10,000 Birds

APRIL 8, 2012

My family took our annual post-Easter Egg hunt hike at Powder Mills Park, where I spied several gorgeous matched pairs of Wood Ducks along with lots of different woodpecker species. What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

2012 220

2012 Eggs Hunting Woodpeckers 220

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 26, 2014

What good, though, is a polar vortex if it doesn’t come attended by polar birds? Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a Bald Eagle that he watched (and photographed) hunting and eating a Blue-winged Teal at Viera Wetlands. What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

Bald Eagle 203

Bald Eagle 2014 Eagles Hunting 203

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2019

These reports (called “ Banking on Nature “) are relevant to birders because they are among the few comprehensive analyses that relate to the economic impact of birders on national wildlife refuges, which are among the more popular birding locations. A number of these NWRs appear on my list of the Top 25 NWRs for Birding.).

Wildlife 277

Wildlife Maryland San Francisco Minnesota 277

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2015

What do you think makes for a good bird hide? I have asked myself that same question many times over the last six months, until last week, when I was involved in an opening ceremony of five new bird hides at the Palic Lake, by the town of Subotica in the very north of Serbia, along the border with Hungary (all photos are from that area).

Serbia 267

Serbia Spain Birds Hungary 267

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2013

The Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act , which went into effect seventy-nine years ago on July 1, 1934, authorized the annual issuance of what is popularly known as the Duck Stamp. In 1976, Congress changed the official name to the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp , presumably to broaden its appeal to non-hunters.

Ducks 261

Ducks Wildlife Hunters Hunting 261

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

If you ever wonder why so many American birders leaven their love of nature with a little self-loathing, look no further than the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation , which the U.S. Bird watchers definitely pay, even if our economic contributions are patently ignored. billion to almost $4.1

Hunters 261

Hunters 2006 Ducks Wildlife 261

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

I’ve been learning to band birds at the South Florida Bird Observatory. But hands-on bird experience has been a major gap in my knowledge to date and I’m astounded at how much more I’m discovering about birds. For example, last Sunday we found an unusually large bird in one of the nets.

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Florida South America United States North America 255

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2013

Wildlife centers depend heavily on the advice of veterinarians who work with wildlife, and who often exchange treatments and experiences with each other. Also providing advice were Dr. Jamie Lindstrom of the VCA Northview Animal Hospital in Pittsburgh, and Dr. Erica Miller, formerly of Tri-State Bird Rescue in Delaware.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 233

Wildlife Rehabilitation Delaware Wildlife Raccoons 233

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 10, 2012

The family Picathartidae consists of two very unusual birds; White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes , endemic to the Upper Guinea forests of West Africa; and Gray-necked or Red-headed , restricted to Lower Guinea forests of Central Africa. White-necked or Yellow-headed Picathartes, Bonkro, Ghana.

Sierra Leone 274

Sierra Leone Ghana Equatorial Guinea Cameroon 274

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2020

In Costa Rica, our July birding news usually consists of interesting sightings during the mid-summer tours. These and other important birding related questions come to mind and during a normal July, I would be personally and actively helping answer them. Which tours saw the most roosting owls?

Costa Rica 258

Costa Rica Birds Thailand Farming 258

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2012

I have put this post off for a couple of months now because I wanted to avoid dealing with the huge pile of American Bittern images I had after my experience at the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival back in January. 10,000 Birds is a Scrub Jay-level sponsor of the 15th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. ……… a.

Wildlife 223

Wildlife Hunting Fish Experience 223

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Though I traveled to NYC this weekend, Ivy and I nailed down our best bird before I left; a Short-eared Owl has been hunting at a local park not 10 minutes from our house, which makes for the easiest owl sighting we’ve snagged in a long time! What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2020 184

2020 United States Jamaica Owls 184

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2014

and provides diverse nature experiences for visitors from around the world. Fishing accounted for 21 percent and hunting 7 percent. Congress appropriates these monies primarily with funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund (MBCF). It preserves habitat, protects wildlife.

