10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2012

Western Screech-Owl ( Megascops kennicottii ) photos by Larry Jordan It’s been an interesting winter in my neck of the woods. Birders in Northern California have been treated to rare sightings of several species, sending avid twitchers from all over the west in our direction.

Owls 176

Owls California Jordan Sparrows 176

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

I briefly entertained the idea that I had found a rare species never before seen in New York but quickly came to my senses and realized that I was dealing with a leucistic individual. Leucism “is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals and humans.&# Central Park White-Throated Sparrow Slaty-backed Gull (?)

Ducks 150

Ducks 2011 Jamaica Deer 150

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2011

juvenile Parasitic Jaeger by Larry Jordan Jochen enjoyed a plover : My Best Bird of the Year is a White-tailed Lapwing I “twitched” in Germany in June. This year I watched them from the day they arrived , until two chicks successfully hatched, the northernmost breeding record for the species.

2011 176

2011 Birds South Korea North Dakota 176

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2013

Sure, they may lack the audacious colors of jays or the imposing attitudes of raptors, but it is wrens, with jaunty tails and brazen attitudes and ringing, rambling voices, that re on anyone’s short list of favorite garden birds for almost as long as humans have paid attention to birds. Bicolored Wren , photo by Scott Winton.

Jordan 190

Jordan Birds North America Tenant 190

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. Birders know that the light’s not always perfect or even particularly good when you’re trying to tell one species from another. Speculation is useless in acts of vandalism. It may be as simple as trying to hit the big white one. The big white one. It flies on.

2011 239

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 239

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2012

Humans are hardly the only organisms that look for more in prospective mates than just loyalty, kindness, and a great sense of humor. And it’s no wonder, considering how millions of years of evolution have bred species with the capacity to command a room well before they enter it, if you know what I mean! inches long.

Pelicans 169

Pelicans Birds Jordan Asia 169