10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2014

But while one a whale-watching trip with his family on Saturday and seeing only Herring Gulls at the back of the boat for a good half-hour, he heard Desi, his four-and-a-half-year-old son, pipe up with “There’s a Laughing Gull ! I was pleasantly surprised at the prevalence of American Redstarts in those woods.

2014 163

2014 Whales Whaling New York 163

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2014

The list kinds crystalized during my first big trip, on which I knocked off my two big targets (the manta ray and whale shark) but since then beyond seeing an antelope (and then many other different kinds), it hasn’t budged much at all. A beaked whale. Any beaked whale. Hammerhead shark.

Sharks 173

Sharks Leopards Whales Whaling 173

Critter News

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Do whales deserve constitutional protection against slavery? PETA went on to request that the whales be freed and released to a habitat better suited to their needs. Well, it's still historic and precedent-setting. Here's hoping we see more of these legal challenges. Full story posted on Global Animal and from the Huffington Post.

PETA 100

PETA San Diego Whales Whaling 100

4 The Love Of Animals

JANUARY 26, 2012

Big Miracle is a film inspired by the true story of a small town news reporter (played by John Krasinski) and an animal-loving volunteer (played by Drew Barrymore) who are joined by rival world superpowers to save a family of majestic gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Whale Plush.

Whales 100

Whales Whaling Alaska 2012 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2016

A little longer than its predecessor (by eight pages to be exact), the East Coast guide is your handy dandy, pocket-sized, all-in-one guide to the seabirds, marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, and other creatures you are likely to encounter on pelagics or whale watching trips, from Bar Harbor, Maine to Ponce de Leon Inlet, Florida.

Pennsylvania 168

Pennsylvania Texas Whales Whaling 168

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2021

Chacachacare was also the site of a US Army base, a leper colony, and before that, a whaling station. Making ourselves comfortable on a small ridge overlooking the salt ponds, we had our sandwiches as we enjoyed views of a Northern Waterthrush and a small family of Bicolored Conebills working the vegetation. Northern Scrub Flycatcher.

Trinidad 177

Trinidad Netherlands Columbus Whales 177

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2014

That’s right, I, along with my family and some really good friends, was camping. But my favorite sighting of the weekend was a whole family of Eastern Phoebes , four fledglings and at least one adult, that I found hanging around a small patch of trees and brush near the beach. You’ll remember Javi from whale-watching.

New York 175

New York Cooking Chipmunks Owls 175

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2013

Another new Queens bird for Corey!)

New York City 170

New York City 2013 New York Nashville 170

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2020

I come from a family where the worse the situation, the faster and more furiously the wisecracks fly, so I suppose I’m hardwired to look for humor. The book is darkly funny. Why did you decide it was important to find humor in Luna’s experience? I can’t write stories that are unrelentingly grim. I just can’t take it.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 258

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Eagles Wildlife 258

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

Elephants, whales, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and alligators use low-frequency sounds to communicate over long distances, often miles; and bats, dolphins, whales, frogs, and various rodents use high-frequency sounds to find food, communicate with others, and navigate. A Grateful Whale.

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2016

If you aren’t the one driving it’s worth keeping an eye out for Southern Right Whales wintering in the bay (the road is rather to twisty to be looking if you’re driving). The coastal road from the suburbs is spectacular, winding along hills overlooking the bay through fynbos (the endemic scrubland).

South Africa 124

South Africa Penguins Africa Whales 124

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

Another native bird that quickly showed itself to me in the capital was the Polynesian Triller , a member of the cuckoo-shrike family. The hotel we stayed on was on the shore, from which you could watching passing seabirds, including serene White Terns , as well as summering Humpback Whales!

Tonga 163

Tonga Fiji New Zealand Parrots 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Furthermore we have another very special stork-like bird, the regal Shoebill , previously known as the Whale-headed Stork but now placed in its own family. This colossal bird is now placed in its own family Balaenicipitidae and it forms an ancient link between storks and pelicans.

Africa 241

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 241

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

This relatively new technique has been used to study relationships among and within several groups of mammals, including lagamorphs (rabbits and hares), rodents, and cetaceans (whales and dolphins), but I couldn’t find many references to its application in avian systematics yet.

