10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2021

I wonder what he would have made of the extraordinary peregrinations undertaken by this species in 2021, with birds turning up well north of their usual range in an event the American Birding Association has coined – with hashtag – #spoonbillsummer? I picked up a few bottles and we were off on our way home to Albany.

New York 261

New York South Carolina North Carolina Massachusetts 261

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2011

And it looks even better in my hands while I dream about a visit to regions of Brazil I had scarcely heard of before being provided with a review copy of the first volume of the Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil.* Talk about a win-win!

Brazil 195

Brazil Wildlife 2011 Birds 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

I spotted a Eurasian Wigeon amongst the American Wigeon right out of the gate, but that wasn’t the best sighting of the day. 6 Responses to “White-faced Ibis at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge&# Birding is Fun! On the way out I spotted a lone White-faced Ibis ( Plegadis chihi ) engaged in behavior I had not seen before.

Wildlife 155

Wildlife 2011 Sacramento Jordan 155

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2019

With a foundation this firm, you can’t help but have a great weekend, right? Of what he did see, a pair of Bald Eagles at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was the highlight, a species that didn’t used to be around in June in Queens at all. Even the birding is decent. So, Bald Eagles as his Best Bird of the Weekend.

2019 114

2019 Bald Eagle Jamaica Eagles 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2022

So armed with some knowledge from the “ Access Considerations for Birding Locations ” page on the Birdability website and some research, I twice visited the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge near Portland, Oregon with accessibility in mind. That’s the hashed-out area to the right of the top space in the photo below.)

Portland 183

Portland Oregon Laws Experience 183

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2018

At the top of those destinations is the stretch of Gulf Coast Texas barrier islands starting at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in the north, through Padre Island National Seashore, to South Padre Island near the country’s border. Of the 300 hummingbird species across the globe, North America only sees fewer than two dozen of them.

Texas 168

Texas North America Alaska America 168

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2017

But any time of year is the right time to pay attention to uncommon avian behavior, even from common birds. For example, I saw all kinds of special species this weekend, but nothing impressed me more than displays of the tyranny of tiny birds. The next day saw Barn Swallows berating a Sharp-shinned Hawk in rural Potter County, PA.

2017 113

2017 Jamaica Birds Wildlife 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. I used to live in Botswana, where there are about 450 bird species in an area a few dozen miles from the capital; then somewhat naively moved back to Serbia with mere 250 species around the capital.

Sri Lanka 256

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 256

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2021

Even so, he still knew many species and always yearned to learn about the wildlife he encountered. There were also grouse, the Ruffed Grouse , and like so many other species, it just seemed impossible that I would ever see one. One such surprising experience happened with grouse.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Chickens Pennsylvania Litter 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

I had reserved the photo blind at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge last weekend and figured I would stop by the Maxwell Cemetery on the way back home to try to find the male Vermilion Flycatcher that had been hanging out there for more than the past week, hoping he was still there. Click on photos for full sized images.

California 107

California Sacramento Wildlife Groups 107

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2017

June may be the gateway to summer in the Northern Hemisphere, but the birding still delivers the thrills of spring migration when you have access to the right birds’ breeding grounds. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Songbirds are still singing, so go find them!

2017 101

2017 Louisiana Birds Breeding 101

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

During the decade, I submitted 1,219 checklists and observed 555 bird species, all in the U.S. In other words, eBird is effectively a complete history of my birding experiences. After an initial period when all species are new, the lifers begin to follow a pattern. and Canada. I’ve submitted 448 such checklists.

Puerto Rico 143

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 143

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2016

What a weekend, right? Even though I only had an hour before work, I racked up just about all the warblers I wanted; any weekend I see a Blackburnian Warbler , I know which species is my favorite. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2016 100

2016 Jamaica New York Birds 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2019

I saw 863 species of birds, bringing my life list to 1,820. Such travel brings a lot of birds and the 863 species I saw this year is the most species I have ever seen. How can I narrow down the eight-hundred-sixty-three species to ten? How can I, by listing only ten, call eight-hundred-fifty-three species not worthy?

2019 137

2019 Barbados Uganda Costa Rica 137

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2015

Coincidentally, this species was Corey’s Best Bird exactly one year ago. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Although he caught unsatisfying glimpses of his first ABA Mourning Warbler , BBOTW honors must go to a bird much better seen, like a sweet Canada Warbler.

2015 162

2015 Jamaica Canada Abandon 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 25, 2014

Sunday morning was a perfect morning to get out on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. We saw a total of fifteen species of shorebirds but four stole the show – the peeps! It apparently derives from the typical call notes of the species which, broadly speaking, can sound like “peep.”

Jamaica 178

Jamaica Rights Species Wildlife 178

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2017

Water quality was good that day, and we could perfectly see the waving eelgrass, the freshwater fish species, the adorable turtles. How to describe these underwater avian species? An Anhinga dries its wings. I know it’s cliche, but they do look like they are swimming beneath the surface.

Florida 100

Florida Fish Turtles Shelters 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

This diversity makes for a very unique birding experience. One where you get to enjoy the many different local desert birds, right along side the birds that make the warm salt waters they home. Despite the eyesore that is this mine, the wildlife continues to thrive in this harsh environment.

Mountain Lions 100

Mountain Lions Mules Sheep Lions 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

.* So, it’s a good thing that Ediciones Nuevos Mundo, the publishing arm of The Friendship Association, published Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Guide by Nils Navarro, Cuban wildlife artist and naturalist , earlier this year. Navarro’s exceptional drawings illustrate the species accounts. Forty-eight species.

Cuba 224

Cuba Birds United States 2000 224

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2016

This is the lesson I learned at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival back in January when a young birder, Noah Kuck, let me know that he really wanted to see a Carolina Wren. Because Carolina Wrens are common and easy to see, right? It should be no problem to get one to come out for a view, right? I spished.

