10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

I travel for birding. A lot. I’m about to head out to the Hula Valley Bird Festival and as I’m packing, I thought I would share with you some essentials I think any birder should plan to have in their suitcase–no matter where they are visiting. I’ve never regretted any of these items being in my suitcase. I’ve also learned a thing or two from optics reps on how to pack expensive binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras.

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North Dakota Florida Soreing Birds 260

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

November was National Pet Diabetes Awareness Month, were you aware that just like humans, dogs and cats can also get diabetes? In fact, one in 200 cats and one in 500 dogs has diabetes. As with most medical conditions, early detection and treatment of diabetes is recommended and can help with treatment. The most common symptoms of canine and feline diabetes are: · Increased Hunger or Appetite. · Excessive Thirst. · Increased Urination. · Weight Loss. · Weakness or Fatigue.

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Pets Cats Medical 2011 177

Critter News

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

From the Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest. The long-running dispute between the US and Mexico over Washington’s ‘dolphin safe’ labelling practice for tuna products is likely to see a WTO appeal, after the two parties together asked for an extension of the appeals deadline. Meanwhile, animal welfare and consumer advocacy groups in Washington are urging the US to look into options outside the global trade body for resolving the trade row.

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Dolphins Mexico Animal Welfare Advocacy 116

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

By MICHAEL LEIMBACH. A recent conversation with a VP of sales highlighted the frustrations of many sales professionals in this weak economy. “How do we gain the attention of customers when they are being flooded with calls from so many sales reps?” he asked. “How do we differentiate ourselves enough that they want to talk to us and not feel they are getting the same story they hear from every other company?

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Animal Ethics

NOVEMBER 28, 2011

This blog began life eight years ago today, with this post. There have been 214,285 visits in the past eight years. That's an average of 26,785.6 visits per year and 73.3 visits per day.

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2011

I had the good fortune to be asked to represent one of the UK’s national birding magazines ‘Birdwatching’ on a press trip to Southern Portugal earlier this month. Co-funded by two of the regional tourist boards, Alentejo and Algarve, we were led by one of the very best birders in Portugal João Jara who as well as running his own guiding business Birds and Nature , has served as Chairman of the Portuguese Rarities Committee and a is a thoroughly nice chap to boot.

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Portugal 2000 Legislation Adoptable 252

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I don’t think I’ve ever done a post on my home patch of Cape Town, South Africa. This place is such an epic birding location that one cannot possibly do the city and its surrounds justice in one post. So I’m going to feature one of my very favorite locations, just 45 minutes drive from the city centre. The little seaside village of Rooiels is famed for being a wonderful location to pick up some choice South African endemics but it is also one of the most beautiful spots in the

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South Africa Penguins Africa Birds 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2011

Jeff Gordon is now just over one year into his reign as the President of the American Birding Association. We here at 10,000 Birds thought the first anniversary of his ascension to the throne would be a good time to ask him some questions about etiquette, the state of the ABA, and a variety of other topics. Having now met Jeff twice at recent birding events and even having had the opportunity to bird with him I can say that he is a nice and thoughtful guy, a good birder, and exactly what the AB

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Delaware Colorado 2012 Advocacy 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

When trying to attract finches, it can be feast or famine. Some days you get bunches and bunches, other times you might feel totally rejected by them. I recently had a conversation with a colleague who works for the Department of Natural Resources. He’s a smart guy, a wildlife biologist and what he knows about native swans is incredible, but what he knew or didn’t know about bird feeding was surprising.

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Niger Burma Hoarding Ethiopia 241

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Paging through a fieldguide, it’s always with a sense of dismay and sadness that I come across reference to an extinct species. This is particularly poignant if the bird has disappeared during the course of my birding days or “on my watch” as I like to think of it. Islands, for various reasons, experience more extinctions than continents (with Africa being the only continent not suffering a bird extinction!).

