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There is an association of wildlife photographers down here, much maligned among my Mexican birder friends for a variety of reasons, which has proposed a rule that governs which photos they will accept: No wildlife photography should contain any human elements. Is a human element still disallowed if it is the road on which a Roadrunner runs?
One of the pleasures of birding through a landscape no man has gone before is that one has frequent encounters with individuals – birds, mammals, herps, whatever – that have never seen a human in their life. I mean, it is hard enough to comprehend that birds can live in Mangghystau. They can fly.
But when you think about it, climate change might be more important to the people who read 10,000 Birds than a lot of other groups of people. Also, these human-occupied area are probably full of toxins and other impediments to normal use by wildlife. I truly hope that there are no climate change denialists among the bird lovers.
Perhaps a little more shock-inducing and paradoxical than concepts of birding at sewage ponds or graveyards, an oil refinery seems to be the antithesis of a desirable place for a birder. From Yellow-hooded Blackbirds to Purple and Common Gallinules , there are almost too many birds to focus on!
While these birds are very much liked by Chinese birders, the species could unfortunately not be named the National Bird of China as the Latin species name of the bird is Grus Japonicus. it would not be the national bird of the USA either. Incompetent photographers can always blame the bird.
Fortunately, I share this preference with birds, which we found away from the lake, mostly in some semi-desert areas. “ Not the bird’s fault, I guess. Possibly my favorite bird on the whole Qinghai trip was this Mongolian Ground Jay – thanks a lot to Bella from Alpinebirding for finding it.
Fortunately for birdwatchers, many of these birds like to sit on the power and other lines, of which sometimes curiously three or four run in parallel. I am not sure what the birds were congregating for where I took these photos. Little Owls have a somewhat less interesting diet consisting of insects, small mammals, and birds.
In April, many birds come to Shanghai, stay for a day or two and decide to move on. Maybe the birds know something. On the other hand, in April, some other species start breeding here in Shanghai. On the other hand, in April, some other species start breeding here in Shanghai.
The only bird-related activity I can think of is looking at bird photos I took in Singapore in 2015, and adding some irrelevant comments to them. Presumably, birds living in Singapore do not understand German. And I spent my time in Singapore birding, not shopping. “Odd, me?”
The poster bird of this area is the near-threatened Black-necked Crane. The HBW even mentions the importance of Ruoergai for this species: “Key sites for migrants include the Ruoergai Plateau (China), which is also an important breeding area” Common Mergansers also seem to use these wetlands as breeding area.
It has been more than 5 years since I last went to Australia, and I was even less of a qualified bird photographer then than I am now. So, the basic idea is to show 15 species of Australian birds in each post and give you the usual trivia about them. I guess it is a bird though. Admittedly, it is mostly grey.
Well, it is that time of year again and shorebirds are breeding. Hopefully all of the migratory shorebirds that left Roebuck Bay earlier this year have been successful at breeding in the Northern Hemisphere and will soon be heading back to our shores. I have also learnt to not count my chickens before they hatch.
The Cuckoo Cuculus canorus has a bad reputation because of its habit of laying its eggs on the nests of other birds, who then raise their young. But in south-west Europe there is a bird that kicks out the sitting tenants and takes over the nest altogether. In other words, it was a rare bird. The confusion was understandable.
Some more photos of Australian birds mixed with irrelevant facts and mediocre half-jokes, as a way to pass away the time while being under lockdown in Shanghai (note: it is over now but this post was written during the lockdown). It must be a bit frustrating for a flower to be less colorful than the bird visiting it though.
It is a well-known birding hotspot, though access to some of its parts may be tricky without a local guide. There is quite a bit of construction going on, so in the future, the park may become much more accessible to tourists, and at the same time much less attractive for shy birds (and their birder followers). Birders, less so.
Construction is still ongoing at Nanhui, there are constant rumors that key birding sites will be made inaccessible … you have to take every Nanhui visit as it is your last (yes, another clichee). Still, there were a few birds there this September. Still, there were a few birds there this September. A juvenile male.
This was actually the place where the late Richard ffrench spent much of his time as a music teacher, amassing countless observations of birds that would later form the basis of one of the essential birding guides for Trinidad and Tobago. The subtle white edging to the gape of this bird indicates it is near breeding time.
As the rice paddies near Kota Kinabalu described in an earlier post , Tanjung Aru beach is not really a major birding spot in its own right. However, it is only a short taxi ride away from the airport where most travelers will arrive at – better to see birds instead of just eating fast food while waiting for a connecting flight.
The month starts with many birds and ends with very few – but some of those are quite spectacular. If there ever was a misnamed bird, it is the white-faced morph of the Black Bulbul. Apparently, the bird can warm itself if it gets cold. This bird is still at least 1000 km away from its breeding grounds.
This is the second part of a post showing some birds seen at Nonggang in December 2022, along with the usual (mostly irrelevant) comments. The poor bird’s Latin species name is macgrigoriae , apparently (HBW) named after Jane Grant McGrigor, the daughter of Maj. Sir James McGrigor (1771-1858) Director Gen.
Every part of the world has it’s suite of parking lot staples, those urbanish species that seem to prefer to linger about humanity subsisting in no small amount to the magnanimity, or more likely the laziness, of humankind. And when you’re in the middle of your post-breeding molt, you need to do that a lot.
The latter is possible, as the undisturbed areas of Nanhui keep shrinking, leaving less and less space for birds. Humans, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I have to say that the pattern suits the buntings much better than humans, though, and hopefully, it is also more pleasant for them to wear. They also look fairly cute.
