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

APRIL 2, 2019

I like observing them, reading about them, grappling with species and subspecies identification, and even—on a good day—talking about sparrow taxonomy. Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America covers 61 species of the New World sparrow family Passerellidae that breed in Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.

North America 143

North America Sparrows America United States 143

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. I also blogged about that dreamy day.

2014 184

2014 Costa Rica South Africa Birds 184

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. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species list. The warbler is on the road to being delisted from the Endangered Species List.

Michigan 223

Michigan Bahamas Endangered Species Research 223

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 169

Thailand Birds Parrots Breeding 169

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. The 125 Best Bird Watching Sites in Southeast Asia, edited by Yong Ding Li & Low Bing Wen.

Asia 221

Asia Laos Myanmar Indonesia 221

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

It’s a unique bird, even its scientific name is wonderful, so it’s not surprising that Gerard Gorman, Woodpecker Expert Supreme, has written a book all about the species. I was surprised to learn that there are two Wryneck species in the Jynx genus: Eurasian Wryneck, Jynx torquilla, and Red-throated Wryneck, Jynx ruficollis.

Woodpeckers 227

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand 2014 227

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

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

The title of the one just mentioned starts with “Intimacy across species boundaries” … The Spot-necked Babbler is “shy and social”, according to eBird, which sounds a bit like a contradiction to me. ”, in which the Red-whiskered Bulbul is named as one of the two most heavily targeted bird species.

China 147

China Vietnam Birds Monkeys 147

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. Among them are 20 endemics and near-endemics, and 58 vagrant species. And what do you need to pack?

Thailand 183

Thailand Zambia Birds Asia 183

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. The flowerpecker, an attractive species, was actually responsible for Peter becoming a birder in the first place! Our next species was decidedly uncommon, a Black-headed Ibis circled overhead for a minute before flying off.

Thailand 153

Thailand New Zealand Terrapins Asia 153

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

And, to give his dream year a little more oomph, he created a grand once-in-a-lifetime goal: to track down and see every pitta species in the world in one year. Some of his finds are the first documented records of the bird in that area or the first decent photograph of a little-known species. And mosquitos.

Hunters 188

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2014

There were two species there, even, of a type I had never heard of. 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. You’ll find pardalotes over most of Australia, but only four species in all.

Australia 170

Australia Fiji Hunters Family 170

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.

Australia 180

Australia Birds Europe Collecting 180

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2020

Will the threatened species make it through if there are no birding tourists to make those birds and their habitats valuable to local people just the way they are (as opposed to tropical timber)? What will be left of birding tourism? I was trying to find that answer for a while and it turned into a very annoying experience.

Uganda 242

Uganda Bolivia Ecuador Indonesia 242

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 173

New Zealand Birds Thailand Falcons 173