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 205

Guyana Brazil ALA Eagles 205

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2024

There haven’t been any reports of Turtle Doves locally this year, which isn’t really surprising as this species has declined by a staggering 97% in the last 20 years, and it’s eventual loss as a breeding species in the UK is a distinct possibility. Alas, they were too distant to photograph. All very confusing.

Greece 212

Greece Turtles Breeding Europe 212

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

Alas, our rainy season seems to be slowing down — although I heard a rumble of thunder as I wrote the sentence — fingers crossed! Also, our winter visitor species are starting to arrive. They are always extremely handsome birds; one of my favorite local species, and surprisingly easy to see around Morelia.

Colombia 219

Colombia ALA Canada Mexico 219

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Species formerly referred to as P. One recent study found that this species was sister to P. perdix , and also that race przewalskii (sometimes subsumed within suschkini , but generally paler) was basal to other taxa included within the present species. barbata , but present name has priority. So, I later looked this up.

China 245

China Austria Birds ALA 245

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2023

Some 320 species have been recorded here, and in springtime it is possible to observe more than 150 bird species in a week. Last but not least, there were three species of shrikes, Red-backed , Lesser Grey and at least 2 Masked Shrikes , possibly 2 more, an entire family (not all were showing so well).

Greece 226

Greece Pelicans Stray Dog Tortoises 226

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

As soon as I looked at it more closely it was quite clear that it wasn’t a scaup of any species, despite its resemblance to a North American Lesser Scaup. I hadn’t considered the possible parentage more than the two probable species involved, but intriguingly a Pochard drake x Tufted duck looks quite different.

Geese 184

Geese Falcons Latvia Ducks 184

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2023

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to learn how to draw, but alas I never made it past the stickman. Until recently, it was considered to be the same species as the Eurasian three-toed Woodpecker (P. More precisely I wanted to learn how to draw wildlife. I guess it’s a gift you either have or you don’t. tridactylus).

Woodpeckers 212

Woodpeckers Birds Canada ALA 212

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2021

Four moments (and species) stand out in my own personal birding renaissance: I put an improvised birdbath in my yard to see if I can get the House Sparrows to stop munching on my lettuce plants, and a stunning Black-vented Oriole arrives to bathe. I start visiting a nearby canyon to see what other species might be around.

Kansas 190

Kansas Wounded ALA Squirrels 190

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2022

Alas – thick clouds in the rainforest only mean one thing: rain. I’m sure in many of my accounts on this blog this species appears in the early paragraphs. All the while it moved a grand total of three times – vastly differing from all my prior experiences with this species! White-necked Thrush.

Trinidad 228

Trinidad ALA Woodpeckers Experience 228

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

WinGS volunteers visit gull roost sites, counting six key species: Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull and Great Black-backed Gull. Alas, there wasn’t this year, but this wasn’t due to a sudden collapse in bird numbers, but the weather.

Ireland 215

Ireland Turtles Geese Farming 215

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

They’re not, alas particularly impressive. My British total was a mere 172 species – not bad, but not very good. Every one of my 171 species was a bird that I found myself. My 100th species was a Spoonbill. It’s a total I’ve never approached since, which might explain why in recent years I stopped counting.

Estonia 222

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 222

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2023

When you have birded a single area as much and for as long as I have birded Michoacán, it becomes progressively harder to find first-time species (“lifers”) there. I had seen several species turn up in new and unexpected places there, but none of them were birds that I had never seen before. Alas, mine were sub-standard.

Bats 130

Bats Mexico ALA 2019 130

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2021

Alas, our trip to the sea was not to be! On our way over, we had one Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel and at least one Black Storm-Petrel along with Black Terns and a few other tern species. The evening before our trip, we received word of high winds and rough waters; seas much too rough for a boat. White-cheeked Pintail !

Costa Rica 199

Costa Rica ALA Peru Texas 199

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

Even the Latin species name soror (“sister”) indicates the similarity to another pitta species (blue-naped). The eBird description of the Small Niltava starts with the surprisingly dull statement that “size distinguishes this species from other niltavas” Who would have thought.

China 224

China Birds Pythons Eagles 224

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. A male Indigo Bunting.

Mexico 224

Mexico ALA Collecting Sparrows 224

10,000 Birds

MARCH 16, 2022

This arae is prime Lesser Roadrunner territory — in fact, of my eleven sightings of the species, ten have been there. Alas, we did not hear our Roadrunners vocalize, although I have heard sing on one other visit to La Escalera. A single Lesser Roadrunner , however, did not turn up. Number 4 proves my point.

Coyotes 193

Coyotes Mexico ALA Abandon 193

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 30, 2022

I happen to have visited that country twice (both for ministerial purposes and, alas, before I started my second birding period). I told Ricardo we might see 50 species or more in one day, which would apparently be extraordinary in his native land. Of our 54 species seen, 51 were lifers for Ricardo. I was born in 1958.)

ALA 185

ALA Louisiana Adoptable Mexico 185

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2020

When choosing the top birding area of Serbia for a weekend visit, head for lowlands, Deliblato Sands and Labudovo Okno complex with 250 bird species. If you have 5-7 days, combine these two zones, adding wetlands around the village of Baranda (220 species). Alas, I am not among them. Serbia – the big picture. Birding overview.

