10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

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. The only mammals of the day were feral Nutrias (Coypus), aquatic rodents originally from southern South America released from the bankrupt fur-farms and well established here.

Geese 168

Geese Hunting Boars Birds 168

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

It’s not fecal material, but parts that are not digestible like fur, bones and the exoskeletons of insects. Many are familiar with dissecting owl pellets, but several birds will caste a pellet including hawks, eagles, gulls, herons and heck, I once witnessed a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher hack up a small one.

Bats 199

Bats Dissection Owls Minnesota 199

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

Secondly, New Zealand had already experienced on wave of extinction due to the introduction or rats and human hunting. Useful species were ones you could eat, or hunt, or preferably both, which is why New Zealand had several species of deer, the alpine goat-antelopes known as the Chamois and the Himalayan Tahr introduced.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2012

Graceful Honeyeater ( Meliphaga gracilis ) Metallic Starling colony ( Aplonis metallica ) I got my Platypus just before dark; it was much smaller than I expected but utterly enthralling as it hunted along the river bank. The highlight of the night was a Striped Possum, a large squirrel sized possum with black and white striped fur.

Possums 170

Possums Guinea Marsupials Rats 170