10,000 Birds

JULY 31, 2012

Eurasian Wrynecks are found breeding across the temperate zones of Europe and Asia. They migrate to warmer climes in Africa and south Asia to winter. Many thanks to Swarovski Optik for inviting me along and letting me experience both some awesome new optics and the natural wonders of the wonderful country of Hungary. ••• a.

Hungary 181

Hungary Asia Woodpeckers Africa 181

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

After 3 months of South and Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Australia, Arjan’s count stood at 2,060 species. My Big Year is such a succession of new experiences that there is simply no time to think of other things. I’ve had so many incredible experiences. I exchange my heavy, clumsy poncho for a light rain jacket.

Papua New Guinea 264

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname Brazil 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 13, 2012

Great Reed Warblers breed across huge chunks of Europe and Asia and winter across large swaths of southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Many thanks to Swarovski Optik for inviting me along and letting me experience both some awesome new optics and the natural wonders of the wonderful country of Hungary. ……….

Hungary 164

Hungary Asia Europe Africa 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2019

Not surprisingly, ten of these 19 countries are in the Americas, but what does surprise me, there are just 4 in Africa and just 1 in Asia (2 if you count Indonesia). With 400 endemics, Indonesia tops the list of the world’s most wanted lister’s destination, but the only destination in Asia proper is India.

Papua New Guinea 214

Papua New Guinea America Costa Rica Sri Lanka 214

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

I get my own idea of the lunacy of Gooddie’s quest when I talk to a friend who has birded Asia and Africa. Beer looms large in Gooddie’s daily routine, and much text is devoted to finding beer in the middle of rural Asia and evaluating its quality. I’m reading a book about a man who is doing a Pitta Big Year,” I say. And leeches.

Hunters 218

Hunters Sri Lanka Asia Solomon Islands 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

It breeds in a broad and not quite coherent band from Iceland in the west through central Europe and southern Scandinavia all the way to eastern Russia, wintering in Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia to Australia. Judging by my experiences with the species, the Black-tailed Godwit’s behaviour is restricted to two aspects.

Germany 187

Germany Russia Iceland India 187

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

Other great birds here included a flock of Asian Rosy-Finches and a Siberian Rubythroat that should have been several thousand miles away in Southeast Asia. Setsurigawa Bridge must be done at dawn, and is another amazing experience – over a hundred cranes partially enshrouded by mist rising off of the river at dawn.

Japan 193

Japan Massachusetts Asia Birds 193

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Nature lovers who love to travel know that few experiences are more enjoyable than preparation for a big trip. I’ve never birded Asia, so you can probably imagine how delirious I am in contemplating the daunting diversity ahead of me. Who doesn’t love that feeling of endless possibility? Why is travel on my mind?

Singapore 144

Singapore New Zealand 2012 Japan 144

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 20, 2013

Asia is home to all kinds of cuckoos, but none are as elaborately colorful as malkohas with those gaudy faces and painted bills. All in all, a memorable Malaysian experience. Con is a master at his craft and an uncanny resource on the birds of Singapore, Malaysia, and much of Asia. Bats under a rocky overhang.

Malaysia 195

Malaysia Singapore Monkeys Asia 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2012

After all, North America has no native hedgehogs and seeing something so outside of our normal experience was pretty exciting, even if the little guy quickly headed for cover and refused to show itself for Clay Taylor, who came upon the scene a minute too late. New Zealand has a host of hedgehogs but they are introduced.

Hedgehogs 172

Hedgehogs Hungary Opossums North America 172

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

The scope is worldwide; of the 24 birds depicted, five are from the Americas; five from Eurasia; three from New Zealand; two from Australasia; three from Africa; one from Africa and Asia; one from Antarctica; two worldwide, and two from Asia, introduced worldwide.

