10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2020

But birds don’t seem to care about what ails us humans. My daughter and I visited Owl Woods in search of winter finches but were surprised to find owls instead; obviously, the name of this legendary birding site suggests otherwise, but encountering both a Saw-whet and Barred Owl on the same autumn day was both unexpected and thrilling.

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2020 2007 Owls Birds 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Fortunately, nature assures that, as one suite of birds leaves, another takes its place. Corey enjoyed some good birding on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. But his Best Bird of the Weekend was one he saw with his family on a visit to Jamaica Bay on Saturday evening. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Rabbits Jamaica Pelicans 236

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2020

Corey did get out for some socially distant birding this weekend and his Best Bird of the Weekend was a Yellow-throated Warbler at Cunningham Park, only his fifth record of the species in Queens. What was your best bird of the weekend? If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

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2020 Shelters Birds Experience 235

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2020

Though Corey really enjoyed a ginormous flock of gannets on Sunday morning his Best Bird of the Weekend was a Short-eared Owl , his first of 2020, at Edgemere Landfill in the predawn light on Saturday. What was your best bird of the weekend? It’s hard to top an owl! How about you?

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2020 Owls Birds Experience 183

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

The end of September doesn’t necessarily mean the end of what you might enjoy about September birding but it definitely signals the beginning of what you love about October. Corey had a few really good birds this weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Hopefully, you’re looking forward to the month ahead!

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2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 216

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2020

With hope, this was a memorable one for you, even if the birds weren’t particularly rare. However, many of the bird’s field marks were obscured because it flew far below me as I walked across the bridge I’ll always know as the Tappan Zee. What was your best bird of the weekend? Another weekend is in the books.

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2020 New York City Whales Whaling 228

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2020

No matter where you find yourself, heed the imperative of 2020: live to see better days! I could definitely use better birding than the dull summer fare observed in the Southern Tier this weekend. But the birds he most appreciated were the juvenile Least Sandpiper feeding at his feet on the East Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

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2020 Jamaica Birds Wildlife 168

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2020

2020 is almost over… finally. Rather than belabor the obvious, I’ll just point out that the global pandemic may have spawned a new wave of birders, but collectively we’ve seen far fewer species of birds. As I’m not traveling these days, I’ve been spending lots of time with my local birds.

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2020 Birds Industry 2011 153

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

November doesn’t fit any of the conventional narratives of birding seasons. Nonetheless, November can really cook when the birding conditions are just right. However, picking these birds out by call in flight leaves me wanting the kinds of views Corey’s been able to muster. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Cooking Birds Experience 189

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2020

That is the state of our 2020 year lists and general birding experience. Embrace it… the opportunity, not the birds! Corey can’t help but scour every inch of the Queens coastline in what may be a fruitless effort to top his monumental 2019 birding year. appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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2020 2019 Birds Experience 184

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2020

I can’t recall a year when birders were as thrilled to see the month of May pass as we all are in 2020. Despite the cold, I had to take a run at our last migrants this weekend and was rewarded with a lovely morning of lakeshore birding that included an FOY Tennessee Warbler … don’t know how that one got past me all month!

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2020 Tennessee Jamaica Birds 155

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Of all the birds observed on the highway, the most interesting was surely the Ring-necked Pheasant that blithely strolled out on the NY Thruway but was smart enough to pull back before losing a battle with a speeding vehicle. Yeah, it’s not a great photo but it’s a pretty great Best Bird of the Weekend! How about you?

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2020 United States Birds 2010 191

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2020

Cherish these birding moments, because they pass as swiftly as the migrants eager to find their new homes for the next half of the year. Corey enjoyed a great time at the Big Sit on Saturday, adding several new birds to the cumulative total and getting the second-most birds on their seventh attempt. How about you?

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 166

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2020

The first weekend of the tenth month of the year usually delivers in terms of birds, but you’ve got to meet them halfway. Corey got out birding a bunch around Queens this morning, trying to add to his burgeoning county year list. Still though, it was a good bird, and is Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend.

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2020

That summer generally signals a decline in local avian diversity probably hasn’t sunken in yet, but rest assured the birds you saw this weekend may grow tiresome in another month. Those owls were easily Corey’s Beat Birds of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 Birds Owls Experience 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2020

I need more birds!! As usual, I restricted my birding activity this weekend to local trails. However, my best birds showed up much closer to home in the form of a chattering House Wren family which apparently displaced my usual Carolina Wren. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 166

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

This past weekend was both Global Big Day and World Migratory Bird Day, and yet I had to deal with snow and freezing cold. Corey, on the other hand, had plenty of good birds this weekend what with him doing a Queens Big Day on Saturday and all. What was your best bird of the weekend? Isn’t that against the rules?

