10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

I recently took a walk off-trail at Papscanee Island in Rensselaer County, New York, taking advantage of deer trails to find my way through the thick brush. I was startled by an American Robin flushing from directly in front of me, not more than three feet away. A closer look at the location the bird flushed from revealed this: After quickly taking a couple of pictures while the robin cluck-clucked her displeasure I retreated and waited for a few minutes, guarding against cowbirds, until the rob

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Eggs Deer 2007 New York 239

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 13, 2012

Dearfoams is searching for America’s Next Top Dog! Could your dog be the winner? There is only one way to find out, head over to the Dearfoams Facebook page and enter your adorable dog photo (now through April 16th), then be sure to have your family and friends vote for your pooch (voting is open now and you may vote once daily). PHASE ONE: Submit an image of your dog between February 13th, 2012 and April 16th, 2012!

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Dogs 2012 Pets Family 143

Critter News

MARCH 16, 2012

The Federal government has approved the killing of California Sea Lions in the Columbia River, blaming them for killing and eating endangered salmon. Never mind the main reasons for the problems with the salmon: hatcheries, human harvest, hydropower and the destruction of habitat.

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Sea Lions Lions Killing California 138

Animal Ethics

MARCH 12, 2012

The word is spreading. PETA cares more about celebrities than it does about animals.

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PETA Animal 40

Speaker: Steve Romanco

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10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2012

When you spend a lot of time outdoors you get to see strange things happen. Birds are consumate improvisors and they are always open to the demands of the moment. So while they may have regular habits, weird things do occur and the field guide will only help you to a point… the rest is just watching. Here now, with brief captions, are some oddities.

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Rats Hunters Turkey Hunting 222

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 15, 2012

Celebrate Earth Day, April 20, 2012, by seeing the latest Disneynature film, True-Life Adventure, CHIMPANZEE! Not only will you get a chance to see an amazing film, but for every moviegoer who sees the film in the opening week, Disneynature will make a donation to the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI)! The money will help to protect chimpanzees and their habitats, now and into the future.

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Congo 2012 North America Protection 133

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

“ There is, perhaps, no better place in the world for birds than this country. Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit. ” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, 1899) The mighty Drakensberg Mountains run along the western boundary of KwaZulu-Natal province.

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Mozambique South Africa Africa Collecting 185

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

It’s March and most birders over here are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the first spring migrants from whichever far-flung corner they’ve been wintering. In the meantime one of our earliest migrants and most familiar species is bobbing it’s tail northwards by the thousand. Many of ‘our’ British Pied Wagtails never reach far-flung corners, in the winter months they are one of our hardiest species, often one of the few passerines to be found on a beach walk whe

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Iceland Europe Species Birds 181

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

Friends, birders, countrymen (and women)– lend me your ears. I come not to praise winter, but to bury it. Those of us occupying the boreal half of the planet can give Old Man Winter an exuberant sendoff this weekend, while you on the austral side can say so long to summer. How will you be observing the last weekend of winter (or summer) and will you be birding?

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South Africa 2012 Africa Birds 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2012

There’s something about a toucan, isn’t there? Toucans tell you that you aren’t in Kansas anymore. They affirm that the tropics are true, not just myths manufactured to make those of us with winter jealous. Thanks to a childhood steeped in sugary cereal, I’ve always had a soft spot for Toucan Sam and his ilk. And while I’ve seen a number of different toucan species, every one is a thrill, even the toucanets!

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Kansas Ecuador 2010 Species 172

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10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2012

Just the mention of the name conjures notions of fear and loathing in some folks, like farmers. Red-winged Blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus ) Male (click on photos for full sized images) This time of year, Red-winged Blackbirds are gathering on nesting grounds in wetlands but also in uplands and agricultural habitats. In about six to eight weeks, depending on your location, you may see females with beaks full of insects like this one on her way to feed hatchlings.

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Blackbirds United States Killing Wildlife 170

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

At the tail end of my birding expedition today I was fortunate enough to have a close encounter with an extremely confiding, cooperative, and curious Carolina Wren. I had just arrived at the water hole at Forest Park and was sitting on a log watching White-throated Sparrows forage in the leaves when the wren flew in and landed next to the log to my right.

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2008 Sparrows Rights Experience 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2012

Sometimes a species just stops you in your tracks. So it was with a superlative, breeding-plumaged, male Scarlet Tanager today at Jamaica Bay. Now Scarlet Tanagers are always a gorgeous bird, and if you walk by a breeding-plumaged male without looking not only are your credentials as a birder at stake but so are your credentials as a human being. It should not be possible for something to be so impossibly red, so red that on an overcast day it still looks like the sun is shining full force.

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Jamaica Collecting 2009 Breeding 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2012

Will and I had spoken on Sunday and agreed to go owling on Tuesday night. We had both failed at checking off Eastern Screech-Owl or Great Horned Owl on our New York lists so far in 2007 so we figured we’d take a shot at tracking down either silent nocturnal killer. Before Will picked me up I prepared. I had to find my cheapie-Radio Shack-digital recorder and put owl calls on it.

Owls 166

Owls 2007 New York Fox 166

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10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2012

I have heard both that most die and never make it back to their breeding grounds and that they do return to the north to make more Snowy Owls. So, which is it? This article makes it seem like they are all starving. Does anyone have any solid data? a.

