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Out Birding to Help an Endemic Sparrow in Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

Today, along with teams in a few other parts of Costa Rica and elsewhere, I will be birding for a cause, watching birds to help one that only lives in Costa Rica, the Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow. Around the size of a Song Sparrow or Chaffinch , maybe a bit bigger, this mini towhee forages near the ground in dense scrubby vegetation.

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Honestly, How Much Could It Rain?

10,000 Birds

Any California-raised person knows that it just doesn’t rain in California in June. I was raised in between the two cities, and visited that area earlier this month. My camera and binoculars, protected by the light coat I had packed, were wet but fully functional. The Song Sparrows were wet.

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What to Do at High Island When the Winds are South

10,000 Birds

Fortunately, as I found out over the next four days, High Island, the Bolivar Peninsula, the whole east Texan Gulf coast area is a place of diverse habitats, some protected, some accidental, all offering fantastic avian opportunities. Seaside Sparrow. Corps of Engineers to protect Galveston Bay at the end of the 19th-century.

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Birding Ruoergai, Sichuan, China

10,000 Birds

After such a mysterious bird, it is time to enjoy the simple pleasure of seeing ordinary birds such as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Finally, the Azure-winged Magpie raises a hen-and-egg question: What was first, the color of the bird or the color of the Tibetan prayer flag? Unfortunately, I did not manage such a photo this time.

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Urban Birding in Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

Costa Rica is well known for national parks and other protected areas than offer access to tropical ecosystems dripping with biodiversity. The raising of the bins took place along roads through semi-shaded coffee farms and on the grounds of Villa San Ignacio , a hotel with big old wonderful trees and regenerating forest. Blackbirds.

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Week four: We wrap up our stay in the US.

10,000 Birds

In 1974, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect the delta and its diversity of fish and wildlife habitats. A beautiful series of raised boardwalks have been constructed, allowing year round access to the area, thru the marsh area, all the way out nearly a half mile into the tidal flats.

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Hide at Mankwe Dam

10,000 Birds

It is built to reach out into the water when the dam is full and is reached along a raised walkway, screened from the mammals, reptiles and birds that may be roosting, resting, feeding, drinking or waiting in ambush close by. The hide on Mankwe Dam is a must-see for any visitor to Pilanesberg NP and kept me enthralled for hours this morning.