Serbia 317

Serbia Sanctuary Bosnia Birds 317

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2024

Alas, East Anglia, where I live, isn’t an area renowned for its sea cliffs, so to visit a major seabird colony I have to drive either west (the coast of West Wales has some superb colonies) or north. These birds are all cliff nesters. Such a bountiful source of food was appreciated by the Gannets.

Puffins 180

Puffins Eggs Fish Culling 180

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2020

The cows and their entourage of Cattle Egrets sloshed through the pastures, each time they moved we lurched forward hoping to see a disturbed Grey-breasted Crake hop into view – but alas, no such luck even though we were hearing the little skulkers consistently. Retreating hastily, I reverted to my clumsy ways and flushed the heron.

Livestock 209

Livestock ALA Ducks illegal 209

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 163

Denver Colorado Ducks Mules 163

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2021

We share seven resident species with different parts of the United States: the Rock , Canyon , Cactus , (Brown-throated) House , Marsh , Sedge , and Bewick’s Wren can all be seen within a half hour of Morelia. (I When it comes to wrens, central Mexico has it pretty good. In other words, it is a bird photographer’s nightmare.

ALA 166

ALA United States Mexico Family 166

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Are you the sort of birder who takes comfort in the thought that you might find new species within driving distance of your home? Or are you the kind of completist who is driven to distraction by the knowledge of unseen species in your general vicinity? Alas, this bird doesn’t like rain! Don’t you love that feeling?

2019 113

2019 ALA Woodpeckers Birds 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2021

Endless notifications about 3% of intact forest remaining here, another species falling into the endangered species category – it all can get overwhelming sometimes. Bananaquits and Golden-headed Manakins twittered and whirred constantly but any visual confirmation was only achieved with the former species.

Litter 264

Litter ALA Endangered Species Elephants 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

and 180 bird species ( Ferruginous Duck , Black Woodpecker ; Icterine , Eastern Olivaceous and Barred Warblers ) recorded so far. I made this tour myself several days ago (late July), and will report mostly on the species I actually found, as well as some mammals. It is a spacious floodplain between the River Danube and the levee, 2.1

Farming 264

Farming Fish Boars Birds 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2022

Not bad given that the 5 families in the inner circle of the laughingthrush family have a combined number of about 68 species. The Hainan version is sometimes considered a separate species, in which case it is classified as Near Threatened. 36, if my counting is right and there has been no very recent split or lump.

San Diego 203

San Diego Malaysia China Zoos 203

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Alas, the flowering plants had almost all dried up, and hummingbirds were few. Since I had seen neither species on my January visit to Lake Cuitzeo, these were year-birds. Surprisingly, both were FOY (first-of-year) species. Check in next week to see which species these were!

Woodpeckers 187

Woodpeckers Nashville Mexico ALA 187

10,000 Birds

APRIL 22, 2020

Just as your conationals up north are rejoicing over the return of hundreds of migratory species, you sadly say goodbye to the same. But alas, my garden Wilsons have not been seen here on the 4th of April. I have still seen each of these species out in the forest between two days and three weeks after they abandoned my yard.

Nashville 128

Nashville ALA Louisiana Breeders 128

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

FEBRUARY 22, 2023

Cocoa Woodcreepers are the largest species of woodcreeper in T&T, and they have a proportionately massive bill. Alas, he was gone before I had a chance to lift my camera. We just needed to find somewhere that was less cluttered to allow us some chance of seeing birds! And so, we continued. Definitely a hawk-eagle, but which?

Trinidad 162

Trinidad Eagles Bears Litter 162

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2022

Alas, our Western Gull was nowhere to be found! Not that it one could expect to see one in Costa Rica but could the species be annual? When not loafing by the fish shops, the gull sometimes takes sun on a nearby roof, even perching on the roof of the ferry that crosses the Gulf of Nicoya.

Costa Rica 240

Costa Rica Fish Belize Nicaragua 240

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. This is partly due to hunting in China, where about 90% of the species winter (HBW). So, I need to find something else to say about this species.

Raccoons 210

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 210

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 192

Blackbirds Birds Indonesia Bhutan 192

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

We felt in high spirits after a gorgeous afternoon in the grassland, tallying up over 20 species of birds, including three lifers for me. Alas, they turned out to be Ring-billed Gulls , but as I turned back to the car another flock of white caught my eye. Add another species to the daily list!

Kansas 115

Kansas Pelicans ALA Cows 115

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

Birds included common species such as Black Drongos , Jungle Babblers and a Hoopoe. Among teak and bamboo thickets, a winding forest road takes us deeper into the enchanted Snake Jungle, but alas, not a Tiger in sight. These days, the species shares habitats with Tigers, Snow Leopard, Bears, etc.

Tigers 235

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 235

10,000 Birds

MARCH 19, 2015

Even the first Common House Martin has been spotted and the flocks of returning Common (Eurasian) Cranes here and there – alas, not by me. I haven’t increased my life or country list, only my city list for one species (I don’t even know which one). At first you have a lot more species than lists, but afterwards (as a reward?),

Serbia 209

Serbia ALA Protection Collecting 209

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2019

And, alas, heat is one thing Mexico’s Pacific coast has in excess. Which explains why this birder, who lives only four hours from that coast, had only twice searched there for the region’s tropical and coastal species — both times on ministry trips I made without my wife. My wife hates heat. Mangrove Swallows.

Mexico 126

Mexico Alligators ALA 2019 126