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Owls Breeding 166

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

Yes, these things are all connected. Last weekend, Desiree Schell and I taped a segment of “Everything You Know Is (Sort of) Wrong” ( apologies ) for Skeptically Speaking , a radio talk show and podcast that Desiree hosts. The topic was the concept of humans as predators, or hunters, or really, eaters of meat, and I was discussing the many ways in which people misconceived this notion.

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Humane Lions Buffalo Hunting 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

Change is in the air, isn’t it? All around the world, satisfaction subsides as an inevitable restlessness sets in on a cellular level. If you’re able to resist the lure of migration, you can at least pull up a seat and watch the endless waves pursue their predestined bliss. Or join in… Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was, what else, his first Red-headed Woodpecker in Queens !

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2012 ALA Woodpeckers Birds 164

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

An early outing before work yesterday at Flatrock Brook Nature Center in the unseasonably warm temperatures turned out to be well worth it. Flatrock Brook is in the the city of Englewood, New Jersey, just across the George Washington Bridge from New York City. It is a charming 150-acre nature preserve, surrounded on all sides by housing, and is heavily utilized by people seeking a wooded respite from endless rows of suburban style housing.

Turkey 163

Turkey New Jersey Feral Cats New York City 163

Speaker: Gabriel Wagner Presenter

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 15 March 2009 It was at about 1:30 AM on Saturday morning that I startled awake and found myself sitting in an empty subway car in an unfamiliar location. I stepped out of the train and my foggy brain was just realizing that I was at the end of the E line at Jamaica Center when the doors behind me closed and the train left, heading back towards my stop that I had apparently slept through when the train first went past it.

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New York Honduras Jamaica Geese 163

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2012

As regular readers of 10,000 Birds already know, I am enamored of my Queens list. So when a Red-headed Woodpecker was reported on Thursday at St. John’s Cemetery by Daryl Cavallaro (who shared this picture with us awhile back) I was there first thing Friday morning. I searched for about an hour unsuccessfully before I had to give up the hunt in order to get to work.

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Woodpeckers Hunting Birds 163

10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2012

We here at 10,000 Birds are grateful to those companies that buy advertising on 10,000 Birds. While no one at 10,000 Birds is getting rich, or even earning a living from blogging, it is wonderful that some folks find our audience worth spending money to connect with. Check them out and let them know that you appreciate their support of 10,000 Birds.

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Eagles Birds 158

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

We were very keen to attract as many birds as possible to our garden when we first moved to Broome permanently and water is the obvious first attraction. It’s is quite incredible how fast birds sense fresh water in your garden and you soon have a variety of visitors. Some will come in for a drink and leave, but others will come in for a serious bath.

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Birds Australia Collecting Groups 158

Speaker: cha cha dwyer

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10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2012

I’ve been reading Bernd Heinrich’s Summer World lately and was struck by his description of the song of the Red-winged Blackbird as “oog-la-ee.” For some reason I had thought that the universal representation of their song was “Honk-a-ree.” Being a bibliophile I had another bird book in reach, Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion , and I checked his description and was surprised to come up with “tur-a-leee.” This clearly required more

Blackbirds 157

Blackbirds Research Birds 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2012

Gareno Lodge made its claim to fame when they had a Harpy Eagle nest near their lodge. The most amazing show lasted almost two years while the eagle parents prepared their new born for his first flight. I have visited Gareno in search of the mythical bird but failed to see it until my last visit where miraculously saw two eagles perched on a tree very far away.

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Eagles Birds Ecuador 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2012

Interesting results from a study in Canada’s Algonquin Provincial Park. But is it just me or is the constant characterization of the Ovenbirds as “choosing” to produce more males weird? The original paper does not have that language. a.

Canada 154

Canada 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2012

A Kansas Snowy Owl that was seen by hundreds of birders was struck and killed by a car. At death, it weighed 876 grams, about half what a healthy owl should weight. a.

Owls 158

Owls Kansas Killing 158

Speaker: Steve Romanco

Webinar fields

10,000 Birds

MARCH 13, 2012

This is a nice short article about the Short-tailed Shearwater and its connection to Australia, Alaska, and the Aboriginal community of Boonwurrung. a.

Alaska 154

Alaska Australia 154

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 14, 2012

Do you have a naughty cat? Does your cat’s behavior drive you, or others, crazy? Does your cat have what it takes to be on the Animal Planet show, My Cat From Hell ? They are now casting for crazy cats who need some help from cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy! From excessively growling, meowing, nipping, scratching, biting, ruining furniture, tearing the house upside down, escaping, etc., Jackson will try to transform your cat back to the feline you love!

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Cats Los Angeles Family Breeding 118

Critter News

MARCH 14, 2012

This article in the Herald Tribune claims that animal rights is winning out over animal research. I would take the article with a grain of salt. I've read the same on the other side. It depends on who's writing the article of course.I think it's still a long, long fight. But perhaps these are positive signs. In a very depressing fight, every sign is worth something.

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Animal Research Animal Welfare Research Welfare 116

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 16, 2012

It’s every cat’s worst nightmare! A shower! Luckily this tiny cat has a secret weapon. The Colombia Omni-Dry with Omni-Wick EVAP. Sure would come in handy in our mountains (I want one for our dog, and for me)! The video is cute and funny, enjoy!

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Cats Colombia Dogs 109

Speaker: test-presenter-1232123