10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2023

The northern half of the lake added Corn Bunting , European Turtle Dove , Dalmatian Pelican , Purple Heron , Eurasian Hobby , Eurasian Golden Oriole , Eurasian Green Woodpecker , and only the first of the several Masked Shrikes of the tour (cover photo by Kostas Papadopoulos).

Greece 246

Greece Pelicans Stray Dog Tortoises 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 25, 2017

In addition to sharks, barracuda, rays, and fishes, we had also spotted Double-crested Cormorants , Brown Pelicans , and Magnificent Frigatebirds. As we pulled to a stop at the sand bar and hopped out into the hip-deep water, I literally couldn’t believe my eyes: a flock of American White Pelicans. Mangrove island near Key West.

Pelicans 100

Pelicans Sharks Florida Groups 100

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

Greater flamingoes winter in large numbers Kerkini’s wintering Flamingoes probably breed in Turkey Forty years ago Flamingoes were rare visitors to Greece: several thousand now winter on Kerkini Lake Kerkini is an artificial lake, its depth varying considerably throughout the year. They soon lose the colour as the spring progresses).

Greece 246

Greece Pelicans Geese Buffalo 246

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2015

Brown Pelicans are quite popular in Louisiana. One of the state’s nicknames is “The Pelican State,” the bird is on the state’s flag, the state seal, the state painting (yes, apparently states have official paintings), as well as on one of Louisiana’s bicentennial coins.

Louisiana 160

Louisiana Pelicans Legislature Seals 160

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

Kirtland’s Warbler is a classic niche species; they breed in only very specific conditions, which occur in only a very specific area. this species breeds. Fortunately, there were still a handful of immature birds alive at sea, and a few years later they were back on Toroshima breeding again. Half Moon Bay, CA.

Albatross 252

Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Alaska 252

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2024

True, most of our migrant breeding birds start to return in April, but in May even the late arrivals – Turtle Doves, Swifts, Spotted Flycatchers and Nightjars – finally appear. Perhaps most spectacular of all were two fine Grey Plovers in full breeding finery, living up to their American name of Black-bellied Plover.

Greece 246

Greece Turtles Breeding Europe 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 21, 2021

Other important breeding species include Black and White Stork , Lesser Spotted , White-tailed , and Booted Eagle. Also Dalmatian and Great White Pelicans are resident species, breeding successfully on artificial platforms (close to 300 pairs).

Greece 264

Greece Wildlife Boars Otters 264

10,000 Birds

MARCH 11, 2011

Brown Pelicans , and the northernmost Brown Booby breeding colony on this side of the Pacific. Ringer Anhingas and darters , cormorants and shags , frigatebirds , gannets and boobies , pelicans , and the tropicbirds all share a characteristic found in no other living bird: Their feet are totipalmate.

2011 182

2011 Pelicans Papua New Guinea California 182

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2014

My Dark-eyed Juncos are trilling in preparation to retreat to quieter breeding grounds, the Black-Capped Chickadees sing their two notes, and the Song Sparrows absolutely will not shut up. Snow Geese overgrazing their breeding grounds, displacing other Arctic-breeding species and setting themselves up for a fall. The result?

Geese 220

Geese Montana Breeding Pelicans 220

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2023

While the P-a-P Wildfowl Trust’s main thrust is the breeding and release of five duck species, the habitat encourages a number of native wetland birds to inhabit and proliferate the area. Witnessing unbothered Blue-and-yellow Macaws lazily perusing the larder of moriche palm fruit ensures that thoughts of anything else all disappear.

Trinidad 264

Trinidad Birds Ducks Fish 264

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

Spoonbills and ibises are stocky, colorful wading birds with distinctive bills: downcurved and pointed in the case of ibises, flat and paddle shaped in the spoonbills (above is my shot of Roseate Spoonbills ( Platalea ajaja ) near a breeding colony in Louisiana). White Ibis ( Eudocimus albus ) in Florida © David J.

Louisiana 249

Louisiana Mississippi America Pelicans 249

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2011

The order Suliformes holds a lot of special birds from anhingas and darters to cormorants and shags as well as frigatebirds, pelicans, and tropicbirds. As is often the case in birds, teenagers, and other living creatures, these charismatic colors play a prominent role in the booby’s breeding rituals.

