10,000 Birds

AUGUST 18, 2021

You fly to Phoenix, or Tucson, rent a car (or ride a bike cross-country, if you are Noah Strycker), drive to the tiny towns of Patagonia and Sierra Vista, and voila! A quick study as I researched this post revealed that fully 37 Arizonan “specialties” are common birds right here where I live.

Arizona 259

Arizona Mexico Los Angeles Dallas 259

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2018

Things had just started to settle down a bit, now that we had parked the RV in Tucson. We left Tucson on Monday, and drove to Alpine, Texas for our first night. We made several stops along the way, hoping our eBird research would give us local hotspots that might turn up a few gems. Now the pressure was on.

Texas 127

Texas Tucson San Antonio Owls 127

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2018

Most of the time, I know enough about an area, or have done some research into what is found there, that I am pleasantly surprised at best. My first ever Gamble’s Quail were feeding right next to the picnic area, and alongside the visitors center building, I spotted a thrasher. Right in our camp, we found Ladder-backed Woodpeckers.

New Mexico 113

New Mexico Mexico Tucson Costa Rica 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 26, 2018

We have escaped the clutches of the Bahamas, and are finally back “home” in Tucson, Texas. When I was doing some very quick, last minute research on the area, a photo of the beautiful Pied-imperial Pigeon popped up on one of the eBird.org pages. The Little Big Year species – 1291. eBird Submissions – 429. Bahamas Species – 58.

Bahamas 123

Bahamas Costa Rica Abandon Abandoning 123

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

The bird was a little harder to find than I expected; I needed to triangulate the sounds of the call and finally, after standing and looking and walking around the tree where the bird had to be calling from, I took a deep breath, looked again, and there it was right in front of me, actually at eye level. At least for birders.

Arizona 102

Arizona Lovebirds Phoenix New Jersey 102