Animal Person

MARCH 18, 2009

The site was where northern Kazakhstan is now, the culture was called Botai and the date was around 3500 B.C. Among all the animal species on this planet, humans have domesticated only a handful. And that fact gives rise to a thought-experiment. The Botai did not just herd horses for meat.

Experience 100

Experience Experiments Horses Transported 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2011

The Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita is an abundant species with an impressive global range that stretches from the West of Europe across Siberia to Russia’s far East, just falling short of reaching the Bering Straits by a laughable 800 kilometres, a fact one individual apparently found too awkward to bear. canariensis ).

Kazakhstan 156

Kazakhstan Europe Russia Asia 156

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2017

I was given my first real field guide to the birds of Europe by my parents, a guide beyond the species found at backyard feeders and city ponds. In 1996, during my university days at Greifswald, I was invited to join an excursion to eastern Kazakhstan, travelling along the Chinese border from Almaty to lake Zaissan and back.

Europe 100

Europe Birds Kazakhstan Russia 100

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

MAY 11, 2013

Both of our redpoll species, Common Redpolls and Hoary Redpolls , have nice pink coloration. Both species are wonderful birds and every winter I hope that it will be an irruption year so that I can spot redpolls again. It took a trip to Kazakhstan to see more pink finches.

Kazakhstan 152

Kazakhstan New York United States 2006 152

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 15, 2012

It was a heart-pounding scene straight out of Jurassic Park, an odd experience for a laid-back pursuit like birding. This bird represented only the second documented record of this species in Florida. This may sound mundane, but my Best Bird of the Year is a species we all know quite well in one form or another.

2012 143

2012 Birds Guatemala Florida 143