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Madagascar Lemurs 2006 Owls 242

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

The results of the Swarovski Optik Digiscoper of the Year 2011 have just been published and once again, they show just what is possible with a telescope and everything from a cheap compact camera to a semi-pro DSLR. The winner this year was Tara Tanaka of the USA, with a stunning image of a Roseate Spoonbill ( Platalea ajaja ), showing action, movement, great lines, a bright colour palette, and a strong focal point - not to mention the great “wish I was there” feeling.

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2011 Eagles Bald Eagle Owls 234

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2011

I enjoy digiscoping–using a digital camera with my spotting scope to get photos of birds. It’s changed quite a bit over the years. Originally digiscoping started as a way to simply get a documentation or souvenir photo of a bird using point and shoot pocket cameras with scopes or binoculars. The cameras were inexpensive compared to single lens reflex cameras (SLRs), they weren’t too heavy in the field and got decent shots.

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Israel ALA Abandoning Abandonment 228

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

New York has its famous Red-tailed Hawks Pale Male and, until recently, Lola. Cambridge, Mass has a celebrity raptor pair, too. Last winter, a pair of Great Horned Owls took up residence in a spiny locust (?) tree near The Dell in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. The nest was so tiny, flimsy and low to the ground that anyone walking by could clearly see the two owlets trying to grow up there.

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Owls New York Eagles Rights 228

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

I was pretty new to watching birds and photography when I first met this Red-tailed Hawk. While keeping track of some hummingbirds in Alta Plaza Park in San Francisco, I noticed a shadow slipping over the terraced hillside. When I looked up the hawk was five feet above my head and powering towards a perch high in the trees. It was actively hunting the grassy slopes and barely paid me any attention as I tried to figure out how to get as close as possible without changing its behavior.

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San Francisco Gophers Hunting Blackbirds 225

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2011

Until today the only Painted Buntings I had ever seen were in Honduras. And, despite their absurdly gaudy appearance, I am sad to say that those buntings were not given their due because of the sheer volume of insanely good birds that were there for the watching. This bunting was different. This was an absolutely gorgeous adult male Painted Bunting in Connecticut in November.

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Connecticut Honduras United States Birds 224

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

We birders north of Mexico used to have a parrot to call our own, a sun-faced, spike tailed jewel called the Carolina Parakeet that traversed the southeastern United States preceded by the adrenaline inducing ear piercing squeals that haunt the fever dreams of any birder lucky enough to have made the journey to the Neotropics. It was reportedly unforgettable, but then again most members of the celebrated psitticine family are unforgettable, though these days it probably has more to do with thei

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Parrots Stray Mexico United States 218

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 9, 2011

Snowy Egret ( Egretta thula ) photos by Larry Jordan (click for full sized images) While visiting Arcata Marsh a couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of watching a Snowy Egret ( Egretta thula ) as it skillfully caught several fish in an inlet or tidal channel of the marsh. I was truly amazed at the number of techniques this beautiful bird used to catch at least a dozen fish during my twenty minute observation.

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Fish Jordan North America America 214

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

Another fun and educational infographhic. This time, if you have ever had questions about cat anatomy, you might just get them answered! Cat Anatomy graphic created by Matt Beswick for Pet365. Click here to view the full post.

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Cats Pets 169

Speaker: Gabriel Wagner Presenter 2

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Just a quick one this week as life is crazy and rattles relentlessly onwards. Since everyone loves parrots, I thought I’d post some pictures of one of New Zealand’s many interesting species. The Red-crowned Parakeet is one of three species known also as Kakariki - literally small kaka. One of the small parrots in the Cyanoramphus radiation, the species was recently split from insular forms on New Caledonia, Norfolk Island and Antipodes Island.

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New Zealand Parrots Sanctuary Wildlife 209

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

This is the lesson that Seaside Aquaculture owner Khan Vu has hopefully learned after being charged, found guilty, and sentenced under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Both Vu and the company were ordered to pay $40,000 to the Texas Park and Wildlife Foundation and a $5,000 fine and put on eighteen months probation after being found guilty in federal court.