Ducks 256

Ducks Wildlife Hunting Hunters 256

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2013

In fact, we lead the world in these ubiquitous red birds, a fact that undoubtedly chafes terrorists and freedom haters everywhere. My best bird this weekend was hardly rare, but spotting a Great Blue Heron in a suburban yard far from water definitely caught my attention. That’s his third new bird in Queens in less than a month!

St. Louis 188

St. Louis 2013 United States Arizona 188

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2015

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was his first Gull-billed Tern of the year at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. They are a graceful tern and Corey appreciated watching it hunt, feed, and fly over the marshes. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2015 172

2015 Jamaica Hunting Birds 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Having been penned in our house for the last month (and more), the last time we have been out birding seems like a distant memory. I was ardently working to finish a years-long project on the birds of T&T so those last few weeks have not been bird-less by any means. A tree that is loved by birds is also loved by the birder.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad Hunting Venezuela Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2014

even before I took binoculars, I was always chasing, hmm… impressionable experiences. Can birding possibly compare? I haven’t put myself in life threatening situations while birding (unless you count paddling with crocodiles ?). More of a hunt? Birding Europe Serbia wetlands' Museums – majority of them?

Serbia 260

Serbia Farming India Europe 260

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

It feels good to start a post with some truly attractive birds – such as two species of broadbills. If you like cute birds, you will probably like the Black-and-yellow Broadbill. Homework assignment: Is the bird in this video a male or a female? Maybe the birds I saw were not real. You can see why here.

Sri Lanka 245

Sri Lanka Taiwan Birds Cats 245

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2014

That will be the opening day of the 18th Annual Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in Titusville, Florida. Who knows what great birds 2015 will bring? Like this past January, I will be leading field trips and spending the rest of my time birding. So, basically, I’ll be birding all the time.

2015 233

2015 Wildlife Florida Honduras 233

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2021

I am still tired from the long drive, but it was great to play with the very best toys for birders, to be able to share experiences and to ask the factory staff all sorts of silly questions. At the end of the workshop we all went birding, to further test the glasses of our choice. impressive for Central Europe.

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Austria Factory Asia Battery 299

10,000 Birds

MARCH 3, 2022

If you think it is rather pretentious to start a birding blog post with a Kafka story, I fully agree with you. 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. I just want to point out it could be much worse.

Raccoons 259

Raccoons Birds Oregon China 259

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Sadly, the HBW states that the species is “almost extinct in some areas in China owing to hunting and trapping for the cagebird trade and taxidermy” The Maroon Oriole looks much more interesting, though my photos do not really do it full justice. ” Contribution to the vibrant bird community. A bad one, admittedly.

Nepal 208

Nepal Birds Owls Nigeria 208

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 8, 2013

“In 80 birding tours to more than 100 countries, that was definitely the best day of birding I have ever had in my life!’ What a way to sum up what is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest birding sites and certainly my favorite in southern Africa. However, the great birding experience that is Sani starts lower down.

Lesotho 207

Lesotho Rats Africa Woodpeckers 207

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2012

Birding’s Holy Grails. One of the most highly desirable birds in the world, the Pel’s Fishing Owl is a true phantom. The bird eluded me for nearly 20 years until I stumbled across one at Phinda Private Game Reserve , where I worked in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Typically these birds hunt at night and are very shy.

Fish 262

Fish Owls Botswana Barn Owls 262

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

Yet, one other hunting attempt in the same area I do remember. My notes of that paddle include some other mouth-watering birds too, such as three Velvet Scoters and two Red-throated Divers.). The next memorable hunt came from winter 2006/07. Among the birds in the shallows, there was one strange sight. And, now, at eBird.

