10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2012

Around thirty miles from Missoula in the Bitterroot Valley lies the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. Fish and Wildlife Service a. Terry McEneaney did a spectactular job as guide, and meeting the local Audubon Society crew for the first time was a lot of fun. I’m ready to declare it now – spring is here.

Wildlife 165

Wildlife Montana Geese Bald Eagle 165

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

E.g. I remember trying to enter my local scrubland once, just across the car park behind the last apartment building and there, awaiting me, was a territorial pack of stray dogs barking at an intruder – me. At some stage, a salmon-hunting bear at a shingle beach came too close, mere 9 steps. How did I know that?

Animal 114

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 114

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The problem of free-roaming cats — and their predation on birds and other wildlife — is hotly contested in communities across the country, and it triggered a lively exchange in the hearing room. Cats are domesticated animals that are not indigenous wildlife in North America.

Feral Cats 202

Feral Cats Feral Cats Minneapolis 202

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2011

Long-eared Owl – This is another owl species that was, like most winters, not seen in Queens (though tantalizing second-hand reports of one at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge during the Brooklyn CBC reached me). Though the boat departed from Nassau County we strayed into Queens for a good portion of the trip.

Jamaica 156

Jamaica Owls 2010 New York City 156