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2020 New York Birds Experience 165

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2020

Another month, another movement of the world’s birds from one point to the next. The best of them was a surprise Bobolink , which was a lifer for all three of Corey’s companions, and nice bird to see at anytime. It was easily Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Pennsylvania Jamaica Birds 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 8, 2020

Corey got out for some birding and got four new birds for the year. Easily his Best Bird of the Weekend! What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

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2020 Blackbirds Birds Experience 170

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 18, 2020

And this doesn’t mean you are obsessed or a little bit too much into birds because keeping track of a year list actually comes with some side benefits. Yeah, many of us living the birding life do so anyways because we can’t help it. I strongly suggest the experience of sharing Turquoise-browed Motmots. Go birding!

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Costa Rica 2020 Morals Farming 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2020

At least I didn’t have to travel far for great birds; my whole family thrilled to the sight of an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk chowing down on an unspecified rodent in our yard. Corey enjoyed his weekend at his parents’ house in the Hudson Valley though he didn’t see too many birds. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 New York City Rodents New York 165

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2020

Over the two days he saw a bunch of nice birds but the Best Bird of the Weekend was a singing Common Yellowthroat on Friday morning, either an early arrival or a bird that survived the winter undetected. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 163

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2020

June brings stability to the experience of birding. Where migration serves up the possibility of both quantity and quality of sightings, the seasons between passages promise the birds you expect and little more. Where will you be this weekend and will you be birding? appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 150

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2020

When bird activity flags, we can focus our bins and scopes on various other flora and fauna, as well as celestial bodies under the right conditions. On the plus side, I wrangled some nice bird sightings along the lake, the best of which was surely a Wilson’s Snipe that my wife spotted before I did. How about you?

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 156

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2020

It better be, because with limited travel in the next couple of months, bird lists are going to look mighty spare. My kids humored me with a fun Father’s Day hike, but my best bird was spotted en route in the form of a roadside Wild Turkey (not to be confused with a Roadside Hawk ). What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Turkey Birds Experience 158

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 6, 2020

Whether your weekend is still rolling or you are already preparing for the next one, you probably saw some excellent birds during the first weekend of September. His wonderful family agreed to drive straight there before going home and Corey got a new Queens bird! Now that’s a Best Bird of the Weekend! How about you?

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2020 Jamaica Birds Family 154

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 3, 2020

Another Super Bowl, another title won by a team named for something other than a bird. Birding is better when you keep sports out of it anyway! Birding has been terribly slow here in the Rochester area. But the stars of the show were the Razorbills zipping to-and-fro, and they are Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend.

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2020 Birds Canada Experience 163

10,000 Birds

JUNE 14, 2020

Corey got out looking for birds at Jamaica Bay on Sunday morning and is he ever glad he did! Least Bittern, seen well, will almost always be the best bird you get on an outing and in this case it was easily Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 ALA Jamaica New York 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2020

The checklist for a basic birding outing has become more complex during the COVID-19 crisis. Your choice for birding spot depends equally on the abundance of birds and scarcity of birders. Yes, birding may not be as carefree as usual, but the freedom, fun, and fascination the act elicits matters more now than ever.

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2020 Birds Owls Experience 172

10,000 Birds

MARCH 22, 2020

Then again, you may have passed Saturday and Sunday in quite the same way you spend all your weekends: looking at birds and communing with nature. Corey got out a bit on Saturday morning in the midst of the Corona Virus quarantine to do a bit of birding on the coast. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 ALA Birds Experience 171

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2020

A busy, snowy, chilly weekend kept me and birds equally unable or unwilling to meet, so instead I’ll take this opportunity to show respect to American Crows ; these birds gather in massive winter flocks around here, which makes them the true spirit animal of this frigid season. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Birds Falcons Experience 158

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 27, 2020

The birds we encountered up on the lake this weekend could only be described as mundane. Corey enjoyed a foul-weather seawatch on Saturday morning and birded a couple of locations Sunday morning before leading a walk for New York City Audubon in Forest Park. Don’t worry… we’ve got 11 months to go! How about you?

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2020 New York City New York Birds 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2020

The birding is just that good, or at least can be. I was quite pleased to pull my first New York state warblers for the year from the early bird menu. Corey enjoyed a wave of neotropical migrants over the weekend and had a hard time choosing his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 New York Birds Sparrows 161

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Though I traveled to NYC this weekend, Ivy and I nailed down our best bird before I left; a Short-eared Owl has been hunting at a local park not 10 minutes from our house, which makes for the easiest owl sighting we’ve snagged in a long time! What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 United States Jamaica Birds 157

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2020

Corey could have chosen one of the several new birds for the year he saw as his Best Bird of the Weekend. Now that’s a bird that is worthy of Best Bird of the Weekend! What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

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2020 ALA Birds Blackbirds 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2020

Corey got out and about birding on both Saturday and Sunday morning, before joining a Black Live Matter march on Sunday. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

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2020 Breeders Birds Owls 156

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2020

In that spirit, Corey chose the lowly feral Rock Pigeon as his Best Bird of the Weekend. Like Corey and so many others, I took the time to really appreciate the everyday species we jaded bird chasers typically take for granted. What was your best bird of the weekend? They really are pretty when you take the time to look at them!

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2020 Feral Sparrows Birds 140