10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2011

Checking for moult limits on a female Band-tailed Manakin to determine her age Imagine learn or improving your mist-netting, bird banding, handling, aging, and Neotropical bird ID skills in one of the most exuberantly natural surroundings ( 599 bird species recorded at Explorer’s Inn and Sachavacayoc Centre!) Wicked, right?

Peru 195

Peru 2011 Birds Deer 195

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

This is all in a day’s work and a typical morning here at the Tambopata Research Center in the Madre de Dios district of Peru where, on behalf of the conservation agency Earthwatch Institute , I have come to volunteer for two weeks for the Tambopata Macaw Project. That’s right – birds eating clay. Scarlet Macaws.

Peru 255

Peru Parrots 2011 South America 255

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2011

I missed some very common species. Some were glaring misses since I started the year with a goal of 600 species (while working). Bicknell’s Thrush is a bird that is important to me because I grew up in New York’s Catskill Mountains, one of the places that it breeds. What was your biggest miss in your big year?

New York City 157

New York City New York New Hampshire Research Center 157

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2011

Hunting sandhill cranes in Kentucky is a bad idea from a public relations standpoint, considering the growing cadre of birders and nature enthusiasts for whom cranes are a touchstone species. Initiating a hunting season on a large, charismatic species like a crane is no way to resuscitate hunting. Isn’t that neat?

2011 245

2011 Kentucky Tennessee Hunting 245