10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

On Monday we went from Broome to Derby. We left home just before 8am when we hoped most of the wallabies had moved away from the highway. There are always stray cattle to watch out for, but we prefer to minimize the risk of hitting animals by leaving on road trips until a couple of hours after sunrise. Our first stop was at Cockatoo Creek , which is a waterhole at this time of year under the double width bridge before you reach the Willare Roadhouse.

Cattle 187

Cattle Stray Australia Birds 187

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2019

In January, we moved to a new place at a slightly lower elevation yet still located in the Central Valley rather near the main airport. As with any home inhabited by birders, we have kept track of all species heard or seen, night and day. Although that may sound as if we stand out there at all hours like a bino wearing sentinel watching the trees, most of our birding is typical yard list stuff; just keeping eyes and ears out for whatever avian things come our way.

Costa Rica 157

Costa Rica Barn Owls Birds Parrots 157

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

I was born in Minnesota. Had my life taken a different turn, and had I remained in that state, I would be intimately acquainted with exactly one hummingbird: the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. But my family moved to northern California when I was four years old, in 1962, effectively quadrupling my hummer list with the addition of the Anna’s , Rufous , and Allen’s Hummingbirds.

Minnesota 126

Minnesota ALA Mexico California 126

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2019

September and October are probably the best two months in Shanghai – it is warm but not unbearably hot, and it does not rain much. And of course, it is the autumn migration season, which I like more than the spring one. The birds seem to be more relaxed, and there are more of them as well. Best of all, this year the migration seems to have started fairly early and with some fantastic birds.

China 121

China Protection Birds 121

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

While most of my fellow Americans are laboring through a long weekend, most of the world has already bid adieu to the last of August. This may not bode well for kids still blessedly unencumbered by homework, books, and teachers’ dirty looks, but the birders among us can look forward to a marked improvement in avian action in September. Ivy and I scored some rare vagrants at Montezuma NWR–which has been awful for shorebirds this summer–best of which was her first American White

2019 121

2019 Costa Rica Pelicans Birds 121

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Early September, like just about every other time of year, means different things to different people. In New York, schools open after Labor Day. The agony and ecstasy of back-to-school season overlaps shorebird season, which itself overlaps fall passerine migration. All of the events follow different timelines in different latitudes and longitudes, but the general pattern suggests that we can all find some reasonable avian observation activity this weekend.

2019 115

2019 New York Birds 115

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Are seabirds the last frontier of bird identification? Steve N. G. Howell and Kirk Zufelt certainly think so. They say so right here in the Preface of Oceanic Birds of The World: A Photo Guide —seabirds are “some of the most challenging of all birds to identify.” And, if you don’t believe them, just take a look at some of the photographic comparisons of species they present: Or, of albatross plumages: Or, read about the taxonomic confusions and scientific lapses in research on petrel

Albatross 156

Albatross North America Birds Groups 156