10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2019

It’s a rush any new birder experiences: that of every species being a lifer. Once you’ve been around the birding block a few years, your appreciation for the lifer experience deepens greatly. Which is why we all eventually turn to the one way to combine old-birder experience with new-birder opportunities: travel.

Spain 192

Spain Europe Sparrows Mexico 192

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2021

eBird) had it that the best place to find Clay-colored Sparrow is a particular conifer plantation on a particular farm road in the rural western portion of the county. The rumors were delightfully true, as that buzzy call from a spruce bough drew my attention to what must be the most boring sparrow on the planet. Rumor (i.e.

Sparrows 218

Sparrows Farming Birds Experience 218

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

The bird was a sparrow, that much was clear, but it didn’t seem to fit any of the easily boxes the other North American sparrows can be fairly easily sorted into. Superficially, it resembled the Black-chinned Sparrow of the southwestern United States with its gray chest and chestnut streaked with black back.

New Jersey 219

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 219

10,000 Birds

APRIL 25, 2021

White-throated Sparrows don’t generally stand out unless they turn up at my feeder in sharp plumage, which they did on Sunday. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. At least my summers are mild. What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 224

Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 224

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2020

But my experience suggests there is a fair amount of geographical overlap between the two ranges in my area. Its insect-like buzz reminds me most of the Grasshopper’s Sparrow’s song. Yellow Warblers are altitudinal migrants within the state of Michoacán, wintering in the lowlands and summering in the highlands.

Honduras 334

Honduras Mexico South America America 334

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2021

But, of them all, his Best Bird of the Weekend was a new one for him for Ulster County, a Lincoln’s Sparrow. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Blackbirds 204

Blackbirds Birds Sparrows Wildlife 204

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

On Friday morning he unsuccessfully chased a LeConte’s Sparrow and a Connecticut Warbler in Queens but had his second ever encounter with Virginia Rail in Queens as well as a Yellow-breasted Chat. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2020 218

2020 Connecticut Virginia New York 218

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 10, 2014

If you read my weekly posts bookending theweekend birding experience, you know that I pay close attention to phenology. The way the ebb and flow of each season impacts out experience of the natural world must inform our efforts to observe avifauna if we want to optimize our experience. How about you?

2014 167

2014 New York California Birds 167

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

In this first installment, I will focus on my impressions and experiences in the highlands portion of our tour. The experience of seeing a pair feeding and calling in the mountains of Honduras felt like a much more genuine birding experience to me. Trips Honduran birding La Tigra motmot'

Honduras 211

Honduras El Salvador Costa Rica Arizona 211

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

If Mexico City itself was not high enough, the mountains to the south rise above 12,300 feet and I was there looking for a Sierra Madre Sparrow to confirm a sighting of this rare and local sparrow from 15 years ago. Just to let you know, the sparrow did not show and I had to make do with some specialty Mexican warblers instead.

Costa Rica 201

Costa Rica Taiwan Mexico Honduras 201

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2012

I found the experience of authentically aggressive heat rather refreshing, but much prefer my moderate New York summers! Corey’s best bird of the weekend was a Lark Sparrow , highly unusual at his current coordinates. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2012 169

2012 United States New York Birds 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2013

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a Clay-colored Sparrow at Jacob Riis Park in coastal Queens, the only really noteworthy find among the hordes of sparrows that were around on Saturday morning. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2013 163

2013 Sparrows Birds Experience 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2011

So much for my weekend… Unless you like House Sparrows more than I do, you won’t be impressed by my best bird of the weekend. Corey, on the other hand, pulled a Philadelphia Vireo that Will Raup spotted at the Coxsackie Creek Grasslands Preserve while Corey was busy looking at a Song Sparrow.

Philadelphia 169

Philadelphia 2011 Sparrows Birds 169

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2011

My experience of just half of the Week Competition of this year’s gtbc utterly drained me. However, even that didn’t stop me from noticing that the American Tree Sparrows at my mother-in-law’s feeders have given way to cute little chippies; a Chipping Sparrow here signals spring even when the weather still says winter!

2011 145

2011 Laws Sparrows Birds 145

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 1, 2012

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was his only year bird that crossed his path, a nice Clay-colored Sparrow at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

2012 169

2012 Sparrows Birds Experience 169

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 24, 2014

In honor of fall, and of the Chipping Sparrow that just smacked itself (thankfully not too hard) against my balcony window, here’s a blast from the past: Oct. Or was I, like so many birders, doomed to eternal restlessness, always investing somewhere else with the glamor of new birds and new experiences? Could I go home again?

San Diego 172

San Diego Sparrows Breeders 2009 172

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Hordes of House Sparrows and Rock Pigeons are more than willing to push you around rather then let you have that choice morsel you just found. Still, the experience of seeing birds so close is hard to match. I sure appreciated this Swamp Sparrow. Once you’ve landed though, you are in a bizarre situation. And the noise!

New York City 211

New York City New York Birds Sparrows 211

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 31, 2021

He added several goodies over the weekend, but none were better than a self-found Lark Sparrow at Fort Tilden, which was easily his Best Bird of the Weekend. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Birds 194

Birds Sparrows Experience Experiments 194

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 5, 2014

From atop a terrific sledding hill, I enjoyed watching American Tree Sparrows lend class and native charm to flocks of House Sparrows. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Hope you enjoyed at least part of the excitement! What was your best bird of the weekend?

