10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2021

“This beautiful and singular bird, although a constant resident in the southern extremities of the peninsula of Florida, seldom extends its journeys in an eastern direction beyond the State of North Carolina.

New York 261

New York South Carolina North Carolina Massachusetts 261

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2016

For the past several weeks a pair of Trumpeter Swans have made themselves at home along a road through Mattamuskeet NWR in eastern North Carolina. I know this for a fact, because this is precisely what I did last week when I spent a day in the eastern part of North Carolina chasing rarities. I guess so.

North Carolina 109

North Carolina Wounded Hunting Geese 109

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

I’ve written before about by ongoing quest to find a new patch in new home of Greensboro, North Carolina, and my more or less failed attempt thus far in turning up anything of note. This place immediately felt right. Birding North Carolina Patch Birding' Again, common and expected, but very birdy.

North Carolina 167

North Carolina Sparrows Fox Dogs 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2014

It can be boring, for sure, but my own birding lately has been pretty much exclusively in service of my home county list, that of Guilford County, North Carolina. For most North American birders, Sora is the most familiar Rallid on the continent. For most North American birders, Sora is the most familiar Rallid on the continent.

North Carolina 175

North Carolina Family Owls Birds 175

Critter News

APRIL 11, 2010

To see an issue of such moral debate minimized to simply economic activity is just not right. Tags: animal research Obama University of North Carolina federal stimulus. But it disappoints and frustrates me to see it consistently used for purposes that I passionately oppose.

Animal Research 100

Animal Research Research Obama North Carolina 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 23, 2019

A pelagic out of Hatteras, North Carolina , the Biggest Week in American Birding in Ohio , and trip to Puerto Rico stand out as well. The places I expected ( Pillar Point Harbor in California and Ridgefield NWR in Washington) are right at the top of the list, but even places I thought I’d been to countless times have modest numbers.

Puerto Rico 143

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Michigan Washington 143

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. Last week a mystery bird from New Jersey rightly caused a fair bit of confusion among birders of the Garden State and beyond.

New Jersey 214

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 214

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2011

There was a time, a few years back, when I had some really good luck getting on a run of first state records for North Carolina. Fortunately for me, most of the recent new additions to the North Carolina list have been birds that have stuck around long enough for masses of state birders to get on.

North Carolina 154

North Carolina Sparrows 2008 Hunters 154

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Although it was nothing like going from New York to California or even Buffalo, New York to North Carolina, a change of location, however slight, can bring new birds especially in Costa Rica. Right at home. As is usual for a birder moving to a new place, I couldn’t wait to see what the new yard would bring.

Costa Rica 162

Costa Rica Barn Owls Stray Dog Blackbirds 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2012

The Delmarva Peninsula juts southward towards North Carolina like the appendix of the eastern seaboard. A closer look at the individual suggests that, with that white edging right under the bill, this bird probably has a bit of Myrtle in it.

Virginia 142

Virginia North Carolina DC Louisiana 142

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

In any case, the slow build of spring is a little slower around here, and while a handful of the early season migrants arrived w week or so before I was ready to expect them, most everything is coming along right on time anymore. They travel by themselves, in massive flocks that roam the canopy in constant song.

North Carolina 152

North Carolina Breeders Rights Experience 152

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2012

I’ve been told that you can regularly find yourself in some pretty exceptional shorebirding in North Carolina as you get closer to the coast. There was a Peregrine Falcon hanging around the back arms of the lake all season, scaring up the birds right when you thought you had a Western Sandpiper nailed down.

Raleigh 167

Raleigh North Carolina Falcons 2012 167

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 6, 2015

Way back last year, a whole two weeks ago, a sudden influx of Ross’s Geese in central North Carolina led to an unofficial competition between myself and some birders in the Raleigh-Durham Area. Well, that’s yet to be determined, but bragging rights would appear to be a significant motivator.

Game 177

Game Raleigh North Carolina Gorillas 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

Someone had told me a group of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers called this patch of forest home, and we were determined to find out if he was right. Though we were almost rained out, my graduation Outer Banks trip will remain a highlight of my time in North Carolina.

North Carolina 169

North Carolina Alligators Wildlife Woodpeckers 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2015

I hoped to see warblers, warblers, warblers, plus classic northeastern species I had had no opportunity to look for while living in North Carolina. It did not, but instead a Broad-winged Hawk landed on a tall pine right in front of us, quickly taking flight again and soaring away. Ruffed Grouse.

North Carolina 158

North Carolina Birds North America Woodpeckers 158

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2011

Sure, you can find it across much of the eastern United States, even as far north as southern Canada but I ask you, are you really seeing a Prothonotary Warbler if you’re not watching it pick through a flooded forest in the south? That piercing song just means more when it echos from the other side of a cypress swamp, doesn’t it?

North Carolina 191

North Carolina Investigation Jordan United States 191

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2013

Two days ago I went on Facebook and queried some of my exhausted compatriots: if you could have one wish right now – anything in the world – what would it be? “I Got to finish browsing for the fawns and collecting chiggers,” wrote Becky, from an island off North Carolina.

Wildlife 241

Wildlife Wildlife Rehabilitation Oklahoma New York 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 10, 2011

Many winter in Florida, admittedly something of a freak state when it comes to overwintering passerines, but a few Orioles can be found up the coast as far north as North Carolina, and the odd bird finds its way into the Piedmont, the part of the state, well inland mind you, where I live. Wicked, right?

North Carolina 140

North Carolina 2011 St. Louis Baltimore 140

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

I’m living and birding in North Carolina. The usual counters on this plot of land are my friends Ali Iyoob and Matt Daw, who being college students are out being college students (by that I mean doing an NC Big Year which is what all college students do, right? We all knew that area well, and were rewarded for it.

