10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. Mercedes Rivadeneira has been in the birding tourism and nature conservation business for over 30 years!

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Ecuador Birds 2019 Cattle 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

Not all birds are created equal. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. These are the kinds of birds even those barely cognizant of nature recognize, appreciate, and aspire to. Central Africa has one of those birds.

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Uganda Africa Penguins 2019 293

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2023

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!

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Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2021

The best of summer birding in my experience takes place at the beach. I found myself fully immersed in marine species while boating, fishing, and birding coastal Virginia with family this weekend. I found myself fully immersed in marine species while boating, fishing, and birding coastal Virginia with family this weekend.

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Virginia Birds Fish Experience 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2022

I’m not quite sure where I was at the time, probably working, and it was six more years till I got my state Henslow’s Sparrow at Shawangunk NWR (a shorter drive and a more cooperative bird). She frames her story with first a Doonesbury comic strip (remember Dick Davenport, the bird watcher?)

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Connecticut Sparrows Birds New York 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2023

Another year of birding in Costa Rica has come to an end, another one begins. I bet some tanager flocks will be in the cards; birding in Costa Rica tends to deliver. It’s 2023 already and I have already started this year of birding. A male American Redstart flashed its Halloween finery and other birds flitted into view.

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Costa Rica Buffalo Endangered Species Birds 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. My name is Kalu Afasi, I am a birding guide from Ghana, a country in West Africa.

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Ghana Africa Birds Industry 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

10,000 Birds is running a series of articles by and about tour guides, tour companies, eco-lodges, and other birding travel organizations. We want to help the birding tourism industry come back strong from the COVID pandemic. He spends most of his time on birds, birding and photography. Herbert holds a B.

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Uganda Rwanda Wildlife Reserve Kenya 247

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2020

But birds don’t seem to care about what ails us humans. My daughter and I visited Owl Woods in search of winter finches but were surprised to find owls instead; obviously, the name of this legendary birding site suggests otherwise, but encountering both a Saw-whet and Barred Owl on the same autumn day was both unexpected and thrilling.

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2020 2007 Owls Birds 276

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Fortunately, nature assures that, as one suite of birds leaves, another takes its place. Corey enjoyed some good birding on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. But his Best Bird of the Weekend was one he saw with his family on a visit to Jamaica Bay on Saturday evening. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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2020 Rabbits Jamaica Pelicans 274

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2021

The bird is just chilling out, waiting for the urge to fly. The bird below is also waiting, but not to fly. One might assume this is a falconry bird, but it’s not. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of birds knows the efficiency and delicacy of their respiratory systems. Now imagine you have the lungs of a bird.

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Wildlife Rehabilitation Tethering Giraffes Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 2, 2021

Spring migration seems to be arriving late at my northern latitude, but interesting birds are popping up seemingly by the hour. Corey got out and about both mornings this weekend, catching up with as many May birds as he could. It seemed fascinated with the clicking of Corey’s camera and that makes it his Best Bird of the Weekend.

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Birds Experience Experiments 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

Change is good, particularly because it always brings new birds. Of those, the best was a Bay-breasted Warbler , which is Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. How about you?

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2020 Bald Eagle Eagles Birds 266

10,000 Birds

APRIL 12, 2020

Corey did get out for some socially distant birding this weekend and his Best Bird of the Weekend was a Yellow-throated Warbler at Cunningham Park, only his fifth record of the species in Queens. What was your best bird of the weekend? If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

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2020 Shelters Birds Experience 263

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2021

As grumpy as these daily 30-degree temperature swings are making me, you have to wonder how the birds are reacting. Corey had a pretty amazing weekend, birding-wise, with a host of highlights including Sora , Hudsonian Godwit , Wilson’s Storm-Petrel , and more. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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United States Turtles 2010 Birds 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 2, 2021

The same analogy applies to bird sightings, but here we are, so let’s hear what you saw this weekend! Corey went out onto the East Pond at Jamaica Bay both mornings this weekend and saw bunches of great birds. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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Jamaica Birds Experience Experiments 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2021

October is on the wane, but the birds just keep coming. I wasn’t really where any uncommon birds were this weekend, but I’m never far from very vocal Northern Cardinals , which is a good thing. Of the two, he chose the latter as his Best Bird of the Weekend, simply because he got a better photo of it. How about you?

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Sparrows Birds Experience Experiments 263

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2021

May is a time for birding. We have the slow weeks and months for reading, writing, and dreaming about the birds we’d rather be seeing. Corey enjoyed getting out early and birding both days this weekend, and has the lists to back him up. After that, what else could be his Best Bird of the Weekend? How about you?

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New York Sparrows Birds Breeding 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2021

We here at 10,000 Birds dedicated the month of February to highlighting a variety of birding tourism companies, destinations, and guides. After all, there are a lot more birding tourism operators who we haven’t posted about yet! Birding Experiences. Bird Uganda Safaris. Birding Expeditions.

