10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2023

First birds came in the form of migrants and resident species that live in an oasis of precious green space near home. 2022 gave me a fair share of wonderful birds and birding experiences. Those kept me below the 700 species threshhold but I won’t complain about 691 species. 48 Hummingbird Species.

Costa Rica 257

Costa Rica Buffalo Endangered Species Birds 257

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

If you followed Dorian’s adventures on his Big Year blog, Biking for Birds , you are familiar with many of these stories, but not the major one, the internal journey that was going on inside Dorian’s mind as he pedaled and birded: his history and multi-year struggle with alcoholism and related addictions. There are also surprises.

Los Angeles 211

Los Angeles Massachusetts Birds New York City 211

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 26, 2021

I finally tracked down Black-bellied Plover , a shorebird species that had been eluding me for the county for years, plus a bonus bird in the form of a very infrequent Forster’s Tern hobnobbing with the usual Caspians. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

Bears 215

Bears Birds Experience Experiments 215

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2021

Not only did I pick up that little brown job, but I found plenty more species that looked verrrry much like it. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Good times! How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

California 264

California New York Birds Experience 264

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2021

Of all the species he saw he had one that was easily his Best Bird of the Weekend, as it was a new bird for him in New York State. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Corey enjoyed getting out early and birding both days this weekend, and has the lists to back him up.

New York 256

New York Sparrows Birds Breeding 256

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2020

A distant American White Pelican on the East Pond was Corey’s 264th species in Queens this year, which tops his previous best by three species. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2020 241

2020 Rabbits Jamaica Pelicans 241

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2023

Why tediously write blog posts when ChatGPT can do it for me? So, I asked ChatGPT: “Please write a 500-word blog post about birding in Shanghai in the style of Kai Pflug for the website 10,000 birds” This is the result: Greetings, fellow birding enthusiasts!

China 163

China Endangered Species Sanctuary Protection 163

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2021

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. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. At least my summers are mild. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 225

Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 225

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. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 263

Birds California Raised Wildlife 263

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2021

I’ve continued my inconsistent effort to pick off the species I need for my Monroe County list. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. On the other hand, if fate turns fickle, you’ll miss the good stuff entirely. Rumor (i.e. How about you?

Sparrows 219

Sparrows Farming Birds Experience 219

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

Most of the birds I spotted this weekend are the same species I’ll be hanging out with all winter. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Migration is meaningful to those of us who appreciate when non-local birds invade our local airspace, so make the most of this one.

Breeders 216

Breeders Owls Birds Family 216

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2024

Somewhat strangely, the HBW calls it a “small grey to yellow babbler” – while the species indeed has some grey parts, that is not the color that sticks to mind when seeing or remembering the bird. Plus the sibia apparently plays an important role in the pollination of one endangered rhododendron species ( source ).

Eggs 225

Eggs Birds Japan Myanmar 225

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. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2020 240

2020 Shelters Birds Experience 240

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2020

The finch didn’t show up except for American Goldfinch , so he chose this common species as his Best Bird of the Weekend, as at least they showed up. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 251

2020 Birds Experience Experiments 251

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2021

I’ve continued my efforts to at least keep pace with Monroe County listers by seeking out new species for my local list. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Once again, dad takes it for the team! Luckily, I’ve seen both well before. How about you?

Birds 198

Birds Experience Experiments Species 198

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2021

He got out on both mornings and saw pretty much expected species. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. This is probably why his Best Bird of the Weekend is simply a Northern Mockingbird that sat still in morning light. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 187

Birds Woodpeckers Experience Experiments 187

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Corey had an excellent weekend’s birding, adding three species to his year list for Queens, Eared Grebe , Tundra Swan , and Red-shouldered Hawk. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 250

2020 2007 Owls Birds 250

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

I finally chased down what has been a nemesis species for me at Webster Park, which seems to be one of Rochester’s most reliable winter finch hotspots. He also enjoyed Red Crossbills this weekend, but in Queens, only the second time he’s seen the species in his home borough and the first in over ten years! How about you?

2020 193

2020 Cooking Birds Experience 193

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2020

After three attempts, I finally found this incredibly rare vagabond sandpiper spinning amongst more common local species; interestingly enough, it prefers the company of Bonaparte’s Gulls , which the phalarope happens to resemble in both winter plumage and feeding territory. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 264

2020 Sparrows Birds Experience 264

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2011

Nat Geo Wild is airing an amazing show tonight called Shark Attack Experiment: LIVE! It is home to some of the most concentrated and diverse shark populations in the world, including species with a reputation for attacking people, such as great white, bull, tiger, black tip, ragged tooth and dusky sharks. Will you be tuning in?

