10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2021

After a night at the Point Reyes hostel and a long walk to Limantour Beach the next morning, Katherine and I drove into Point Reyes Station for a breakfast of buttermilk blueberry scones at the excellent Bovine Bakery , where the Brewer’s Blackbirds ( Euphagus cyanocephalus ) outside gathered around us and begged for crumbs.

San Francisco 264

San Francisco 2020 California Blackbirds 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2021

That unwanted yet predictable final bit of killing cold weather was and is why most of the colorful insectivores, the true birds of summer, remained far to the south until May. It was one last rebuttal from winter before finally being pushed back to the north by the growing winds of summer.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica West Virginia Baltimore Virginia 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 21, 2014

Red-winged Blackbird singing at the Great Vly. Should you ever find yourself in Saugerties with some time to kill you could do far worse than to visit the Great Vly.

New York 221

New York Birds Blackbirds Ducks 221

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2011

Over the years, I’ve chronicled an apparent decline in the numbers of the birds hanging around the kill-zone. Eastern Bluebirds and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds drop by periodically and Red-winged Blackbirds maintain their angry vigil in defense of their pond. This year, though, the birding was better than usual.

Chickens 184

Chickens 2011 Pennsylvania Birds 184

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2012

Once upon a time, people and especially children felt free to interact with wild birds in any way that would satisfy their curiousity — watching and learning, yes, but also harassing and chasing, collecting eggs and nests, stealing nestlings as “pets”, and killing birds for amateur taxidermy efforts.

Montana 190

Montana Geese Blackbirds Canada 190

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019

High overhead, swallows are going over and in the fields, blackbirds move in undulating flocks. Speaking of pineapples, they come with a double dose of destruction that includes application of massive amounts of chemicals, poisons that not only keep insects and fungi at bay but also kill birds.

Costa Rica 200

Costa Rica South America Tennessee 2019 200

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Lucky and his instructor were successful in bluffing this particular bear, yet the very next year in the same area, Hoshino was killed by a Brown Bear. Brewer’s blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus. Red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus. Arctic tern, Sterna paradisaea. Barn swallow, Hirundo rustica. Black grouse, Tetrao tetrix.

Animal 124

Animal Bears Stray Dog Blackbirds 124

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2022

The juvenile Chinese Blackbirds get older but still look kind of stupid. Tragically, I never saw any birds near the nest later on – I guess they abandoned it, decided to quit procreating, or just got eaten by some other bird or cat. Some try to be invisible by not seeing anything but realize quickly that this does not work.

Sparrows 147

Sparrows China Birds Tigers 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Sandhill Cranes calling somewhere on the south end of the lake, Western Grebes calling to one another, Canada Geese honking away noisily, and somewhere above me, Red-wing Blackbirds roosting in a pine tree called out, in their harsh gargling cry. It was good to be back! I am pretty sure that they were staging here for their trip south.

Dogs 125

Dogs Mules Deer Oregon 125

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Bobolink Saison is a farmhouse-style ale with a true farm country bird for a mascot, that iconic grassland blackbird with an unforgettable song and a slightly silly name: the Bobolink ( Dolichonyx oryzivorus ). “Bubbling Bob the Bobolink”, as illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes for The Burgess Bird Book for Children (1919).

Belgium 148

Belgium Vermont Farming Europe 148

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 27, 2013

I was fortunate to rack up a number of lifers in 2013, both at home and abroad ( Varied Thrush in Washington, Brewer’s Blackbirds in California, Burrowing Owl in the Nevada desert). Meredith enjoyed her first sighting of an awesome migration spectacle. She blogged about it here.

2013 172

2013 Costa Rica Birds India 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2023

It was the same day George Floyd was killed. And I think the non-birders reading this book would like photos of birds, particularly his spark bird, Red-winged Blackbird, and his beloved Blackburnian Warbler (the drawing is lovely but the bird really needs to be seen in color). I remember that day.

Emotional 230

Emotional Birds Minneapolis Nepal 230

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

We’ve got a couple of stake outs where we can watch not just for this raptor, the world’s largest, but where moa kills can sometimes be seen too. There are few sights on Earth more astonishing than the largest flying predator making its kill. Our tour ends on Norfolk Island.

New Zealand 250

New Zealand Ducks Mountain Goats Australia 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Unicolored Blackbird – Agelasticus cyanopus. Melodious Blackbird – Dives dives. Rusty Blackbird – Euphagus carolinus. Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Unicolored Blackbird – Agelasticus cyanopus. Melodious Blackbird – Dives dives. Rusty Blackbird – Euphagus carolinus. Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula.

2018 113

2018 Australia Los Angeles Woodpeckers 113

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Unicolored Blackbird – Agelasticus cyanopus. Melodious Blackbird – Dives dives. Rusty Blackbird – Euphagus carolinus. Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula.

2018 110

2018 Australia Los Angeles Albatross 110

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula. Yellow-headed Blackbird – Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus. Western Australia.

2018 100

2018 Australia Los Angeles Albatross 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula. Yellow-headed Blackbird – Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus. Western Australia.

2018 100

2018 Australia Los Angeles Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula. Yellow-headed Blackbird – Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus. Western Australia.

2018 100

2018 Australia Los Angeles Albatross 100

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2019

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula. Yellow-headed Blackbird – Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus. Western Australia.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Sparrows 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 1, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula. Yellow-headed Blackbird – Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus. Western Australia.

2018 113

2018 Australia Woodpeckers Los Angeles 113

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2023

The captor monkey killed the bird … by biting off its head” Eurasian Woodcocks are much more likely to be killed by humans than by snub-nosed monkeys. In fact, websites such as this one seem to offer package tours just to kill woodcocks.

Monkeys 147

Monkeys Birds South Korea Owls 147

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018

301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). 301 N Virginia Dare Trl, Kill Devil Hills US-NC (36.0166,-75.6573). Unicolored Blackbird – Agelasticus cyanopus. Melodious Blackbird – Dives dives. Rusty Blackbird – Euphagus carolinus. Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula.

2018 100

2018 Australia Los Angeles Woodpeckers 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2022

When juvenile Chinese Blackbirds want to get an alcoholic drink at a bar, they usually blacken their yellow gape flanges in order to look older. Birdwatchers may be familiar with the related phenomenon that sometimes it is easier to approach a single bird than a huge flock. This one was on its own and thus allowed me to get relatively close.

Birds 256

Birds Sparrows Mountain Goats Protection 256