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Costa Rica Uganda Greece Ghana 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2023

How can one, in what is barely the second week of the first month of the year – even think of suggesting a Bird of the Year? I began recording my bird sightings with photographs in late 2009, and since then I have seen (or at least heard) a fair proportion of species recorded within my home country of Trinidad & Tobago.

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10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2021

As August comes rushing to a close, the doldrums of the last few weeks have already started to give way to a new mass movement of birds. Corey is loving the California birds but his Best Bird of the Weekend was a bird that doesn’t really belong in southern California. Move with them! Late summer in many parts of the U.S.

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California New York Birds Experience 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2020

The winds of December blow in a dramatic shakeup of birding conditions in most parts of the world, especially the ones with fair odds of a white Christmas. The excitement of those not-likely birds of November has died down, but the new regime of real winter birds in the Northern Hemisphere hasn’t fully asserted itself yet.

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2020 Birds Experience Experiments 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2021

That doesn’t mean, however, that winds of change aren’t blowing birds hither and yon. Some of the banner birds of your next season may have already arrived, but more will come every week. I’m so focused on my birds of spring that I’ve been tuned out to what the last of winter has had to offer around here.

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Birds Experience Experiments 261

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2024

I was especially looking forward to take some better photos of the birds I saw last time, which I only managed partly. After all, I’d rather call myself a birder than a bird photographer, although I have to admit that I enjoy doing both more or less equally.

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Germany Birds Parrots Africa 224

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2021

Weekends like these tend to fill those of us closer to the poles with envy for our birding friends even the slightest bit closer to the equator. While I knocked down plenty of first of spring birds this weekend, I most appreciated the appearance of a species that hangs around all winter. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 259

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2021

So many different factors contribute to the quality and quantity of a birding adventure that one would be hard-pressed to predict the very best time to watch birds in a particular area beyond a vague three or four week window. The loon is his Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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New York Birds Owls Experience 260

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2023

Indeed, even though I just celebrated 40 years of living in Mexico, we have never been to Cabo San Lucas, and our only experience with Cancún was going though immigration in that city’s airport. If we were more enthusiastic beach-goers, I would probably have many more tropical birds on my life list by now. Such handsome hummers!

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Mexico Birds Turkey Sparrows 263

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Among other things… I go birding. Yes, birding can be a wonderful tool for maintaining mental health. That has certainly been my own experience, but I am not the only one who says this; an ever-growing body of evidence confirms this fact. Why is birding such an effective mental health tool? Green is good.

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Birds Emotional Medical Shelters 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2020

Corey spent most of Sunday driving to the Adirondacks for a week in the mountains, but he did get out birding in Queens on Saturday morning. Shorebird migration is in full swing and though Jamaica Bay’s East Pond is still full of water he saw some good birds on the beach. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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2020 Jamaica New York Birds 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2021

The beauty of May, however, is that there are always birds, even if they’re not the ones we expect! Case in point, songbirds are moving through the Finger Lakes in fits and starts, but beach birds have been out in force, thanks to shockingly low seasonal levels for Lake Ontario. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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New York Birds Experience Experiments 257

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 9, 2021

I added yet another new Monroe County bird in the form of a Stilt Sandpiper this weekend, which is the only way this species earns my Best Bird honors. Corey is enjoying life visiting relatives in southern California and has seen a bunch of birds he hasn’t seen awhile. What was your best bird of the weekend?

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Birds California Raised Wildlife 264

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

Not only have we completed Birding Tourism February , but we’ve also collectively made it through what is usually one of the least exciting birding months of the calendar year. This is not to say that fantastic birds cannot be found in February, but rather that we’re mostly picking through the remainders of the last season.

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Charlotte New York City New York Jamaica 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

Despite his best efforts Corey didn’t find any truly outstanding birds this weekend as he stomped his way across Queens. A late Northern Parula was nice, his first Canvasback of the season was pleasant, and sweeping the scoters is always fun, but his favorite bird of the weekend was an Ipswich Sparrow. How about you?

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2020 Sparrows Birds Experience 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2021

June can be a hit-or-miss month for birding. You may, if fortune favors you, hit good weather or birds. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed. In that sense, June is no different than any other month, right? How about you?

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Sparrows Farming Birds Experience 256

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2021

Last weekend hosted many of the international organized bird watching festivities, but every weekend offers the opportunity for avian observation excitement. As serene as that sounds, seeing these birds now just reminds me that they’re on their way to warmer climes and won’t be back for many months. What did you find?

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Jamaica Turkey Birds Wildlife 253

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 10, 2021

Mid-October delivers tons of birding excitement, even the kind that can be enjoyed from a sedentary position. Whether you experienced a Big Day, a Big Sit, or just a big weekend of birding, we’re inviting you to brag about what you saw. That makes it automatically the Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you?

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Birds Experience Experiments 253

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2021

The onset of summer birding doldrums in the temperate range of the Northern Hemisphere generally means highly restricted avian diversity… except in those places where it does not. Basically, summer birding resembles that of other seasons, just hotter and slower! What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

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