10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2012

My experience would have it that the pre-Christmas period is filled with an urgency to try get everything done at work that desperately needs to be taken care of, attend a million Christmas get-togethers, and racing about through crowded shopping districts. This is pure legend and folklore.

2011 179

2011 Mongoose Thailand Birds 179

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

I savor the timeless experience of scanning these tropical waves for storm-petrels and lost jaegers. I have found myself listening to babbler songs and wondering which ones I may have heard in the distant forests of Thailand. Of course, unless you live on Venus, we all know that this year is far from normal and so is the birding news.

Costa Rica 212

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Farming 212

4 The Love Of Animals

JULY 11, 2011

Steve dons a camouflage suit for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that gets him closer to a wild leopard than he ever hoped. Also airing tonight, Thailand’s Killer Cats! Africa’s big cats are among the most iconic predators. Steve travels to Namibia, a land of rolling dunes, sand and plenty of dangerous wildlife.

Cats 100

Cats Leopards Namibia Lions 100

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2011

With a dose of luck, we had one Black Bittern fly overhead (I got one ghastly ID photo) – evidently the typical observation experience for this species. So I couldn’t make it through an entire post about birding in Thailand without having at least one photo of a bee-eater, broadbill, kingfisher or pitta.

Thailand 170

Thailand Birds Parrots Breeding 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2012

It’s the warbler that is often the last unchecked species on birders’ life lists and, whether you list or not, for most of us observing it is a once in a lifetime experience. Let me know if you have seen the Kirtland’s Warbler, if you were part of the Magee Marsh experience or if you made the trip to Mio, and what that birding trip was like.

Michigan 228

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 228

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2014

Carlos chose a pigeon that pretty much everyone should want to see: My best bird of the year came right at the beginning of January as I was wrapping up my travels in Thailand. The experience, the place, and the bird combine to make this my BBOTY. Larry’s BBOTY – Great Gray Owl.

2014 188

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2019

This guide describes the 125 best birding sites for both common and rare species, covering Myanmar, Thailand, Laos (officially Lao PDR), Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Timor Leste. As a rule, I like second editions better. Whatever was omitted or incorrect in the first is fixed in the second.

Asia 225

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 225

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2019

My review copy (well, actually a contributor’s copy—more on that later) was waiting for me when I returned from the ABA birding tour of Thailand and Malaysia (more on that in a separate post) in early March. As I expected, there is a lot to talk about here. He has an academic background in German and medieval studies, including a Ph.D.

North America 147

North America Sparrows America United States 147

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

Gorman’s personal field experience informs much of the text and his total grasp of the field means he relates one research finding to another with narrative ease. I do wish that Gorman included more of his personal experiences and stories in the natural history tradition of ornithologists like Alexander Skutch.

Woodpeckers 233

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 233

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Some of those “statistical errors” came as surprises to me, e.g. Cuba, Bolivia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Thailand (this is also a clear message to their tourism boards to invest more into promoting avitourism). If I were answering those same questions, my answers would probably be Ecuador, Uganda and Thailand. What would be your choices?

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2019

Perhaps you don’t know it yet, but with more than 1000 bird species, palm-fringed sandy beaches, developed tourism infrastructure, moderate prices and political stability, Thailand is a country you definitively want to visit. Binoculars and a field guide, perhaps a scope and anti-leech hiking socks too. Everything else is secondary.

Thailand 188

Thailand Zambia Birds Asia 188

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

This species seems to frequently join mixed-species flocks – in research in Thailand, the species was found in 20% of the mixed-species flocks. On the plus side, it looks rather funny when wet.

China 147

China Vietnam Birds Monkeys 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2012

On the way I managed to sneak in a manic day of birding in and around the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. I must confess I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, as the related Australian White Ibis is something of a trash bird in Sydney, but this species is extremely rare in Thailand or for that matter South East Asia.

Thailand 153

Thailand New Zealand Terrapins Asia 153

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

The Jewel Hunter is heavily laced with Gooddie’s particular brand of broad ironic humor, and I did enjoy that, but I would have traded about 10 percent for a little more insight into the unexpected outcomes of his experience. Dale Forbes wrote that there are Only 5 pairs Gurney’s Pitta left in Thailand last June.

Hunters 192

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 192

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Insofar as they relate to other bird families, they are perhaps closest to the thornbills, another family that is mostly Australian but reaches as far as Thailand and Fiji. Pardalotes are actually their own family, and a family entirely endemic to Australia. So let’s hear it for the wonderful pardalotes!

Australia 171

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2011

This is exactly how I remember the experience: dark forest with little dapples of sunlight and crazy birds everywhere. One day I will get some time to sort through all my images and collect out the good ones and post-process them as they deserve to be treated… You can read A Bird Photo Hide in Thailand (part 1) here.

Thailand 166

Thailand Birds Asia Collecting 166

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2024

I don’t remember where I first learned about Elizabeth Gould–possibly when I was birding Doi Angkhang, Thailand and saw a stunning little bird named Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird–but I have been fascinated by her story and her art for the past five years. 168-168).

Australia 186

Australia Birds Europe Collecting 186

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2020

I was trying to find that answer for a while and it turned into a very annoying experience. Thailand 1065 18. Birds of Thailand field guide review. The first information necessary to start planning your travels is how many birds can be seen in each country. Which countries topped the list? India 1341 10.

Uganda 248

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 248

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2011

Many a birding trip starts with a longish drive from the airport to the first birding site with these common roadside birds being the first taste you get of a country’s wildlife, and I feel that many bird trip reports, interested mostly in mega-rarities, gloss over the amazing experience this first drive can give.

New Zealand 174

New Zealand Birds Thailand Falcons 174