10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

And here in Europe, they are the real deal, an indigenous species and not domesticated animals gone wild. When I reached the levee earlier that morning, I met an elderly hunter from whom I learned that there was an ongoing duck and pheasant hunt, but no one was shooting from, nor towards the embankment, hence I should be safe there.

Serbia 242

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 242

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2023

Late April / early May is the best birding season in the south of Europe and wherever you go, you will have 50% to 100% more species than in any other season. Pity, it is the sleeping hours and not the hunting (morning/evening), but at least they are not forced to socialise with people all day.

India 166

India Birds Africa Serbia 166

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2022

Late April / early May is the best birding season in the south of Europe and wherever you go, you will have 50% to 100% more species than in any other season. Pity, it is the sleeping hours and not the hunting (morning/evening), but at least they are not forced to socialise with people all day.

India 220

India Birds Africa Game 220

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2017

It’s Christmas Bird Count season, and if you know Christmas Bird Counts you have probably heard the tale of how Frank Chapman invented this winter tradition to replace the older and considerably less optimal for birds tradition of the Christmas side hunt. Various bits of Europe celebrate the day in various ways. Sleigh rides.

Ireland 130

Ireland New Zealand Hunting Cooking 130

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2019

The toughest thing for me, as a local birder, was to choose the most attractive birds because those that attract my attention are generally all too common in the northwest of Europe, from where most visiting birders are coming. Eurasian Hoopoe uses similar open and sunny habitats like the previous species.

Serbia 247

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 247

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

This is “the deep cradle of Western ornithology: the birthplace of bird study,” he tells us as he writes about gazing at the 8,000-year old depictions of “flamingos, herons, raptors, avocets and many other species” (p. With Birkhead, you never know what’s going to come next. 266-67).

Dissection 208

Dissection Birds Research Europe 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

Further down the road, we reach a derelict building with a large veranda hidden among the trees – an abandoned hunting lodge (if I were in a situation to invest, I would choose to upgrade this into a luxury wildlife lodge). Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe.

Tigers 230

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 230

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2015

Some lovely and touristy cities of Western Europe are justly proud of their cathedral Peregrines (Barcelona, Norwich, Bristol), even London (which has its charms, but is far from lovely) – why not Belgrade (isn’t proud, I mean)? APRIL 12: Second flight of a b h and then she hunts. One Feral Pigeon. A Great Tit.

Switzerland 188

Switzerland Serbia Feral Falcons 188

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2020

A somewhat more credible selection to be sure, as lions actually do exist, but one that sadly snubs the native Scottish wildcat in favor of a felid that’s been extinct in Europe since antiquity. But there’s new hope for Scotland’s Golden Eagles as these atrocious acts are brought to the public attention and their perpetrators prosecuted.

Eagles 157

Eagles Lions Hunting Lamb 157

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2015

One – the Takahe is far too cool a species to lose. Two – there is so much distinctness amongst the different forms of the Purple Swamphen that lumping means we may as well lump all the world’s reed warblers into one huge species and be done with it. ” Birds Europe Purple Swamphen rails Spain'

Spain 157

Spain Hunters Africa Hunting 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

Snowy Owls are used in falconry, more so in Europe but they are legal for a few states here in the US. ” Most shrugged and said very few US falconers fly owls because they’re slow and some species you can only hunt at night, that wouldn’t be much fun to watch. I learned that I knew nothing of falconry.

Wisconsin 234

Wisconsin Falcons Owls Hunting 234

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

Its natural range in Europe was restricted the the surroundings of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and in Asia it ranged from Asia Minor to central China. Within its European range, it was heavily hunted until the late 19th century, and the Mute Swan was subsequently a very rare bird to encounter in the wild.

Feral 168

Feral Europe Asia North America 168

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

The survival of songbirds depends in part upon eliminating illegal hunting. If you are a migratory bird in Europe and western Asia, this is your sweet spot. That means passing over the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, where you’re liable to get shot, trapped, or otherwise hunted. Photo of the Nihoa Millerbird by S.

Cambodia 142

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 142

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2022

I saw two Pitta species at Hongbenghe, both among the slightly less glamourous among the pitta family: The Blue-naped Pitta … … and the closely related Rusty-naped Pitta. It seems that this is another species for which the standard phrase of scientists anywhere, “more research needed”, applies.

Birds 147

Birds Myanmar China Chicago 147

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

.” The Wels Catfish, Silurus glanis , is the second largest fish in its range, which covers much of Europe and parts of West Asia. In parts of Western Europe, it is considered to be “exotic” because it has been introduced, possibly by anglers, in lakes and rivers in France and the Iberian Peninsula. Cucherousset, J., 0050840.

Fish 198

Fish Birds Whales Whaling 198

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

It has recently been reclassified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this category is reserved for only the most threatened species in the world. If this bird did become extinct, it would be the first pheasant species to have been lost in the 400 years since proper records began.

Vietnam 153

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 153

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. Elephant The big – two species of elephant are now recognized as occuring in Africa, the smaller and more secretive Forest Elephant and the larger, more familiar African or Bush Elephant.

Buffalo 194

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 194

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

We call it a “mouse gradation year” I was not able to find a catchy English term for “gradation year” – it’s what happens when a certain species showing population cycles reaches a peak year. The kestrels , on the other hand, will more frequently hunt from low perches.

Fox 163

Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 163

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

A shot or two coming from the opposite bank, but they do not sound like geese shooting – more like boar hunting. A goose hunt sounds like a WWII battle. Scanning the water for rarer species… S. We counted more than 35 of them, relaxed and fearless, clearly not hunted. Easy – it is forbidden to hunt at night.

