10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2015

Worried by the lack of appropriate action by the authorities (as described in the previous post ), this year I invited two more wildlife protection organisations to take part in the annual census of Pygmy Cormorants in Belgrade. “The Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected bird species in Serbia, as well as in the European Union.

Serbia 180

Serbia Protection Europe 2007 180

4 The Love Of Animals

OCTOBER 26, 2011

Here are some things to consider when comparing different dog breeds: • Do you live in an apartment or a house with a small backyard? If so, make sure to get a breed that plays nice with both. The only thing I did right that day was begin my search at the animal shelter, though the local pound is also a great place to look.

Breeding 100

Breeding Research Shelters Puppies 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 9, 2015

In the morning, still sleepy, we enter the jungle, where a sounder of Indian Boars (a long-maned subspecies Sus scrofa cristatus ) is watching us, standing among the first trees, right next to the road. Even in protected areas of north-east India, prey densities are very low. Only in protected areas in southern and central India (e.g.

Tigers 235

Tigers Dogs India Snow Leopard 235

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

In June 2021, the Mayor of Belgrade announced that Beljarica will finally become officially protected. For most species, the breeding season ends by the end of June and the majority of songbirds are silent and invisible now. Before that, on a rather sharp right bend, 1.8 mi, to the Vrbovski turnoff. We continued on to Sakule.

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Farming Fish Birds Boars 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2015

Add more than 350 pairs of White Pelicans to that picture, numerous herons and up to 700 pairs of Pygmy Cormorants breeding in the same reedbeds (cover photo)… It must be bursting with activity in spring, but I was there in mid-September. Have you heard of it? Can you pinpoint it on a map? Greylag Geese.

Greece 252

Greece Pelicans Geese Albania 252

10,000 Birds

MAY 16, 2017

A New York City Parks Department contractor just wiped out a breeding population of sparrows in tons of trouble already, on land owned by the parks department that was supposed to be protected as “Forever Wild.” This species is in too much trouble to throw away a breeding ground. Another is in the works. .

New York City 208

New York City New York Sparrows 2016 208

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2016

In Costa Rica, June is breeding bird count season. Protected area or not, there has been change in the air, and we need to see how the birds are responding. The beautiful Buff-fronted Quail-Dove is not rare but you still have to go to the right places to see it.

Breeding 101

Breeding Costa Rica Birds Panama 101

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2024

The Black-winged Cuckooshrike is breeding in several Shanghai locations – I suspect that some trees near the Nanhui hotel might be another one, given the vigorous singing of this bird. The Amur Paradise Flycatcher is another species breeding in Shanghai. Yellow-rumped Flycatchers are breeding in the same park.

Giraffes 183

Giraffes Rabbits Birds Breeding 183

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2016

Individually, many NWRs protect crucial bird habitat. Farallon NWR , a group of islands near San Francisco, hosts the largest colonies of breeding seabirds south of Alaska. Because many NWRs were established to protect migrating birds, they lie along one of the four primary flyways. It’s not just for the birds.

Wildlife 189

Wildlife Grizzly Bear Puerto Rico Alaska 189

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2017

Ka’ena Point is also a breeding ground for the Federally protected Laysan albatross, where 45 nests were being carefully monitored by the non-profit Pacific Rim Conservation. What about others who work tirelessly to repopulate and protect wildlife, who live in fear this may happen to their colonies? Please write: [link] .

Albatross 214

Albatross Honolulu Hawaii Killing 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

This is a bit of a dilemma for local authorities – on the one hand, they would presumably like to protect the birds, on the other hand, they also want to draw as many tourists to the place as possible. Eurasian Oystercatcher: Not all of them are breeding at Claire`s beach in Australia. Point for American birders, I am afraid.

China 269

China Birds Asia Fish 269

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2014

It prefers large waters and coasts during the non-breeding season, but seeks out wooded, well vegetated lakes and marshes for breeding. It is a common bird and easily seen if you are in the right place at the right time and they can be quite social. And did I mention that it was big?

