10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2011

The big story of the fortnight in Cyprus isn’t about birds, but it crosses the path of birding (kinda). It seems that it came off rather well, and was co-organized by the Cyprus Game Fund and members of the Bern Convention. Which gets me to the real big news in Cyprus of the fortnight, indirectly anyway.

Cyprus 232

Cyprus illegal Wounded Killing 232

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2024

My target at the start of the year was 200 species in the UK and 300 in Europe, so I’ve achieved the latter, while the chances of reaching the former are pretty good. Nor have I see a skua (jaeger) of any species. An everyday bird, the Woodpigeon. This one was photographed in my garden on a wet day in April. Wood Sandpiper.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Greece Spain Europe 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 4, 2015

The 31 teams, 15 of them international and 16 local, set out as the clock struck midnight on March 24th, 2015 to scour the southern part of Israel for as many bird species as possible. A male Crowned Sandgrouse – just one of the 235 species seen during the race. Jonathan Meyrav.

Israel 259

Israel Cyprus illegal Raised 259

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2021

I was especially interested in “To Hide From God,” the chapter on songbird slaughter and protection in Cyprus. Has it really been 21 years (almost) from the publication of Jonathan Franzen’s New Yorker article, “ Emptying the Skies ,” six years since the documentary with the same name?

Cyprus 264

Cyprus Slaughter Slaughtered Research 264

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2011

It can be during migration, in an enormous nesting colony, or with a very gregarious species. As I mined my old birding photos, I recalled one such experience at the Palekhori-Kambi Dam in the eastern part of the Troodos mountain range of Cyprus.

Cyprus 162

Cyprus 2008 Europe Experiments 162

10,000 Birds

MARCH 18, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Spring is for Wheatears Spring is for Wheatears By Dan • March 18, 2011 • 3 comments Tweet Share What is true in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US holds true for Cyprus as well: Spring is prime-time for Passerines.

Cyprus 145

Cyprus 2011 Deer New York 145

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2020

This is an uncommon species here – only about a dozen birds overwinter in the country annually. So I reached for the “Birds of Cyprus” by Richardson and Porter which shows the Siberian in winter plumage. Now, that fits the bird I saw, but soon I will realise another issue: in Serbia, this species was recorded only once!

Serbia 299

Serbia Birds Cyprus Ducks 299

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

The organization dismantled nearly 9,000 traps on Cyprus last year. Fearing that a natural disaster, introduced species, or disease could wipe this fragile population out, the U.S. Volunteers with the Committee Against Bird Slaughter sneak into a grove where a farmer has just placed lime sticks to snag unwary birds.

Cambodia 185

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2024

I would be fascinating to know how many species of birds it was pointed at during its time with me, but it must have been well over 1,000. I had owned the scope, from new, for 23 years, in which time it had travelled with me to four different continents and around 40 different countries.

Estonia 246

Estonia Poland India Pelicans 246

10,000 Birds

APRIL 5, 2024

The next couple of months will of course see a boost to my British list, as summer migrants flood into England, while forthcoming trips to Cyprus, Greece and northern Spain will also turbocharge the European list. A lone Whooper Swan on a grey January day in Norfolk As for the ducks – I’m now up to 15 species.

Spain 130

Spain Eagles North America Ducks 130

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2024

I’ve been a regular visitor to the island of Cyprus for over 25 years, making around a dozen trips during this period, every one in search of birds. According to the taxonomists, these weren’t regular Scops Owls ( Otus scops ) but the endemic Cyprus Scops Owl ( Otus cyprius ). Laughing Dove : now a common resident on Cyprus.

Cyprus 246

Cyprus Breeders Falcons Hunters 246

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Knowing how good Collins 2 is and how high standards it has set, no publisher seems to dare to challenge them on the continental level (there are a few single-country guides, e.g. for Cyprus ). Each species is described only by features that may (although not always) be seen in flight; those impossible to notice in flight are omitted.

Europe 264

Europe Asia Cyprus Turkey 264

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2024

There’s also a much greater variety of species of deer living here now than than there were four or five hundred years ago, for along with our native Roe and Red Deer we also have large populations of Fallow, Sika, Reeves’s Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer. Reeves’s Muntjac , a highly successful invasive species in the UK.

Fur 246

Fur Boars Deer Estonia 246

10,000 Birds

MARCH 4, 2011

Among these white-headed/dark-winged gulls formerly lumped into the genus Larus , there were 18+ recognized species the last time I checked, sharing similarities that make telling them apart for the amateur birdwatcher very difficult. 1998), then the proper name for this species is L. fuscus – should be separated as species.

2011 157

2011 Cyprus Deer Breeding 157

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2024

Only four species breed in Britain – the Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting and Cirl Bunting, but there are rather more in Europe, of which my favourite is the Black-headed Bunting. This is a Balkan special, and a bird I know well from Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

Bulgaria 246

Bulgaria Greece Breeders India 246

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2014

I dreamed of birding the Sundarbans delta – roughly the size of Connecticut or Cyprus – ever since my very dear friends Tim and Hanna Balke told me a story of their visit to these swamps where the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mehgna rivers converge in the Bengal basin. And tell me now – don’t you share my dream?

Bangladesh 244

Bangladesh Dolphins Cambodia Cooking 244

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

The smellier the better, particularly as, unusually for birds, many species can boast a robust sense of smell. In any case, our hang-ups with vultures clearly stem from our own issues rather than any inherently bizarre trait of the species themselves. Vultures famously feed on carrion. Dead things. New World Vultures.

California Condor 236

California Condor Turkey North America Jordan 236

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death. Birders know that the light’s not always perfect or even particularly good when you’re trying to tell one species from another. Fourth Whooping Crane This Winter Shot Animal Rights vs Conservation in Cyprus Tennessee Crane Hunt Tabled for 2 Years!

2011 244

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 244

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2014

Do you include objects related to conservation–a copy of Silent Spring , maybe a photo of one of the lime traps that kill thousands of songbirds in Cyprus? Do you include objects related to ornithology–published taxonomies and proceedings or a conference program from an ornithological organization, and if so, which one?

Mauritius 186

Mauritius Egypt Cyprus Collecting 186

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2015

Cyprus count yields a rarity: an almost all-black flamingo. Help them rack up 4,000 species in 24 hours on eBird!). Research that’s sure to peeve anyone who’s struggled to list both a Common Redpoll and a Hoary Redpoll. What kind of miscreant kicks a Barn Owl in mid-flight? An infomercial king who’s probably going to jail.

Malta 243

Malta Barn Owls Fowl Cyprus 243

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

Colombia is one of those countries that Dragan’s dreams are made of: it has 1,965 bird species – more than any other country in the world. Among them are 94 endemics and 101 near-endemics, four introduced species and only 42 vagrants. No matter how big your avian-related library is, this would be a terrific addition to it.

Colombia 246

Colombia Birds Bald Eagle Guyana 246