10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Nowhere else in Africa do the preconceived ideas of the continent really exist in such living detail; tall, red-robed Maasai herding their skinny cattle, endless grasslands studded with flat-topped Acacia trees and grazed by herds of zebras and wildebeest, and dramatic volcanic calderas brimming with big game and fierce predators!

Tanzania 228

Tanzania Africa Stud Leopards 228

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2016

I was planning a trip to South Africa, I had about five days to fill, I wanted to get a bunch of desert species (particularly the Springbok – not a bird) in a way that wasn’t too hard to reach from Johannesburg. But I think it should be on the list of anyone that wants a knockout experience to share with non-birders.

South Africa 159

South Africa Leopards Giraffes Africa 159

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2014

When going on an overseas birding trip, many serious birders want to leave the city as soon possible in search of endemic or rare species in remote wilderness. Second, urban parks can be reliable sites for some species that are generally rare or hard to see elsewhere. Zebra Dove. Why do I like urban birding? Yellow Bittern.

Thailand 166

Thailand Zebras Birds Sparrows 166

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2012

It spent its visit at the Golf Course with the Masked Lapwings Vanellus miles and the previous visit by the species had been in February 2008 and prior to that September 2005. There have been a lot of different birds around this year for various reasons, which mainly involve the climatic changes we experience from year to year.

2014 155

2014 Zebras 2005 2008 155

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2011

So defined, bird songs are the sounds, often but not always loud and musical, that (mostly) male birds make as part of that species’ mating system. These are sonograms representing the song of four Zebra Finches. Imagine starting with two sets of Zebra Finch hatchlings. The top two are individuals with normal song.

Zebras 261

Zebras Birds Humane Raised 261

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

This juvenile Brown Goshawk spent an hour standing in the water source that is very popular with the Double-barred Finches and Zebra Finches that visit our garden. You wonder how some species even know the water is present, but we would never complain… especially when such great birds as Buff-banded Rails drop by!

Birds 162

Birds Zebras Australia Breeding 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

There’s a little hint of white in the malar and throat too, which would seem to be a problem for the species Black- chinned Sparrow. As the old saying goes, “when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras” This is not an easy bird, but it is expected. New Jersey mystery sparrow.

New Jersey 233

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 233

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

I don’t really know – from my own experience with school bullies or from Jack London’s novels? Cactus finch, Geospiza species. Galapagos cactus finch, Geospiza species. Zebra finch, Taeniopygia (Poephila) guttata. How did I know that? The most interesting and least likely possibility is, I knew it by instinct.

Animal 115

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 115

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

But my long wait to see antelope, zebras and everything in between is finally over. Volunteering provides a very different experience to tourism though. You may not get the species counts that the race delivers, but you’ll have memories burned into your skull. In the Bahamas I swam in a pod of feeding dolphins.

Uganda 162

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2013

Redgannet was originally conceived as a way to encourage my colleagues (in case you haven’t read the profile, I work as a flight attendant for an international airline) out of the shops and their hotel rooms to experience something that the local natural scene has to offer. My favourite site in Singapore is Paser Ris.

Singapore 161

Singapore Woodpeckers Parrots Zebras 161

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

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. The little – the two species of black Buffalo Weavers obtain their appellation from their dark coloration that resembles their fearsome namesake.

Buffalo 213

Buffalo Rhinoceros Elephants Leopards 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2014

Betty’s Bay was also a great place to see all of South Africa’s cormorant species, including the endangered Bank Cormorant. We observed far fewer Lesser Flamingos, a near-threatened species. It was the first of six bustard species I would see over the course of both trips. And then there were the Flamingos.

South Africa 254

South Africa Africa Leopards Penguins 254