10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

In my experience, I’ve noted how birders, particularly newer birders, can have a tendency to jump to conclusions when they see any sort of bird that doesn’t match up perfectly with the picture in the field guide. New Jersey mystery sparrow.

New Jersey 214

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2016

Perhaps the best experience of the two days I spend offshore was not a bird, but a mammal. The depths of the North Atlantic are unknown and, in many ways, unknowable. Even in light winds, Black-capped Petrels are effortless and amazing. Pomarine Jaegers, some with long tail spoons, kept us company most of the second day.

Whales 100

Whales Whaling North Carolina Mammals 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2021

The six chapters that follow explore bird communication in mating; defending territory; rearing children; responding to predators; interacting with neighbors and functioning in large groups; and communicating successfully in a noisy human world. There is so much here! I do wish there was more about research on female bird song.

North America 278

North America Research Birds Groups 278

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

The general public is out and about, birds and animals are raising their young, and human/wildlife interaction is at its peak. Got to finish browsing for the fawns and collecting chiggers,” wrote Becky, from an island off North Carolina. It’s August, and first on the menu is: Fried Rehabber. Summer is high season.

Wildlife 241

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 241

10,000 Birds

APRIL 1, 2014

The great crush of humanity that accompanies any visit to one of these world-famous destinations has never been my cup of tea. People, and by that I mean the general population, come to Orlando typically for one reason only. Amusement parks. It’s stressful, and can turn even the most mild-mannered civilian into a raging misanthrope.

Florida 173

Florida Rattlesnake North Carolina Ducks 173

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

There were ten students in total that had signed up for the spring break “Seabirds” course in Dry Tortugas National Park, and after long drives down from North Carolina we had all made it right on time. Throughout the next three full days I would experience all of the jobs that go along with proper bird banding.

Birds 174

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware 176

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 176