10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

I found those comments insightful and inspiring, valuable experiences and opinions worthy of sharing to a wider audience than the FB groups where they were initially posted. Natural Greece: “Empathy is important too. That way passing on his/her knowledge about 3/4 species and not just the one on show. Language skills too.”.

Greece 210

Greece Birds Zambia Experience 210

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 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

I was driving along the legendary eastern levee of the Kerkini Lake in northern Greece ( Google Map ) and, listening to the first Golden Oriole flute, was slowly getting closer to a wooded Mt. Out of some 4000 buffaloes still being kept in Greece, about 3000 are at this lake. What is the status of this species in the Kerkini NP?

Greece 197

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 197

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

eBird doesn’t offer such an option, so I used the second best: the species was observed in one month only. I counted them very roughly, but I do have a lot of experience estimating flocks. What qualifies a bird to be included in the top-5? My first criterion was that I observed it only once during the year 2018.

2018 118

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 118

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2014

Since I live not very far from Greece, I have often combined my vacation there with birding. I have a handful of Greece travel guides (not that I am happy with any of them), but what I always missed was a specialised bird-finding guide. Greece is visited by millions of tourists every year (over 19.5

Greece 225

Greece Birds Macedonia 2014 225

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2017

A few years back, I birded northern Greece with a couple from Namibia. The species he was thrilled to see was the Mute Swan. The species he was thrilled to see was the Mute Swan. Well, for me – no, but for Nicolaas, Mute Swans were a lifer species. All photos (6) by Vladimir Milovanovic.

Birds 125

Birds Namibia Greece Feral 125

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2024

All the so-called grey geese – Greylag, Bean, White-front, Lesser White-front, Swan – look very much alike, and it takes experience to identify them by their calls and their shape and size. As the BTO notes, wild vagrants are usually found mixed in with Brent and Barnacle – both typical carrier species.

Bulgaria 130

Bulgaria Geese Romania Estonia 130

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 1, 2019

Born in a different era, when bird photography was difficult, I gave many advice how to write the basic info, but the strangest thing to novices today turned out to be the advice on sketching the unknown species. Still, besides documenting rare species, forms, or odd individuals (e.g. Cover photo: birding Greece.

Birds 140

Birds Costa Rica Greece Battery 140

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2016

Unlike other bird races where participants keep tight-lipped about bird species as mundane as a House Sparrow , this event gives a prize to the team that helps the most. But isn’t all of that data sharing counterproductive for a bird race where the team with the most species wins? This is a Masked Shrike.

Costa Rica 177

Costa Rica Eagles Birds 177

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2022

In addition, it has over 450 bird species and more than 30 in-country endemics, of which it is possible to see every single species! Those large international agencies use reputable local ground agents, and in my experience this creates a safety cocoon around the travellers. Where to look for the birds?

Sri Lanka 147

Sri Lanka Ghana Uganda Eagles 147