10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2016

Late last month, while searching for bears , woodpeckers and spirits of Greece, I deliberately avoided checking any news, especially from my home country. We are facing a plague of poaching that is again decimating the species. Every now and then, I need to cut the world off and clear my mind. One may say so. And it gave me a hope.

Elephants 208

Elephants Botswana Zimbabwe Africa 208

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

Thanks to fortunate foresight, a lot of land was set aside in Costa Rica as national parks and protected areas (and some of these are easily accessed) but the best forest still happens to be at the terminus of the road and en route, you will be treated to species deficit birding in plenty of pastures. Lots of monkeys there too.

Costa Rica 256

Costa Rica San Jose Sharks Monkeys 256

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2011

For all its cultural ubiquity in New Zealand, actually seeing a wild kiwi is actually quite a challenging proposition for a birder. There are are presently thought to be five species of kiwi with a possible sixth extinct species, all of which have suffered varying degrees of range contraction since the arrival of humans.

New Zealand 157

New Zealand 2011 Deer New York 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Soon we were out of the protected harbour and into choppier waters, and here I have to say I suffered for about two hours from the dreaded affliction known as sea-sickness. The final large petrel species is another gadfly petrel, albeit a much larger one than the Cook’s Petrel.

New Zealand 178

New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 178

10,000 Birds

MARCH 9, 2011

Like Kapiti the island is an offshore refuge for many species extinct on the mainland, with a lot of the work being done by the voluntary Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi. One species I really hoped to find on the trip was the Kokako. Though it is certainly bad news that the U.S. Get yours today! The proposal from U.S.

New Zealand 151

New Zealand 2011 Deer Cats 151

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

Nineteen days later we had racked up an amazing list of 436 species, including some of Africa’s least known birds such as Congo Serpent Eagle , Yellow-footed Honeyguide , Tessmann’s Flycatcher , Yellow-bearded Greenbul , Black-collared Lovebird and much besides. We also knew we had discovered Africa’s next hot birding destination.

Ghana 211

Ghana Hunters Guinea Gambia 211