North Dakota 116

North Dakota Birds Florida Wildlife 116

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 29, 2012

I’ll admit that I rarely reach 20 bird species a day, especially this time of year. This weekend, however, I needed to take my mind off all those gaudy birds Corey was scoping down at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. Plus, the time was finally right for me to savor a local slice of that southern Snowy Owl invasion.

2012 162

2012 Birds Medical Owls 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2015

Excellent 10,000 Birds posts have been written about Pico Bonito and Honduras by Corey and Carlos , so I’m going to focus on some of my most memorable experiences. I would have known this right away if I was up to date on my Alexander Skutch. Which is why seeing them was such a great experience. We may have been wrong.

Honduras 242

Honduras Birds Costa Rica Groups 242

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

Newly surrounded by wildlife, he found his love of birds reignited. In my experience non-birders connect with the travel, visiting beautiful places and spectacle of birding and hawkwatching often entails all three. In many states the best chance you have of seeing many of these and other bird species are at a hawkwatch.

Bald Eagle 232

Bald Eagle Los Angeles Connecticut Eagles 232

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2014

The Lodge at Pico Bonito is an inviting, idyllic place for relaxation as well as for enjoying wildlife. Lovely Cotinga is the flagship species at Pico Bonito, where it is perhaps easier to see than anywhere else within its range. More than 400 species have been recorded at the lodge to date. Photo by James Adams.

Honduras 162

Honduras Monkeys Birds America 162

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Since 2009, International Bird Rescue has released over 1,100 California Brown Pelicans with blue bands from their wildlife hospitals! If you spot one of these blue banded birds, you can help by reporting it and contribute to this important citizen science project helping the conservation of this amazing species.

Bird Rescue 190

Bird Rescue Pelicans Rescue Birds 190

10,000 Birds

APRIL 28, 2017

Instead it’s one you’re likely to turn to on coming home after a long day to find out a bit more about one of the species you spotted – or to consult before a trip to learn the little quirks of a target species. Fish and Wildlife Service. Karlson, $26.00, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

North America 102

North America Falcons America Eagles 102

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

Right: Robert McCormick, by Stephen Pearce. Unlike Darwin, who was a self-funded gentleman naturalist on board, McCormick was bound to the Beagle by his duties and was furious that a civilian passenger on board had usurped his rightful position as ship’s naturalist. There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region.

Russia 165

Russia Penguins Whales Whaling 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2018

Now, dont get me wrong, there have been some nice birds, and locations in between, but these two experiences are just so hard to put out of my mind. While there were way less Puffins than any of the other species, they are still so much fun to see. The boat Captain got us right in close. Total Scotland Species – 105.

Puffins 100

Puffins Wildlife Reserve 2003 Farming 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2014

In simplest terms it is where the landfast ice meets the open ocean, and it is a magnet for wildlife, especially in the 24 hour light of the Arctic spring. Wildlife concentrates at the Floe Edge, and although we just missed Narwhal as pack ice moved in just after we arrived, the place was littered with Polar Bear. Ringed Seal.

Polar Bears 185

Polar Bears Seals Bears Laws 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

Turns out, Monday brought more than a little rain, and we got soaked as we explored the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge along the ocean. Someone had told me a group of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers called this patch of forest home, and we were determined to find out if he was right.

North Carolina 169

North Carolina Alligators Wildlife Woodpeckers 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2012

Tom Dunkerton tipped me off to an area on the Black Merritt National Wildlife Refuge where some of my target birds can be seen. The Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival occurs every year at the end of January in Titusville. Not so much anymore, but certainly this is a specialty species anywhere within it’s range.

Florida 166

Florida South Dakota Sparrows Wildlife 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

I don’t really know – from my own experience with school bullies or from Jack London’s novels? Not sure that I impressed them, I chose to bluff them and looked left and right for a suitable tree branch to pick. Cactus finch, Geospiza species. Galapagos cactus finch, Geospiza species. How did I know that?

Animal 114

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 114

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2011

By age 2 she could identify over 10 species of birds in our Johannesburg, South Africa, yard by call alone. Reading to your kids before they go to bed is an easy and simple way to subtly put birding right into their sub-conscious. Birding with your children starts right in your backyard. And perhaps 20 others by sight.

Birds 276

Birds Game Wildlife Family 276

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

Even people with no other interest in wildlife, who couldn’t tell a sparrow from an ostrich (or even a dolphin from a fish) love dolphins. I had my first swim with Inshore Bottlenose Dolphins in Northland’s Bay of Islands back in 2000, and it was a tripy experience. Which has always mystified me slightly.

Dolphins 154

Dolphins Sharks New Zealand Albatross 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Mostly the ducks were Red-breasted Merganser and Greater Scaup , the two most prevalent species on the pond, but there were a few other birds mixed in as well. Either way, it was a heck of a sight and another example of why Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is the best place in New York City to see amazing wildlife spectacles.

Ducks 168

Ducks 2011 Jamaica New York 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Growing up in central Oregon, allowed me to experience such a diverse amount of habitat, and the wildlife that resides there. This small group of Pronghorn Antelope were right at the refuge entrance. Home to over 200 species, this amazing area is quite susceptible to the amount of rainfall each year.

Sheep 111

Sheep Oregon Mules Livestock 111

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2011

For many birders a highlight of birding the southeastern United States, maybe even the definitive birding experience of the region, is taking in the great numbers and diversity of long-legged wading birds. It was all to easy to catch opportunities for inter-species interactions, like the one below consisting of four species of fish-eaters.

South Carolina 157

South Carolina Alligators Florida United States 157