Barn Owls 216

Barn Owls Chicago Penguins New Zealand 216

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

They are part of the scarab beetle complex and over 300 species have been described, occurring not only in Africa but also Europe, Asia and the Americas. In Asia they are even commonly kept as pets! Lions quenching their thirst in Etosha National Park by Adam Riley Observing Lions hunting is a thrilling experience.

Rhinoceros 230

Rhinoceros Buffalo Leopards Elephants 230

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2012

Then came April, and with it my first ever trip to South-East Asia. I had no idea about the taxonomic order of families occurring in South-East Asia. Working with field guides and without background knowledge was a horrible experience. All I knew was how to walk around, find birds and get them into my binocular view.

Indonesia 256

Indonesia Family Asia Groups 256

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

He is also a serious birder (and a birding friend), and his birding observations and adventures are used throughout the book to introduce evolutionary questions and illustrate the mental interplay between personal experience and scientific curiosity. The book is smartly organized into 12 chapters. This is a book that requires attention.

Science 242

Science Albatross Owls Research 242

Critter News

AUGUST 2, 2010

Here's an article about an increase in animal experiments at Cardiff University in Wales. In four years it experimented on 157,839 mice, 17,324 rats, 11,096 fish, 1,941 birds, 1,253 guinea pigs, 933 pigeons, 884 frogs, 207 cats, 54 rabbits and 18 tree shrews from the tropics of south-east Asia.

Animal Research 100

Animal Research Guinea Pigs Mice Research 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2022

However, if out of courtesy one of the other woodpeckers switches the talk to another favorite topic, ants, the Ground Woodpecker is happy to share its experience. For example, the Northern Flicker (Reno, USA) is always interested in discussing the nutritional merits of different ant species.

Woodpeckers 259

Woodpeckers South Africa China Singapore 259

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Now that the World Big Year record has been broken by Noah Stryker , with more than three months and much of Asia and Australia to go, I guess a blog post on Big Years is in order. Big Years are an inheritantly unfair competition for a variety of reasons. Which is fair enough.

Feral 224

Feral Asia Species Florida 224

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

They are also believed to be related to the Rail-Babbler of Tropical Asia. From previous experience we have had an 11/12 success rate at this site, sometimes the views are fleeting and other times the birds provide a breathtaking show! However this classification is no longer widely accepted, and in my opinion quite correctly so.

Sierra Leone 274

Sierra Leone Ghana Equatorial Guinea Cameroon 274

10,000 Birds

MARCH 17, 2019

Based on how naturally parrots and leafbirds (the real ones in Asia, not the figments that plague birders in every country) blend into foliage, I’d imagine that most arboreal avian species would want the same advantages. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2019 115

2019 Asia Turkey Parrots 115

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2022

Dragan]: The best birding in Asia is not even on the Asian mainland! A good supplement to your Sibleys, Nat Geo, or Petersons if you reside in or plan to visit Maine, and a wonderful gift for aspiring birders who live there [If you live in NYS, Corey’s American Birding Association Field guide to Birds of New York is a great gift.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Malaysia Suriname Malawi 257

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

We’re lucky to read about his adventures and observations regularly on this site, but the Asia page on his own brilliant blog is required reading for any birder heading to Hong Kong. Trips Asia Hong Kong Trip Report' Always be birding. Most birders don’t need this reminder. Monkey at a monastery.

2014 241

2014 Eagles Asia China 241

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2020

Having more than 1300 bird species, including over 75 endemics, it is hard to resist the lure of India – something I know from personal experience. In the end, this guide is what we were awaiting for quite some time, possibly since Nigel Wheatley’s Where to Watch Birds in Asia from 1996.

India 263

India Lions 2020 Groups 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 30, 2012

Dendrocopos leucotos is absent from western Europe but is found in northern, central, and eastern Europe and across Asia as far east as Japan and Korea. Many thanks to Swarovski Optik for inviting me along and letting me experience the natural wonders of the wonderful country of Hungary. ……… a.

