10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

It was on the side of the road in a field at Blue Chip Farm, a large horse farm near the town of Wallkill. In 2004, in a long anticipated decision, the American Ornithologists’ Union decided that the tiniest types of the Canada Goose were actually a completely separate species – the Cackling Goose , Branta hutchinsii.

Geese 162

Geese Horse Farm Canada Farming 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2014

discovered that the usual flock of several thousand Pink-footed Geese was wintering in the Broads National Park. In my native Serbia, I’ve observed this species in winter only once, while here in East Anglia every site held one. Two Common Snipes , one Brown Hare and… geese! Pink-footed Geese (c) Wikipedia Commons.

Geese 218

Geese Barn Owls Serbia Sheep 218

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2014

It was the only real highlight at Shinnecock for we two jaded birders, though we did appreciate seeing all three scoters, a whole bunch of Common Eiders , both species of scaup, some Great Cormorants , and a bunch of Red-breasted Mergansers. all three of the Greater White-fronted Geese we spotted with a bunch of Canada Geese.

New York 176

New York Geese Canada New York City 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2018

Well in advance of my visit, he offered to give me a tour of “The Farm”, otherwise known as the Melbourne Waster Treatment Ponds. We did a long morning at The Farm, then, a quick trip to Little River, yes the name sake of the 70’s rock band. So, here are a few of my favorites, and some photos to go along with the short highlights list.

New Zealand 126

New Zealand Farming Falcons Ducks 126

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2018

Serbia has 317 eBirded species so far, or 89% of the 356 in the national checklist. The country has one eBird hotspot with 200+ and 48 with more than 100 bird species. The country has one eBird hotspot with 200+ and 48 with more than 100 bird species. Spring migration March to April , 270 eBirded species.

Serbia 164

Serbia Geese Owls Macedonia 164

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Only the car-park down the hill has parking with flat access to the walking trails and the car-park on the other side of the village heading towards Whitton is much larger, but requires you to walk down a permissive path through the farm down some steps to join the trail. Greylag Geese on the move. and several Black-tailed Godwits.

Geese 140

Geese Australia 2006 Investigation 140

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

eBird doesn’t offer such an option, so I used the second best: the species was observed in one month only. Lesser White-fronted Geese, of course. What qualifies a bird to be included in the top-5? My first criterion was that I observed it only once during the year 2018. Then 20 more joined them, so I entered 100 in my notebook.

2018 118

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 118

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2014

The second is to get an accurate account of species recorded, numbers of individuals seen, and effort exerted to record those birds. Fortunately, this year’s QCCBC had great, mild weather, a record fifty-three participants, and we tied our record for number of species seen with 124. and I had a pretty good day.

2005 154

2005 Birds Blackbirds Branding 154

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! This did open up the area to a few new species, like this Wilson’s Warbler. US species – 234. This was a first!

Albuquerque 125

Albuquerque New Mexico Mexico Sparrows 125

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2018

This 57,331 acre refuge was set aside as a critical wintering location for tens of thousands of Geese, Ducks and Sandhill Cranes. Much like my visit to Malheur NWR, the actual wet Land areas are flooded once the cooperative farming is over. The Little Big Year numbers up to this point are as follows: Little Big Year species – 908.

New Mexico 113

New Mexico Mexico Tucson Costa Rica 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2011

A self introduced native, it is very common in farmed areas and you’ll even have to swerve to miss them as they feed on roadkill! 5) Paradise Shelduck Paradise Shelduck female ( Tadorna variegata ) This species has striking differences between the sexes, with the female sporting bright white head and the male a black one.

New Zealand 179

New Zealand Birds Thailand Falcons 179

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Not that I don’t enjoy seeing new species myself, it’s just that they are an easy target and I am nothing if not lazy and mean spirited. This particular Common Wombat ( Vombatus ursinus ), family Vombatidae, was the first I ever saw of the species and family.

Family 164

Family Wombats Uganda Fiji 164

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2017

Another big change in twenty two years is the presence of distant wind farms in the North Sea as in the above photo. They have been recording bird species numbers and banding/ringing birds for many years with the initial roll call of bird species starting in 1938. They then used that to identify what they were looking at!

Blackbirds 100

Blackbirds 2016 2013 Sparrows 100

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2016

The reason the location is remaining undisclosed is that reliable Mangrove Cuckoos are difficult to find in the American Birding Association area and are a very sought after species. En route to our next stop we slowed down next to a park and spotted the now countable Egyptian Geese. We needed countable species! Only one cuckoo?

Florida 124

Florida Miami Birds Owls 124

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

In the darkening evening and rain, I found the goose among a flock of golf course Canada Geese. It is my goal to track down species for my Piedmont eBird Challenge team, and county birds are secondary, but they come in twos. I headed out to the corner of the county, a place I’d known from a survey I did on an organic farm.

2016 141

2016 North Carolina 2015 Raleigh 141

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2014

I am certainly not complaining though, as a repetitive working routine that will lead to around 500 species a year is better than the working routine I had in the late 2000′s, where seeing more than 250 species a year would have been extraordinary. See more than 500 species. See more than 20 lifers. The Birding Diary.

2014 145

2014 France Germany Indonesia 145

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 25, 2008

And it is not just at the slaughterhouses but at the factory farms where these animals are tortured from the very beginning of their lives to the horrible end. What we do to animals shows how we feel about other species. The vast number of meat eaters brake for geese, call the A.S.P.C.A. Peters Paso Robles, Calif.,

New York Times 40

New York Times New York 2008 Factory Farm 40