10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2012

After all, North America has no native hedgehogs and seeing something so outside of our normal experience was pretty exciting, even if the little guy quickly headed for cover and refused to show itself for Clay Taylor, who came upon the scene a minute too late. We visited Hortobágy National Park, the Bükk Hills and places in between.

Hedgehogs 169

Hedgehogs Hungary Opossums North America 169

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2012

Having jumped around a bit while writing up my trip to Hungary – sharing a few galleries , a trip to find an elusive woodpecker , and the most exciting news in optics since Galileo discovered Jupiter’s moons – I thought it was time to go back to the beginning of the trip and proceed chronologically.

Hungary 160

Hungary United States Woodpeckers Blackbirds 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2012

… I wanted to explicitly point out that Swarovski Optik flew me and a bunch of other birders to Hungary for a week of all-expense-paid birding with the new scopes. Feel free to come on back and say what you think about the scope – positive or negative – in the comments once you have had that experience. …

Hungary 223

Hungary 2013 Game Groups 223

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2012

Corey’s Best Bird of the Weekend was the last bird he paid attention to in Hungary on Saturday morning before flying back to the United States, a European Goldfinch singing in a tree outside of his hotel. If you’ve blogged about your weekend experience, you should include a link in your comment.

Hungary 167

Hungary Miami 2012 Trinidad 167

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2012

And while I can still remember the first time I saw one in 2007, in the company of Jochen and Hendrik in a pine forest on the coast of the Baltic Sea, it took until this year’s trip to Hungary before I managed to get a decent image of one. It’s because they like to crack open or “hatch” nuts for food. …

Hungary 127

Hungary Europe Portugal Georgia 127

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2012

The famous bird experts, Thorogood and Davies, carried out an experiment which… reveal that social learning is specific to the cuckoo morph that neighbors mob. Our results suggest that selection for mimicry and polymorphisms comes not only from personal experience but also from social learning.

Hungary 174

Hungary 2012 Science Eggs 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 30, 2012

After Corey shared his story of his hedgehog experience in Hungary I thought you may like to see some rather adorable pictures of a young European Hedgehog in England. It appears that hedgehog numbers in the UK have dropped by 25% in the last 10 years , so every hedgehog that can be saved is extremely worthwhile.

Hedgehogs 167

Hedgehogs RSPCA Hungary The Blue Cross 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2015

I have asked myself that same question many times over the last six months, until last week, when I was involved in an opening ceremony of five new bird hides at the Palic Lake, by the town of Subotica in the very north of Serbia, along the border with Hungary (all photos are from that area). They got the message right. And so did I.

Serbia 241

Serbia Spain Birds Hungary 241

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2018

What I have always missed there and what I still miss is to experience presence of the European Beaver. But, published in 1921 in Budapest, Hungary, it was written in Hungarian. Whenever I pushed my paddle lower, I had the impression that there is no water and that I paddle on and though the mist, timeless and eternal.

Beavers 119

Beavers Serbia Hungary Eagles 119

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 31, 2012

Attila Steiner, who I was lucky enough to meet while I was in Hungary , was ecstatic to see a rare rail in Ghana: It was my last afternoon in Ankasa Reserve, Ghana. I have chronicled the experience on my blog. A whole bunch of you responded and shared your best birds either in blog post form, email form, or in our comments.

2012 133

2012 Ghana Ireland Costa Rica 133

4 The Love Of Animals

NOVEMBER 24, 2009

Horowitz and other scientists are now running experiments to determine what a behavior, like a kiss, really means. Horowitz wondered if they behave this way because they truly recognize they’ve done something wrong, so she devised an experiment. See TIME’s video “ The March of TIME: Hunting Dog Field Trials.&#.

Wolves 100

Wolves Fox Dogs Apes 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2022

Gorman’s personal field experience informs much of the text and his total grasp of the field means he relates one research finding to another with narrative ease. I do wish that Gorman included more of his personal experiences and stories in the natural history tradition of ornithologists like Alexander Skutch.

Woodpeckers 231

Woodpeckers Hungary Thailand Europe 231

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills goes on to give greater detail of the former nesting sites in Europe: it could once be found “in southern Germany and Austria, in the valleys of the upper Rhine and Danube Rivers, and in the Alps of Switzerland, Italy and Germany, and perhaps in Hungary and Greece”.

Morocco 221

Morocco Austria Algeria Germany 221

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2018

Yet, it takes great logistical effort to organize the census all the way from Germany to Austria, Hungary and Serbia in the same day, to count on numerous volunteers and hope for the best February weather. Yet, David, who has much more experience with bustards, isn’t convinced: “In winter, some females develop bristles, too.”.

Hungary 143

Hungary Serbia Austria Eggs 143