10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In this first installment, I will focus on my impressions and experiences in the highlands portion of our tour. The experience of seeing a pair feeding and calling in the mountains of Honduras felt like a much more genuine birding experience to me. Alas, our time here was over too soon.

Honduras 250

Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 250

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2020

Alas, these gentle rains may not always speed spring migrants on their way to breeding grounds far from the equator. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. April showers most assuredly bring May flowers in the more temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere. Any luck this weekend?

2020 197

2020 ALA Blackbirds Birds 197

10,000 Birds

APRIL 7, 2013

My Piping Plover experience was probably better, as I was surrounded by at least 5 in un-plover-like proximity. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. </strong> </em>Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2013 173

2013 ALA Laws Birds 173

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

(The neighbors had advised me, from experience, that planting trees without excluding the local free-ranging livestock would be an exercise in futility: first challenge overcome.) Alas, only 12 plants remain from that season, victims of my inexperienced care. Alas, this is what I must trim.

ALA 243

ALA 2016 Livestock Free Range 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2012

Choosing among the hawks, eagles, and owls at the raptor residence (alas no rehab for these irreparably injured birds of prey) and the active late winter species in the park seemed impossible, until an impressive Pileated Woodpecker put on a powerful display of excavatory activity. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 175

2012 ALA Woodpeckers Eagles 175

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2020

Especially as we were at the time about to experience a rapidly advancing tropical storm. Even though I had seen these cryptic austral migrants before, there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity that was this close to home. Striated Heron in breeding plumage – extra plumes and blue lores.

Livestock 258

Livestock ALA Ducks illegal 258

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2020

But, alas, the Novel Coronavirus did not respect my plans. My one sighting of the little-known Sinaloa Martin outside of summer had occurred on a 29th of February, and I hoped to repeat that experience. Three years of my experience shows that they most certainly do. (On On the other hand, I have never seen them here in fall.).

Species 184

Species Mexico Jordan Turkey 184

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

Alas, this little lovely perched on a wire just outside the window of the classroom where I was teaching at the moment, so no photos were taken. We were happy to experience three birds of prey on this jaunt. And they are so trusting that I found myself musing whether I would lose Lifer Points if one should happen to climb onto my lap.

Barn Owls 245

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 245

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2021

My first experience birding was as a teenager back in the 70s, when birding meant a pair of binoculars, a couple of bird feeders, and a smallish field guide (book). Alas, as the decade progressed, I also saw the site degenerate. … to where I once belonged. First, fences started to appear.

Kansas 244

Kansas Wounded ALA Squirrels 244

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

Alas, the winds blew nothing exceptional my way. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Every week, the winds carry the unexpected hither and yon. Were you hither? Were you yon? If so, we’d love to hear what you found there. What was your best bird of the weekend?

ALA 145

ALA 2015 Birds Experiments 145

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2011

Alas, we’re also intimately acquainted with darker emotions; the lust in our hearts alone (for lifers and optics, naturally) exacts a heavy emotional toll.

Emotional 160

Emotional 2011 Ohio ALA 160

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2024

Nevertheless, it was still a magical experience sitting in the jungle. I didn’t think I’d dip on a resident, sedentary, and supposedly unmissable bird – but alas, such is the beautiful unpredictability of nature. I updated my camera settings to deal with the changing light. And waited. Still, nothing.

Guyana 245

Guyana Brazil ALA Eagles 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

So, beside a lot of birds and the sunny sky, I want the coldest thing to experience year-round to be my beer. Many of them are heavenly islands, alas, with 100 or less bird species. Which leaves me with quite a few choices – practically the entire tropical belt, right?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

My first experiments involved rooting cuttings of several of Michoacán’s dozens of Salvia species. Alas, I have found no viable acorns anywhere this past year — just as I am figuring out how to get oak seedlings to survive. These days, money is not so much of an issue.

Mexico 273

Mexico ALA Collecting Sparrows 273

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2011

If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. On the other hand, a woefully brief glimpse of a Hook-billed Kite at Bentsen State Park was all it took to move it from my world list to my ABA list. While pondering that, also share your best bird of the weekend!

2011 157

2011 Mississippi ALA Sparrows 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2024

The sight, the sound and the smell, coupled with the sheer spectacle of seeing so many birds at once, makes viewing a big seabird colony an avian experience that can’t be compared with any other. Seabird cities are always spectacular. These birds are all cliff nesters.

Puffins 234

Puffins Eggs Fish Culling 234

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2018

Alas, the beer is only available on draft in Texas for a limited time, far out of range for me in New York. Admittedly, it’s not a revelatory gastronomic experience, but the pairing does work: the robust, roasted flavors of the beer make up for the relatively bland sweetness of the Peeps. “Fat free”?