Ecuador 233

Ecuador Peru Hunters Pelicans 233

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

Okay, that choice is something to be expected, but how about this: some seven years ago I was guiding another British couple to a nearby fish farm where I was happy to show them the Great White Pelican – the only one I have ever seen in Serbia! Pygmy Cormorant – winter (it breeds in Serbia, but overwinters in Belgrade). My friend B.C,

Serbia 229

Serbia Eagles Sparrows Falcons 229

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2012

Brown Pelican - Though two have been reported to eBird since 2008 this bird is even more of a long shot than Black Vulture. Sadly, it did not stick around to breed though I thought that it might. Brown Pelican - I refuse to acknowledge the unlikeliness of my finding one. What do you think?

Connecticut 216

Connecticut 2011 Jamaica 2012 216

10,000 Birds

JULY 27, 2023

The best birding season here is the winter when waterbirds come to overwinter in those lagoons, followed by migratory seasons and, to a lesser extent, breeding season. Dalmatian Pelicans and Eurasian Spoonbills were flying above the beach, sometimes above the hotel garden, while Golden Oriole and Scops Owl could be heard.

Greece 244

Greece Pelicans Otters Birds 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 23, 2013

It was made a National Park in the 1980s and is a major breeding and nesting area for over 30,000 seabirds. A male Magnificent Frigatebird in full breeding regalia. Isla Isabel, a picturesque volcanic island situated 15 miles off Mexico’s Riviera Nayarit coast, is just such a place. If you like boobies (no giggles please!),

Whales 267

Whales Whaling Sharks Marine Life 267

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Other species of interest include the southernmost breeding population of Greylag Goose in Europe, Goosander (at bigger and deeper Megali Prespa), Hazel Grouse (at Mt. One of the best areas to bird is the causeway between the two lakes.

Greece 195

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 195

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2020

But it was the Long-billed Dowitchers who were really rocking their breeding plumage. Almost all the flying birds in the heading photo above are Dowitchers (with American White Pelicans behind them), and those are only one part of the total I saw along both lake shores. How on earth do they breed so quickly up north?)

Mexico 220

Mexico Breeding Ducks North America 220

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 29, 2023

These birds (usually juveniles) are clearly linked to the growing breeding population in the region. Pallid Swifts were already back at their breeding sites, while the marshes provided a host of waders, including year-ticks such as Whimbrel, Curlew Sandpiper and Kentish Plover. These are Dunlins.

Estonia 246

Estonia Portugal Greece Barn Owls 246

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 14, 2021

The best season for the north-west circuit is February to May, during the rains when most birds breed. Due to its range of habitats, over 500 species (573 eBirded so far) have been recorded and it is often possible to see over 100 species in a day, including a good selection of pelicans, storks, waders, ducks, kingfishers and hornbills.

Africa 261

Africa Kenya Uganda Tanzania 261

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

However, there was no mistaking them: we had happened across a large flock of American White Pelicans ! If you’re like me, you probably picture pelicans along oceans or seas, bobbing in the salt or brackish water as they feed in their bright groups. Ring-billed Gulls in the fading evening light.

Kansas 122

Kansas Pelicans ALA Cows 122

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2011

Undisturbed through thousands of generations by man or land predators, the birds accumulated piles of poop several meters thick and sat atop them with a proprietorial pride in huge colonies, breeding, feeding and creating even more guano. Now where have I heard that before?

Bolivia 241

Bolivia Chile Spain America 241

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2013

The other part of its attractiveness may be coming from the fact that it breeds in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan – countries seldom visited by foreign birders. As a proof, two Dalmatian Pelicans are flying low above us, while a Bluethroat disappears into the nearby bush. The Sun is just rising. Castor oil plant.

Iran 252

Iran India Pakistan Afghanistan 252

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Then a little later there was a spot of bother with DDT, but we pulled out of that one ok, with a toolbox that would surely stand us in good stead if we only had the will to use it – legislation and literature, captive breeding programs, nest platforms. And we did , for the Peregrine Falcon and Osprey , the Brown Pelican and Bald Eagle.

California Condor 250

California Condor Guam Whales Whaling 250

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2024

Take a quick look at the breeding distribution of European birds and you will see that there are a surprising number of species that are restricted to the Balkans.

