10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2018

Pea Island NWR (North Carolina). Fish & Wildlife Service. Laguna Atascosa NWR (Texas). Lee Metcalf NWR (Montana). Malheur NWR (Oregon). Minnesota Valley NWR (Minnesota). Ottawa NWR (Ohio). Parker River NWR (Massachusetts). Quivira NWR (Kansas). Santa Ana NWR (Texas). Marks NWR (Florida).

Wildlife 214

Wildlife Las Vegas Texas Minnesota 214

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2011

If the state of North Carolina is known for one thing in the greater birding world, it’s what goes on off of its central coast. Here’s the deal with North Carolina though, if you go far enough, the continental shelf gives way to the true deep ocean. But wait, he says, there’s more!

North Carolina 160

North Carolina North America Fish America 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 9, 2015

You do, however, see them in January in places like Florida and North Carolina. Images courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Is this a glitch, then, or part of a larger trend of later, lost-er, more lingering kingbirds? Obviously, one year cannot tell us.

New York 183

New York North Carolina Florida Fish 183

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2015

We were only a few miles from shore, so watching Ospreys and Bald Eagles return with fish from the Gulf was fascinating, as were the Double-crested Cormorants and Brown Pelicans that periodically flew overhead. Still, I wanted to see something particular, something colorful, something migratory. I have had a not-so-good warbler year.

Alabama 150

Alabama Bald Eagle North Carolina Woodpeckers 150

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

They are, after all, pervasive, but provided you get far enough east in North Carolina the salt air tends to disagree with all but the hardiest individuals of that unholy trilogy. They have a massive bill too, suited as it is for french fries, fish guts, and the occasional legitimately gotten Fiddler Crab.

North Carolina 185

North Carolina Fast Food Sparrows Birds 185

Critter News

NOVEMBER 21, 2008

A golden lab was rescued by a North Carolina fishing guide about a mile from land. It sounds like his owner left him in one boat while he went off fishing with a friend in another. Some commenters think the story is a hoax. But at least the story has a happy ending. Feliz Friday!

Rescue 100

Rescue North Carolina Tagged Animal Fish 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2012

My route is full of this I, of course, cannot be made to take the blame for either of these unfortunate “incidences” For the first, I blame the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Hardwood forest, some openings. I mean, really.

North Carolina 157

North Carolina Transported Morals Science 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2014

The Anchorage area hosts a number of far norther species I could never hope to see in North Carolina, and I quickly pulled together a list of targets and my friends made a plan. I’m not sure what I expected when I finally got a look at Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.

Alaska 167

Alaska Bears Grizzly Bear North Carolina 167

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2015

But the bird that most reminded me that I was south of home was the Brown-headed Nuthatch , which I had only seen before in North Carolina and Florida. They sure are a fun bird to watch and their rubber-ducky calls are distinctive and helpful in finding them. I really, really, really, wish we got to see these birds in New York.

Delaware 174

Delaware New York Birds North Carolina 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2012

One of the more exciting birds this summer in this little corner of North Carolina is undoubtedly the King Rail s that have been regularly reported in a still-water back-arm of Jordan Lake in Chatham County, just south of where I live.

Jordan 167

Jordan North Carolina Broker Woodpeckers 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2011

Many winter in Florida, admittedly something of a freak state when it comes to overwintering passerines, but a few Orioles can be found up the coast as far north as North Carolina, and the odd bird finds its way into the Piedmont, the part of the state, well inland mind you, where I live. The proposal from U.S.

North Carolina 140

North Carolina 2011 St. Louis Baltimore 140

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2015

White-crowned Sparrows are possible winter sightings where I live in North Carolina, but not at all common, while Savannah Sparrows has been one of my nemesis birds for quite some time. A lone Brown-Pelican was dive-bombing for fish, while a Red-throated Loon slipped beneath the waves and added another life bird to my list.

Seals 186

Seals Elephants Whales Whaling 186

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 18, 2014

Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the “Rufa” population of Red Knot ( Calidris canutus rufa ) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). From North Carolina south to Texas, just under half of beaches are developed. Birds in Delaware Bay. Photo: Gregory Breese-USFWS.

Endangered Species 160

Endangered Species Protection Delaware Species 160

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2011

Off the coast of North Carolina, and indeed anywhere in the southeastern United States, the surface is broken up with vast expanses of sargassum and gulfweed, species of brown algae that floats on the water in great aggregations looking like nothing so much as a perfectly manicured lawn.

United States 157

United States North Carolina Fish North America 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2013

Over the past two weeks, an incursion of Snowy Owls ( Bubo scandiacus ) has spread rapidly across the Great Lakes region and down the Atlantic Coast, as far south as North Carolina. This new analysis again suggested that Snowy Owls (and the fascinating fish-owls ) are embedded within the eagle-owl complex.

Owls 169

Owls Indonesia 2002 North Carolina 169

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

There were ten students in total that had signed up for the spring break “Seabirds” course in Dry Tortugas National Park, and after long drives down from North Carolina we had all made it right on time. Their feathers contain no oils, so if they ever fall into the sea they would be unable to dry off again and would most likely drown.

Birds 178

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 178

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

One bird, the authors discovered, flew 5,000 miles nonstop from southern Brazil to North Carolina. And, then consider giving this book as a gift to relatives and friends who may not be birders or naturalists, but who would enjoy learning more about the place where they summer or fish or once took a vacation.

Delaware 179

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2015

My friend Paul Taillie and I had to meet an intrepid bunch of birders for the inaugural Outer Banks Big Day field trip at the Wings Over Water festival in eastern North Carolina. We were setting the bar for what someone hitting all the good spots on North Carolina’s famous barrier islands could reasonably accomplish.

North Carolina 150

North Carolina Rattlesnake Sparrows Owls 150

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 23, 2013

Recently a baby was born in North Carolina with Trisomy 13, a chromosomal abnormality so severe most carriers die at birth. No buying invasive fish from the pet store and tossing them into a pond, where they will grow into behemoths and devour the native species. No balloons.

Wildlife 254

Wildlife Agenda North Carolina Raised 254

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2012

Not long ago I was down on the southern coast of North Carolina, staked out with a group of birders seawatching on a long concrete pier on Wrightsville Beach. Assuming that I would hear if the Pac Loon showed up, I turned to the quartet of turnstones working the pier for bits of fish scraps.

Agenda 158

Agenda North Carolina Ducks Groups 158

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2018

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has published a list of NWRs that have been created or expanded with Duck Stamp funds. Pea Island NWR (North Carolina): 99.2%. How important are 10,000 or 100,000 or even 1,000,000 acres and where are those acres anyhow? And the U.S. Lee Metcalf NWR (Montana): 96.3%. Ottawa NWR (Ohio): 83.8%.

Ducks 203

Ducks Wildlife Texas Hawaii 203