), observational skills (so many plumages!

North America 206

North America America El Salvador Nicaragua 206

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2018

This October, a previously unknown name shined in the eBird alerts in Serbia: Raphael Nussbaumer. He made a whirlwind tour of some of the best birding areas in the country, from the Karajukica Bunari peat bog in the extreme southwest (by the border with Montenegro) all the way to the Slano Kopovo Crane Sanctuary in the northeast. Quite a few rarely visited spots and rarely seen birds landed in our inboxes, which prompted me to ask Raphael more about his tour and how he prepared it without asking

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Serbia Switzerland Farming Birds 142

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2018

When we returned to the Blue Mountains in September this year it had been five and a half years since we had visited the area and because it was a different time of year we were not exactly sure what to expect. In both May and September there are a lot of trees without leaves and that can be quite advantageous if you are birding. Both Crimson Rosellas and Australian King Parrots stood out easily and many other birds did too!

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Transported 2013 Australia Parrots 100