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Fish Texas Farming Pelicans 206

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2011

Beauty can be found in the most commonplace. I was struck the other day by the perfect patterns created by a preening Mallard. Appreciation of the ordinary in a new light can be as fulfilling as a many a birding experience. Each feather was attended with care by the drake and each fell back perfectly into its allocated position. Having recently re-feathered after the eclipse stage, his feathers were in pristine condition and he seemed keen to keep them that way.

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Experience Experiments Birds 206

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

Let’s have a warm welcome for Donna Lynn Schulman, who will start in her role as the Book Review Beat Writer tomorrow morning. Donna’s posts will appear on the second Friday of every month. Just make sure you stay quiet when reading her posts because she is, after all, a librarian! Want to learn more about Donna? Read on dear reader, read on.

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New Jersey New York City New York Adoptable 206

Speaker: Steve Romanco

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 10, 2011

On November 7th, Capitol Hill’s “ Tribute to War Heroes…at Both Ends of the Leash ” celebrated America’s military heroes. Not only did the event celebrate veterans, but also the heroic dogs who serve our country with them! “We all know about the bravery and sacrifices of our great men and women in uniform,” said Robin Ganzert, President and CEO of American Humane Association.

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Iraq Stud Wounded Dogs 165

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Now that there are 7 billi0n of us on this planet, it seems appropriate to look at and appreciate other great big collections of creatures. This week I came across a wonderful little video ( here ) of Starlings by Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive: now, wasn’t that cute. and incredibly impressive. In September, I spent a week in eastern Austria (Burgenland) birding and taking birding product photos and I got to see huge flocks of starlings enjoying the grapes (as we enjoyed the produc

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Bahrain Austria Oregon Collecting 202

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2011

Sometimes my job, which is for a New Jersey-wide labor union, requires me to meet in Bayonne, across the Hudson River, which at that point is indistinguishable from New York Harbor, from Staten Island. To get there from Queens I have to drive through heavy commuter traffic down into Brooklyn, cross the Williamsburg Bridge into lower Manhattan, drive across Manhattan to the Holland Tunnel, and then drive the New Jersey Turnpike to Bayonne.

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New Jersey New York Birds Killing 201

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

For with a lark’s heart he doth tower, By a glorious upward instinct drawn; No bee nestles deeper in the flower Than he in the bursting rose of dawn. -From “The Falcon” by James Russell Lowell If one were to combine the word “bird” with the word “superlative” the result would be the Peregrine Falcon. Though fastest is the first to mind, most fearsome, most awe-inspiring, and coolest all apply as well to Falco peregrinus.

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Falcons Birds 199

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10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

I think most of us in North America have come to the somewhat disappointing conclusion that fall migration is pretty much finished for the year. I mean, once the Dark-eyed Junco s start showing up there’s really no denying it, is there? You’re done. You might as well hang it up and learn to enjoy the next five months of kinglets, crows, and creepers.

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North America North Carolina Tennessee South America 199

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2011

Semipalmated Plover in Broome… am I mad!? Isn’t that a bird that doesn’t venture “down under”… you are correct… or you were correct! In late 2009 there was huge excitement in Broome when a Plover was observed at the famous Poo Ponds and was initially presumed to be a Ringed Plover , which is extremely rare, but not unheard of in Australia.

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Australia Asia 2009 Fish 196

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 16, 2011

Though he destroyed more than 1,000 nests worth of chicks and eggs of the American White Pelican nearly obliterating a colony on land he rented, a guilty plea by Minnesota farmer Craig Staloch means that he faces, at most, six months in jail. Justice? a.

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Pelicans Killing Minnesota Eggs 196

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2011

The Pied-billed Grebe , a most wondrous waterfowl, perfectly exemplify the distinction between common and mundane. Podilymbus podiceps is most certainly common in my experience, able to be seen consistently across varied habitats throughout nearly all of North America and much of South America. However, this gorgeous little grebe can hardly be considered mundane.

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Texas South America 2011 North America 194

Speaker: Gabriel Wagner

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