Serbia 258

Serbia 2004 Eagles Chickens 258

10,000 Birds

JUNE 5, 2024

After a well-deserved rest following a very profitable morning’s birding in the nearby Moco-moco village , we took the short walk from our lodge down to the dock. The second bird followed suit, physics itself noisily straining to keep the bird airborne as it wheeled overhead.

Guyana 245

Guyana Otters Trinidad Bats 245

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 24, 2013

What’s not to like about big, bright red, big-beaked, birds? Hunting of Scarlet Ibis for their feathers as well as drainage of portions of the swamp for rice harvesting was, at one time, putting what is now a major tourist destination in jeopardy. If you visit Trinidad and Tobago you must visit Caroni Swamp.

Trinidad 223

Trinidad Spain Cooking Hunting 223

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2019

Imagine that… a successful snipe hunt. But on Friday evening he and Daisy visited Irvine Regional Park at dusk and were rewarded with Lesser Nighthawks , a lifer and an awesome Best Bird of the Weekend. What was your best bird of the weekend? How about you?

2019 149

2019 New York California Hunting 149

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2015

I was there for awhile on Friday afternoon and, as usual, enjoyed my time there, mostly because of a single amazingly cooperative Yellow-crowned Night-Heron that was so intent on hunting fiddler crabs that it essentially ignored both me and my digiscoping rig, at times only five meters from where the bird foraged.

New York City 243

New York City New York Hunting Sparrows 243

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

You may have read my recent piece on Birding the Okavango Delta in Botswana here on 10,000 Birds. If you have never thought of India as a birding destination, I’d urge you to give it a good look. Babita Tours has many years of experience organizing tailor-made wildlife tours for private groups in this wonderful country.

India 238

India Wildlife Tigers Rhinoceros 238

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2013

Great Gray Owl , Northern Hawk Owl , Snowy Owl – this trinity captures the imagination of most birders with their imposing presence, unique adaptations, and beauty as among the most desired species of bird to see in the world. Within minutes, I spotted a crisp, cold white bird flying right in front of the car.

Minnesota 222

Minnesota Owls Bald Eagle Hoarding 222

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2012

There is a certain amount of communication among different people at which time data is exchanged, but far far less than most armchair Hunting and Gathering experts (like, most archaeologists) would ever guess. Knowledge is more likely to be shared via shared experience than the exchange of data, though both happen.

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Compassion Research Cooking Transported 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2022

Some of my earliest bird-related memories (what other memories even exist?) Today, Barn Owls can be found across both islands, hunting open fields at twilight or comfortably resting in abandoned relics of the sugar cane industry. Visitors to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary can often see a pair roosting together in the mangrove.

Trinidad 279

Trinidad Owls Barn Owls Abandoning 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Cuban Trogon, the national bird who wears the colors of the Cuban flag! There is an island of fascinating birds out there, and I want to see them all. ” birding destination.* The full name of this unique volume is Endemic Birds of Cuba: A Comprehensive Guide Including West Indian Endemics Living in Cuba.

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Cuba Birds 2000 United States 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2019

“Target birds” The term can foster excitement but is easily contentious. Aren’t all birds worth watching? There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and watching every bird but there’s also nothing wrong about going to great efforts to see lifers only found in dreams. Fiery-throated Hummingbird.

Costa Rica 203

Costa Rica Panama Birds Nicaragua 203

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2012

Originally a hunting term, the Big Five were the most dangerous and prized targets of the great white hunters on safari. As visitors’ and the public’s interests expanded from the Big Five, and an appreciation for lesser mammals, birds and smaller wildlife has became more widespread, the term Little Five was coined.

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Buffalo Rhinoceros Leopards Elephants 240

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2024

Bird Day is a lovely, little jewel of a book. The idea is to portray one bird for each hour of the day in words and art, presenting the diversity, beauty, and wonder of avian life. Angell’s black-and-white illustrations bring sparks of energy and visual clarity to the fascinating bird behaviors described by Huber.

Barn Owls 230

Barn Owls Chicago Penguins New Zealand 230