Herzegovina 246

Herzegovina Albania Bosnia Macedonia 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

Black Stork and three pairs of White-tailed Eagles breed here. Other birds of the Rusanda are Great Bittern , Purple Heron , Eurasian Spoonbill , Meadow and rare Red-throated Pipit , Icterine Warbler , Eurasian Penduline Tit , Lesser Gray Shrike , breeding Red-footed Falcon , Little and Long-eared Owls , etc. eBird bar chart. #2

Serbia 202

Serbia Bulgaria Farming Turtles 202

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

The park is home to not one, not two, but large three colonies of breeding seabirds: the Brown Noddy , Magnificent Frigatebird , and Sooty Tern. No, that was not a typo, the Sooty Terns fly non-stop for an average of five years before they return to the Dry Tortugas to breed. Lots and lots of birds.

Florida 228

Florida Birds Groups Breeding 228

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Wood Stork and White Pelican. They moved around a lot, but I would say there were at least thirty and maybe up to fifty individuals, in a variety of plumages that seemed to speak of a successful breeding season. Little by little, I expanded my horizons. One by one, birds that I’d thought of as pictures on a page became real.

Pythons 235

Pythons Litter Montana 2006 235

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

I didn’t really have time to stop, but as I was passing by, I saw hundreds of American White Pelicans fly up and thought I’d better take a drive through and see what else was there. I spotted a Eurasian Wigeon amongst the American Wigeon right out of the gate, but that wasn’t the best sighting of the day. Get yours today!

Wildlife 163

Wildlife Sacramento 2011 Jordan 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

This shearwater is a Mediterranean endemic, breeding from Sardinia and Corsica to the Adriatic and the Aegean. In the next post: the pelican-covered lake Karkini. Off to the nearest kaiki (traditional Greek fishing boat) followed by a flock of shearwaters and gulls. In the previous post: the outskirts of Athens.

Greece 252

Greece Malta Croatia Italy 252

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

Hundreds of White Pelicans and Long-billed Dowitchers proved the winter season has arrived. Oddly, I saw no Snowy Plovers, even though these apparently breed by the lakeshore. I was not lucky enough to see any Bitterns this time, though both Least and American Bitterns winter there.

Ducks 165

Ducks 2018 Pelicans Europe 165

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Although they breed on the west coast of Florida, Snowy Plover is a rare stray to this part of the state. American White Pelican: 19. Brown Pelican: 53. Shorebirds put on a good showing with a total of 18 species, despite the shrinking number and quality of sites offering adequate habitat. Red-breasted Merganser: 7. Anhinga: 95.

Miami 193

Miami 2015 United States Florida 193

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2019

You will see hundreds of Green-winged and Blue-winged Teals , Western and Least Sandpipers , White Pelicans , American Avocets , Black-necked Stilts , Great and Snowy Egrets , White-faced Ibises , Ring-billed Gulls , and Caspian Terns. The same could be said of the White Pelicans, but Pelicans are just too amusing.

Ducks 126

Ducks Blackbirds Pelicans United States 126

10,000 Birds

JUNE 24, 2013

The ride from Prisoner’s Harbor, where we had spent our day, to Scorpion Anchorage, was uneventful, though Desi did fall asleep and I did enjoy pretty good views of breeding-plumaged Pigeon Guillemots. Though they haven’t rated a mention thus far, Brown Pelicans were everywhere and are awesome.

Whales 154

Whales Whaling Dolphins California 154

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2018

Since 1966, when the Breeding Bird Survey first began monitoring, numbers have declined 79 percent. Yes, it takes a village to locate a Sprague’s Pipit. I need to add that Sprague’s Pipit, like many of the grassland birds we saw, are declining in alarming numbers.

North Dakota 191

North Dakota Sparrows Birds Blackbirds 191

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2017

Taking my usual route along Okaloosa Island’s Beasley Park, I noted Laughing Gulls , Brown Pelicans , a Snowy Plover or two, and the usual packs of Sanderlings. For me, that moment came last week. There is no mistaking a Least Tern: they were back!

South America 117

South America United States Protection Pelicans 117

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2015

It does not include near-shore, coastal species, like Brown Pelican, Elegant Tern, and Harbor Seal. The descriptions are all similar: a graceful black-capped shearwater with clean white underparts and patterned upperparts that breeds in New Zealand and which is uncommon in U.S. western waters in the fall.

Dolphins 162

Dolphins Porpoises Whales Whaling 162