Argentina 172

Argentina Uruguay Chile Brazil 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Photo: This area holds 3 to 4 breeding pairs of White-tailed Eagles , which represents the biggest density per square mile anywhere in the country. Wigeons are only migrants and not a breeding species in Serbia and August is a bit too early for any longer distance duck movements. Photographed by Szekeres Levente. and one ad.).

Serbia 164

Serbia Eagles Protection Boars 164

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2014

And asking yourself the right question is more than half the way towards the answer. Large windows and unobstructed views of the river are a criterion for the right observation point. And that is how my hanging out with (some call it monitoring of) the cormorants started, almost 20 years ago.

Serbia 191

Serbia Legislation Protection Europe 191

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

Right: Robert McCormick, by Stephen Pearce. Unlike Darwin, who was a self-funded gentleman naturalist on board, McCormick was bound to the Beagle by his duties and was furious that a civilian passenger on board had usurped his rightful position as ship’s naturalist. There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region.

Russia 169

Russia Penguins Whales Whaling 169

10,000 Birds

JULY 17, 2012

My morning routine has already been simplified down to the essentials – roll out of bed and out from under the protective mosquito net, pull on dirty odorous field clothes, munch down a quick breakfast. You don’t really know a bird until you’ve studied it on its breeding grounds. Here is a little forpling on day one.

Eggs 268

Eggs Venezuela Porcupines 2008 268

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2019

Some stop right in front of our place in the urbanized intermontane valley where the majority of Costa Ricans reside. The first concern is the most important, the vital knowledge, because we can’t protect and preserve populations of migratory bird species if we don’t know where they stop to rest and refuel.

Costa Rica 260

Costa Rica Nicaragua Panama North America 260

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2013

These Burrowing Owl photos were taken at a rare breeding site in Vacaville California. These were taken right outside the golf course fence and within a hundred feet of a car dealership parking lot. We need to protect their remaining habitat and spread the word of their predicament. Click on photos for full sized images.

California 207

California Owls 2013 Factory 207

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2022

It stops those thousands of migrating birds flying across the Gulf of Mexico and directs them right onto the trees, fields, sanctuaries, beaches along the Bolivar Peninsula, where they hopefully find food and fresh water. Corps of Engineers to protect Galveston Bay at the end of the 19th-century. You just need to know where to look.

Houston 207

Houston Texas Sanctuary Sparrows 207

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

It’s home to Kokako and Little Spotted Kiwi , and has been a refuge used in protecting the endangered Kakakpo. It also is home to the breeding sites of vulnerable seabirds including the Cook’s Petrel and Black Petrel, both species are considered vulnerable.

New Zealand 142

New Zealand Rats Cooking 2003 142

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2017

Strictly speaking, they were always forbidden for driving, but there is a difference between me, driving along the very top of the dyke and collecting scientific data for the first national breeding birds atlas and someone exploring the possibilities of his flashy new 4×4 while driving figures of eight along the embankment slopes.

Rights 115

Rights Serbia Abandon Abandonment 115

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2012

Marabous occur throughout tropical and subtropical Africa from Zululand in northern South Africa right up to the arid Sahel region fringing the Sahara Desert, avoiding the closed canopy rainforest zones of central and west Africa. During breeding season, their white plumage turns a delicate pink color, a lovely sight indeed.

Africa 237

Africa Tanzania South Africa Uganda 237

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

One Common Raven is disappearing towards its nest among the branches of the poplar plantation, only to reappear a few minutes later to give a good chase – aerial acrobatics included – to its first neighbour, the White-tailed Eagle which breeds in the vicinity. The Reva is not protected. kilometres / 0.7

Otters 175

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 175

10,000 Birds

MAY 23, 2012

A UK government department had announced funding for a research project into the ‘Management of Buzzards to Protect Pheasant poults’ (poults are young Pheasants being reared specifically to be released for shooting). An e-petition is to be launched and I’ll update this post here with a link as soon as that is in place.