Fort Worth 149

Fort Worth ALA Investigation Texas 149

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2014

The incredible lighting at dawn in the Pantanal is an experience in of itself. I will also never forget the experience of rolling out of bed, walking down a couple miles and back, and having breakfast at around 8:00AM with a day list already over 100 species. Alas, it was over too soon. I must mention one thing.

Brazil 165

Brazil Paraguay Blackbirds Birds 165

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2016

Alas, now that the Arizona Cardinals have fallen to the Carolina Panthers, we face the prospect of a Super Bowl without bird-themed football teams. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. So, do you prefer rambunctious horses or big cats better?

ALA 104

ALA 2016 Arizona Horses 104

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

Hornbills are spectacular under any circumstances, but when a pair lands in a bush beside you at eye-level and begin mutual preening , it makes for a spectacular experience. It was easily one of the best birding experiences I’ve ever had, even impressing my nonbirder fiance. You can read more about his experience here.

2013 169

2013 Costa Rica Birds India 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2012

In fact, experience proved that the process is actually way more cumbersome and time-consuming than it should be. However, the gargantuan task of exporting my unwieldy list grew no less daunting just because I was finally excited about eBird. The agony of eBird is the tremendous barrier to entry to switch over from another format.

Arizona 192

Arizona Belize Adoptable ALA 192

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2018

Suffice to say that our experience echoes across the United States and Northern Hemisphere. Alas, we’re still mired in shorebird season, so I’l sally forth once more this weekend in search of the Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstones passing through the Great Lakes.

ALA 100

ALA United States 2018 New York 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Alas, it seems they were already gone from Tianmashan in March. In my experience, people eat more food they are familiar with than food that is unfamiliar. In my (fortunately rather limited) experience, Chinese karaoke singers adapt their singing based on the chosen song, the audience, and the amount of alcohol in their blood.

Blackbirds 241

Blackbirds Birds Indonesia Bhutan 241

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2024

Alas, those sightings will be for another time as the weather had thrown a spanner in the works: half a meter of snow had closed off our intended destination. What is 100% true is the flight number I took into Denver: 420. In the spirit of Denver 420 we were so mellow and chill that we cried but a single tear. I can recommend it.

Denver 189

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 189

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

In the English translation, the story is titled “Little Fable”: “Alas,” said the mouse, “the whole world is growing smaller every day. Anyway, the story is not quite how I remembered it, to be honest, but fitting enough to describe the almost claustrophobic birding experience in ever-shrinking Nanhui.

Raccoons 259

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

Alas, I only heard this super cool caprimulgid, but did get buzzed by a swift Malaysian Eared Nightjar. All in all, a memorable Malaysian experience. Now that’s a tropical woodpecker… Crimson-winged Woodpecker. We arrived well before sunrise because Con knew a place where a person might encounter Blyth’s Frogmouth.

Malaysia 207

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Asia 207

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2014

Alas, the trip was over too soon but I left with a very positive impression of Honduras with its interesting biogeography, beautiful preserves, rich biodiversity, and hospitable people. Red-capped Manakin is a common bird along the forest trails at Pico Bonito. Photo by James Adams. Trips Central America cotinga Honduras Pico Bonito'

Honduras 170

Honduras Monkeys America Birds 170

Animal Person

APRIL 24, 2009

But alas, we' re too important and special to "manage," and every human pregnancy is treated as a sacred, blessed event, while we kill the kittens inside pregnant feral cats every day without batting an eyelash, and in fact we're relieved when we can catch one who's pregnant, as that's x number of cats who don't have to come into this world.

Project Treadstone 100

Project Treadstone Feral Cats Spaying Spay 100

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 15, 2018

Alas, it is absolutely essential. Previously, Matt also worked as the center’s executive vice president and a senior consultant, and he has more than 20 years of experience in sales and media relations. Telling people they’re not meeting expectations and inspiring them to turn things around isn’t easy. Follow him on Twitter.

ALA 103

ALA Bats Morals Research 103

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2017

The food was better than decent, which exceeds our experience of Panamanian cuisine at most other locations. Radisson Summit Hotel and Golf Panama really serves a superior birding experience, just by nature of the amazing forest surrounding it. Make sure you can do the same. BIRDING NOTES. Unfortunately, I walked it in a downpour.

Panama 100

Panama 2017 Monkeys Family 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2017

The open, dry habitat was perfect for it and the experience was so real, it was almost painful to wake up but alas, no Loggerhead Shrike, just a vivid dream of a migrant bird that could make a mega appearance in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Nicaragua 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 25, 2019

There was plenty of passion and humility to go around, and it was a great experience. Alas, my 150-600 mm lens was declared dead the day before, so my 300 mm photos are not up to the level of the outing.). Three are biology students, one is an elementary-school science teacher, and I am a birding, well, fanatic.

2019 176

2019 Blackbirds Birds Sparrows 176

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2019

Alas, I’m still stranded in the Northeast U.S., If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. I hope your transition to a new year involves as much of that last activity as you could hope for. How about you?

2019 159

2019 ALA California Birds 159