Sharks 100

Sharks Experience Experiments South Africa 100

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 28, 2021

At least that’s where I added this species to my New York list. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend? Tell us in the comments section about the rarest, loveliest, or most fascinating bird you observed.

Charlotte 245

Charlotte New York City New York Jamaica 245

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 23, 2023

As usual, my experience with such boardwalks was somewhat underwhelming, as was Eshowe as a whole, but there were still a few birds worth mentioning at the forest and in the area surrounding Eshowe. There are actually much nicer photos of the Purple-crested Turaco in another blog post of mine, Birding Mkuze. It must be frustrating.

South Africa 147

South Africa Africa 2018 Birds 147

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2020

But of the species they saw he most appreciated the Eastern Phoebe because it was the last of the “never-missed” species to be spotted. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 167

2020 Birds Experience Experiments 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2021

Obliging species like Grey-headed Kingfisher , Long-crested Eagle , and even a pair of Greater Blue-eared Starlings ensured we didn’t get anywhere quickly. Needless to say, I was still overwhelmed by the presence of numerous species of shorebirds I hadn’t previously seen.

Buffalo 264

Buffalo Kenya Trinidad 2019 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2020

Learn to read the signs, and you’ll be able to tell the time of year just by which species cross your path… I had the chance to observe some interesting avian activity along the lakeshore this weekend, but the Eastern Bluebirds down in rural Pennsylvania were most distinctively colorful, which counts for a lot with me.

2020 164

2020 Pennsylvania Jamaica Birds 164

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2021

Of the species I spotted at Carbon Canyon Regional Park the bird I most appreciated was the California Thrasher , especially the one that cooperated for some portrait photography. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. So that will be my Best Bird of the Weekend.

Alaska 222

Alaska California New York Birds 222

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2019

When you can’t search reports, compile lists, or (as I’m struggling to do right now) post birding blogs without waiting for hours for pages to load, everything feels less efficient, which means less time to do what you wanted to do in the first place: seek the best views of birds. How about you?

2019 161

2019 Uganda Science Birds 161

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

I was shocked to still find a number of shorebird species up at Braddock Bay, perhaps because of how much productive mud the dropping lake levels have exposed. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Hopefully, you’re looking forward to the month ahead! How about you?

2020 218

2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2022

I’m sure in many of my accounts on this blog this species appears in the early paragraphs. All the while it moved a grand total of three times – vastly differing from all my prior experiences with this species! Don’t get me wrong, Rufous-breasted Wrens are fairly common across both Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad 229

Trinidad ALA Woodpeckers Experience 229

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 11, 2021

While I sought rarities on the western edge of Rochester this weekend, I came up with entirely common species. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Enjoy that feeling while you can, because we are still months away from migration! How about you?

Birds 159

Birds Ducks Fish Experience 159

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2021

Corey enjoyed getting out around Queens on both Saturday and Sunday morning, and managed to get his total species in the borough to an all time high for January, with 115. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 195

Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2020

A Saturday morning seawatch netted Corey a Cory’s Shearwater , a nice year bird, but he couldn’t get good enough looks at the two Great Shearwaters that went past for him to count them as a new species for his Queens list. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2020 234

2020 New York City Whales Whaling 234

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2020

Of the 132 species he spotted he decided photographing a Common Nighthawk in Queens for the first time entitled the nighthawk to be his Best Bird of the Weekend. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 167

2020 New York Birds Experience 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 4, 2020

I was thrilled to find more species than expected along the lake this weekend, especially a pair of foraging Hudsonian Godwits willing to be added to my county list. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Did you find time to catch any avian action? How about you?

2020 171

2020 Birds Experience Experiments 171

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2021

Whatever species it turns out to be it is Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Consensus is forming that the bird is a Gray-breasted Martin , a rarity that isn’t expected even in south Texas, much less New York. How about you?

Texas 169

Texas New York Owls Birds 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

Of all the species he spotted nothing pleased him more than finally connecting with his first Field Sparrow of the year: in fact, he saw four of them! Though it is a common species the fact it made Corey wait until late February made it his Best Bird of the Weekend. How about you? How about you?

United States 152

United States Birds Sparrows Humane 152

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2020

The last weekend lived up to my meager expectations of delivering only common species, but I did enjoy the Carolina Wrens in my yard chattering away, undoubtedly in delight that their aggressive House cousins were occupied elsewhere. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

2020 160

2020 New York City New York Birds 160