10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2024

Visiting Guyana brought with it the unavoidable expectation of seeing some mind boggling species – some endangered, some emblematic, others downright bizarre. Before we boarded the flight to Guyana we already knew that probabilities of seeing one of the target species was slashed to near zero. After all, there were already rocks.

Guyana 243

Guyana Brazil ALA Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2024

I saw 32 species here in my first 24 hours, some of them exciting ones. My second lifer this trip was a migratory Yellow-throated Warbler , a species I could not hope to see my previous trip, which had occurred in early summer. We were happy to experience three birds of prey on this jaunt.

Barn Owls 243

Barn Owls Mexico Parrots ALA 243

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

My first experiments involved rooting cuttings of several of Michoacán’s dozens of Salvia species. But starting a mini-forest around the edges of our church’s one-acre lot would require more than cuttings, and local reforestation nurseries only offer a few conifer species. Yellow-winged Cacique.

Mexico 270

Mexico ALA Collecting Sparrows 270

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2015

Alas, the winds blew nothing exceptional my way. Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was any of the four Cave Swallows he saw in Queens, part of an amazing invasion of the northeast by this species after sustained southwest winds for nearly a week. If so, we’d love to hear what you found there.

ALA 145

ALA 2015 Birds Experience 145

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. Such a bountiful source of food was appreciated by the Gannets.

Puffins 229

Puffins Eggs Fish Culling 229

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 256

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 256

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2014

During this time, the fish trapped in the shrinking pools of water attract hordes of herons, egrets, storks, and other wetland species. Raptors such as Savanna Hawk , Snail Kite , and Black-collared Hawk and up to five species of kingfisher also join the bonanza in one of the world’s great birding spectacles. I must mention one thing.

Brazil 165

Brazil Paraguay Blackbirds Birds 165

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2023

Its mood is not helped by the ambiguous review on eBird: “Although not actually pale, this brownish songbird is one of the plainer thrushes in its range” The Latin species name of the Dusky Thrush is eunomos (I guess that is Greek, but whatever) – meaning well-ordered. One page is dedicated to the Long-tailed Shrike.

Blackbirds 238

Blackbirds Birds Indonesia Bhutan 238

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

My best bird of the year is based on the sighting rather than the species. 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. Only trouble is, which of the seven species I saw this year do I pick?

2013 169

2013 Costa Rica Birds India 169

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. My hosts could confidently tick off the species on their life list. We got at least three sub-species but the highlight was a Wilson’s Snipe we flushed.

Denver 188

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 188

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. I got a good dose of seaducks this weekend up at the mouth of Irondequoit Bay; the most interesting species amidst the mixed flocks was a lone Bufflehead hobnobbing with Common Goldeneyes.

ALA 103

ALA Arizona 2016 Horses 103

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

Alas, I only heard this super cool caprimulgid, but did get buzzed by a swift Malaysian Eared Nightjar. Anyone considering a visit to Panti Forest should be enticed by the five different species that might be seen there. All in all, a memorable Malaysian experience. So, our first target was only a partial hit.

Malaysia 202

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Asia 202

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. Then the fun really started… The eBird interface came back saying that a whopping 251 species needed clarification. The agony of eBird is the tremendous barrier to entry to switch over from another format.

Arizona 189

Arizona Belize Adoptable ALA 189

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2014

Lovely Cotinga is the flagship species at Pico Bonito, where it is perhaps easier to see than anywhere else within its range. More than 400 species have been recorded at the lodge to date. Central American Pygmy-Owl is another key species at the lodge. However, for me, there were birds to be seen. Photo by James Adams.

Honduras 168

Honduras Monkeys America Birds 168

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2017

The food was better than decent, which exceeds our experience of Panamanian cuisine at most other locations. In fact, we saw two species of monkey, our only sloths, lots of coatis, and my rarest ever mammal sighting—a Jaguarundi —right on site. Despite the golf course, this place host all manner of birds and mammals. Summit Ponds.

Panama 100

Panama 2017 Monkeys Family 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.). This being our winter season, the most interesting species for most of us were the northerly and migratory ones.

2019 171

2019 Blackbirds Birds Sparrows 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 19, 2017

While we could chase a number of local, rare residents, looking for super tough species like Pheasant Cuckoo and Tawny-faced Quail is more akin to searching and lurking in appropriate habitat and just hoping to get lucky. In Costa Rica, we don’t get many chances to chase birds. It was big, built for speed, and on the move.

Costa Rica 100

Costa Rica San Jose Falcons Nicaragua 100