In her free time she travels near and far to find birds to continue building her life list, though many of her favorites can still be found right in her own backyard. She has contributed many pieces to 10,000 Birds and writes about her birding adventures on her blog, newbirder.tumblr.com. Lots and lots of birds.
But then, birdwatching is boring most of the time, too – all the periods when there are no birds … As by now usual for me, the trip was done with Alpinebirding , which helped reduce the time spent not seeing any birds. Humans are not always bad for birds, only about 95% of the time.
Birds have been migrating earlier. The mechanism by which this is happening in at least some species of birds is very interesting. If you know a lot about birds, this might be entirely expected. The breeding season is longer, starts earlier. The breeding season is longer, starts earlier. ” GannetCam. .
I admit this is not quite on the level of fellow writers’ posts describing birding as an extreme sport. The bird has now started using its scientific name, Hemipus picatus , as it is substantially shorter. Perhaps the middle section of blog posts should be relatively boring in order to get rid of the more casual readers.
It also has one of the highest human population densities in the state. Not surprisingly, this brings Burrowing Owls into close contact with humans across the county. Loss of habitat due to development, disturbance at burrows and negative interactions with humans are some of the threats facing this charismatic species.
Personally I’ve seen over a hundred species over several birding trips there, the overall species list for the location is approximately 160 – a tally that will only increase. It was admittedly difficult to concentrate on any single bird with trogons calling non-stop. This large and charismatic bird was surely the bird of the trip.
The recently released 2014 State of the Birds Report lists the Bank Swallow as one of the common birds in steep decline. These birds have lost more than half their global population, and the 33 species combined have lost hundreds of millions of breeding individuals in just the past 40 years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWptY0dfDsU.
His second book on migration is a tale of many birds and many research studies all connected by the theme of migration and by his thoughtful narrative voice. In fact, early, photographic versions of several chapters appeared in Living Bird and Audubon Magazine (see the above links). is through the personal and the specific.
This can mean some interesting birding, if you can bear the Shanghai heat … Of course, the egrets and herons described in my last post are still around. Cattle Egret … though some of them seem to want to hide (which is really difficult for a white bird). Sanderling: A bird with strong work ethics. Brown Shrike.
A bird species battling an onslaught of invasive rats just got a glimpse of hope. That’s because these birds won’t breed when rats are around. And let’s face it, would you go to all the effort of breeding if there was a hefty chance that your newborn would just go down some invader’s gullet?).
The magical month of May draws to a close, leaving all good birds ensconced in their breeding territory and getting down to the business of making more good birds. We fortunate humans who live on the upper half of the planet can finally acknowledge the onset of the most sultry season of the year. How about you?
Most were introduced, meaning they were brought to Florida by humans. These wild birds migrate out of Florida to northern breeding areas in the spring and are not present in Florida during the mottled duck breeding season. The featured photo above shows a hybrid bird. Mottled Ducks apparently genetically intact.
I’m at a yearly disadvantage when it comes to deciding my Best Bird of the Year (BBOY) here on 10,000 Birds. Borneo did turn up some great birds, as expected, but it still turned out to be quite hard to pick a winner. A lot of Asia’s storks are threatened by human activities. In fact, I can often guarantee it.
The Osprey is one of the true cosmopolitans of the avian world, found on six continents and breeding on five. It can and will live near most any body of water with an adequate supply of fish — fresh or brackish, wild or crowded with human activity. Birds baseball inland west Ospreys' Adaptation has its privileges!
There are two Painted Bunting populations, one that breeds along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Florida and one that breeds in the interior United States and northern Mexico from southeastern New Mexico to western Mississippi. The Atlantic Coast population lingers on the breeding grounds after nesting to molt.
Miami, Florida has a reputation among the birding community for being overrun with exotic bird species. However, the typical birding experience for someone down here also includes a large menagerie of other species such as Orange-winged Parrot , Mitred Parakeet , Egyptian Goose and Nutmeg Mannikin. It is well-deserved.
There is bird version of this in the Everglades. For example, years ago, Eiton Tchenrov postulated that the wild progenitor of the domestic dog, some subspecies or another of wolf, could benefit from overlapping its breeding territory with human hunters.
Its amazing to me that there are still places on earth where wildlife is blissfully unafraid of humans. It was made a National Park in the 1980s and is a major breeding and nesting area for over 30,000 seabirds. The boat-trip over to the island is far from uneventful and the pelagic birding is very rewarding.
But there is one Cape bird that stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to character – the African Penguin. But their endangered status is belied by the fact that they are one of the easiest rare birds to find in Africa. A pair of birds nested at Boulders Beach for the first time.
So it was with a superlative, breeding-plumaged, male Scarlet Tanager today at Jamaica Bay. Now Scarlet Tanagers are always a gorgeous bird, and if you walk by a breeding-plumaged male without looking not only are your credentials as a birder at stake but so are your credentials as a human being. And, well, wow.
I assume this is because so many of them breed in the Arctic and tundra regions, so their summer is much briefer than that of other birds. In the waning days of July, a birder friend from north-central Mexico sent out the first report of such wading birds arriving in his own wetlands. And when stilts party, they really party.
It is not the only Catharus thrush with spots and it is horribly disappointing that a bird with such an amazing singing voice would be given such an uninspiring scientific name. Fortunately, the common name nicely evokes a solitary bird in the wild, a fitting name for a bird that one must go out of one’s way to hear.
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