Geese 167

Geese Hunting Boars Birds 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

After the Common Starling , my second bird of the morning becomes the largest eagle of Europe, the White-tailed Eagle , this one with a fairly white tail, yet still dark beak, that I estimate to be in its 3rd calendar year. Looking miserable with its feathers soaked, one yellow and blue European Bee-eater sits on a dead branch.

Serbia 123

Serbia Sheep Birds Eagles 123

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

The very first thing we notice about this large member of the Galliformes is that there is a wild version and a domestic version, and although the two are rather different, they are both given the same species name, Meleagris gallopavo. They may have also had hunting dogs with them as well. This is where they got their name.

Turkey 197

Turkey Columbus Spain Fowl 197

Critter News

SEPTEMBER 6, 2009

The hunting and selling of ortolans, which have suffered a Europe-wide decline of 40-50% in the last 40 years, has been illegal in France since 1999. During the hunting season, which lasts from mid-August until the end of September, the birds are taken from their cages, fattened up in the dark and then drowned alive in Armagnac.

France 100

France Endangered Species Protest Protesting 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2012

Specifically, rural northwestern Spain, at various points along the Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage route to the supposed burial place of Saint James the apostle and, before that, to the westernmost point in continental Europe, the supposed End of the Earth, the Finis Terra. My journey started off in the city of Leon.

Spain 168

Spain Europe Industry Rodents 168

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

The Veliko Ratno Island birdlist is about 170 species long, of which more than 90 were observed from the Dorcol Promenade. Highlight species: Ferruginous Duck , Goosander , Red-breasted Merganser , Red-crested Pochard , Greater Scaup , Velvet Scoter , Black-throated Diver. In March and November, Common Cranes are a possibility.

Serbia 225

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 225

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2011

Hyacinth Macaw © Roger Leguen / WWF-Canon Hyacinth Macaws feed mainly on the kernels of the fruits of two species of palm tree: the Acuri or Urucuri Palm ( Attalea phalerata ) and the Bocaiuva or Macaw Palm ( Acrocomia aculeata ). Such cavities are hard to find and are sometimes disputed by more than one species.

Protection 183

Protection Brazil Parrots Paraguay 183

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2015

And that is why the hides are where they are, not to admire the scenery (or shoot at it – hunting is prohibited in the reserve and the ban is enforced). For example, the White-headed Duck is nowadays a rarity in Europe (okay, excluding Spain, I know… that Spain …), but until some 50 years ago, it used to breed in Serbia.

Serbia 235

Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 235

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

Several poachers were waiting in ever thickening darkness (Serbian legislation forbids night hunting). Barnacle geese breed mainly on the Arctic islands of the North Atlantic, while the nearest wintering areas also lie along the northern coasts of Europe: the Netherlands and the Baltic Sea (Estonia, Finland, Denmark and Sweden).

Geese 139

Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 139

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. And fly they surely can… …although they do look suspiciously happy when landing.

Germany 101

Germany Abandon Abandoning Abandonment 101

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Africa has more than its fair share of storks, with 8 of the world’s 19 species gracing the continent. Storks are typically viewed as wetland species and whilst some storks are restricted to aquatic habitats, others are not. This is another wetland species that nests in sometimes huge colonies atop trees bordering rivers and lakes.

Africa 232

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 232

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2016

Late April / early May is the best birding season in the south of Europe and wherever you go, you will have 50% to 100% more species than in any other season. Recently, I did a bit of embankment birding, nailing 65 species (several of them firsts for the season, European Bee-eaters among them – always exciting).

Birds 109

Birds India Africa Serbia 109

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2018

Our bogey or nemesis species, birds that we would opt to see over others. Back in the early days of birding with optics, I wonder if such wanted species would have been birds that were much more common in present times. At least I felt that way before my first trips to Europe. I’ll start with some global ones.

Costa Rica 101

Costa Rica Bald Eagle Eagles Birds 101

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 15, 2015

This species is still uncommon in the Balkans and despite the recent spread, Kalamas is the most reliable site for it in Greece (and this made my only second ever observation of them in Europe). I am checking the grass for any flash of white and soon my suspicion is confirmed: Cattle Egrets (cover photo)!

Greece 226

Greece Dogs Pelicans Fish 226

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2017

But why would someone look for that, an easy and common one among the 920+ bird species of Costa Rica? Working with the local jaguar conservancy, he learned that there are 10 or 11 different animals hunting peccaries and other prey at Selva Bananito. And on my day one, in Virgen del Socorro I IDd my first ever Blackburn female.

Costa Rica 131

Costa Rica Reptiles Farming Mississippi 131

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. I’m fairly sure the only family I’m missing in Europe is the Wallcreeper (Tichodromadidae), assuming you don’t lump it with the nuthatches.

Family 162

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

I have caught a bus across Europe, but I can’t really claim to have “been” to Germany or Belgium. But I do have rules about whether I can have said to have visited a country, ie does the country “count” which I have inherited from my family, particularly my Dad.

Botswana 162

Botswana Birds Lesotho Elephants 162

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

More than 150 bird species are known to have become extinct over the past 500 years, and many more are estimated to have been driven to extinction before they became known to science. The Gray Crowned-Crane is a new addition to the list of the world’s Endangered species, creeping up a category from Vulnerable.

Endangered Species 182

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 182

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 21, 2015

One thing you must do is hire a local guide, as while you can hunt for yourself you’ll see a hell of a lot more with one. This small bustard is perhaps the same species as the more widespread White-bellied Bustard, but if it is separate its a rare bird to see and pretty special. It was also weirdly good for quail, of sorts.

South Africa 145

South Africa Africa Falcons Family 145