article thumbnail

Black-backed Woodpeckers and Forest Fires in California and the West

10,000 Birds

I had taken the short drive to the park to search for a family of American Dippers sighted near the visitor center by a fellow birder a few days before. It was July of 2012. I arrived at Lassen Volcanic National Park around 7:00 a.m. It was a cool 48 degrees. What I found was more than I could possibly hope for.

article thumbnail

Best Bird of the Year 2013

10,000 Birds

I was attending the 3rd Global Bird-watching Conference in Gujarat and suddenly surrounded not just be species that were completely new, but entire families of birds. Second, I was in India, which, had you told me even one month prior that I’d be going to India, I would have said you were crazy.

2013 167