Killing 191

Killing Industry Raised Research 191

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2022

This is a cruise like no other, full of scientific lectures, over forty guides spread out on deck, bird-themed parties, and a lights-off mandate to protect birds at night. I learned of the trip right as it had been delayed and made a vow that I would be on that ship. The marine protected area status was designated in 2013.

South Africa 263

South Africa Mice Albatross Africa 263

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 5, 2015

Egg harvesting to sell as food was intensive then, with thousands taken annually from the breeding colonies in Chile. Andean Flamingoes and Chilean Flamingo (far right) (Photo: Ron Knight – Flickr). The Andean Flamingo is now protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

Chile 154

Chile Endangered Species Eggs Argentina 154

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2014

I had seen one in the same location earlier in the year and was hoping to bump into it again before it headed north to it’s breeding grounds in the Arctic. The tide had receded slightly and the favoured roosting spot on the crook of a rundown pier was deserted in favour of the rocks on the west side of the protected harbour.

San Francisco 165

San Francisco United States California Australia 165

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

The Kerkini Lake National Park is my favourite birding area in the whole of the Balkans and while I’ve been here in April and again (migration), September (migration), October (coffee break), December and January (wintering), this was my first time in the breeding season, in May. But nowadays, they, too, breed here, about 20 pairs this year.

Greece 192

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 192

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2020

These migratory shorebirds crowd together for protection when they roost at high tide. The flocks are getting smaller day by day as they migrate to the northern hemisphere to breed. The shorebirds will then spread out across the tundra to breed and they will no longer be close to each other. Safety in numbers!

Australia 158

Australia Breeding Falcons Eagles 158

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 14, 2015

We also try to re-nest uninjured baby birds so we don’t interfere with a bird’s breeding cycle. A parent bird’s instinct to feed and protect their young is very strong, and they will not willingly abandon their babies. Putting a baby bird back in its nest is not always the right thing to do. So: When do you intervene?

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Wounded Rescue Medical Cats 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 3, 2014

Whether the inspiration to this post came from Germany winning the U19 European football championship yesterday right on the heels of our (adult) team winning the world cup (Yes! At the beginning of the 20th century they were nearly extinct, with no breeding pairs left in the west of Germany and just very few in Germany’s East.

Eagles 167

Eagles Germany Breeding Hunting 167

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2012

Rueppell’s (facing left) and White-backed (three birds facing right) Vultures have worryingly leapt two categories from Near-Threatened to Endangered. An adult (left) and subadult (right) White-backed Vulture with full crops after feeding on the remains of a Lion kill, Ndutu, Tanzania by Adam Riley.

Endangered Species 187

Endangered Species Species Morocco South Africa 187

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. Which leaves me with quite a few choices – practically the entire tropical belt, right? It makes me think what is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? Why am I here?

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2023

We all hope that they were able to breed successfully in the Northern Hemisphere and that they can find food throughout the Flyway to return to our shores. Our resident shorebirds have started to breed in the last few weeks and there are numerous Pied Oystercatcher nests along our shores right now.

Eggs 170

Eggs 2011 Breeding Protection 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2020

Our first Pied Oystercatcher eggs for this year’s breeding season were laid early and were due to hatch last weekend. This offers a lot more protection than the exposed nest site. In the header photo the Pied Oystercatcher chick is only just to the right of the adult. In the photo below it is a lot clearer.

2020 171

2020 Eggs Feral Cats Feral 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 17, 2012

I quickly discovered they are vocal creatures, perhaps because it was summer time and the breeding season was just finishing up. But suddenly a switch was flipped and she decided something wasn’t right. She turned and headed right for me with a few powerful flaps of her wings, screaming the whole way.

Gophers 171

Gophers Argentina Oregon California 171

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 11, 2022

You can park by the side and check the Boljetinska River Canyon at your right, a true geological history book. This was the first geological site protected in the Djerdap area, formed along a fault by incision of the Boljetinska River into the sedimentary rocks. Other species include Grey Wagtail and Marsh Tit.

Serbia 239

Serbia Woodpeckers Birds Romania 239