10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

At the snowy Danube riverbank, we are waiting for geese to come to their roost inside the mostly submerged island. A shot or two coming from the opposite bank, but they do not sound like geese shooting – more like boar hunting. A goose hunt sounds like a WWII battle. warns me of two locally rare Bean Geese.

Geese 171

Geese Hunting Boars Birds 171

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

A Great Egret , a few Pygmy Cormorants and, by the middle of the Danube, about a hundred Greylag Geese. Two hundred yards further, the first Common Goldeneye and Smew started to appear and, while counting Smew and geese, a Great Bittern took flight from one stand of reeds to another, right in front of us.

Geese 141

Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 141

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2012

And if you have a small kid and are in the vicinity of some ducks and geese? The behavior could be especially disastrous for waterfowl, which are hunted by people, but less so for passerines, or perching birds, which regularly come into people’s bird feeders. Do you toss the bird your leftovers? Do you feed the birds then?

Birds 237

Birds New York City Fast Food Geese 237

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Here in New Zealand te only potential big tick would be a lost vagrant painted snipe, and we’ve already established that I don’t enjoy that kind of vagrant hunting. I’m fairly sure the only family I’m missing in Europe is the Wallcreeper (Tichodromadidae), assuming you don’t lump it with the nuthatches.

Family 162

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2014

Further north, we slow down by the ruins of an old farm… and yes, a Little Owl greets us with its ‘smiling’ face. We are going to the Sakule fish farm in the namesake village north of Belgrade – the very best wetland birdscape in the area. More of a hunt? Common Cranes. To be fully aware of one’s environment, fully awake?

Farming 232

Farming Serbia Europe India 232

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

The birds were right next to an old abandoned farm house, and seemed quite happy to have their photo taken, up to a point, but then like the wind, they were gone, out thru the flat desert areas of New Mexico! American Kestrels, Cooper Hawks , and Northern Harriers also found the hunting here to their liking. This was a first!

Albuquerque 120

Albuquerque New Mexico Mexico Sparrows 120

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

En route to our next stop we slowed down next to a park and spotted the now countable Egyptian Geese. Then he pointed out a Least Tern that came in to hunt for fish on the pond as if I would be assuaged with another bird that has “Least” in its name! Only one cuckoo?

Florida 116

Florida Miami Birds Owls 116