Parrots 191

Parrots Falcons Indonesia Rodents 191

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

I took a gamble and got the family out on a (socially-distanced) whale-watching boat on the 12th and was rewarded, finally, with my Queens Great Shearwater ! At the end of summer we took a family trip to Cape Cod and on the way home a Black-throated Gray Warbler was reported at Jamaica Bay on 4 September. Two-for-two!

New York City 151

New York City Birds New York Blackbirds 151

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2014

In California I smelt the breath a Blue Whale as it passed feet beneath my boat. Ugandan Mangabeys were part of my family once. In Belize I cruised above reefs few people had ever seen. You may not get the species counts that the race delivers, but you’ll have memories burned into your skull.

Uganda 161

Uganda Sharks Africa New Zealand 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

People ascribe near mythic status to the members of the family Delphinidae (and other related families). Even people with no other interest in wildlife, who couldn’t tell a sparrow from an ostrich (or even a dolphin from a fish) love dolphins. Which has always mystified me slightly.

Dolphins 155

Dolphins Sharks New Zealand Albatross 155

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

So much so that the two species are placed within their own family, Chaetopidae. And from July through to December one can sit and watch Cape Rockjumpers, whilst a dozen or so Southern Right Whales propel their massive bodies clean out of the water, then belly-flopping with thunderous amounts of spray.

South Africa 244

South Africa Penguins Birds Africa 244

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Artists rendition of Inkayacu paracasensis There are 17 living species of penguins, which make up their own Linnean family (Spheniscidae), which is the only family in the order Sphenisciformes. They eat only seafood, including fish, squid, krill and other organisms. Salas-Gismondi, R., Altamirano, A., Shawkey, M., D’Alba, L.,

Penguins 192

Penguins Seals Peru Science 192

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2012

Birds arrive, and immediately start the business of breeding, so they can raise a family and be gone before winter arrives. Birds like American Coots and Long-eared Owls in Arviat, to Bald Eagles in Whale Cove. The first migrants arrive in a trickle and then in June everything seems to appear.

Bald Eagle 171

Bald Eagle Breeding Raised Whales 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2011

Having flown to Washington State on a family vacation the first obstacle was easily out of the way, which you knew already if you ever read this blog. There was no pretending this was a whale-watching trip, a ruse that is growing stale anyway. when the puffin flew past, a bird that the whole family can appreciate.

Washington 171

Washington Protection Puffins Rhinoceros 171

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 30, 2013

We had a family picnic at Fort Tilden less than two weeks after my last set of predictions and a single Purple Martin was flying low over the fields with Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows. Cory’s Shearwater – 06 Oct 2013 – Going on a whale-watching trip with my family really paid off. Number 300 in Queens!

2012 158

2012 2013 New York City Jamaica 158

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2017

I started the year in Florida, traveled to India with the ABA in February, combined family and birding in an August trip to California, and in-between saw very good birds in New York and New Jersey. I tested the waters before my California pelagic, with a brief Atlantic Ocean voyage, a whale watching trip from Montauk, N.Y.

2016 110

2016 India Ducks Birds 110

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

It is acceptable to point out other sea creatures–dolphins or whales or dragonflies–but the main goal is the observation and identification of the birds. Not all of the group introductions go into this much depth, but they all provide clues for separating out that specific family from other possibilities.

Ducks 233

Ducks Groups Species North America 233

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2011

Nice. ((** all names have been changed to protect identities and have been substituted with (almost) randomly chosen substitutes suitable for a family of Alpine Accentors.)) Dale studied scarlet macaws, and worked in their conservation, for three years in southern Costa Rica, followed by a year in the Caribbean working on Whale Sharks.

2011 212

2011 Breeders Breeding Deer 212

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

Large areas of the islands are taken over as the breeding grounds of the Western Gull , a large bird that is without question the most ornery member of the family I have ever encountered. A great place to watch whales and pelagic seabirds. And it isn’t just on the ground or an occasional accidental hazard. Note about images.

Breeding 182

Breeding Stray Seals Whales 182