North Carolina 159

North Carolina Missouri Blackbirds Sparrows 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2011

Where I grew up in Missouri, Catbirds were present, but not in the same density that I find here in North Carolina. &# when a whining mew pierces the relative silence of the screen-door spring evenings, though my infatuation with Catbirds pre-dates his arrival.

St. Louis 193

St. Louis Missouri North Carolina Georgia 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

In her free time she travels near and far to find birds to continue building her life list, though many of her favorites can still be found right in her own backyard. As we looked closer, we saw the Sooty Terns nesting right on the ground itself, calling back and forth to each other as they sat on their speckled eggs.

Birds 174

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2011

Off the coast of North Carolina, and indeed anywhere in the southeastern United States, the surface is broken up with vast expanses of sargassum and gulfweed, species of brown algae that floats on the water in great aggregations looking like nothing so much as a perfectly manicured lawn.

United States 157

United States North Carolina Fish North America 157

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 7, 2007

I'm not sure what relation it bears to Tom Regan, the philosopher from North Carolina State University. It appears to be organized around Regan's book Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights. Here is a website that contains much useful information about animal ethics.

North Carolina 40

North Carolina Animal Ethics Bears Ethics 40

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2014

In the lower right-hand corner we see the partial figure of a bespectacled hiker. This plate is right at the center of the book. We see the parrots’ disappearance visually as their images get smaller and scarcer in each collage illustration. In 1967 only 24 parrots were living in El Yunque. Success is not easily achieved.

Puerto Rico 227

Puerto Rico Parrots New York City 2013 227

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2018

Moth plates from Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America (left plate) and Southeastern North America (two right plates). There are over 11,000 species of moths in North America. Moths are more than bird food. This is the first thing we learn in the Introduction of each guide. Let that sink in.

North America 100

North America America Oklahoma Missouri 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2015

My friend Paul Taillie and I had to meet an intrepid bunch of birders for the inaugural Outer Banks Big Day field trip at the Wings Over Water festival in eastern North Carolina. We were setting the bar for what someone hitting all the good spots on North Carolina’s famous barrier islands could reasonably accomplish.

North Carolina 150

North Carolina Rattlesnake Sparrows Owls 150

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2014

I don’t expect that the rural Piedmont of North Carolina is much different from similar areas across the United States and even the world. It took me a second to make the connection, having not heard it in North Carolina in a couple years at least, and I arrived quickly at Dickcissel. Pretty sweet.

North Carolina 161

North Carolina Farming United States North America 161

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2015

For the birder, this means that no matter how many Clapper Rails you have seen in the salt marshes of New Jersey, North Carolina, or Texas, that Clapper Rail that lurks in the Black Mangroves at Chomes, Costa Rica is going to be a different species. Check out recordings of Clapper Rail from North America and Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 205

Costa Rica Species South America America 205

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2018

The return home included a total of 5 ½ hours of flight delays, one missed flight, and we subsequently missed the entire town of Charlotte, North Carolina. Carolyn was able to get us into the right area, but was afraid that we were so late in the day, it was not likely that we would be able to find this rare bird.

Bahamas 123

Bahamas Costa Rica Abandon Abandoning 123

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Sitta canadensis isn’t just irrupting out of its far northern home but exploding southward, with reports in every southern state except for Florida, including birds on the outer banks of North Carolina, on Grand Isle, Louisiana, in a suburb of Atlanta, and on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Bird bloggers from Wisconsin to Massachusetts.

United States 261

United States Owls Atlanta New York 261

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2012

It has earned the right to stand among the big boys, and is well worth your time should you find yourself in western South Carolina on a windy September day. I was leading a field trip with a dozen intrepid souls. The trip list at this site was low, but the total biomass was high in that way that good hawkwatches are.

South Carolina 161

South Carolina Maryland North Carolina New Jersey 161

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Here in North Carolina, I’ve managed to avoid seeing the dreaded Juncos for the last few days, though their presence has been noted on the local listserv. It’s funny, given how common Palms are at the right time of the year, that I almost never see the two populations together. You’re done.

North America 188

North America North Carolina South America Tennessee 188

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2014

My part of North Carolina doesn’t have a ton of birders, but those it does have are skilled and thorough. Hummingbirds are a special case anyway, right? On the road at a moment’s notice to track down reported birds but not doing anything to find them myself. Birds county listing'

North Carolina 167

North Carolina Birds Rights 167

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2013

In any case, I sort of redeemed myself with I picked up a distant Crested Caracara that slowly got closer and closer until it passed right over the top of an adoring group of birders. I turned, as I do from time to time, to the butterflies, particularly those species that I can’t see in North Carolina.

North Carolina 114

North Carolina Florida United States Zebras 114

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2012

You can argue that large waders of Florida are flashier or that the secretive Bachman’s Sparrow elicit more respect, and sure, Pine Warblers nest as far north as southern Canada so how can they really be southeastern, but if you raise these points I think you fail to realize how truly prolific Pine Warblers are in the south.

North Carolina 135

North Carolina Jordan Raised North America 135

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2013

Tundra Swan, Cygnus columbianus, photographed above by Ken Behrens, flies nonstop from staging areas in North Dakota to Chesapeake Bay and eastern North Carolina, a fact indicated by both arrows and text. The photo of the Tundra Swan at right is by Ken Behrens.) Some maps are quite busy.

Ducks 225

Ducks Groups Species North America 225

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2016

From a recent article in Nature , “This bird acts like it has four sexes,” says Christopher Balakrishnan, an evolutionary biologist at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, who worked with Tuttle and Gonser. One individual can only mate with one-quarter of the population.

Rats 104

Rats Sparrows Birds North Carolina 104