Woodpeckers 198

Woodpeckers Hungary Europe Japan 198

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2013

” The Wels Catfish, Silurus glanis , is the second largest fish in its range, which covers much of Europe and parts of West Asia. My own experience at catching catfish (big ones!) Usually, it’s “Bird eating fish” but here we have a case of a “Bird-eating fish.” Catfish in the range of 1.0

Fish 225

Fish Whales Whaling France 225

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

Visiting this area for the first time after seeing it for month was a crazy experience. I have no idea what kind of wagtail, there are several it could be, and I am not particularly familiar with the wagtails of Eastern Asia and Alaska. It’s a liberating feeling on a tiny island.

Whaling 157

Whaling Whales Sharks Bats 157

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 168

2013 Costa Rica Birds India 168

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2021

In 2012, I reviewed The Jewel Hunter , an absorbing narrative in which author Chris Goodie travelled throughout Asia, Africa, and Australasia to observe and photograph every Pitta species in the world. Like all talented travel writers, Dunn is adept at drawing us into his experiences.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Brazil Bolivia Ecuador 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2014

Seeing a wild Snow Leopard is every wildlife enthusiast’s dream, probably the ultimate and most elusive wildlife experience on the planet. Knowing this, we were certainly far from disappointed by our experience but we of course all dreamed of a closer view. View of our camp in the Rhumbak Valley.

Snow Leopard 279

Snow Leopard Leopards Hunting Sheep 279

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

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. Fortunately, some birds seem to be ok with a concrete environment – like this Blue Rock Thrush.

Raccoons 250

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 250

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 7, 2017

The four authors, themselves field ornithologists, conservationists, birders, and writers with years of experience in southeast Asia, researched scientific studies ranging from early 19th-century descriptions of the birds of Java to the latest phylogenomic studies. Where is the Indonesian Archipelago?

Indonesia 150

Indonesia Brunei Malaysia Papua New Guinea 150

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

That was a wild cat, a wild Wildcat, the cat that lives in the wild because that is where it is from and where it belongs, at the southern end of its pan-African range that extended at one time well into Europe and Asia. Read what you want about the origin of domestic cats; the genetic evidence is not properly sampled.

Feral Cats 257

Feral Cats North America Feral Cats 257

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2012

The Nuthatch , which only visiting birders refer to as an Eurasian Nuthatch , is found throughout temperate Europe and Asia from Portugal to Japan. Many thanks to Swarovski Optik for inviting me along and letting me experience both some awesome new optics and the natural wonders of the wonderful country of Hungary. ……… …

Hungary 131

Hungary Europe Portugal Georgia 131

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2011

Within the Chiffchaff’s rather coherent continental range from Western Europe to East Asia, we can observe a gradual change in colouration and song. This is all easy stuff because the populations are geographically isolated, and you can analyse their songs and DNA and thus come to more or less convincing conclusions. There’s more.

Kazakhstan 160

Kazakhstan Europe Russia Asia 160

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2017

Greater Adjutants are huge birds that were once widespread across much of Southeast Asia; today there are two small breeding populations in India and Cambodia. There is no experience comparable to birding a dump, and, I have to say, I have never experienced a dump like this one. There were several there, plus Lesser Adjutants.

2016 122

2016 India Ducks Costa Rica 122

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2013

Redgannet was originally conceived as a way to encourage my colleagues (in case you haven’t read the profile, I work as a flight attendant for an international airline) out of the shops and their hotel rooms to experience something that the local natural scene has to offer.

Singapore 164

Singapore Woodpeckers Parrots Zebras 164

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2011

We started out as a team with enthusiasm and knowledge, but little experience in book-making. Any plans for further afield (USA, Asia, Africa)? I submerge myself into its characteristics and into its ‘feel’, before I start working on the guide – and for the time that I am working on an area, that area is my favourite.

Badgers 145

Badgers Ethics Africa Spain 145

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. While I do enjoy the first snow of the season, the second snow is a different matter. As is every one after it. Which leaves me with quite a few choices – practically the entire tropical belt, right?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257