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Definitively the Egyptians!

10,000 Birds

In short, the accepted view used to be that a small breeding population of Egyptian Vultures inhabited Southern Africa, but has vanished facing the spread of towns, roads and farms. In the 1970s we had two to four breeding pairs, in the 1980s one to two, in the 1990s it was zero to two (irregular breeding).

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Yellow-billed Spoonbills breeding

10,000 Birds

Not only is it a bird species we rarely encounter, but we had never found a breeding colony before. The Yellow-billed Spoonbills had found the perfect environment to breed and we were lucky enough to come across it. Adult breeding plumage in Yellow-billed Spoonbills. Not all of the nests had been vacated yet either.

Breeding 246
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Breeding Plumaged Dunlin

10,000 Birds

Don’t get me wrong, they are nice to see, mostly because in winter we have so few shorebirds around in New York, but they are definitely not going to be the red-letter bird of an outing. But when spring comes and they get into high breeding plumage, wow! Birds never cease to amaze me. How do they do it?

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Sniping: The Final Frontier?

10,000 Birds

Field guides listed two subspecies – delicata (which would eventually become the highly migratory Wilson’s Snipe ) and paraguaiae (breeding resident South American Snipe ) – which were extremely difficult to discern from one another in the field. The first snipe I ever saw was on Tobago, a definite Wilson’s Snipe.

Trinidad 278
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Magpie-lark breeding near Broome

10,000 Birds

Whilst enjoying the Magpie Geese breeding around Broome recently we also noticed a Magpie-lark nest close to the highway in one of the very few trees beside the road. The female Magpie-lark gave each of the young some food, but one particular bird was definitely keen to take the most food that it could. Feeding the young Magpie-larks.

Breeding 100
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Pied Oystercatchers don’t give up!

10,000 Birds

This year, like every year, the Pied Oystercatchers have not given up on trying to successfully breed along our coast here in Broome. The breeding season started early this year with the first eggs laid at the end of May. It is definitely a nest with a view! This is the same nest site that they have used for many years.

Eggs 251
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Owls Come Alive!

10,000 Birds

The Boreal Owl breeds in high Spruce-Fir/Douglas-Fir forest which lie above 9,000 feet. Northern Pygmy-Owls tend to breed in the foothills from 5,000-8,500 feet above sea level but prefer steeper slopes amidst canyons which don’t often receive too much sunlight. Believe me, the snow pack is still remarkably deep up there.

Owls 235