2014 161

2014 Sparrows Birds Experience 161

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

The Shoebill serves as the symbol of the magnificent wildlife experiences Uganda offers visitors, which may seem a bit odd. Having finally seen this iconic species, I can assure you that the experience wildly exceeds expectations. After all, the Shoebill isn’t endemic to the country; only Fox’s Weaver currently holds that title.

Uganda 258

Uganda Africa Penguins 2019 258

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2014

A juvenile White-crowned Sparrow is an expected bird in late fall in New York State but it is always nice when one sits still for a digiscoping session. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How did you fare? What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2014 168

2014 Bats New York Sparrows 168

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2024

My only other experience with an Audubon Club field trip anywhere, on a cold October morning in the American Midwest, was frankly kind of a bust. But this one was a wonderful experience. This one was a Song Sparrow. We went to Woodside’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, and a restricted-access section, at that.

San Francisco 200

San Francisco California Woodpeckers Turkey 200

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 11, 2013

The Best Bird of my weekend was a partially leucistic House Sparrow that added some flavor to an otherwise drab feeding flock. A February Grasshopper Sparrow in New York is, if not unprecedented, really, really unusual. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you?

2013 158

2013 United States Sparrows New York 158

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2012

Luckily, swarms of songbirds arrived on time, including one very handsome Fox Sparrow. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. As promised, I finally made it up to Owl Woods and the Braddock Bay area. Too bad the hawks and owls couldn’t make it too!

2012 170

2012 United States Fox New York 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2015

Seeing the radio show in CMAC’s splendid open air venue made the experience even more genteel, but the performers had a hard time competing with very vocal American Robins greeting the dusk with song. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

Kentucky 154

Kentucky 2015 Sparrows Birds 154

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2012

Birding the Dry Tortugas in late April has always been high on my bucket-list of the best birding experiences in North America. Day-trips to the Dry Tortugas are of course possible but the best way to experience the islands is on an extended 3-day guided tour. That means I used to be very young. Almost infantile.

Florida 243

Florida Kentucky France North America 243

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2021

There are black-and-white drawings by Aaron Hargrove illustrating some of the birds Marybeth writes about– a Red-shouldered Hawk on a wire eating a garter snake, a Grasshopper Sparrow in a chainlink fence, a staring Burrowing Owl inside a drainage pipe, and a few more.

Louisiana 264

Louisiana Species Mississippi Alabama 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

Instead, the Seaside Sparrows at Gardiner County Park, one of which is above, is Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend because cooperative Ammodramus sparrows are awesome. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

Pennsylvania 158

Pennsylvania 2015 Sparrows Birds 158

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 9, 2011

Corey can’t choose between three choice sparrows spotted in Queens. Then again, anyone would struggle selecting from Lark , Vesper , and Nelson’s Sparrow. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. What was your best bird of the weekend?

2011 150

2011 Sparrows Birds Family 150

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 14, 2012

My most recent outing netted me three new species for my Hudson County list – Nelson’s Sparrow , Blackpoll Warbler , and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Nelson’s Sparrow - two of them! Nelson’s Sparrow is a worthy addition to any county list. I did appreciate this Song Sparrow though.

New Jersey 167

New Jersey Sparrows Birds Species 167

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was a very sharp Lincoln’s Sparrow at Edgemere Preserve in Queens. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2013 157

2013 Sparrows Birds Experience 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 29, 2023

Because this is New Guinea, it does not attract t**s, finches, and sparrows, but parrots and birds-of-paradise… as soon as a fresh load of papayas and bananas is brought out and thrown on the table, the forest comes alive.” My Big Year is such a succession of new experiences that there is simply no time to think of other things.

Papua New Guinea 246

Papua New Guinea Guinea Suriname Brazil 246

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Around this time of year, I keep an eye out for White-throated Sparrows landing around my home… they were right on time! If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. Nature lovers can’t help but get out and enjoy one of the most crisp and colorful times of year.

2014 167

2014 Sparrows Birds Family 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 20, 2013

Though Corey originally picked a Field Sparrow at Edgemere Preserve (like the one pictured above) as his Best Bird of the Weekend, an afternoon outing with his family back to Edgemere Preserve so Desi could chase after crickets and grasshoppers led to his revised Best Bird of the Weekend, a fortuitous find. How about you?

St. Louis 166

St. Louis 2013 United States Arizona 166

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011

He can’t decide between Connecticut Warbler and Clay-colored Sparrow for best bird for the weekend, since both are new Queens birds for him. They beat out Yellow-billed Cuckoo , Blue Grosbeak , Ring-necked Pheasant , Lark Sparrow , and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. That makes for 283 on ye olde Queens life list.

Connecticut 157

Connecticut 2011 Sparrows Birds 157

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2015

But of all the species he spotted he felt either of the two Grasshopper Sparrows at Kissena Park in Queens was his Best Bird of the Weekend. After all, the two birds doubled his total number of Grasshopper Sparrow sightings in his home borough! How about you? What was your best bird of the weekend?

New York City 150

New York City 2015 New York Sparrows 150

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2015

Thankfully, American Tree Sparrows thrive under these brutal conditions and provided terrific views throughout the weekend. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment. So much love! What was your best bird of the weekend? Birding best bird weekend'

2015 161

2015 Sparrows Birds Experience 161